Call number: LD2668 .T4 1966 H481 / Master of Science

The purpose of this study was to determine if selected variables were significant predictors for the academic success or failure of Algebra I students. Two methods of data gathering were used in the study. The Student Attribution Inventory (SAI) was first administered to the classes during one class period. One hundred eighty-five students participated. Only two students could not because of a language barrier. The second method of data gathering was done by the researcher. First, a letter was sent home to the students' parents for permission to use the cumulative folders of their sons and daughters. Letters were collected daily by the teacher and weekly by the researcher. A follow-up letter was sent home several weeks later to those parents who had not previously responded. Once permission was granted, the researcher received the cumulative folders and obtained the necessary information. Out of 185 students, 110 were used in the study. Stepwise multiple regression was used for four of the eight hypotheses. These were tested at the .05 level of significance. This level of prediction was used to determine if selected variables were significant predictors for the academic success or failure of Algebra I students. The findings showed that achievement motivation (a resultant behavior of an emotional conflict between hopes for success and fears of failure), luck (external, unstable, unintentional factor which is related to the perceived randomness in events), and previous mathematics achievement (as measured by the California Achievement Test (CAT)), were the variables found to be statistically significant. Ability, previous reading achievement, and age were not entered into the regression equation by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) because of insufficient predictability. The remaining hypotheses employed t-tests as the statistical method of testing. These four hypotheses were also tested at the .05 level of significance. The results showed that neither sex differences nor ethnic groups were significant in prediction of Algebra I final grades and achievement motivation. Further research is necessary to increase the understanding of achievement motivation and luck in classroom situations, counseling sessions, and group dynamics.

The purpose of the present study is to further investigate whether or not those children who are highly accepted by their peers differ in scholastic achievement from those who are not accepted by their peers.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1950 S655 / Master of Science

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University.

"The purpose of this research is the development and testing of an instrument to be used in prediction of success in college freshman mathematics courses"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "April, 1967." / "Submitted to the Graduate School of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education." / Advisor: R. Heimer, Professor Directing Dissertation. / Vita. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 118-120).

In response to a need for more primary care physicians and patients' growing attraction to alternative health care, greater numbers of individuals are applying to naturopathic colleges. With increasing numbers of applicants, better methods of predicting potential effectiveness as an N.D. are needed. This study examined factors (both academic and psychosocial) that best predict success in naturopathic school. Demographic, academic, and psychosocial survey data were collected from thirty-three students who had just completed their second year of naturopathic medical school. This information was correlated with scores on the NPLEX Basic Science exams which were taken the following summer. Because of the small sample size, a bootstrap resampling technique was used to produce estimates for a hierarchical regression. Demographic variables (sex, age, whether or not English was the first language) and undergraduate major, explained almost 10% of the variance in Basic Science Exams (BSE) scores; however, none of these variables were significant predictors in the first step of the regression. As predicted, the addition of undergraduate grade point average (GPA) significantly increased the amount of variance accounted for (to 39.9%) in BSE scores. Also as predicted, adding the psychosocial variables to the model increased the amount of variance accounted for to 52%. This addition also made sex a significant predictor, but external locus of control was the only psychosocial variable which was significant in any of the models. The best model contained the psychosocial variables of both internal and external locus of control but not commitment and accounted for 51 % of the variance in BSE scores. Sex, undergraduate GPA, and external locus of control were significant predictors. Results are consistent with previous research using data on students from allopathic medical schools. However, complex relationships exist among the psychosocial variables and between the psychosocial variables and gender. The suppression effect of the psychosocial variables with gender, multicolinearity between the commitment and locus of control variables, and suppression due to common method variance between the internal and external locus of control variables are discussed. Limitations of bootstrap methodology are considered.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1984. / Vita. Bibliography: leaves [124]-137.

This research was undertaken to identify variables that accounted for major changes in academic performance between high school and college. Differences between predicted and actual college GPA were used to classify students as gainers or decliners among a group of sophomores and a group of seniors at a medium-sized research university. A model composed of nine variables was developed to explain the change in performance. Each variable was classified as an Environmental Triggering Mechanism (environmental stimulus), an Internal Psychological state (a cognitive response to the stimulus), or an Academic Behavior. Seven of the variables were derived from the literature of academic achievement in college. Two of the variables were identified in the course of exploratory interviews with senior performance changers. Two-way discriminant function analysis was performed to determine which of the variables contributed most to classifying students as gainers or decliners. Correlation analysis was performed to examine the relationships between variables. Academic expectancies, the number of terms required to adjust to college academically, and the students' approach to study (consistency and priority of study) emerged as making the strongest contribution to the discriminant function for both sophomores and seniors. Significant correlations were found between some, but not all, of the variables in each category, supporting the basic structure of the model. Variables categorized as Environmental Triggering Mechanisms played a secondary role with respect to those Internal Psychological States and Academic Behaviors that contributed most to academic performance change. / Graduation date: 1991

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 1998. / Description based on microform version. Includes bibliographical references (p. 28-29).