Gender, Psychosocial Dispositions, and the Academic Achievement of College Students

Researchers have recently claimed that there are substantial differences in the psychosocial dispositions and academic achievement of male and female college students. To test this proposition, a sample of 854 undergraduate students were selected from a major Canadian Research-1 university. Multiple regression analyses assessed the effects of gender and several other independent variables on coping strategies, academic control, self-esteem, and grade point averages. Few differences emerged between the genders on the psychosocial dispositions or on academic achievement. The results suggest that both male and female students can improve their coping strategies and academic control, which together directly affect their academic achievement.     

The Impact of Perceived Stress and Psychosocial Factors on Missed Class and Work in College Students

An understanding of how missed class and work are influenced by psychosocial factors is important. The authors collected data from 303 college students through self‐report questionnaires. Moderation analysis indicated that with higher perceived stress, students were more likely to miss class if they were less satisfied with social support and less likely to miss work if they engaged in avoidant coping strategies. College counselors can provide students with skills to enhance academic performance and engagement in academic life.     

Gender Differences in the Stress and Coping Experiences of First Year Postsecondary Students

ABSTRACT

Previous research on gender and coping has led lo a debate about whether a dispositional or a siluational perspective accounts lor the coping strategies used by females and males. In this study, methodology was used to investigate the coping responses of students within the context of perceived demands throughout their first year postsecondary experience. While academic demands remained central in the experience of all students, females had more relationship-based demands and demonstrated a wider repertoire of coping strategies in comparison to male students. Discussion focuses on the need for research on coping to consider the contexts in which coping responses are embedded.     

Stress in school-aged children and youth

This article reviews the literature on stress in students of grades 1–12. A model to understand stress as the inequality between perceived demands and perceived resources is presented. Student stressors are identified in the family and school environments. Coping with these stressors is conceptualized as problem-focused, emotion-focused, or appraisal-focused strategies that make use of personal, social, and cognitive resources. Physical, emotional, and behavioral symptoms of ineffectual coping efforts are then identified. After gender differences in stressors and coping are noted, instruments measuring stressors, coping strategies, and coping resources in children and youth are reviewed. Finally, representative intervention programs developed for school-aged youth are described and evidence of their efficacy is presented. The article concludes that there is a paucity of research on stress in children as compared to research on stress in adults.     

Stress,coping strategies and academic achievement in teacher education students

University students experience stress, and how they cope with this stress affects their academic achievement. This study examined stress in teacher education students and had three objectives: to describe different degrees of stress and coping styles; to study the relationship between stress, coping strategies and academic achievement; and to examine whether increased age can moderate the effects of stress on academic achievement in 334 university-students. There were three main findings: many students experienced stress and used avoidance coping strategies; the students who were under less stress and engaged less in cognitive avoidance and more in problem-focused coping were also the students who made more academic achievement; and students under more stress performed worse, but with age stress affected performance less. In teacher education students, it is important to recognize and address the harmful effects of stress on well-being and academic achievement, to avoid long-term problems in professional and personal life.     

Virtual Teaching Dispositions in an Open Distance Learning Environment: Origins,Measurement and Impact

An understanding of the key characteristics and implicit competencies underlying online teaching is essential to distance education institutions that embark on the assertive use of technology in their tuition development and delivery. The Virtual Teaching Dispositions Scale (VTDS) assists in investigating professional teaching dispositions associated with effective online instruction. It was initially validated among academic staff members at a residential university in the United States of America (USA). Strong support was found for the construct's cognitive, pedagogical and social presence that served as the conceptual foundation for developing the scale. The aim of this study was to validate the VTDS among academic staff members of an open distance learning (ODL) institution and to make suggestions for improving online teaching in this environment. This study highlights the need for interventions aimed at enhancing academic staff members’ experienced level of virtual/technological presence.     

Long-term development of learning activity: Motivational,cognitive, and social interaction

Recent research on school learning has dealt only with cognitive aspects of the student activity. However, in typical learning and performance situations, the student is expected to cope with complex social and emotional challenges. We developed a theoretical model that describes typical patterns of coping strategies that students use in school situations. The dominating tendency of some students in school situations is task orientation. Such students are oriented to interpret and fulfill the demands of learning tasks. In contrast, other students are sensitive to the threat of failure and show ego-oriented coping strategies. A third group of students relies on social-dependence coping. Orientation tendencies originate in classroom situations, but are then continuously reproduced and reinforced in similar teaching interactions. A multimethod approach was used to test this theoretical model. Longitudinal case studies have demonstrated the cumulation and reinforcement processes of coping tendencies in teaching interactions. Classroom interaction studies have provided evidence of the strong interaction between cognitive processes and socioemotional orientation. Finally, intervention studies have shown that, to improve the use of cognitive strategies, coping strategies also have to be changed.     

Conceptualizing Stress and Coping Strategies of Korean Social Work Students in the United States: A Concept Mapping Application

The number of Asian international students pursuing graduate degrees in social work in the U.S. has increased dramatically in recent years, especially among Koreans. Despite the growth and the need for culturally competent practices in higher education, no research has been devoted to the adjustment problems of this population. This study is the first of its kind in exploring stress and coping strategies of Korean international students in graduate social work education. Concept mapping revealed five major clusters of stressors: academic problems, financial difficulties, cultural barriers, psychological problems, and family concerns. Five major coping strategies emerged as well: psychological coping, physical coping, problem solving, social support, and entertainment. Social work schools and departments should demonstrate cultural competence with this population by providing support services to help these students cope successfully with their new environment.     

International graduates’ cross-cultural adjustment: experiences,coping strategies,and suggested programmatic responses

The purpose of the study was to examine the experiences of international graduates to find out how they perceived their new learning environment in Singapore, and to explore the strategies they employed to adjust to, manage and construct meaning out of their learning situation. A qualitative, critical incidents methodology was used in the research. It was found that adjustment for students was most difficult in the first 6 to 12 months from entry into the new cultural context, largely due to the influence of previous educational and cultural experiences on expectations. Four major themes were identified in the student experiences those of marginalisation: student/supervisory relationship, academic/organisational marginalisation, social marginalisation and advantaging. The coping strategies identified were those of self-determination, collegial support and examination strategies. The importance of collegial support as a key coping strategy for international student adjustment was confirmed in the study. Implications arising from the study may inform intervention programmes that are directed to the points of tension identified in students’ experiences.     

困境家庭大学生的歧视知觉、应对方式、社会适应性研究

研究采用量表法,就困境家庭中最具代表性的贫困家庭、家庭关系不利家庭、留守家庭经历大学生的歧视知觉、应对方式及适应性展开实证研究。结果表明:困境家庭大学生的歧视知觉整体上并不明显,其应对方式尚可,与普通家庭大学生无显著差异。社会适应整体状况尚可,只有留守经历大学生与普通家庭大学生在社会适应上有显著差异。分析了影响大学生成长的客观因素和保护性因素,提出全方位提升困境家庭学生保护性因素社会支持各维度水平、针对性地提供教育内容和形式、帮助学生形成正确认知的教育对策。     

The influence of parental and peer attachment on college students' academic achievement

This study examined relations among attachment to parents and peers, cognitive ability, psychosocial functioning variables, and academic achievement in a multiethnic sample of college students (n = 357). A small subgroup (14.8%) of students reported low levels of attachment to both parents and peers. Significant positive correlations were documented between parent and peer attachment and several indices of psychosocial competence. Results from hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that indices of cognitive ability were significant predictors of college students' grade point averages, while broader measures of functioning in early adulthood (attachment, intellectual ability, self‐esteem) were significant predictors of scholastic competence. Results suggest that perceived attachment to both parents and peers is a component of wider patterns of social competence and adjustment that may function as protective or compensatory factors during key transitions in young adulthood, such as participation in college, and with its attendant demands for academic achievement. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Fight, flight and playing white: An examination of coping strategies adopted by Gypsy Traveller Adolescents in English secondary schools

This paper draws on findings from a longitudinal study of Gypsy Traveller¹ students attending English secondary schools. Analysis of over 400 interviews with 44 Gypsy Traveller students, their parents and teachers over a 5-year period identified several pull and push factors that impact on secondary school engagement and retention. Of these, cultural dissonance (a result of conflicting expectations between home and school) and social exclusion feature strongly. Students who relied on maladaptive coping strategies to deal with psychosocial stress associated with cultural dissonance and social exclusion tended to drop out of school early. These maladaptive strategies are referred to here as fight (physical and verbal retaliation and non-compliance), flight (self-imposed exclusion) and playing white (passing identity by concealing or denying one's heritage). Those who were retained in school to the age of 16 displayed more adaptive strategies such as cognitive re-framing, developing social support networks and adopting a bicultural identity.     

Pedagogical Innovation in Canadian higher education: Professors’ perspectives on its effects on teaching and learning

To rise to the challenge of today’s university, professors make use of many types of pedagogical innovation. This paper examines professors’ perceptions of the impact arising from innovative teaching through a qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews conducted with assistant, associate and full professors of a Canadian university. Grounded theory analysis shows that pedagogical innovations support learning, professionalisation and graduation, and remote access to courses for students, and alters their behaviours and attitudes. Moreover, pedagogical innovations reinvent teaching practices and satisfy professors, while the associated academic institution can take pride in the achievement. Paradoxically, the outcomes of this study highlight the recognition granted to pedagogical innovators, in contrast to innovative teaching, which remains denigrated. This paper discusses the implications of the findings for educational practice and provides recommendations as well as avenues for further research.     

面向深度学习的动态知识图谱建构模型及评测

深度学习回应时代诉求,指向“核心素养”改革,回答了“培养什么样的人”的问题,回归了学习本质。知识图谱有助于促进学生深入思考,提高问题解决能力、批判性思维和创新能力,实现深度学习。但以往知识建构存在组织静态、孤立的局限,基于ARCS动机模型和知识建构理论,从协同知识建构、动机策略和学习环境建构面向深度学习的动态知识图谱模型,具有动态生成、及时反馈、交互共享等特点,突出学生的主体性、能动性,增强学习体验。以大学生为研究对象,利用文本挖掘、滞后序列分析等方法评测动态知识图谱建构模型。结果表明,实验组学生在学习成绩、注意力程度等方面均优于控制组,尤其对中低水平动机学习者产生积极影响,显著提高了学生在完成任务过程中的感知注意力、自信心和满意度。动态知识图谱建构发展思路可从重塑任务前计划、社会认知开放性、意义协商及生成性教学等方面寻找突破口,催生深层次认知能力与高阶思维。     

Exploring school stress in middle childhood: interpretations,experiences, and coping

With increased academic and social challenges at school, middle childhood can be a particularly stressful time. The present study explored how a sample of children from a supportive learning environment interpreted, experienced and reported coping with everyday stress at school. Using a phenomenological approach, third graders attending an elementary school in the United States participated in semi-structured interviews in which they could discuss the nature of stress, stressful moments at school, and their responses to different situations. Despite nearly optimal learning conditions, child reports included a range of school stressors. Children’s interpretations of ‘stress’ seemed inextricably linked to their learning and social obstacles at school; those daily experiences were further linked to coping strategies. The discussion section emphasises the importance of understanding how children interpret and report stress and coping, and how pastoral care can support young students.     

Access and perceived ICT usability among students with disabilities attending higher education institutions

An increasing number of students with disabilities are attending higher education. These students might face various difficulties coping with academic skills and with learning methods compared to students without disabilities. Integrating information and communication technologies (ICTs) in academic studies may be effective and constructive for students with and without various disabilities, as ICTs can provide students with adaptive ways to compensate for disabilities and enable them to improve learning. The present study examined students’ knowledge of and accessibility to ICTs and it examined students’ perceptions of the ICTs used by professors teaching in a face-to-face traditional postsecondary educational institute (in Canada) and a distance/blended learning higher education institute (in Israel). The sample included 309 Canadian students and 963 Israeli students who completed questionnaires regarding ICT usage, accessibility, and perceived use by professors. Findings reveal that Israeli students reported higher use and greater accessibility of ICTs and they also reported higher use of ICTs by professors. For both groups of students – those with and without LD/ADHD - accessibility to ICTs was predicted by self-reported knowledge and use of ICTs, professors’ ICT use, gender and nationality. The study’s findings and its implications are likely to be important for promoting access to ICTs for students with and without disabilities in both the traditional higher education modality and in distance/ blended learning contexts.     

Academic Social Climate – A Key Aspect in Architectural Studies

The present research investigates academic social climate in architectural studies as perceived by students. It studies the importance that the various measures of academic social climate have in the studio and in architectural classes. It also investigates the relation between the personal background of students and their sense of academic social climate. Academic social climate is evaluated with regard to the eight factors proposed by Moos (1979) dealing with: orientation to study material, innovation, academic social connections, teachers’ support, competitiveness, academic‐social involvement, order and organisation, teachers’ control and an index for general academic social climate by means of a survey. Findings show that academic social climate was higher in the studio than in the regular classes in social connections, students’ involvement, teacher support, and order and organisation; while academic social climate measures were higher in the regular classes in teacher control and in the orientation of learning material. The highest academic social climate measures in both studio and classes were students’ involvement and competence, and the lowest measures were teacher support, and order and organisation. Some items of students’ personal and educational background were found to affect their sense of academic social climate. The implications of these findings for architectural design education are presented.     

Social anxiety in learning: stages of change in a sample of UK undergraduates

Social anxiety in learning is prevalent amongst traditional-age students and has a marked effect on their engagement with higher education. It receives little attention from academic or support services and there is a presumption that students will manage their anxieties. Yet it is unclear what psychosocial resources they might bring to this task and how these may develop through the undergraduate years. This study sought to identify possible change processes in student social anxiety by analysing qualitative responses obtained from Level 2 undergraduate students (n=39) in relation to their experience of learning situations such as lectures, seminars and group presentations. Thematic analysis suggested a four-stage developmental progression for students in terms of their experience and orientation to coping with social anxiety. Implications for staff development and student support are outlined.     

Investigating self-regulated study strategies among postsecondary students with and without dyslexia: a diary method study

We investigated the use of self-regulated study strategies among undergraduates with dyslexia by means of extensive web-based diary data, comparing their strategy use to that of matched students without dyslexia who completed the diary in the same period. Additionally, we examined the perceived benefits of using the recorded strategies in both groups, as well as relationships between the recorded strategies and perceived self-efficacy and academic performance. Results indicated that across lecture, individual study, and social study contexts, students with and without dyslexia recorded a comparable, broad range of strategies, yet students with dyslexia seemed to use particular visual and social strategies more consistently than did students without dyslexia. Across the three study contexts, both students with and without dyslexia also perceived the strategies they recorded in the diaries to be quite beneficial, but with particular visual and social strategies seemingly perceived as more helpful by students with dyslexia. Finally, self-regulated study strategies were positively related to perceived self-efficacy and academic performance among the students with dyslexia but not among the students without dyslexia. We discuss the possibility that the diary method used to assess strategy use among students with dyslexia in different study contexts over time was more appropriate for revealing the breadth and value of their strategy repertoire than the decontextualized, one-time questionnaire and interview approaches used in prior work.