The Influence of Additional Educational Support on Poverty-Stricken Adolescents’ Resilience and Academic Performance

Abstract

Resilience can be viewed as successful adaptation despite challenging or threatening circumstances (e.g. poverty). This article reports on an investigation of which the primary aim was to establish how additional educational support enhances adolescents’ resilience and academic performance. A quantitative approach was followed using two schools. One was a poverty-stricken school where additional educational support was officially offered, while the other school offered normal required tuition and was located in a middle class suburb. In total, 117 Grade 9 and 10 learners participated in the research. The results indicated that resilience related positively to academic performance and to other factors which are associated with academic performance such as teacher-learner relationships, parental involvement and study methods. Additional educational support to poverty-stricken learners resulted in higher resilience and academic achievement. Amongst the variables used in the investigation, additional educational support explained the largest proportion of the variance in academic achievement, followed by resilience and cognitive development.     

The case for using exemplars to develop academic self-efficacy

Abstract

Academic self-efficacy is critical to academic success. Hence those working in higher education need to make deliberate and substantial attempts to foster academic competence, confidence, persistence and resilience in the students they teach, given they are essential components of academic self-efficacy. Addressing an identified gap in the exemplars literature, this article pays particular attention to how exemplars can be used in an embedded and sustained manner with the intent of fostering and supporting these components. Taking into account the three dimensions of self-efficacy – strength, magnitude and generality – and the various sources of information students draw upon to make judgements about their capabilities, four inter-dependent and inter-related practices and associated experiences are identified. We argue that collectively these practices and experiences can accentuate the positive effects and ameliorate the potential negative effects of exemplar use on student academic self-efficacy.     

The ‘secrets’ of Chinese students’ academic success: academic resilience among students from highly competitive academic environments

Abstract

Given Chinese students often perform well academically despite the challenges of their competitive academic environments, it is important to explore what enables the academic resilience of these students. Moreover, because the extant resilience literature is biased towards Western accounts of resilience, it is crucial that non-Western perspectives be added to this literature. In this study, three factors from family and school settings were examined: namely, parental supervision, school involvement and recognition, and school expectation of behaviour. We did so among 693 11th grade Chinese students from two of the largest provinces participating in the competitive college entrance examination in China. Participants completed a questionnaire comprising a series of individual, family, and school variables that were complemented by academic achievement data drawn from school records. Results showed that Chinese parents’ supervision and school involvement and recognition are significantly and negatively associated with low school commitment and individual conflict attitude, which are important protective factors in reducing adolescents’ risk of problem behaviours and promoting academic resilience. This study highlights the importance of taking a multidimensional approach to building academic resilience among those from highly competitive settings in China.     

Promoting academic satisfaction and performance: Building academic resilience through coping strategies

The aim of this article is twofold: (a) to validate the psychometric properties of the Academic Resilience Scale (AR‐S) in a Spanish university context; and (b) to test a model where different coping strategies are antecedents of AR, and where academic satisfaction and performance are its consequences. The studies were conducted with 185 (study 1) and 780 (study 2) students. In study 1, the construct validity, reliability, and convergent and divergent validity of the AR‐S were analyzed. The hypothesized model (study 2) was tested using structural equation modeling. The results confirmed the good psychometric properties of the AR‐S in the Spanish context, providing evidence of its validity. Furthermore, the distinctive role of different coping strategies in resilience was confirmed, as well as the relationship between resilience and academic satisfaction. No direct relationship between resilience and performance was found, highlighting the full mediation of satisfaction.     

Academic risk and resilience for children and young people in Asia

Abstract

In studies of academic resilience, researchers seek to identify factors that protect against adverse effects caused by risk and stress, and which ultimately assist students to be academically successful. However, because relatively few studies are conducted in Asian settings, Western-based research may have limited application for policy and prevention in the Asian context. It is therefore important to expand the context and culture in which resilience research takes place. This paper highlights academic resilience factors among Asian students that are located in the multiple levels of the social ecology (including individual, peers, family and school). This is consistent with results from the Western context. However, it also reports on some differences in academic resilience factors that are found both within Asian countries and between Asian and Western countries. From these results, we might thus conclude that alongside pan-human factors, Asian students’ academic success can also be considered in part due to uniquely Asian attributes. This reaffirms the importance of considering culture and national context in studies of academic resilience. Taken as a whole, this collection of papers showcases multiple approaches to building academic resilience and empowering students and their educators and caregivers across the Asian region.     

Resilience does not predict academic performance in gross anatomy

Few studies have evaluated resilience in an academic environment as it relates to academic success or failure. This work sought to assess resilience in regular and remedial students of gross anatomy during the first and second semesters of medical school and to correlate this personal trait with academic performance. Two groups of students were compared: the first group included first‐year medical students in the regular course, and the second group included first‐year medical students who did not pass the regular anatomy course and so were enrolled in the remedial course. Both groups completed anonymous surveys designed to gather demographic data and establish scores on the Connor‐Davidson resilience scale, which includes 25 statements rated zero to four on a Likert scale (maximum score 100). The average resilience score was the same for both groups, 80 ± 9. The average anatomy grades differed significantly between regular students (67± 15.0) and remedial students (61 ± 12.0). While there was no overall correlation between resilience score and anatomy grade, regular students with resilience scores of 75 or greater showed slightly better academic performance than their classmates. Similarly, remedial students with resilience scores of 87 or greater faired better academically. Resilience does not predict academic performance in gross anatomy, and further work is necessary to identify those intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence students' achievements. Anat Sci Educ. © 2010 American Association of Anatomists.     

Implementing Resilience Recommendations for Policies and Practices in Gifted Curriculum

This article explores how resilience draws upon positive individual, social, contextual, and cultural variables and buffers gifted children from the harmful impact of their psychosocial and emotional needs. Its purpose is to consider building resilience in gifted children and advocating the resilience curriculum requirement for their unique social and emotional development. Based on resilience theory, recommended policies and practices are categorized as program design, curriculum planning, educators’ capacity and continuum of gifted supports, programs, and services. This resilience framework for meeting their best interests is rethought to allow a greater opportunity for growth of innovation and change of curriculum to reflect recent trends in the field. If gifted children are to achieve their academic potential, social and emotional aspects of giftedness must be recognized and developed, because excelling in one academic area requires thriving in others.     

The painters behind the profile: the rise and functioning of communication departments in universities

Youth transitioning into university face numerous life challenges, particularly in South Africa with its high levels of poverty and inequality. This article, recognising the vulnerability of many students, sets out to identify the resilience processes that facilitate the resilient outcomes of life satisfaction and academic progress. Using a sample of 232 psychosocially vulnerable undergraduate students, a quantitative survey was conducted and analysed using multivariate procedures. Results indicate that 27% of the variance in life satisfaction was accounted for by 19 resilience variables, with community relationships and family financial security being individually significant, and that 18% of the variance in academic progress was accounted for, with learning orientation being individually significant. Family relationships also emerged as important for both outcomes. The findings suggest that, during times of adversity, South African students draw in particular on relational resources in their home communities, and that academic progress is protected from deterioration by vulnerable students’ love for learning. Practice implications for universities are proposed that go beyond reactive, therapeutic services towards creating a supportive academic community.     

“拔尖计划”学生心理弹性与创造力的关系研究——学习适应性的中介效应

提高创造力是“拔尖计划”学生培养的重要目标之一。文章通过对2 039名“拔尖计划”学生进行问卷调查,深入分析了“拔尖计划”学生心理弹性对创造力的影响及学习适应性在其中的作用机制。研究发现,“拔尖计划”学生的心理弹性正向影响创造力;学习适应性正向影响创造力;学习适应性在心理弹性和创造力之间起到部分中介效应。根据这一研究结论,在“拔尖计划”2. 0的实施中,除了继续加强学习的外部环境条件建设,更要花费大力气重视学生积极心理品质的塑造和心理弹性的提高,引导学生积极适应“拔尖计划”人才培养的学习目标、内容和挑战,为创造力的提升奠定基础。     

Factors and conditions promoting academic resilience: a TIMSS-based analysis of five Asian education systems

It is well documented that academic achievement of students from families of low socioeconomic status (SES) tends to be below their more socially advantaged peers. Several studies have identified factors and conditions that facilitate academic success for disadvantaged students (i.e., promote academic resilience). However, one of the main criticisms of this body of research is in the set of variables that explain academic success for low-SES students and which is not very different from the variables that would explain academic success for all students. The objectives of this article are dual: firstly, to identify factors and conditions associated with academic success, regardless of student SES, and secondly, to identify factors and conditions associated with academic resilience, that is, exclusively for low-SES students. To this end, we used data from Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, and Japan in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011. The study sample covered 23,354 students in 720 schools in the five countries. The strategy for analysis was driven by fit of logistic regression models, first predicting the probability of academic success and then subsequent identification of variables significant as predictors for success within the pool of low-SES students. Results indicated that variables, such as positive student attitude to mathematics, teacher confidence in student performance and the test language being spoken at home, were associated with greater chances of academic success. High academic expectations and time spent on mathematics at home demonstrated a differential effect between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students in Singapore. In Korea, being male (gender) and in Taipei, low levels of bullying at school, increased the likelihood of resilience. Results suggested that interventions impacting behavior reflected in differentially associated variables could help disadvantaged students to become academically resilient.     

Understanding Resilience: The Role of Social Resources

Using the resilience literature as a theoretical framework, this article discusses research on the influence of social resources such as parent, teacher, and school support on the resilient outcomes of children and adolescents. Findings from several projects conducted at the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk indicate that access to social resources such as caring parents who have high expectations for their children and are involved in their children's schooling, participation in extracurricular activities (e.g., after-school sports), and supportive relationships with teachers have positive benefits for students' academic performance. This article also reports results that show children's perceived exposure to violence has significant negative effects on their mathematics and reading performance on a standardized exam. The findings demonstrate the importance of social resources and highlight the need for effective programs of intervention.     

The role of engagement in immigrant students’ academic resilience

Academic resilience refers to academic success despite chronic socio-educational adversity. Given increases in immigration across the world in the past decade (including in Europe), there have been calls to identify factors (e.g., engagement) that can better support immigrant students’ academic resilience. With a sample of N = 17,241 immigrant students from 18 European countries, the present investigation employed multi-level probit regression to determine the extent to which cognitive, behavioral, and social-emotional engagement predict academic resilience status at both the student- and school-level. Findings revealed that cognitive engagement and behavioral engagement, at both the student- and school-level, are positively associated with academic resilience (yielding moderate and large effect sizes), while the findings regarding social-emotional engagement were more equivocal.     

Measuring academic resilience in quantitative research: A systematic review of the literature

Academic resilience research has the potential to improve the learning outcomes of students at risk of school failure, yet there is no standard approach to its measurement. This review aimed to provide an overview of the ways in which academic resilience has been measured and analysed within quantitative research over the last 20 years. Our findings extended upon those in existing reviews by focussing on how academic resilience has been operationalised as a specific construct. A systematic search of the literature returned 127 studies that drew conclusions about academic resilience based on quantitative data. Three distinct approaches to the measurement of academic resilience were identified using thematic analysis techniques: the definition-driven, process-driven, and latent construct approaches. Each of these approaches align with different types of analyses which, in turn, shape the inferences that researchers can make about academic resilience. The implications of these variations in measurement are discussed. At the macro-level, the utilisation of resilient characteristics and the omission of risk indicators within existing measures may undermine the validity of studies investigating the construct of academic resilience. At the micro-level, the purpose of the study, usability, and inclusivity of the measurement approach influence how researchers choose to operationalise academic resilience. This review emphasises the importance of considering the methodological decisions that researchers make and contributes to the ongoing refinement of academic resilience as a specific construct in resilience research.     

Academic resilience and its psychological and educational correlates: A construct validity approach

This study examines educational and psychological correlates of academic resilience using within‐network and between‐network validity approaches. Based on a sample of 402 Australian high‐school students, a newly developed unidimensional academic resilience construct found within‐network validity by way of sound item and factor properties. In terms of between‐network validity, correlation, path analysis, and cluster analysis showed that five factors predict academic resilience: self‐efficacy, control, planning, low anxiety, and persistence. Hence, a 5‐C model of academic resilience is proposed: confidence (self‐efficacy), coordination (planning), control, composure (low anxiety), and commitment (persistence). Path analysis also showed that academic resilience subsequently predicts three educational and psychological “outcomes”: enjoyment of school, class participation, and general self‐esteem. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 267–281, 2006.     

A Story of a Journey in Implementing an E-Assessment System at a South African University

Following the challenges faced in the selection and implementation of e-assessment tools for student assessment, I undertook a journey of implementing an e-assessment system within the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). This article describes the path traversed and highlights the potholes and expressways on this road towards e-assessment implementation. Thus, the aim of this article is to present the journey, faced by an academic, in the process of implementing an e-assessment system. This study adopted a narrative inquiry approach. The findings indicate both student and academic acceptance of this form of e-assessment, with students showing particular excitement in this novel assessment mode. This journey serves to highlight the importance of determination, resilience and perseverance in applying a new form of technology within an academic context. Furthermore, support of senior management is also essential to its success. Essentially this article shows that the successful implementation of e-assessment at a university is possible but reliant on motivated academics and institutional buy in.     

Insights gained from a comparison of South African and Canadian first-generation students: the impact of resilience and resourcefulness on higher education success

ABSTRACT

First-generation students are often described as disadvantaged in university adjustment, self-efficacy and grades. Yet this deficit model of understanding first-generation students ignores their cultural capital, which could increase resilience and resourcefulness. Here, 844 students (31% first-generation) in South Africa and Canada completed measures of resilience, resourcefulness, university adjustment, academic self-efficacy and self-reported grades. Overall, the results reveal that the characterisation of first-generation students is culturally specific and, in some ways, differs between Canada and South Africa. That is, the deficit model may better describe Canadian than South African first-generation students. Yet, in many ways first-generation students are like their peers and their academic outcomes are predicted by their culturally specific levels of resourcefulness and resilience. This study support the notion that the positives students bring to university should be considered and that students would benefit from being taught the requisite skills involved in increasing resourcefulness and resilience.     

The moderating role of resilience in the relationship between academic burnout and the perception of psychological health in nursing students

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyse the role of resilience in the dimensions of academic burnout syndrome and psychological health in a sample of nursing students. A battery of questionnaires was administered to 218 nursing students, all of whom were in the second year of their degree at the University of Murcia (Spain). The applied protocol used the CD-RISC 10 scale for the measurement of resilience, the burnout scale MBI, and the GHQ-12 questionnaire to assess psychological health. The findings showed a significant relationship between resilience and burnout, emotional exhaustion, and self-efficacy, as well as with psychological health. Moreover, three burnout dimensions were found to be significantly linked to psychological health in the way we had predicted. Regression analysis indicated the moderating role of resilience on psychological health in emotionally exhausting situations. We conclude that the psychological characteristic resilience moderated the effect of emotional exhaustion on the psychological health of the students. The practical implications of the results are discussed in order to introduce measures for the proper training of nursing students for professional practice; we also make several suggestions for future research in this field.     

Faith conquers all? Demographic and psychological resources and their associations with academic performance among religious college students

ABSTRACT

Evidence on the association of religiosity and academic attainment is consistent, thus suggesting additional factors intervene in this relationship. We proposed and tested a model with two concepts from the field of positive psychology: psychological capital and psychological resilience. We hypothesised that these mediate the association between religiosity, demographic variables and academic achievement. We tested the model in a sample of 119 senior students in a Catholic university in Poland. The results partially supported the model; both psychological capital and psychological resilience mediated the association between religiosity and academic attainment but in different directions. Among the demographic variables, only age associated directly with achievement. The results are discussed in light of the existing evidence and positive psychology theory.     

中学生心理韧性与学业水平的关系研究

本研究致力于研究心理韧性的地区、性别和年级特点及其与学业水平的关系。采用问卷法对707名学生进行调查。结果表明:(1)在情绪控制、家庭支持、人际协助子量表,个人力、支持力分量表和总量表上均存在显著的地区差异。在人际协助子量表上,女生显著高于男生。在目标专注、积极认知和家庭支持子量表上,存在着显著的年级差异;(2)不同学业水平的学生心理韧性存在显著差异;(3)心理韧性总量表、分量表及其子量表与中学生的学业水平均成显著正相关;(4)积极认知和家庭支持子量表对学业水平有显著的预测性。     

Mindsets That Promote Resilience: When Students Believe That Personal Characteristics Can Be Developed

Because challenges are ubiquitous, resilience is essential for success in school and in life. In this article we review research demonstrating the impact of students’ mindsets on their resilience in the face of academic and social challenges. We show that students who believe (or are taught) that intellectual abilities are qualities that can be developed (as opposed to qualities that are fixed) tend to show higher achievement across challenging school transitions and greater course completion rates in challenging math courses. New research also shows that believing (or being taught) that social attributes can be developed can lower adolescents’ aggression and stress in response to peer victimization or exclusion, and result in enhanced school performance. We conclude by discussing why psychological interventions that change students’ mindsets are effective and what educators can do to foster these mindsets and create resilience in educational settings.