Educational Psychology Commons^™

Mental Health Among Honors College Students: Evidence From College Entry Essays, Mohini Gobin, Jaclyn Kopel, Eric Osborne-Christenson, Anna Shostya

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

This study explores the effect of preexisting mental health issues on college students’ academic performance. Using unique data from the honors college at a medium-sized urban private university, authors examine college entry essays (N = 1,062) in five classes (two pre-pandemic and three post-pandemic), as well as advisors’ (N = 7) notes. Mental health (MH) concerns are grouped into six non-mutually exclusive categories: depression/anxiety, neurodiversity/learning disabilities, identity-related concerns, grief/loss, trauma, and the mental health of others whose lives impact the student. The study finds that the number of honors students citing mental health in their entrance essays more …

The Well-Being Of Honors College Students Compared To Non-Honors College Students Accounting For Prior Gifted Experience, Hannah C. Dewald, Allyson S. Graf

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Student wellness is a growing concern among educators. Previous studies on the well-being of honors students as compared to other undergraduates result in mixed findings. This study examines the trajectory of gifted programming in education and specific challenges to the collegiate experience, presenting differences between honors students (N = 49) and non-honors peers (N = 138) using two well-being indicators (academic anxiety and academic self-efficacy) and three related factors (perceived past school competitiveness, maladaptive perfectionism, and pressure due to labeling). While authors posit that honors students may have higher academic anxiety and lower self-efficacy than those not enrolled …

Face-To-Face: A Sociologist Looks At College Students' Mental Health, Maureen Kelleher

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

While both individual honors programs and their broader campus communities have implemented new initiatives and intervention strategies to address undergraduate mental health, significant needs remain unmet and concerns unaddressed about the long-term implications for students. This paper provides a framework for understanding the current (2023) environment on many campuses by presenting national legislation that shapes campus response, offering cases of specific institutional responses to crisis, and exploring the impact of face-to-face interaction between faculty and students in classrooms. Awareness of these three levels of response—national, campus, and classroom—equips and empowers the honors community to understand and effectively deal with myriad …

Competing In The Stress Olympics: Mid-Level Managers And Their Experiences Of Work Stress As Impacted By Their Supervisors And Organizational Climate, Melissa Jane Hecker Scott

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Student affairs has a problem due to staff attrition (Rosser & Javinar, 2003). Most professionals leave the field due to job dissatisfaction, unhealthy work environments, high stress, and low morale (Marshall et al., 2016; Rosser & Javinar, 2003). Researchers have identified a relationship between job stress and burnout and intentions to leave the field of student affairs (Mullen et al., 2018). Turnover of positions is financially detrimental to the institution due to the cost of recruitment, hiring, and training the replacement employee (Agovino, 2019). In addition to the financial impact, when mid-level managers leave, there is a loss of institutional …

Gsep Research Symposium Proceedings - 2024

GSEP Research Symposium

The 8th Annual GSEP Research Symposium, was themed "Dismantling Barriers between Research and Practice: Shining a Light on Global Interdisciplinary Solutions," took place on July 18-19, 2024, at the picturesque Château d'Hauteville in Saint-Légier-La Chiésaz, Switzerland.

The annual symposium is hosted by the Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP). The symposium served as a dynamic platform for students, faculty, alums, and staff to come together and explore innovative ideas across multiple disciplines. Featuring 69 selected presentations under five distinct tracks, the proceedings showcase groundbreaking research, foster meaningful discussions, and promote professional development.

The symposium aimed to bridge …

Examining Mental Health Differences Between Traditional And Nontraditional College Students From 2017-2022, Terrence A. Calistro Jr.

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The COVID-19 pandemic and societal changes in response to the pandemic have contributed to increasing the prevalence of mental health issues among college students globally. Because of their additional responsibilities, the prevalence of mental issues among the subpopulation of Nontraditional College Students (NTCS) is even more concerning. NTCS possess at least one of the following characteristics (e.g., working full-time, part-time employment, having financial dependents, etc.) that differentiates them from typical college students who enter higher education right after high school. Prior research has shown that NTCS generally experience more life stressors and challenges associated with mental health issues (e.g., depression, …

The Impact Of The First Language Usage For Chinese Undergraduate International Students, Qiunan Liu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

English as the “lingua franca” serves as a bridge across diverse nations, cultures, and economies and plays an important role in modern society, which has increased the number of English language learners around the world. In the United States, over 30% of international students are from China, with the majority being undergraduate students. A significant number of Chinese students need to enroll in English learning courses when they attend universities in the U.S. due to insufficient English language test scores. Chinese international students often incorporate their first language (L1) when they are learning English in the U.S. Therefore, understanding the …

Mindfulness And Perceived Stress Among English Language Students In Uzbekistan, Laurie A. Wolfe, Rakhmatullo Akhmedov

The Interactive Journal of Global Leadership and Learning

The current study investigated the effective of mindfulness training versus study skills training on perceived stress among Uzbek English language students. The researchers conducted a quasi-experimental study using a convenience sample of sixty 2^nd year students studying English as a foreign language at a large public university in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. One group of students (n = 30) received mindfulness training while the other group served as an active control group (n = 30) and received study skills training. Both groups received 20-minute training in their English classes, four days a week, for 4-weeks. All participants completed pre- …

Perspectives Of Student Affairs Staff: Impact Of Employee Engagement On Student Success, Kourtney Ross

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Global Impact Of The Hlrc Journal On Digital Teaching And Learning Research And Best Practices In Higher Education, Erwin Krauskopf, Gary J. Burkholder

Higher Learning Research Communications

We are pleased to publish the first regular issue (Volume 14, Issue 1) of Higher Learning Research Communications (HLRC) for 2024. Because of our strategic decisions, the journal has advanced in the Scimago journal rank (SJR), which measures the frequency with which content published in a journal was cited in other journals during the three previous years. The SJR provides a numerical indicator of a journal's relative importance and impact within its field. We announce that HLRC has been ranked 612 out of 1,506 journals among all education journals indexed by Scopus, classifying HLRC as within the second quartile of …

From First Gen To Faculty: A Narrative Study Of First-Generation College Students Who Became Community College Faculty, Patrick Nevins

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of first-generation community college faculty through narrative inquiry. Qualitative data were collected through semi-standard interviews with full-time community college faculty who were first-generation college students. In the first level of analysis, narrative accounts were created from the data, and in the second level of analysis, narrative accounts were compared for the identification of codes. Three themes emerged from data analysis: (a) being college bound from school age, (b) facing barriers to academic success as undergraduates, and (c) relating to students as faculty. The implications of the study are that first-generation …

Identifying Graduate Students’ Instructional Strategies And Approaches Towards Teaching Employable Skills, Elizabeth S. Che

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

College instruction tends to focus on imparting disciplinary knowledge rather than employable broad-based skills emphasized by undergraduate guidelines. The lack of emphasis on broad-skill development may leave many undergraduate students unprepared for the workforce. Graduate students who are future professoriate, are teaching undergraduate courses with various attitudes and strategies. This dissertation comprises three published studies that used data from two surveys identifying graduate students’ instructional strategies and approaches to teaching employable skills in their courses.

The first study asked whether graduate students teaching undergraduate courses (N = 114; 70.2% women, M age = 30 years) aim to teach employable …

Is This My Place? Contributing Factors To Community College Students' Longitudinal Sense Of Belonging And The Connection Of Sense Of Belonging To Student Success, Kelly Elizabeth Love

Dissertations and Theses

Community colleges serve a large percentage of historically under-represented populations including students of color, low-income, and first-generation students. Unfortunately, less than half of students who begin at a community college return the following Fall and only about one-fourth of students eventually graduate. Previous research indicates that students' sense of belonging may be a key factor in retention and completion rates. However, large-scale datasets have yet to comprehensively explore students' sense of belonging in the community college setting. To address that issue, the purpose of this quantitative exploratory study was to examine individual and institutional variables associated with a measure of …

Pre To Post Course Differences In Knowledge And Perception Of A Careers For Psychology Majors Course, Laura Powell

CoTL 2024 Research Talks

The Psychology Department at the University of South Alabama began teaching a course titled “Careers for Psychology Majors” in Fall 2019. This sophomore level course was created to help psychology majors explore careers options with a bachelor's degree in psychology as well as careers that require graduate study. Students completed a pre and post course survey from their Landrum and Davis (2020) textbook regarding their knowledge and perceptions of career options after graduating. Pre to post course changes in student surveys were analyzed with paired samples t-tests for each question. Increases from pre to post was observed with every question …

(Non)Cognitive Dissonance? A Stakeholder-Based Exploration Of The Consideration Of Graduate Admissions Applicants' Personal Skills And Qualities, Reginald M. Gooch, Joseph H. Paris, Sara B. Haviland, Jose Sotelo

Journal of College Access

Prospective graduate students’ noncognitive attributes are commonly evaluated as a part of a holistic review of their admission applications. Yet it is difficult to determine which noncognitive attributes are considered by those who evaluate graduate admissions applications and what approaches they take to measure applicants’ noncognitive attributes. It is even less clear to what degree prospective graduate students understand how they are evaluated for graduate admissions and how the evaluation of their noncognitive attributes factor into admissions decisions. Drawing on surveys of graduate enrollment management (GEM) professionals and prospective graduate students in the United States, our study investigates the noncognitive …

Campus Ministry And Spiritual Self-Efficacy: A Phenomenological Study Of Academic Achievement Among Black Male Students At An Historically Black College And University, Mitchell Stevens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bandura’s self-efficacy theory, which emphasizes the importance of self-efficacy in motivation and achievement (Bandura, 1994), provided a lens through which to analyze the influence of Historically Black Colleges and University’s (HBCUs) campus ministry on the development of spiritual self-efficacy and academic achievement among Black males. Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have a long history of providing higher education opportunities to Black students, and they have been instrumental in fostering academic, personal, and social growth (Smith & Allen, 2014). However, little is known about the specific impact of campus ministry programs on the development of Black males’ spiritual self-efficacy and …

The Relationship Between Role Models, Socioeconomic Mobility Beliefs, And Academic Outcomes, Christian Koeu, Marisol Espinoza Garcia

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Objective: This study aims to provide insights into the relationships between role models, socioeconomic mobility beliefs and the education outcomes of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. While previous studies highlight the positive influence of role models on academic and career aspirations, the specific relationship between role models and socioeconomic beliefs remains unexplored. Our study addresses this gap by examining whether the presence of role models relates with more optimistic socioeconomic beliefs and how these beliefs, in turn, affect academic outcomes (academic engagement, academic intentions, and grade point average [GPA]). Additionally, we investigate the influence of role model characteristics to …

College And Career Readiness Effects On Minority Male College Retention, Naquiyah Lashawn Hodges

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The continuously low college retention and low degree attainment of African American and Hispanic men is a generational and decades-long hindrance to the elevation of these marginalized communities in the United States and the state of Texas. In Texas, the last 3 years’ worth of data has proven college-readiness rates of African American and Hispanic college students were significantly lower by large margins than White students in English language arts, math, and both subjects by large margins. Consistent low college retention rates of minority men produce a need to conduct further research of how this phenomenon affects minority men …

An Exploratory Comparison Of The Impact Of Covid-19 On American And Chinese College Student Lives, Arvind Agrawal, Alan Hamlin, Steve Barney, Yongchuan Shi

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

US and Chinese students in their home countries rated their life experiences since the advent of Covid-19 on various aspects of their lives, including academic performance, social life, and emotional, financial, and physical well-being. Input was also received about how Covid-19 has affected their communication, career planning, and post-graduate goals.

To assess the impacts of these changes on college students, the authors created a questionnaire to ask students about their perceptions of these COVID-related impacts on their personal lives. The survey had 56 questions, with 1580 students responding, providing both objective input and subjective comments. Due to the volume of …

Digital Literacy, Attitudes Toward E-Learning, And Task Value Roles In College Students’ Distance Learning Self-Regulation, Husnul Muasyaroh, Lucia R.M. Royanto

Psychological Research on Urban Society

The increased adoption of distance learning in higher education, which was especially evident in urban areas during the COVID-19 pandemic, underscores the crucial role of self-regulated learning (SRL) skills. Although previous research demonstrated positive correlations between learner factors and SRL in distance education, a research gap exists in understanding the mediating and moderating roles of specific factors. This study addresses this concern by examining the relationship between digital literacy and SRL as mediated by attitude toward e-learning with task value as a moderator. The study recruited 538 college students (aged 17–25 years) from 10 public universities. Digital literacy was measured …

The Predictive Relationship Between Student Food-Insecurity And Basic Psychological Needs Within College Students, Andrew Joel Tlucek

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In recent years, researchers have determined food insecurity affects a college student’s grade point average (GPA), mental health, campus status, and social life. While each of these findings is valuable for post-secondary faculty and their decision-making, none can determine whether a student’s basic psychological needs are affected by their food insecurity (FI), which is paramount in a student’s success inside and outside of the classroom. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether there was a predictive relationship between the severity of a student’s food insecurity and their basic psychological needs satisfaction. To accomplish the study, one hundred …

In What Ways Do Perceptions By Faculty, Students, And Advisors In An Urban University Contribute To Undergraduate Student Success?, Carla Jordan

Dissertations

This study employs a mixed-methods approach to explore perceptions of academic advising among faculty, advisors, and undergraduate students at an urban university in the Midwest, focusing on its implications for student success. Utilizing Creswell’s research design framework, the research integrates quantitative and qualitative data collection methods to understand the relationship between academic advising and student outcomes.

Informed by Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, the study examines how beliefs, behaviors, and environmental factors shape academic experiences and success. It employs the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) from George Kuh’s student engagement framework as a quantitative tool to measure student engagement and …

Career Choice Motivation For Professional Pilots, Brett Watts, Tamilla Curtis, Scott Ambrose

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

This study identified key motivational factors of current flight training students to better understand how individuals are motivated to pursue a career in aviation. The theoretical framework used in this study was based upon self-determination theory, as originally introduced by Deci and Ryan (2000).The research approach for this study was a semi-structured interview process where students were asked eight foundational career motivation source questions and their responses were organized into career choice motivation categories. Results showed most participants became motivated to pursue a piloting career at a very young age. This early motivation was largely due to influence from third …

The Effect Of Massage Therapy On Test Anxiety Experienced By Traditional-Aged Undergraduate Business Students, Jorge A. Pazmiño

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

Test anxiety impacts traditional-aged undergraduate business students and influences their academic performance and overall well-being. This study explored the efficacy of massage therapy (MT) as a means of mitigating test anxiety within this demographic. Building on existing literature that addresses the consequences of anxiety and alternative coping mechanisms, this research study focused on MT as a potential strategy for test anxiety management. The study employed the Adult Manifest Anxiety Scale–College Version (AMAS-C) to gather data from participants at a private liberal arts institution in the East South-Central region of the United States. An experimental group received an MT intervention, while …

Chapter 01: Message Design For Instructional Designers - An Introduction, Miguel Ramlatchan

Instructional Message Design, Volume 3

Instructional message design is the use of learning theories to effectively communicate information using technology. Design is guided by theories including gestalt, cognitive load, multimedia learning, media selection, media attributes, and general communication systems. Our communication designs can be based on a wide variety of technologies or a combination of technologies. Technology in the form of tools and techniques includes, among others, the study and the use of typography, color, illustrations, photographs, modeled graphics, augmented reality, animation, video, video games, simulations, and virtual reality. This introduction serves as a brief overview of these theories, tools, and techniques, while subsequent chapters …

Identity-Driven Targeted Violence: Attending To Identity, Emotion, And Personality-Related Predictors Of Attitudinal And Behavioral Prejudice, Patrick Timothy Mcgonigal

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Identity-driven targeted violence driven by gender identity, sexuality, race, and religion overwhelmingly impacts marginalized groups of individuals. Existing evidence suggests that acts of bias on college campuses are often unreported by students, leaving those who engage in these behaviors to continue without proper redress. A great wealth of data illustrates the deleterious impacts of identity-driven behavior on student victims, including heightened psychological distress, poorer academic performance, and lower retention. In contrast, limited research has examined relevant underpinnings of perpetrating identity-driven harassment. The current dissertation developed and disseminated a large survey to undergraduate students spanning three years of data collection. The …

First-Generation College Students And Sense Of Belonging At School: The Moderating Effect Of Remote Learning, Christina Su Ju

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the effect of first-generation college student status on students’ sense of belonging, and whether remote learning moderates this effect. Specifically, this study examines whether first-generation college students’ sense of belonging at university differs from their continuing-generation college student counterpart, and whether taking remote courses impacts that relationship. It was hypothesized that first-generation college students would report lower sense of belonging than continuing-generation college students, and that remote learning would moderate the relationship such that the negative effect of first-generation student status on sense of belonging is strengthened when the student takes more remote courses. Survey data from …

Intersectional Cultural Identities Among First-Generation College Students: From A Deficit To Asset Perspective, Kelsie K. Allison

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

First-generation college students (FGCS) comprise of over half of the U.S. higher education student population, yet have considerably lower academic attainment rates compared to non-FGCS. Research has explored challenges that may attribute to these academic disparities, however, there remains a critical gap in identifying FGCS assets that may ameliorate these disparities. Addressing this gap, the current study examined the role of cultural identity, which has shown to have a positive impact on college students’ academic achievement and well-being, as a key asset for FGCS. Specifically, the current study examined the unique effects of various cultural identity domains (i.e., ethnic, U.S., …

Conceptions Of Heroic Leadership In Civil Society, Theresa A. Thorkildsen

Heroism Science

While nations face multiple disruptions to civil society, individuals in late adolescence and early adulthood are overlooked for heroic leadership opportunities in some cultures. An underestimation of individuals’ abilities is sometimes fostered by biological definitions of human development that align competence with physical changes in the brain (Blakemore, 2012). Prolonged exposure to such disregard can encourage individuals to restrict the information they notice, fostering distortion in the intentions that support leadership readiness (Pratkanis, 2007). Studies of individuals’ conceptions of how the world operates can improve leadership readiness if such evidence is used to verify that individuals notice essential information. Using …

I Didn’T See It Coming: Navigating An Uncomfortable Episode During Doctoral Research Fieldwork, Narina A. Samah

The Qualitative Report

In this article, I revisit my experiences during my doctoral fieldwork from the lens of a novice qualitative researcher. Initially embracing the role of narrative inquirer, I was in the midst of navigating my inquisitive journey by re-examining my personal practical knowledge as a means to confront my puzzle of practice. Six months of fieldwork allowed me to re-experience my classroom teaching practice through a pair of new eyes. As my research was ending, events took an unexpected turn, leading to the delicate issue of female teacher/lecturer-student relationships during research fieldwork and the dilemma of deciding whether to include or …