Academic Underachievers Research Articles

Empowering underachieving youths in producing videos on social media: a study on the effectiveness of the BE:GINOW Training Programme

This study conducted a detailed analysis of how academically underachieving youth use technology and social media to create videos as part of a training programme called BE:GINOW. A mixed study design that combined a quantitative method using questionnaires and qualitative methods through interviews was used. The questionnaires were distributed through two phases: pre-BE:GINOW programme (Phase 1) and post-BE:GINOW programme (Phase 2), which intended to compare the videos produced by the participants before and after the programme. We also conducted two interview sessions to obtain feedback from external facilitators and participants on the effectiveness of the programme. The results show that BE:GINOW has successfully helped the participants produce more quality videos after eight months of participating in the programme. Respondents agreed that the post-programmed videos were better in terms of presentation structure, message delivery, language use and presentation style. The external facilitators and participants also confirmed the effectiveness of BE:GINOW in motivating and guiding the underachieving youth to improve their skills in the production of videos. It is envisaged that a programme like BE:GINOW will serve as a model for future technology-based training, acting as a catalyst for academic underachievers to expand their life skills and become active content creators.

학습분석학 기반 대학생의 학업저성취 예측 요인 탐색

Objectives The purpose of this study is to explore the possibility of preventing academic underachievers by utilizing the data of enrolled students accumulated in the school academic system from the perspective of learning analytics. In particular, by exploring predictive factors for academic underachievement based on academic data before the start of the semester, we intend to predict and select risk groups for academic underachievement early before the start of the semester. The results of early prediction and screening are intended to be used to prepare a preemptive support plan for teaching and learning for those at risk of academic underachievement.
 Methods 670 students of 4-year A university located in the metropolitan area were selected as the research subjects and the academic data accumulated in the school academic system was analyzed. The independent variables are the previous semester's GPA, total credits completed, total number of leave of absence, total number of academic warnings, total number of F credit courses, and major course registration credits and liberal arts course registration credits for which course registration has been confirmed for the current semester. Dependent variables are GPA and low academic achievement in the current semester. For data analysis, SPSS 28.0 statistical program was used, linear regression analysis was performed to confirm the explanatory power of independent variables for grades, and logistic regression analysis was performed to derive predictive factors for low academic achievement.
 Results As variables predicting grades according to Research Question 1, the GPA of the previous semester, total credits completed, credits for major course registration in the current semester, and credits for general course registration in the current semester had a positive effect on grades. And the total number of F-credit courses and the total number of leave of absence were confirmed as predictors that negatively affected grades. According to Research Question 2, the variables predicting low academic achievement are GPA of the previous semester, total credits completed, credits for major course registration in the current semester, and credits for general course registration in the current semester have a negative effect on low academic achievement. And the total number of F grade courses, the total number of leave of absence, and the total number of academic warnings were confirmed as predictive variables that had a positive effect on academic underachievement.
 Conclusions This study has great educational significance in that it derives predictive factors for grades and academic underachievement based on the academic data of students enrolled in the school and prepares a method for teaching-learning support. The results of this study will be available as practical examples and reference materials for early prediction and support of grade and academic underachievers.

Motivational and personality variables distinguish academic underachievers from high achievers, low achievers, and overachievers

Previous studies have associated several variables concerning motivation and other domains with underachievement, i. e. a student's academic achievement falling short of what their cognitive abilities, as the best predictor of academic performance, would indicate. The present study extends these findings using a more rigorous approach in defining underachievers and suitable control groups. Using discriminant analysis, underachievers identified in a German twin family study were compared not only to achievers with comparable IQ scores, but also with students of lower aptitude, but comparably low grades, as well as overachieving students. Results confirm previous findings that compared to successful students, underachievers report lower levels of motivation and parental support; beyond this comparison, underachievers also differed from other low achievers, mostly in terms of their personality. In total, 40% of the variance between the groups were explained. Additionally, the data shed doubt on the common assumption that underachievers are an unusually heterogenous group of students.

Factors contributing to student academic underachievement in war and conflict: A multilevel qualitative study

Guided by the ecological-transactional theory, this study investigates interrelated social and contextual multilevel factors contributing to academic underachievement in war and ongoing armed conflict. Twelve sixth-grade students were identified as academic underachievers and interviews were conducted with 40 informants—the 12 students, their parents, teachers, and counselors. All students exhibited symptoms of traumatic stress, had considerable problems with the cognitive process of learning and lacked basic study techniques. They experienced a considerable weakening of their natural social support system through lack of care, safety, or stability at home and additional burden in school, contributing to a profound sense of inadequacy and failure.

Multimodal expressive arts in school counselling: a strength-based intervention program for academic underachievers in secondary schools

ABSTRACT This study looked into the effectiveness of an intervention program using multimodal expressive arts therapy approach for underachieving adolescents. A six-session program, adopting strength-based and insight-oriented approach, was implemented to 14 secondary school students who met the criteria as underachievers. Qualitative data was analyzed using grounded theory methodology. Two themes emerged from students’ artwork and reflection, as well as teachers’ feedback: conflicts and defense (inferiority and helplessness; indifferent and sloopy), as well as the needs for understanding and social support reoccurred in students’ art piece and reflection across sessions. Quantitative data, from teachers and students, indicated an increase in behavioral and emotional engagement at the end of the program. Multidimensional motivation states of underachieving students were also emerged. The indifference within themselves on the issue on “underachieving” are brought to their conscious level and leading to more self-reflection. Limitations and implications of this study are presented.

Teaching Reading Strategically to Black Academic Underachievers

In response to the academic achievement gap of black American students’ vis-à-vis whites and Asians, Paul C. Mocombe developed his Mocombeian Strategy and Reading Room Curriculum, which posit a comprehensive mentoring program of educated black professionals and the restructuring of the linguistic structure of black American inner-city students via phonetic and language arts instructions, as the solutions to resolving the gap. The two approaches are based on Mocombe’s hypothesis that the academic underachievement of black American students, vis-à-vis their white and Asian counterparts, on standardized tests is grounded in what he refers to as “a mismatch of linguistic structure and social class function.” This work explores the theoretical, practical, and pedagogical relationships between Mocombe’s “mismatch of linguistic structure and social class function hypothesis,” The Mocombeian Strategy, and Reading Room Curriculum (published as Mocombe’s Reading Room Series).

Perceptions of Academic Achievers and Under-Achievers on Learning Environment at Sam Ratulangi University, Indonesia

Perceptions of Academic Achievers and Under-Achievers on Learning Environment at Sam Ratulangi University, Indonesia

The Academic Intrinsic Motivation and its Relationship with the Emotional Intelligence Level with a Sample of the Academic Overachievers and Underachievers of Najran University

<p>The research tackled the academic intrinsic motivation and its relationship with the emotional intelligence with a sample of the academic overachievers and underachievers of Najran University. The study population consisted of the students of Najran University who are enrolled in the University academic year 2015/2016, during the first semester in the various colleges. The study sample consisted of (423) male and female students; and the study instruments included the emotional IQ which consisted of (54) items, and the academic intrinsic motivation questionnaire, which consisted of (36) items, to identify the overall emotional intelligence degree and the motivation with the students. The results showed that the academic intrinsic motivation and emotional intelligence degrees were high with the university students. Furthermore, the results showed a direct correlational, statistically significant relationship between the academic intrinsic motivation and the emotional intelligence; and there are statistically significant differences between the motivation and emotional intelligence among the academically outstanding and non-outstanding students.</p>

Academic self-concept, achievement goals, and achievement: Is their relation the same for academic achievers and underachievers?

ABSTRACTThis longitudinal study investigated the contribution of achievement goals and academic self-concept for the prediction of unexpected academic achievement (i.e., achievement that is higher or lower than expected with respect to students’ cognitive ability) in general and when comparing groups of extreme over- and underachievers. Our sample comprised 769 students (50.78% female, 160 underachievers, 176 overachievers) in the highest track of the German secondary school system who were assessed three times (in grade 5, 6, and 8). Controlling for students’ cognitive ability, results supported the reciprocal effects model for positive developmental relations between academic self-concept and achievement in the overall sample. Furthermore, academic self-concept and performance goals showed significant reciprocal relations. For achievement goals, only mastery goals showed positive reciprocal relationships with academic achievement, whereas performance goals (approach and avoidance) showed no significant relations. However, for underachieving students, academic self-concept as well as mastery goals were unrelated to later achievement, and for overachieving students, both constructs showed positive relations with later achievement. Findings indicate that interventions aimed at positive goal development might also produce positive and lasting impacts on academic self-concept and—mediated by self-concept—on academic achievement. However, this does not seem to apply to underachieving students.

Academic Underachievement of Learners at School: A Literature Review

This paper provides an account of academic underachievement using a literature review. It begins by describing what academic underachievement is as a global conern. Different etiological models, characteristics, types and symptoms of academic underachievers are discussed. The paper concludes with a dsicussion of school-related factors affecting acadeimc underachievement. We conclude by noting that learners need to be made aware of the existence of academic underachievment and that the phenomenon is pervasive but can be dealt with. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p827

Teaching the creative class? Media education and the media industries in the age of ‘participatory culture’

ABSTRACTThis article explores the provision in the UK of pre-vocational and vocational media courses targeted at academic underachievers. Such courses typically claim to offer routes into employment for socially disadvantaged young people. These assertions have gathered force in recent years with the advent of digital media, and associated claims about their potential for promoting democratic participation and creativity. The article begins with a brief look at the history of provision in this sector since the 1980s, and the critical debates that have surrounded it. It then moves on to look at claims about the ‘empowering’ possibilities of digital media technologies, and at the changing nature of employment in the media and creative industries. The article then focuses on the most recent initiative in this field, the ill-fated Creative and Media Diploma. Drawing on interviews with teachers and some limited classroom observation, it points to some significant gaps between the rhetoric that surrounded the introduction of this new course and the difficult realities encountered by the teachers who adopted it. It points to several reasons for the ultimate demise of the qualification, not least to do with the fundamental incoherence of the Diploma's aims.

Sociocultural theories, academic achievement, and African American adolescents in a multicultural context: a review of the cultural incompatibility perspective

Some theories have posited that African American youth are academic underachievers because of sociocultural factors. We label this point of view the cultural incompatibility perspective. Ogbu’s oppositional culture theory and Steele’s stereotype threat theory are selected as popular examples of this viewpoint. A critical review of the literature on these particular theories was conducted. It was concluded that there is limited empirical support for the cultural incompatibility perspective on African American academic achievement. This raises questions about the focus on academic underachievement among African Americans versus high achievement among other ethnic/racial groups. Implications of the empirical findings on the incompatibility perspective for the role of African American culture in Black student achievement are discussed.

Relationship of Perceptual Abilities with Academic Performance of Children

This study investigates the relationship that exist between the perceptual abilities and the academic performance of children. Perceptual abilities in four areas - visual, auditory, kinesthetic and tactile were assessed and their relationship with three academic areas - reading, spellings and mathematics was explored. The sample comprised of 200 academic underachievers studying in classes' 4 th - 6 th , selected from 59 schools across Jammu block. Stratified sampling technique was used for sample collection. The results reveal that on the whole the academic performance was significantly correlated with three perceptual abilities - visual, auditory and kinesthetic. When considered separately, reading and spelling both were significantly associated not only with one another but also the three already mentioned perceptual areas. On the other hand, mathematic was found to be significantly correlated with only auditory and visual perception.

Perceptions of academic achievers and under-achievers regarding learning environment of Melaka Manipal Medical College (Manipal campus), Manipal, India, using the DREEM Inventory

The South-East Asian Journal of Medical Education (SEAJME) is the culmination of the SEARAME's vision to bring together medical educationists in the region to promote collaborative efforts toward uplifting the standards of medical education in the region and beyond through dissemination of knowledge. This journal will be the ideal platform to disseminate research findings and stimulate discussion among experts in the field. Open access policy of the journal will facilitate this ideal.From November 2019, The South-East Asian Journal of Medical Education (SEAJME) is indexed in EuroPub

Students' Perceptions of Educational Environment: A Comparison of Academic Achievers and Under-Achievers at Kasturba Medical College, India

No country, least of all poorly resourced countries such as India, can afford to lose too many medical students in their undergraduate years. It would be useful to have an instrument to identify those students who are vulnerable to academic failure at this level of training and to identify the features of the educational environment that they perceive differently from students who are succeeding academically in order to design intervention strategies. Gender differences in perceptions of the educational environment might well emerge in particular academic or cultural contexts, with particular curricula. The present study was motivated by this concern and focused on comparisons between academic achievers and under-achievers and male and female students of Kasturba Medical College, India. (1) To compare the perceptions of the educational environment of academic achievers and under-achievers and to identify problem areas that should be remediated. (2) To identify whether there is any gender difference in the perceptions. The Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) was administered to 508 medical students studying in the clinical years at the Kasturba Medical College in India. Item as well as scale scores were compared between academic achievers and under-achievers. Overall sample of the present study rated educational environment in this institution as average. The overall mean DREEM score was significantly higher for academic achievers. Compared to under-achievers, academic achievers scored significantly higher on perceptions regarding teachers, academic atmosphere and social self-perceptions. In addition to this, the overall rating (total DREEM score) of female students was significantly less compared to males in the academically vulnerable group. Perceptions of poor performers are significantly different from those of better performers in the same institution. More importance should be given to the perceptions of students to improve the educational environment, as perceptions are associated positively with learning outcome, learning approach and attitude toward studying. Use of the DREEM as a monitoring tool might permit timely interventions to remediate problematic educational environments.

Increasing MDMA use among college students: results of a national survey.

To examine the prevalence and changing patterns of ecstasy use among college students, and to determine characteristics, associated behaviors, and interests of ecstasy users. The study analyzes data regarding ecstasy use and related behaviors from the 1997 and 1999 Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study. This is a survey of a nationally representative sample of over 14,000 college students at 119 U.S. four-year colleges. Changes in self-reported annual ecstasy use were examined, and lifestyle and high-risk behaviors associated with Ecstasy use were identified. Data were analyzed using 2 x 2 Chi-square tests and multiple logistic regression fitted by the generalized estimating equations (GEE). The prevalence of past year ecstasy use rose from 2.8% to 4.7% between 1997 and 1999, an increase of 69%. This increase was observed across nearly all subgroups of student and college type. A smaller sample of ten colleges revealed that the increase continued in 2000. Ecstasy users were more likely to use marijuana, engage in binge drinking, smoke cigarettes, have multiple sexual partners, consider arts and parties as important, religion as less important, spend more times socializing with friends, and spend less times studying. Unlike other illicit drug users, ecstasy users were not academic underachievers and their satisfaction with education was not different from that of non-ecstasy users. Ecstasy use is a high-risk behavior among college students which has increased rapidly in the past decade.

Successful Adults Who Were Once Adolescent Underachievers

This retrospective study of professionally successful adults who were academic underachievers during adolescence ( N = 31) explored the phenomenological experience of underachievement, with particular focus on potentially interactive factors that might be associated with onset. maintenance, and reversal of underachievement. Underinvolved and nonencouraging parents and teachers, negative parental attitudes toward work, family conflict, lack of career direction, and family transitions were found to be associated with underachievement. Both the adolescents and their parents achieved in nonacademic areas. Findings suggest that personality factors, achiever role models outside of the family, developmental task accomnplishmrent, changes in location, and new academic courses may contribute to reversal of underachievement.

Adolescent Pregnancy Correlates with Educational Underachievement in an Urban Setting 27

In order to better understand the factors leading to teenage pregnancy in our high risk population, we interviewed 119 adolescent females ≤ age 21; 102 postpartum mothers and 17 hospitalized control adolescents (mostly PID and asthma). In addition to direct questioning, the WRAT for reading and Gillmore Reading Comprehension Test were administered to assess educational level. The two groups did not differ for race, citizenship, economic situation or employment. When those sexually active were asked about contraception method, 70% reported using condoms, 7% oral contraceptives, 6% other methods and 17% no method. Of the teens who used some form of contraception, 17% use it every time, 23% most of the time, 45% sporatically and 15% rarely. Information about contraception was obtained primarily from health clinics (45%), with only 14% from schools and 11% from parents. Male partners rarely play a primary role in the decision to use contraception, with only 15% raising the issue first vs 49% of the females. 70% of the pregnancies were unplanned and 30% of the mothers were using contraception at the time of conception. The postpartum group were older when they first had sexual intercourse (15±2 vs 11±6, p=0.0000). Educational underachievement was based on the difference between the expected grade level based upon age and the grade level performed on the reading tests. Teen mothers were academic underachievers, both on the WRAT (4.5±2.8 vs 1.8±2.5, p=0.0006) and on the Gillmore (4.8±2.6 vs 2.4±2.5, p=0.0008). In addition, teen mothers were in a significantly lower percentile on the WRAT than the control teens (12.3±17.6 vs 26.8±29.6, p=0.0060). We conclude that adolescents who are pregnant score lower in academic tests. These findings suggest that better intervention in terms of general education as well as education geared to preventing teenage pregnancy needs to be targeted towards this high risk population.

Self-concept among African-American at-risk adolescents.

Self-concepts of 196 African-American adolescents examined here were higher than the norms despite their being at-risk and academic underachievers.

SELF-CONCEPT AMONG AFRICAN-AMERICAN AT-RISK ADOLESCENTS

Self-concepts of 196 African-American adolescents examined here were higher than the norms despite their being at-risk and academic underachievers.