Educational Research Course Research Articles

Academic procrastination and the role of hope as a coping strategy

This study examined, we believe for the first time, the relationship between hope and academic procrastination. One hundred and sixteen graduate students enrolled in an introductory-level educational research course at a mid-southern university were administered the Procrastination Assessment Scale-Students (PASS), and the Adult Hope Scale that operationalizes hope as a reciprocal combination of pathways and agency thinking. Findings suggest that both hope factors helped predict academic procrastination with respect to fear of failure, but not task aversiveness. Suggestions for a deeper understanding of the role of hope in mitigating procrastination are offered.

Academic procrastination and statistics anxiety

Statistics anxiety, which is experienced by as many as 80% of graduate students, has been found to debilitate performance in statistics and research methodology courses. As such, it is likely that statistics anxiety is, in part, responsible for many students delaying enrollment in these courses for as long as possible. Moreover, it is possible that, once enrolled in these courses, students with high levels of statistics anxiety tend to procrastinate on assignments. Thus, the purpose of this study was: (a) to examine the prevalence of procrastination among graduate students, and (b) to investigate the relationship between academic procrastination and six dimensions of statistics anxiety. Participants were 135 graduate students enrolled in three sections of a required introductory-level educational research course at a university in the southeastern part of the USA. Findings revealed that a high percentage of students reported problems with procrastination on writing term papers, studying for examinations, and completing weekly reading assignments. A canonical correlation analysis (R c1 =.51) revealed that academic procrastination resulting from both fear of failure and task aversiveness was related significantly to worth of statistics, interpretation anxiety, test and class anxiety, computational self-concept, fear of asking for help, and fear of the statistics instructor. Implications for statistics anxiety reduction as a procrastination intervention are discussed.

Modeling Statistics Achievement among Graduate Students

The purpose of the present investigation was to develop a model for predicting statistics achievement. Participants were 130 graduate students enrolled in a quantitative-based educational research course at a southeastern university. A path analysis revealed that statistics anxiety and achievement expectation played a central role in the model, mediating the relationship between statistics achievement and the following variables: research anxiety, study habits, course load, and the number of statistics courses taken. Findings are interpreted with respect to Onwuegbuzie, Bailey, and Daley’s Anxiety-Expectation Mediation model of foreign language learning.

Study coping and examination-taking coping strategies: the role of learning modalities among female graduate students

Abstract Coping strategies have been conceptualized as the cognitive and behavioral tactics that individuals utilize in order to control their environmental surroundings and to alleviate any stress that may occur when environmental demands surpass individuals’ resources. Study coping strategies and examination-taking coping strategies have been identified as two dimensions of this construct. Research suggests that both components predict academic performance. Thus, the present study was designed to determine antecedent correlates of coping strategies. Specifically, the goal was to identify a combination of learning modalities that might be correlated with the two dimensions of coping strategies. Participants were 82 female graduate students enrolled in several sections of a required quantitative-based educational research course at a southern university. A canonical correlation analysis revealed that study coping strategies and examination-taking coping strategies simultaneously were related statistically significantly to the following learning modalities: (a) motivated/unmotivated, (b) persistent, (c) responsible, (d) structure, (e) learning alone/peer-oriented learner, (f) auditory, (g) kinesthetic, (h) evening/morning, and (i) needs mobility. Implications are discussed.

Reading comprehension among graduate students.

The present purpose was to examine graduate students' reading comprehension and reading vocabulary by comparing their scores on a standardized reading rest with scores obtained by a large normative sample of undergraduates. Participants were 59 graduate students from various disciplines, enrolled in three sections of an introductory educational research course at a southeastern university. These students were administered the Nelson-Denny Reading Test-Form G. Analysis showed these students had higher scores on the reading comprehension portion than did the normative sample of 5,000 undergraduate students from 38 institutions (Cohen d=.71). Also, the graduate students' scores on the reading vocabulary portion were higher (d=.45).

READING COMPREHENSION AMONG GRADUATE STUDENTS

The present purpose was to examine graduate students' reading comprehension and reading vocabulary by comparing their scores on a standardized reading test with scores obtained by a large normative sample of undergraduates. Participants were 59 graduate students from various disciplines, enrolled in three sections of an introductory educational research course at a southeastern university. These students were administered the Nelson-Denny Reading Test–Form G. Analysis showed these students had higher scores on the reading comprehension portion than did the normative sample of 5,000 undergraduate students from 38 institutions (Cohen d = .71). Also, the graduate students' scores on the reading vocabulary portion were higher (d = .45).

Role of Study Skills in Graduate-Level Educational Research Courses

Graduate students' predominant study skill strengths and weaknesses were examined, as well as the relationship between specific study skills and achievement in a research methodology course. Graduate students (N = 122) from various education disciplines who were enrolled in 3 sections of an educational research course at a southeast university were administered the Study Habits Inventory (Jones & Slate, 1992). Students responded appropriately to 57.8% of the statements measuring study skills. Although that proportion was significantly higher than that found for undergraduate students in previous studies, graduate students could benefit from study skills training. Study skill weaknesses were identified in the areas of note taking and reading skills. Regression and discriminant analyses led to the identification of specific study behaviors that discriminated higher and lower levels of course achievement. Implications for intervention programs are discussed.

Anxiety toward statistics and the use of computers: A study of graduate level education majors

RESEARCH has shown that introducing computing technology into a statistics class can have a gender-specific, negative effect on achievement. In order to better understand this phenomenon, the purpose of this study was to investigate one construct, learner anxiety, that has been shown to be highly correlated with achievement. During the study, a control group of graduate level education majors (n=44) used hand-held calculators for computation during the statistical portion of an educational research course, whereas an experimental group (n=43) used statistical software. Results from theState Trait Anxiety Inventory showed no statistically significant differences in anxiety by treatment group. However, a significant treatment group by gender interaction did exist. When compared to the control group, females using the software showed significantly higher levels of anxiety, whereas males using the software demonstrated significantly lower levels of anxiety. Given these findings, careful consideration should be given as to how and when it is appropriate to introduce technology. Interventions that are designed to address one problem may wind up creating other problems that negatively affect student achievement. Educators should be prepared to deal with the problems as well as the opportunities that educational technology presents.

I’ll Go to the Library Later: The Relationship between Academic Procrastination and Library Anxiety

Approximately 95 percent of college students procrastinate on academic tasks such as writing term papers, studying for examinations, and keeping up with weekly reading assignments. At the graduate level, an estimated 60 percent of students procrastinate on academic tasks. Academic procrastination stems primarily from fear of failure and task aversiveness. It has been theorized, though not tested empirically, that highly anxious graduate students typically procrastinate while engaged in library-related tasks. This study investigated the relationship between academic procrastination and library anxiety at the graduate level. Participants included 135 graduate students enrolled in three sections of a required introductory-level educational research course. Findings revealed that, overall, academic procrastination was significantly positively related to the following dimensions of library anxiety: affective barriers, comfort with the library, and mechanical barriers. A canonical correlation analysis revealed that academic procrastination resulting from both fear of failure and task aversiveness was related significantly to barriers with staff, affective barriers, comfort with the library, and knowledge of the library. Implications for library anxiety reduction as a procrastination intervention are discussed.

Confessions of a Quantitative Educational Researcher Trying to Teach Qualitative Research

T idea for this article grew from a chart with Alan Peshkin at the 1993 AERA Annual Meeting. As I was walking through the exhibit area, I noticed Professor Peshkin, clean shaven, sitting at the Longman booth. Because Professor Peshkin is a former colleague and because I use his textbook (Glesne & Peshkin, 1992), I thought I might pick up some hints on teaching qualitative research. Parenthetically, for over 25 years I have taught measurement and statistics. In describing my professional training to Professor Peshkin, I mentioned also that I have an AB and MAT in sociology and that, as an undergraduate, I had taken several courses in anthropology. Professor Peshkin responded that my background was better than most of the first generation of professors of qualitative research. Fve been chewing on that first generation label since last year. This article is the result. Although I have no formal training in qualitative research, for the past 2 years I have taught a graduate course entitled Ethnography in School and Community Settings. Because of the terminal illness of one faculty member and the failure of a formal search, I have become the little Dutch boy with his thumb in the dike. Through this article I can share my successes (some) and can ask for help in those areas that need improvement (many). Most of all, I wish to initiate a dialogue with those of the first generation who, although not trained formally in the area, nevertheless teach qualitative research methods, either as a unit in the introductory educational research course or as a stand-alone ethnography or qualitative research course. Following Van Maanen (1988) the perspective of this article is that of a confessional tale, a tale whose concern [is] how the fieldworker's life was lived upriver among the (p. 75). Obviously, the natives are my ethnography students. A secondary perspective, in a pedagogical if not philosophical sense, is constructivism, as used in science and mathematics education. In the language of realtors I am having an open house so that others can examine my construction of qualitative research and its instruction, and perhaps suggest some additions and improvements.

The Comparative Effectiveness of Tests versus Written Exercises 1

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to determine whether tests would result in greater retention of research concepts and procedures than written exercises. Students in an introductory educational research course (N=126) were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions: 1) written exercises only, 2) short-answer tests, or 3) individual choice. A one-way ANOVA indicated that there was a significant difference among the three groups on a surprise final examination. Application of Scheffe’s multiple comparison procedure indicated that students in the test condition retained significantly more than students in both the written exercise condition and choice condition.

An Investigation of the Procedures for Developing and Validating the Classroom Attitude Measure Toward Educational Inquiry

A description is given of the development of a content valid measure of attitude toward educational inquiry that emphasizes five research processes rather than content in an educational research course. Two procedures are set forth and compared for measuring change of attitude of students during a course. Although a rather complex transposed composite scoring technique yielded a higher estimate of reliability than that furnished by a single conventional scoring procedure, the much simpler approach is recommended for use by teachers, since the correlation between the two sets of resulting scores was .95 in a sample of four classes.