High-achieving College Students Research Articles

The (mis)understood image of the Korean students: how do high-achieving college students navigate their college experiences?

The (mis)understood image of the Korean students: how do high-achieving college students navigate their college experiences?

The Usage of Cohesive Devices by High-Achieving EFL Students in Writing Argumentative Essays

This study aims to investigate types of cohesive devices frequently used in writing argumentative essays by high-achieving college students in Indonesia and to analyse their awareness of usage of these. Participants were asked to write an essay on a pre-determined topic; analysis was then conducted to investigate the most frequent cohesive devices used. Data on the second study question, understanding of the usage of cohesive devices, were gathered though semi-structured interviews. The data indicate that students effectively used various types of grammatical cohesive devices, particularly reference devices. However, some claimed not to know that they were using other cohesive devices. They believed that conjunctions were the only type that functions to connect ideas across sentences and paragraphs, and did not realise that this, that, the, and other reference devices are cohesive devices. In terms of the use of lexical cohesive devices, participants used synonyms more than other sub-types of lexical cohesive devices. The most frequently used device was the, which functions both as a cohesive device and an article. All participants agreed that though links or cohesive devices are necessary to achieve coherence, two claimed that these are not determining factors in producing good writing quality. They argued that high-quality writing needs to contain linguistic features related to sophisticated language and text difficulty. The first suggestion is that focused programs should be adopted to teach the writing of argumentative essays to help lower-achieving students attain the same writing level as high-achieving students. Second, a teaching programme integrating the use of sophisticated grammar, lexical diversity and cohesive devices should be a curriculum priority.

A comparison of high and low achieving students on self-regulated learning variables

Prior research has established the importance of self-regulated learning (SRL) skills for academic achievement. However, efforts to identify and subsequently remediate students' SRL in classroom contexts are still in the early stages of development. This study sought to examine individual differences in low and high achieving college students (N=41) in a classroom-based context in order to begin to inform remediation and intervention efforts. Results indicated no initial differences between high and low achieving students on prior knowledge, general ability, or self-efficacy. However, important differences emerged on metacognitive monitoring, reported use of low-level study strategies, and self-efficacy over the duration of the course. Test performance measured early in the course, but not baseline measures of SRL components or prior knowledge, was predictive of summative course achievement. Self-report measures of SRL did not align with measures of achievement, monitoring judgments, or interview data, indicating that these measures should be used with caution when examining SRL skills in college classroom contexts. Implications related to the development SRL skills are discussed.

High-Achieving High School Students and Not So High-Achieving College Students

This study investigated the relationship among lack of self-control, academic ability, and academic performance for a cohort of freshman engineering students who were, with a few exceptions, extremely high achievers in high school. Structural equation modeling analysis led to the conclusion that lack of self-control in high school, as measured by the frequency of illegal and irresponsible behaviors, had an inverse relationship with first semester grade point average (GPA), whereas academic ability, as measured by ACT scores, had a positive relationship with college GPA. The correlation between the residual error for one of the indicators of self-control, homework behaviors in high school, and the residual error for first semester GPA was also significant. Research on the relationships between self-control, homework behaviors in high school, and performance in college should continue; meanwhile, parents and teachers would be advised to emphasize the importance of developing self-control and positive homework behaviors in academically advanced high school students.

The world of competitive Scrabble: Novice and expert differences in visuopatial and verbal abilities.

Competitive Scrabble players spend a mean of 4.5 hr a week memorizing words from the official Scrabble dictionary. When asked if they learn word meanings when studying word lists, only 6.4% replied "always," with the rest split between "sometimes" and "rarely or never." Number of years of play correlated positively with expertise ratings, suggesting that expertise develops with practice. To determine the effect of hours of practice (M = 1,904), the authors compared experts with high-achieving college students on a battery of cognitive tests. Despite reporting that they usually memorize word lists without learning meanings, experts defined more words correctly. Reaction times on a lexical decision task (controlling for age) correlated with expertise ratings, suggesting that experts develop faster access to word identification. Experts' superiority on visuospatial processing was found for reaction time on 1 of 3 visuospatial tests. In a study of memory for altered Scrabble boards, experts outperformed novices, with differences between high and low expertise on memory for boards with structure-deforming transformations. Expert Scrabble players showed superior performance on selected verbal and visuospatial tasks that correspond to abilities that are implicated in competitive play.

Psychotherapy of Gifted Students with Narcissistic Dynamics

The authors of this article intend to demonstrate through clinical observation and an integrated review of the separate literatures on the gifted and on narcissism that there is a subpopulation of high achieving college students whose very giftedness is a factor in their development of narcissistic character structure and/or narcissistic defenses. Both family history and current dynamics of gifted students with narcissistic issues are explores. Therapeutic goals, pitfalls, and strategies in working with these clients are suggested. Particular emphasis has been placed on helping the reader to understand the false self versus true self-development of these particular clients.

A Self-Concept (AVA) Profile for High Achieving College Students

A Self-Concept (AVA) Profile for High Achieving College Students

Use of the Mmpi Underachievement Scale as an Aid in Counseling Academic Low Achievers in College

47 high-achieving college students and 47 college dropouts were compared on the 24-item MMPI Underachievement Scale. The high achievers' mean score of 8.00 differed significantly ( p < .001) from the low achievers' mean score of 13.44. Probabilities of academic achievement level and score on the Underachievement Scale suggest that the scale may be useful in early detection of academic low achievement.