UMD Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3

New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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Subject: search.filters.subject.College Transition

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    Cognitive and Noncognitive Predictors of Academic Performance for College Students with Learning Disabilities
    (2013) Scarfone, Melissa Delores; Strein, William O; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The purpose of this study was to investigate if there are differences in how cognitive and noncognitive variables predict academic performance for college students with learning disabilities. In particular, this study examined the extent to which the cognitive variables of high school grade point average and SAT (combined verbal and math) or ACT score as well as noncognitive variables, contribute to cumulative college grade point average at the end of students' freshman, sophomore, and junior years of college. Participants were 88 college students with learning disabilities at a large, public university and a private, mid-sized, university located in the mid-Atlantic area of the United States. Using Sedlacek's (2004) Noncognitive Assessment method as a conceptual framework for this study, participants completed the Noncognitive Questionnaire (NCQ), an instrument that was developed to assess eight noncognitive variables. Hierarchic multiple regression analyses were performed on the data in order to determine the variables that best predict the academic performance of college students with learning disabilities. The findings of this study could not be used make a determination as to whether or not the noncognitive variables of the NCQ predict college performance alone or add to the prediction of college performance beyond the HSGPA, beyond the SAT, and beyond both HSGPA and SAT due to the poor internal consistency that was found for the eight NCQ subscales. At the same time, support was found that while HSGPA is a good predictor of academic performance for this population of students, not standardized test scores were not
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    Supports from friends as predictors of stress and school outcomes during the transition to college: A longitudinal study
    (2013) Donlan, Alice Elizabeth; Wentzel, Kathryn R; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This study investigated relations among support from friends, stress, friendship goals, and school-related outcomes during the transition from high school to college. A conceptual framework was developed to examine a) the extent to which the degree of context change during the transition predicts levels of school belongingness and GPA; b) the extent to which stress mediates the potential relation between context change and school-related outcomes; c) the extent to which social supports from high school friends and college friends moderate the relation between stress and school related outcomes; and d) the extent to which precollege friendship formation and maintenance goals predict future levels of support from high school friends and college friends. Data were collected at four time points that represent major milestones in the transition process: (T1) precollege, (T2) the beginning of the first semester, (T3) the end of the first semester, and (T4) the beginning of the second semester. Psychometric properties of the support scales were investigated through confirmatory factor analysis. Descriptive statistics and results regarding mean variable change over time are provided. Multiple regression analyses replicated previous findings that stress negatively predicts school belongingness over time. Furthermore, perceived supports from college friends predicted increased college belonging over time, while perceived supports from high school friends did not. None of the support by stress interaction terms significantly predicted school outcomes, indicating that evidence for a moderation pathway was not found. Results from a latent variable path analysis did not provide evidence that a precollege goal to form friendships predicts future support from college friends, nor that a precollege goal to maintain friendships positively predicts future support from high school friends; models had only borderline fit. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.