The role of psychosocial factors in academic performance of first year psychology students at a historically white university
- Authors: Dlamini, Sipho Solomon
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Rhodes University -- Students , Academic achievement , Undergraduates -- South Africa , Dropouts -- South Africa , College students -- South Africa , Psychology students -- South Africa , Minorities -- Education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5150 , vital:20781
- Description: The success rate of students in higher education has been a cause for concern in South Africa (Letseka & Maile, 2008; Department of Higher Education and Training, 2015). This has been particularly concerning for first-year students, where the rate of attrition is especially high (Letseka, Cosser, Breier, and Visser, 2010). A number of factors have been identified in past research as having an effect on academic performance, which influences attrition and graduation. These factors include age (Justice, & Dornan, 2001), gender (Buchmann, & DiPrete, 2006), socio-economic status which is confounded by race (Letseka & Breier, 2008), type of educational background (Spreen, & Vally, 2006), and whether a student is a domestic or international student (Li, Chen, Duanmu, 2009), social capital (Young & Strelitz, 2014), whether the student is a first language speaker of the language of instruction at the university (Snowball, and Boughey, 2012), student wellbeing (Quinn, & Duckworth, 2007), locus of control (Findley, & Cooper, 1983), and frequency of lecture attendance (van Wallbeek, 2004). The study was conducted at Rhodes University, a small historically white South African institution. For this study, academic performance was measured using the participant’s midyear exam results for an introductory psychology cause, a course that straddles faculties. Of the 690 students registered for the course, 361 (52%) completed an electronic survey that explored the various factors associated with academic performance. A hierarchical regression analysis indicates that pre-university factors (age, gender, race, nationality, language, type of school, and socio-economic status) were the only significant predictors of academic performance, contributing 11% of the effect. Race and nationality, when all the other factors were controlled for, were the only predictors of academic performance. The implications of these findings pose troubling questions of the institutional culture at the university.
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- Authors: Dlamini, Sipho Solomon
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Rhodes University -- Students , Academic achievement , Undergraduates -- South Africa , Dropouts -- South Africa , College students -- South Africa , Psychology students -- South Africa , Minorities -- Education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5150 , vital:20781
- Description: The success rate of students in higher education has been a cause for concern in South Africa (Letseka & Maile, 2008; Department of Higher Education and Training, 2015). This has been particularly concerning for first-year students, where the rate of attrition is especially high (Letseka, Cosser, Breier, and Visser, 2010). A number of factors have been identified in past research as having an effect on academic performance, which influences attrition and graduation. These factors include age (Justice, & Dornan, 2001), gender (Buchmann, & DiPrete, 2006), socio-economic status which is confounded by race (Letseka & Breier, 2008), type of educational background (Spreen, & Vally, 2006), and whether a student is a domestic or international student (Li, Chen, Duanmu, 2009), social capital (Young & Strelitz, 2014), whether the student is a first language speaker of the language of instruction at the university (Snowball, and Boughey, 2012), student wellbeing (Quinn, & Duckworth, 2007), locus of control (Findley, & Cooper, 1983), and frequency of lecture attendance (van Wallbeek, 2004). The study was conducted at Rhodes University, a small historically white South African institution. For this study, academic performance was measured using the participant’s midyear exam results for an introductory psychology cause, a course that straddles faculties. Of the 690 students registered for the course, 361 (52%) completed an electronic survey that explored the various factors associated with academic performance. A hierarchical regression analysis indicates that pre-university factors (age, gender, race, nationality, language, type of school, and socio-economic status) were the only significant predictors of academic performance, contributing 11% of the effect. Race and nationality, when all the other factors were controlled for, were the only predictors of academic performance. The implications of these findings pose troubling questions of the institutional culture at the university.
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Understanding how students' relationships with their cellphones inform their experience of social participation online and offline
- Authors: Oosthuizen, Jess
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Cell phones -- South Africa -- Psychological aspects , Social participation , Cell phones -- South Africa -- Social aspects , College students -- South Africa , Social media addiction
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3264 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017887
- Description: The pervasive presence of cellphones in the lives of urban young people around the globe has led to widespread research to evaluate the impact that this device has on young people’s overall psychosocial development. This relationship is often characterised as “addictive”. This research study presents a unique South African youth perspective in a field of research that is predominantly conducted in the United States, Europe and Asia. It explores the relationship that students (ages 18–21) at Rhodes University have with their cellphones in order to understand how this device informs their experience of social participation online and offline. Central to the design of this study is a “social media detox” which involved the research participants volunteering to restrict their social media and cellphone use for an agreed-upon period of time. The study employs interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to uncover key themes from in-depth interviews before and after the detox. Eight respondents were interviewed twice; once before and once after their detox. This study provides insights into the integral role of a cellphone as reported from a young adult’s perspective. Communicating on social media platforms using a cellphone has become normalised among this age-group and the respondents described how the cellphone feels like “a part of you”. Unlike interacting face-to-face which is potentially awkward and involves effort, socialising on a cellphone offers the respondents a sense of companionship, control and instant access to their peer groups. The respondents in this study seemed unaware of their own agency in social situations until their participation in the social media detox. By participating in this study, the participants became more aware of how their cellphone use influences social behaviour, both online and offline. The study proposes that the term “addiction” undermines the positive association young people have with their cellphones. Instead, this study suggests that “social fitness” would be a more relevant construct through which to encourage and support young people to exercise agency in their social lives. This exploratory study raises new questions for researchers, programme developers and educators to take up in future studies and programme development
- Full Text:
- Authors: Oosthuizen, Jess
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Cell phones -- South Africa -- Psychological aspects , Social participation , Cell phones -- South Africa -- Social aspects , College students -- South Africa , Social media addiction
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3264 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017887
- Description: The pervasive presence of cellphones in the lives of urban young people around the globe has led to widespread research to evaluate the impact that this device has on young people’s overall psychosocial development. This relationship is often characterised as “addictive”. This research study presents a unique South African youth perspective in a field of research that is predominantly conducted in the United States, Europe and Asia. It explores the relationship that students (ages 18–21) at Rhodes University have with their cellphones in order to understand how this device informs their experience of social participation online and offline. Central to the design of this study is a “social media detox” which involved the research participants volunteering to restrict their social media and cellphone use for an agreed-upon period of time. The study employs interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to uncover key themes from in-depth interviews before and after the detox. Eight respondents were interviewed twice; once before and once after their detox. This study provides insights into the integral role of a cellphone as reported from a young adult’s perspective. Communicating on social media platforms using a cellphone has become normalised among this age-group and the respondents described how the cellphone feels like “a part of you”. Unlike interacting face-to-face which is potentially awkward and involves effort, socialising on a cellphone offers the respondents a sense of companionship, control and instant access to their peer groups. The respondents in this study seemed unaware of their own agency in social situations until their participation in the social media detox. By participating in this study, the participants became more aware of how their cellphone use influences social behaviour, both online and offline. The study proposes that the term “addiction” undermines the positive association young people have with their cellphones. Instead, this study suggests that “social fitness” would be a more relevant construct through which to encourage and support young people to exercise agency in their social lives. This exploratory study raises new questions for researchers, programme developers and educators to take up in future studies and programme development
- Full Text:
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