Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Systems theory for minority students : a potential tool for the improvement of academic performance

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/5t34sn69h

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  • The study was undertaken to determine if the construct and vocabulary of systems theory are related to academic performance such that a) the understanding of either or both can predict grade-point average for college students, and b) the explicit teaching of both construct and vocabulary to minority students can improve their grade-point average. Four hypotheses were developed for the research design. Each is stated in its alternate form. Ha₁. For non-EOP students the predictive equation containing the score of the Systems Test will explain a significantly higher amount of variance than the equation not containing the score. Ha₂ For non-EOP students the predictive equation for the Systems Test containing the number of university credit hours completed will explain a significantly higher amount of variance than the equation not containing the number of unit hours completed. Ha₃. For EOP students the predictive equation containing the score of the Systems Test will explain a significantly higher amount of variance than the equation not containing the score. Ha₄. For EOP students participating in the treatment the academic performance as measured by college grade-point average will be significantly higher than the grade-point average for EOP students not participating in the treatment. A stratified random sample of 179 non-EOP students was drawn from sections of Health 160-Personal Health and Political Science 101-Introduction to Modern Politics. The 61 EOP freshmen, 1976-77, were randomly selected for placement into three groups: Treatment, Group One; Control, Group Two; and Control, Group Three. For the EOP Group One, treatment consisted of a one-term course designed to make systems theory and its vocabulary more explicit. The rationale and justification for the treatment were products of three assumptions: 1. That the construct of systems theory is a heuristic device implicitly or explicitly utilized by many instructors on campus: 2. That EOP students are handicapped in academic performance to the extent that both the construct and vocabulary of systems theory are not a part of the linguistic structure of minority cultures: and 3. That the theory itself and its vocabulary can be taught to EOP students in a developmental, basic skills course such that academic performance is positively affected. Findings 1. The predictive equation containing the score of the Systems Test explained seven percent more variance than the equation not containing the score. In addition, the correlation coefficient of test /CPA and SAT /GPA were +.51 and +,46 respectively indicating that the test has at least as strong a relationship to GPA as the total SAT score, In addition, the equation predicts better for students majoring in science- oriented fields than for students in other majors. 2. An analysis of the relationship between number of hours taken and a student's score on the Systems Test indicated that students tend to acquire an understanding of systems theory as they take course work in the university. 3. The grade-point averages of EOP students are composed of grades received in EOP classes and non-EOP classes. The EOP sample of this study was primarily freshmen and, therefore had enrolled in a greater number of EOP courses than non-EOP courses. Because the grades awarded in EOP courses tend to be two-thirds of a point higher than non-EOP grades, the dependent variable of the equation tended to be unreliable. The analysis for both hypotheses three and four exhibited meaningless and unreliable results. For this reason, hypotheses three and four could not be meaningfully tested.
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file details GodwinKarenS1977.pdf 2017-08-17 Público Descargar