Browsing by Subject "GPA"
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Item A Meta-Analytic Investigation of the Predictive Validity of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) Scores on GPA(2014-12-09) Abunawas, MahmoudResearch conducted on the relationship between international students? TOEFL scores and academic performance has produced contradictory results. To examine this relationship, a meta-analysis was conducted on extant studies centered on international students? TOEFL scores and academic performance as measured through GPA. The meta-analysis included 47 independent effect size values generated from 40 studies. The results of this meta-analysis yielded a statistically significant and positive relationship between international students? TOEFL scores and their GPA. As the variation across effect size values was substantial, a moderator analysis was conducted to detect potential variables contributing to this variation. The moderator variables examined in this meta-analysis included: (a) publication status , (b) graduate level, (c) test version, and (d) research setting. Of these four moderators, only the research setting was found to be a potential moderator. Studies conducted outside the U.S. were found to have higher effect size values than those in the U.S. Implications and recommendations were also discussed.Item Academic motivation of degree-seeking undergraduate students at a for-profit university in the United States(2016-05) Carroll, John Walter; Saenz, Victor B.; Sharpe, Edwin Reese; Reddick, Richard J; Ovando, Martha; Spelman, BillStudents attending for-profit colleges and universities represent approximately 11% of the undergraduate population yet little is known about their academic motivation while attending. The Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) (Vallerand, Pelletier, Briere, Senecal, & Vallieres, 1992), grounded in self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985b), has been used successfully for numerous studies. The AMS has not been tested with a for-profit student population. The AMS and personal data questionnaire were administered via an Internet survey hosted by Survey Gizmo to for-profit students attending face-to-face classes in the United States. The study uses an exploratory design where subjects were selected using a convenience sample (N = 44). Cronbach’s alpha was calculated to measure the internal consistency and reliability of the AMS with for-profit students. Cronbach’s alpha was greater than 0.70 for all the AMS’s seven subscales and two aggregate scales implying the AMS is appropriate for use with for-profit student populations. The study evaluated possible correlations between academic motivation and age. Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient calculations revealed no statistically significant relationship between academic motivation and age. Academic motivation was also tested a predictor of self-reported GPA via ordinary least squares regression. A natural log transformation was conducted to restate the data into a more normal distribution. After transformation, GPA was not a statistically significant predictor of GPA. The aggregate measure of extrinsic motivation was statistically significantly higher than the aggregate measure of intrinsic motivation. No statistically significant difference was found among the three extrinsic motivation subscales. Intrinsic motivation to experience was statistically significantly different than intrinsic motivation to know and intrinsic motivation to accomplish. Cronbach’s alpha was “good” or better for all measure of academic motivation. No statistically significant relationship was found among academic motivation and age. Academic motivation was not revealed to be a useful predictor of GPA.Item Contextualizing immigrant adolescents’ high school outcomes by their school environments and friend groups.(2015-03-19) Halbesleben, Katie L. 1989-; Sherman, Martha G.Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study in combination with conducting hierarchical linear modeling analyses, this dissertation looks at the effects of school environments and friend groups on immigrant adolescents’ level of school attachment and GPA in high school. Past research suggests that immigrant adolescents’ may be influenced by their surroundings to a greater degree than their peers when evaluating educational adjustment, well-being, and success. Using these theoretical motivations, my broad research question evaluates how certain school structures and friend groups influence immigrant adolescents’ school attachment and GPA. While many of my original hypotheses need to be modified in light of my quantitative findings, there are several valuable findings from each research chapter. From Chapter 3, I find that while academic tracking programs’ manifest function is to increase educational achievements for individual students, there are also instances in which academic programs negatively impact school attachment and GPA for immigrant and minority adolescent populations. From Chapter 4, I find that adolescents do not benefit as greatly from having friendships with a higher mean GPA on school attachment and GPA if they are immigrant adolescents compared to non-immigrant adolescents. In Chapter 5, I evaluate second-generation adolescents’ attendance at Hispanic and black minority schools and how the addition of having friends who dropped out of high school magnifies a negative effect on their GPA. Based on these findings, it is the hope that school administrations consider how they can foster environments where students have the greatest likelihood of academic success, when taking into account school-level variables and individual-level adolescent variables at their school sites.Item Effect of imaging conditions for reliable measurement of local strain from synthetic High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (HRTEM) images by Geometrical Phase Analysis (GPA)(2009-12) Rajagopalan, Srivaramangai; Rabenberg, Llewellyn K.; Ferreira, PauloSynthetic HRTEM images are simulated using Jems® simulation software with a model specimen consisting of a film of strained silicon on top of a relaxed Si0.82Ge0.18 alloy substrate in the [110] zone axis, where biaxial tensile strain exists in the strained silicon layer. Two simulated models are created: one with a sudden change in lattice constant (strained Si on a “fat” Si substrate) and another with a sudden change in atomic number (strained Si on a Cl substrate) in order to separate the effects of strain discontinuities from atomic number discontinuities measuring strain using Geometric Phase Analysis (GPA). The simulated models are subjected to image processing using GPA software developed by Chung. Two dimensional strain maps are reconstructed and the local strain is determined. Further, an analysis is done to evaluate the best imaging conditions for strain measurement using GPA at heteroepitaxial interfaces. In addition, the behavior of GPA across a step function in strain or atomic number is examined for information about (a) spatial resolution, (b) the effects of a sudden change in atomic number, (c) instrument parameters, and (d) specimen thickness for a 300KeV TEM.