Dissertation dish: Self-regulation and college achievement

A small and select sample....but interesting findings, particularly as they relate to the domain of self-regulation in the Model of Academic Competence and Motivation (MACM) in the Beyond IQ project

Research also related to recent special issue of Educational Psychology Review on self-regulation

The relationship of self-regulation and academic achievement in college students with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A brain-behavior perspective by Chang, Wen-Pin, Ph.D., Colorado State University, 2008, 218 pages; AAT 3332741
Abstract (Summary)

• Abstract: The main purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the relationships among three constructs: (a) the underlying executive processes of self-regulation, (b) self-regulation behaviors, and (c) academic achievement in college students with and without ADHD.

• Thirty-two adult college students (16 males and 16 females) between the age of 18 and 30 years (mean = 23.68 ± 3.65) who reported no known disorders participated in this study. Thirty-six adult college students (18 males and 18 females) between the age of 18 and 30 years (mean = 23.69 ± 3.73) who had been diagnosed with ADHD also participated in this study. All participants had an estimated IQ above 96 measured by the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI). They also filled out the Conners Adult ADHD Rating Scale (CAARS) and the Adult Self-Report (ASR) to confirm their current ADHD symptoms and other comorbid problems. The participants performed three event-related potential (ERP) tasks; i.e., the Posner cue attention task, visual letter flanker task, and go/no-go task during electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings. They also filled out several self-repot questionnaires; i.e., the Adult Temperament Questionnaire (ATQ), Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function - Adult Version (BRIEF-A), Self-Regulation Scale (SRS), and Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). The participants were also given the Woodcock Johnson III - Tests of Achievement Form C/Brief Battery (WJ III Brief Battery).

• The results revealed that (a) for control students, the ERP components accounted for 36.6% of the variance of the letter-word identification score, 37.4% of the variance of the spelling score, 63.9% of the variance of the calculation score and 59.6% of the variance of the academic skill score, and (b) for students with ADHD, the ERP components accounted for 38.3% of the variance of the spelling score, and 31% of the variance of the academic skill score.

• In conclusion, the results of this study supported that there is a relationship between self-regulation and academic achievement in college students with and without ADHD. The ERP components, representative of the executive processes of self-regulation, accounted for a significant amount of the variance in performance on academic achievement tests.

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