Student persistence, retention, and completion are continued concerns in higher education. While external influences contribute to persistence and retention, the focus of this research study was to determine the academic self-efficacy and self-regulated factors that influence the academic achievement of first-time first-year students who persist…

The transition to college from high school is significant for at-risk students, especially as they tend to struggle with self-regulated learning skills when trying to adapt to the university environment. In an attempt to mitigate this challenge and assist students with this transition, many universities offer first-year experience courses.…

Much of the research about college student engagement is based upon self-reported surveys, but little is known about how students formulate responses to these instruments. The purpose of this study was to specifically address this dearth of knowledge by deepening our understanding of how students' perceptions of their environments and demographic…

This study presents a survey developed to measure the skills of entering college freshmen in the areas of responsibility, motivation, study habits, literacy, and stress management, and explores the predictive power of this survey as a measure of academic performance during the first semester of college. The survey was completed by 334 incoming…

As educational leaders struggle to meet state and federal mandates, many students graduate from high school without the skills necessary to meet the demands of a college education. Guided by the tenets of constructivism, this qualitative case study explored college students' perceptions of their college preparedness through math, science, and…

Student persistence continues to be a topic of much research and discussion in higher education. Based on Bean and Eaton's (2000) psychological theory of persistence for its theoretical framework, this study examined the effect of students' demographic and background characteristics and students' self-perceptions on their…

This study explored the learning perceptions and literacy practices of three successful African American male first year college students in order to expand what is known about how African American males attain and sustain academic success over time. Each of the three participants were interviewed, participated in blogging, and corresponded…

This dissertation explores study habits and interactions of students in an online first-year writing course. Much research has been conducted about online learning, but little has focused specifically on first-year writing students. First-year writing presents some unique challenges because of the age and preparedness level of traditional…