RELATIONSHIP OF SELF-EFFICACY AND SELECT ACADEMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND RETENTION.
Contributors: Columbia University. Teachers College.
Published: 1993
Number of pages: 188
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Education, Community College.; Psychology, Social.
Description: Using data from 97 nontraditional associate degree nursing students, this descriptive study examined the relationship of self-efficacy and select academic and environmental variables on academic achievement and retention. Nontraditional students met one or more of the following criteria: age twenty-five or older; male; English as a second language; ethnic/racial minority; had dependent children; or held a GED. Substantial gaps in nursing research, compounded with increasing numbers of nontraditional students, supported the need for this study. Components of the Bean and Metzner (1987) model of nontraditional student attrition provided the conceptual framework.

Four instruments were used in the study: the Self-Efficacy Tool (SET), the Student Perception Appraisal (SPA), the Demographic Data Sheet (DDS), and the Scholastic Inventory (SI). The SET was used to gather data on perceived self-efficacy (confidence) for learning nursing skills and for performing educational requirements specific to the first semester nursing course despite any obstacles or hardships. The SPA was used to gather data on student percepts of restrictiveness/supportiveness of ten academic and eleven environmental variables on academic achievement and retention. The DDS, administered along with the SET and the SPA during the third class session, was used to gather data about sample demographics. The SI was used to record student aptitudes and outcomes at the end of the semester.

Perceived supportiveness of the ten academic variables, measured by the Academic Variable Strength (AVST) score on the SPA, was inversely correlated with academic achievement (nursing course grade). The combined effect of all variable measures was moderate in predicting academic achievement. No significant predictors were found for retention.

Individual item responses provided insight into student perceptions. Students in this study sample identified family, friends, and faculty, as greatly influential. Rank ordering of item responses indicated that environmental variables were perceived as more influential than academic variables. This suggested that the academic environment alone cannot facilitate student success. A collaborative liaison relationship between faculty, student, family, and friends is recommended. Additionally, individual item confidence levels on the SET may provide nurse educators with a tool to assess and guide both individual student success and curricular changes.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-08, Section: B, page: 4079.

Thesis (ED.D.)--COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY TEACHERS COLLEGE, 1993.

School code: 0055.