Factors Predicting Academic Achievement Among Hispanic Community College Students by Lisa Marcelino

Walden University ScholarWorks Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Collection 2018 Factors Predicting Academic Achievement Among Hispanic Community College Students Lisa Marcelino Walden University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.edu/dissertations Part of the Educational Psychology Commons, and the Psychology Commons This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Collection at ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact ScholarWorks@waldenu. Walden University College of Social and Behavioral Sciences This is to certify that the doctoral dissertation by Lisa Marcelino has been found to be complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any and all revisions required by the review committee have been made.

Review Committee Dr. Thomas King, Committee Chairperson, Psychology Faculty Dr. Brian Uldall, Committee Member, Psychology Faculty Dr. Timothy Lionetti, University Reviewer, Psychology Faculty Chief Academic Officer Eric Riedel, Ph.

Walden University 2018 Abstract Factors Predicting Academic Achievement Among Hispanic Community College Students by Lisa Anne Marcelino MA, Kean University, 2008 BA, Kean University, 2006 BA, Kean University, 2005 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Educational Psychology Walden University December 2017 Abstract Hispanic college students are more at risk of poor academic performance and dropping out than any other racial group. The Hispanic college population continues to grow, yet rates of retention and achievement for this group continue to decline. Previous research on Hispanic college students has examined factors that contribute to underachievement and declining graduation rates, but they are limited to students attending 4-year institutions. This study examined if grade point averages (GPAs) were affected by levels of self-efficacy, resiliency, and sensation seeking.

Bandura’s self-efficacy and social cognitive theories along with Zuckerman and Kuhlman’s theory of sensation-seeking were the theoretical frameworks that guided the present study. Hispanic students with high levels of self-efficacy were expected to have higher GPAs than students with low levels of self-efficacy. Students who were high sensation seekers were hypothesized to have lower GPAs than low sensation seekers. Lastly, it was hypothesized that sensation- seeking behaviors would be correlated with lower GPAs and lower levels of self-efficacy.

The resiliency aspect “coping with stress makes me stronger” was a significant predictor of GPA. Sensation-seeking activities such as roller coaster riding, sex before marriage, and skiing were shown to correlate with lower GPAs. College self-efficacy did not have a relationship to Hispanic community college students’ GPAs. These findings may be important to educators, administrators, and others directly involved in promoting student success in college because students at risk for low academic performance and dropping out of college can be identified earlier and therefore early intervention strategies can be implemented.

Factors Predicting Academic Achievement Among Hispanic Community College Students by Lisa Anne Marcelino MA, Kean University 2008 BA, Kean University 2006 BA, Kean University 2005 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Educational Psychology Walden University December 2017 Dedication I hereby dedicate this dissertation to my wonderful husband Carlos, who has been by my side for the entire journey and has provided endless amounts of encouragement and support. Thank you, Carlos, for being such a wonderful husband and father and for always being there for me when I needed you. I am such a lucky woman to have you in my life and I thank God for you every day. I also dedicate this dissertation to the memory of my grandmother, Irene Hinko, who always pushed for me to finish my education.

My grandmother, who I referred to as “Nan” always encouraged me to give my very best in all that I did, and she reminded me that one day my hard work would pay off. Thank you, Nan, for being such a loving, caring, giving grandmother, best friend, mentor, and supporter of all that I did! I miss you every day and I know you are watching me from Heaven and cheering me on as I complete this educational journey. Acknowledgments I want to thank Dr. King and Dr.

Uldall for their understanding, patience and level of commitment towards assisting me with completing this stage of my academic journey. I am very thankful for all of your guidance, input, feedback and assistance over the last few years. I will never forget this journey that we have shared together and will be forever grateful for the instruction and guidance you have provided. Table of Contents List of Tables.

iv List of Figures .v Chapter 1: Introduction to the Study.2 Gaps in Knowledge. 5 Purpose of Study. 6 Research Questions and Hypotheses .7 Nature of the Study .11 Assumptions, Limitations, Scope, and Delimitations. 13 Scope and Delimitations .15 Chapter 2: Literature Review .16 i Factors Leading to Academic Underachievement for Hispanic College Students.

21 Bandura, Zuckerman, and Kuhlman Explain Achievement .24 Gap in the Existing Literature .28 Chapter 3: Research Method .30 Introduction to Methodology .30 Multivariate Analysis Using Hierarchical Regression. 30 Research Design and Rationale. 32 Types and Sources of Data. 35 Instrumentation and Operationalization of Variables.

36 Data Analysis Plan. 40 Threats to Validity. 53 ii Research Question 1 and Hypothesis .53 Research Question 2 and Hypothesis .54 Research Question 3 and Hypothesis .54 Summary and Conclusion .57 Chapter 5: Discussion, Conclusions, and Recommendations. 61 Implications for Social Change .66 Appendix A: Institutional Review Board Approval Number .79 Appendix B: Permission Letter for Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale .80 Appendix C: Demographics Form .81 Appendix D: Permission to Use Sensation Seeking Scale.80 Appendix E: Permission to Use Self-Efficacy Inventory .82 Appendix F: Research Question 1 Table: Model Summary .83 Appendix G: Research Question 2 Table: ANOVA .83 Appendix H: Research Question 3 Table: Coefficients .84 iii List of Tables Table 1.

Frequency of GPA .52 iv List of Figures Figure 1. List of cases with regard to GPA. Total resiliency scores in relation to cumulative GPA for research. Frequency of cases shown for cumulative GPA in relation to total resiliency .57 v 1 Chapter 1: Introduction to the Study Introduction The present study examined factors affecting the academic achievement of the Hispanic American population.

Academic achievement of Hispanic Americans is an important area to be researched because the Hispanic population is showing steady growth, yet high school and college graduation rates are lower for this group than for any other race (US Census Bureau, 2012). The present study was important because it provided insight for teachers, parents, administrators, psychologists, and students by uncovering factors that contributed to the problem of underachievement of Hispanic- American undergraduate college students. As factors are identified that link to underachievement, changes can be made in high schools and colleges across America to address these factors so that Hispanic Americans can be more readily equipped to succeed in their academic endeavors, thus promoting positive social change. In this chapter I discussed the prevalence of underachievement for Hispanic Americans in junior high school, high school, and college settings.

I also discussed factors that have previously been identified as having an effect on academic achievement for this particular group. In this chapter I identified sensation-seeking as a factor which had previously not been explored to examine its possible connection to academic achievement. I identified the study’s hypotheses in this chapter as well as the operational definitions used and the theoretical frameworks of Bandura, Zuckerman, and Kuhlman from which the present study originated. Additionally, I explored the quantitative nature of the study and discussed the current study’s scope and limitations.

Finally, I elaborated 2 in the chapter on how the present study will provide a substantial contribution to the existing literature on achievement of Hispanic American college students and in turn help to shape the ever-evolving field of educational psychology. Background In recent years, various explanations have surfaced which attempted to explain why Hispanic undergraduate college students do not attain the same level of academic achievement as other ethnic groups. There is not one single factor that leads to Hispanic college students’ underachievement, but rather an array of factors (Cavazos et al. Some of these factors include parental involvement and encouragement and characteristics such as motivation and confidence (Cavazos et al.

Familial support has been noted as an important factor in helping Hispanic students reach success in college (Zalaquett, 2006). Strong emotional bonds with parents have also been shown to facilitate Hispanic students’ abilities to deal with the demands placed upon them in college (Kalsner & Pistole, 2003). The existing body of literature does not address whether or not Hispanic Americans’ academic achievement in college is affected by the factor of sensation- seeking. Sensation-seeking, for the purposes of this study, was defined as “the seeking of novel situations and the willingness to take risks for the sake of such stimulation” (Zuckerman & Kuhlman, 2000, p.

The reason why the factor of sensation-seeking was examined in the present study is because sensation-seeking behaviors provoke heightened arousal and immediate gratification, whereas schoolwork does not provide immediate gratification and can be 3 limited in terms of arousal. Therefore, it would be reasonable to believe that a person who has high sensation-seeking behaviors would be less enthusiastic about doing schoolwork, and therefore would possess a lower GPA. Recent studies have examined ethnicities other than Hispanics in relation to sensation-seeking and academic achievement. In fact, in a study by Simpson & Pychyl (2009), it was discovered that Caucasian, Asian, Middle-Eastern and African-American first-year university students who were high sensation-seekers were also general procrastinators, and these individuals believed that their procrastination was due to schoolwork having a limited arousal affect.

Simpson & Pychyl (2009) also discussed the possibility of high sensation-seekers procrastinating on schoolwork in order to obtain a “rush” by attempting to complete their work at the last minute. Doing schoolwork at the last minute can result in less effort being put forth, and less time devoted to studying, which could result in lower GPA’s. Moreover, according to Pedersen, Molina, Belendiuk, and Donovan (2012), European-American youth had higher rates of sensation-seeking behaviors than African-American youth. Furthermore, European- American youth were also found to have their sensation-seeking behaviors correlate with risky problem behavior such as academic underachievement.

Therefore, the present study sought to examine whether sensation-seeking behaviors affected Hispanic community college students in a similar way with relation to GPA. Sensation-seeking behaviors were measured using the 40-item Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS-V; 1978). The SSS-V, which used a forced-choice format, examined participants’ feelings regarding their likelihood to participate in various sensation-seeking 4 behaviors, or whether or not they had participated in various sensation-seeking behaviors in the past. Participants were asked questions regarding sensation-seeking behaviors that fell into four different categories: (a) thrill and adventure seeking, (b) experience seeking, (c) disinhibition, and (d) boredom susceptibility (Zuckerman & Kuhlman, 2000).

Thrill and adventure seeking items on the SSS-V included statements regarding behaviors such as roller coaster riding, water skiing, surfboard riding, and scuba diving. Experience seeking items included behaviors such as taking a road trip, trying different drugs, exploring unknown cities, and dressing in individual ways. Disinhibition items included behaviors such as drinking liquor or smoking marijuana, enjoying the company of swingers, and participation in unconventional or illegal activities. Lastly, boredom susceptibility included behaviors such as seeing a movie more than once, having exciting and unpredictable friends, spending time at home, and feelings regarding the predictability of others.

Gaps in Knowledge The present study sought to fill the gap in the existing literature by exploring whether or not sensation seeking, self-efficacy, and resiliency played a significant role in the academic achievement of Hispanic American community college students. The present study was needed because the Hispanic American population is the least likely of all ethnic groups in America to succeed in high school and college.