M.A. Theses
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Browsing M.A. Theses by Subject "Academic achievement."
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item The impact of family environment, self-concept, and school attitude on 9th grade students' academic achievement(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Graduate Institute of Social Sciences, 2005., 2005.) Bölükbaşı, Beyza.; Caner, Ayşe.The study aims to investigate the predictor role of family environment, self-concept, and school attitude on children's academic achievement. The sample of the study consists of 288 (133 girls/155 boys) students in grade 9 who are enrolled in two public high schools of middle SES level. Each participant provided self-report data that included general demographic information, as well as the Turkish version of family environment, self-concept, and school attitude measures. For the data analysis, Pearson correlation, multiple regression simultaneously, and one-way ANOVA procedures were utilized.Findings from the study indicate that among the three independent variables, namely family environment, measured by the Family Environment Questionnaire (FEQ, Fowler,1980), self-concept, measured by the Piers-Harris Self-concept Scale (WIFAM, Piers-Harris, 1969), and school attitude, measured by the School Attitude Assessment Survey-Revised (SAAS-R, McCoach, 2000), the best predictor of academic achievement is attitude towards school (r=.22). The findings suggest that it is possible to improve 9th grade students' academic achievement by helping them to develop a positive attitude towards school.Item The relationship between academic achievement and reading comprehension among seventh grade students(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 1985., 1985.) Yurtsever, Selda Özen.; Öner, Necla.The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between reading comprehension and academic achievement of seventh graders in Büyükcekmece Lisesi, including 20 living in the Bliylikcekmece Orphanage. Two measures used in determining the relationship were grades and reading comprehension scores. Academic achievement as reflected in grades were obtained from the students' 1982- 83 academic year, and the first semester of 1983-84 general grade point average, and averages for Turkish and Mathematic courses. The reading comprehension scores were obtained from two Informal Reading Inventories, developed particularly for the purpose of this study. The lack of reading tests in Turkish necessitated the dev~lopment of these inventories. The major part of the study, thus, constituted the work on the inventories. Piloting for the validity of the texts chosen for reading, and the difficulty of comprehension questions was accomplished before finalizing the inventories for use in the evaluation of reading performance. The level of comprehension was the criterion in determining reading performance. There were three levels of reading comprehension. Ninety per cent comprehension of the material read corresponded to independent level, 51-89 per cent comprehension corresponded to instructional level, and 50 per cent and below corresponded to frustration level in reading. The procedure included the administration of the Informal Group Reading Inventory to all 248 seventh graders. Of this group, 20 students living in the Bliylik~ekmece Orphanage was also tested individually by use of the Informal Individual Reading Inventory. The aim here was to collect information on the details of the reading skills of a group of seventh graders. This particular orphanage group was taken because of convenience and the special interest of the investigator. This group was also expected to be relatively poor readers compared to students living with their parents. Deprived environments in which they have grown-up could have negative effect on their reading and achievement levels. The findings, in fact, supported this expectation. The achievement and the Leading comprehension levels of the orphanage students were inferior to those students living with their parents. To test the ma~n hypothesis of this study, the data obtained were analyzed by use of correlation, and chi-square techniques. The Pearson Product Moment Correlations obtained between grades and reading comprehension scores of 248 seventh graders were .48 (grade point average), .49 (Turkish) and .46 (Math). They were all significant at the .005 level. These correlations indicate that 21-24 per cent of vaLiation in academic achievement could be explained by reading comprehension scores. The chi-square analysis also confirmed the significant relationship between academic achievement and reading comprehension and supported the main hypothesis. The same hypothesis was also tested using the orphanage group, i.e., the small group of 20 students. They were administered both the group and the individual reading inventories. Significant relations were found between the grade point average, the Turkish grades and the reading comprehension scores obtained from the group inventory. These data also support the hypothesis. Correlations between the individual reading scores and the Math grades, as wellas the grade point average were not significant. This lack of significance can perhaps be explained by the homogeniety of the orphanage group, and therefore, small variance. The most overall significant finding in both groups was on the relationship between Turkish grades and reading comprehension scores. When the students were classified into independent, instructional and frustration level categories, on the basis of their reading scores, the majority fell in the category of instructional level readers. This suggests that special emphasis be given to reading programs in schools. With a remedial approach to reading, the comprehension level of students can be improved from instructional to independent level. The study failed to control 0) the selection of participants included in the pilot-study on the validity of the inventories, (2) the validity of the formula used in determining the readability of texts, (3) the number of participants in the Informal Individual Reading Inventory, and (4) the testing conditions. With these limitations in mind, the findings were interpreted to indicate that reading comprehension problems are relatively widespread among Turkish seventh graders and the majority are functioning at the instructional level. A significant relationship between academic achievement and reading comprehension encouraged the investigator to suggest the development of remedial reading programs in schools to help increase the level of reading comprehension of students from instructional to independent.Item The role of perceived teacher acceptance-rejection on students' self concept, school attitude and academic achievement(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2008., 2008.) Şahan, Kenan.; Caner, Ayşe.This study aims to investigate the relationship of perceived teacher acceptancerejection on students' self concept, school attitude and their academic achievement. The sample of the study consists of 223 (1 14 girls1109 boys) students in fifth graders enrolled in six private elementary schools of high SES level. Each participant was given general demographic information, as well as the Turkish Teacher Acceptance-Rejection QuestionnaireIControl Short Form, Piers- Harris Children Self Concept Scale and School Attitude Assessment Survey-Revised, and students' academic achievement was used. For the data analysis, Pearson product moment correlation and multiple regression analysis were used. Findings from the study showed that Perceived Teacher Acceptance-Rejection is significantly correlated with self concept school attitude and academic achievement. In addition, the best predictor of academic achievement is perceived teacher acceptance-rejection. As a result of this research, it is found that the most important factor with regards to increasing students' academic achievement is fustly depends on teacher student relationship. The findings suggest that improving teacher student relationship helps students not only to increase their academic achievement but also to have high self concept.