Transcript Druery, R.C., Gibson, B. W., Randall, P., & Dula, C. S. (2011, March). My Parents or Myself? Examining Parental Influences, Student Self-Efficacy, and Student Academic Performance/Aspirations. Poster presented at the annual Appalachian Student Research Forum (ASRF). Johnson City, TN.

Do Parental Influences or Self-efficacy Affect Student GPA or
Academic Aspirations?
Druery, R.C., Gibson, B. W., Randall, P., & Dula, C. S.
APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY LABORATORY
East Tennessee State University
http://www.etsu.edu/apl/
Johnson City, Tennessee
Introduction:
Procedure:
Discussion:
•While factors within the classroom no doubt play a major part in
students’ academic achievement, there is growing interest in how
psychosocial factors may influence student’s academic performance and
perceptions.
•One week prior to data collection, students’ parents were given a packet containing information about
the study and an opt-out consent form. Students who did not have opt-out forms sent back by their
parents/guardians were allowed to participate, provided they assented.
•Results revealed that students had higher academic aspirations than what
level of education their parents had completed.
•Previous literature has linked self-efficacy with perceived career goals,
indicating that students with low levels of self-efficacy often do not
have very successful careers (Lent, Brown, & Larkin, 1986).
•Participants were excused from one class period and asked to participate in a brief survey. Grades
were attained directly from the schools’ offices with consent of parents and assent of students.
•A link was found between family support and GPA, demonstrating the
same results found by Cassidy (2009). This shows that education is not just
a process of schooling but also social factors.
Measures:
•Bandura (1988) stressed the importance of self-efficacy arguing that
many underestimate the effect it has on everyday life. He emphasized
that the link between knowledge and behaviors, if damaged (i.e. by low
self-efficacy), could be detrimental to one’s actual capabilities and
perceived abilities.
•Grade point Average (GPA): given by schools.
•Cassidy (2009) demonstrated that family support, socioeconomic
status, motivation, and self-efficacy account for 44% of the variance in
Grade Point Average, GPA.
• Academic Self-Efficacy: Survey with multiple items used to measure academic self-efficacy, such as
“I can do well in Math,” “I know I can do very well in school if I want to,” anchored by “Strongly
Agree” and “Strongly Disagree.”
•D'Allegro (2010) observed a positive correlation between a parent’s
academic completion and the academic aspirations of their children.
•Parent Education Level: Survey asked students to report parent’s level of education ranging from “did
not complete high school,” to “completed doctoral level degree.”
•Perceived academic aspirations, or plans for further education, were assessed by asking students to
report how much school they planned to complete using answers ranged from “will not finish high
school” to “attain a Ph.D or professional degree.”
•Taylor (2010), observing a strong link between self efficacy, academic
achievement and academic aspirations, recommended that further
research be conducted into the possible parental influences on student
GPA and future plans for continued education.
•Parent Support: Survey with multiple items used to measure social support, such as “I feel safe at
home ,” anchored by “Strongly Agree” and “Strongly Disagree.”
•This study seeks to assess the effects self-efficacy, parental support,
and parent education level may have on student’s academic performance
and their perceived future academic plans.
•H1: Supported at a p < 0.01 on all variables.
Results:
Method:
•All methods were approved by a university Institutional Review Board
prior to implementation.
Limitations:
•The study consisted of a relatively homogenous sample of middle school
students from a small rural area. This may limit generalization of results to
urban areas, other ages, and a variety of ethnicities.
Future Research:
•H3: Supported at a p < 0.01.
Correlations:
Academic
Parent
Parent Academic
SelfEducation Support Aspirations
Efficacy
Level
Academic SelfEfficacy
Pearson
Correlation
1
-.115
.145**
.126*
GPA for
2006-07
Year
.301**
-.115
1
.032
.299**
.314**
Pearson
Correlation
.145**
.032
1
.191**
.147**
Pearson
Correlation
.126*
.299**
.191**
1
.248**
GPA for 2006-07 Pearson
Year
Correlation
.301**
.314**
.147**
.248**
1
Parent Education Pearson
Level
Correlation
Parent Support
Academic
Aspirations
•Future research should assess the effects of parents educational aspirations
on high school dropout rates.
•Further research should examine other factors that may influence
academic completion and academic success.
References:
•Available upon request
Contact:
•Ryne C. Druery at [email protected]
Participants:
•Participants included 812 7th and 8th grade students, 431 males 381
females, from rural middle schools in the Southeastern United States.
• As with Taylor (2010), a relatively strong relationship between academic
aspirations and GPA was observed. It would be reasonable to assume that
some students produce high grades in order to achieve higher academic
aspirations.
•H2: Supported at a p < 0.01 on parent education and parent support, and a p < 0.05 on
academic self efficacy.
•H2: Student Academic Aspirations will be influenced by parental
support, parent education level, and academic self efficacy.
•H3: GPA and Academic Aspirations will influence one another.
•Similar to D’Allegro (2010) results, parent education level was observed
to positively correlate with student GPA and academic aspirations. In fact
students were shown to have higher goals than that of what their parents
had accomplished in regards to level of education.
•Students were asked to report information on parent level of education
resulting in possible incorrect answers and missing data.
Hypotheses:
•H1: Student GPA’s will be influenced by parental support, parental
education, and academic self efficacy.
•Students with high levels of self-efficacy reported higher levels of
academic success and higher academic aspirations. As Bandura (1988)
argued, students who feel they can attain higher grades generally do so.
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
•Chris S. Dula at [email protected]