Due to anxiety, low confidence, and inadequate content knowledge, many college students struggle to complete their developmental math coursework. As colleges redesign their programs to address these issues, careful research is imperative to determine the factors that best meet the needs of these struggling students. The purpose of this study was…

Previous research has shown that observing peers' success in learning is important for the development of children's belief in themselves as learners. However, in research, these observations are seldom made in actual classroom learning activities. This study investigated how children explain factors that lead to their peers' successes in…

The aim of the study is to find out the achievement attributions of preparatory class learners studying at preintermediate and intermediate levels for their perceived success or failure, and to investigate whether there is a significant relationship between achievement attributions of learners, their gender and level of language proficiency. The…

Student attrition from colleges in the United States is a widespread phenomenon, posing real stresses to students, their families, and to universities. We examined the causes of poor academic performance in students' first semester through interviews and questionnaires and administered a small intervention course to freshmen on academic probation…

This article examines an understudied aspect of teachers' sensemaking of student learning data: the way in which teachers explain the causes of the outcomes observed in data. Drawing on sensemaking and attribution theory and data collected in six middle schools, we find that while teachers most often attributed outcomes to their own instruction,…

Suspension from school is a commonly used, yet controversial, school disciplinary measure. This paper uses unique survey data to estimate the impact of suspension on the educational outcomes of those suspended. It finds that while suspension is strongly associated with educational outcomes, the relationship is unlikely to be causal, but rather…

This study explored how diversity among newcomer youth may explain differences in engagement and school success. Youth identifying fear-based reasons for relocation reported being less involved within their schools than those who identified social mobility. In fear-based relocation, youth often viewed Canada as a temporary place to live and gain…

For decades, measures of academic outcomes have demonstrated the underachievement of minority students. The purpose of this study was to include student voices in a discussion of achievement by exploring the experiences and beliefs of minority girls that related to academic achievement in one single-sex urban high school. Moreover, the research…

The purpose of this research is to identify the causal attributions of business computing students in an introductory computer programming course, in the computer science department at Notre Dame University, Louaize. Forty-five male and female undergraduates who completed the computer programming course that extended for a 13-week semester…

Describes a study that examined sociocultural influences on the attributions for success and failure among four distance learners in Turkey. The influences of patronage and oral tradition are discussed, and implications for applying Western-based attribution theory to distance learners in developing countries with more traditional cultures are…

Describes a study of motivational factors influencing 19 first-year students who made the dean's list their first quarter in college, despite a poor academic performance in high school. Applies Weiner's attributional theory of motivation. Most students attributed their prior academic performance to a lack of motivation/effort. (DMM)

An examination of the literature on the characteristics of at-risk students largely cites demographics, socio-economic factors and minority status as identifying factors (DeRidder, 1988; Green and Scott, 1995; Peng, Lee, and Walberg, 1992; Rodriguez, 1997). According to the National Center for Education Statistics (1994), minority students of low…

Examines explanations used by children (ages five-14) to explain academic success and failure; frequency of their use; and developmental variations in types of explanations used. It was found that patterns of attribution categories vary by age, and that the attribution process involves a complex interaction of subjective and objective reality.…