The aim of this study was to test a process model of students' learning in higher education, linking anxiety, course experience (positive and negative), self-worth protection (SWP) (self-handicapping, defensive expectations, reflectivity), student approach to learning (SAL) (deep/surface), and achievement. Path and bootstrap analyses of data from…

College freshmen responded to a questionnaire on alcohol use and sex roles. Results indicated a slight increase in number of students drinking and an increase in the quantity of alcohol consumed. No significant relationship was found between sex role and quantity of alcohol consumed. (RC)

There is a need for systematic comparisons and replications of research on questions concerning students' sexual behaviors and attitudes. To examine whether or not students' attitudes and behaviors toward sex and sex-related issues changed over a decade, 435 incoming freshmen in 1973 and 460 freshmen in 1983 were administered an anonymous…

Compared freshmen (N=2180) who were interested in different types of counseling, or indicated no interest, on a variety of attitudinal and demographic items. Results indicated that students who showed different counseling interests as incoming freshmen could also be differentiated on other variables (political and social attitudes, college…

Offers a model of students' composing process based on students' composition diaries, and suggests why student writing often falls short of instructors' expectations. (DD)

At most institutions, freshmen are assigned to one of six residence hall types: freshmen-men; freshmen-women; freshmen-coed; freshmen-upperclass-men; freshmen-upperclass-women; and freshmen-upperclass-coed. In an attempt to clarify which of these residence hall arrangements most benefits freshmen, 2,200 freshmen (40 percent) attending 12 colleges…

Studies examining college students' drug use behavior have found that drug use has increased over the periods studied. To examine the attitudes and behaviors towards drugs of University of Maryland freshmen over a decade, 410 freshmen in 1973 and 491 freshmen in l983 were administered an anonymous questionnaire. An analysis of the results showed…

A study investigated the relationship between college first-year students'0 self-reported attitudes and behavior and academic success in the first college year. Three of four subscales used in combination predicted accurately first-year students who ended the year in good academic standing. However, the model was much less precise for predicting…

A study of first-year University of Alabama students found over three-quarters were drinkers, drinking patterns varied substantially, and many of the drinkers had experienced a number of alcohol-related problems. Social characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, family religion, current religion, church attendance, and grades correlated with…

Examines the acceptance of, and expectations of, sexual aggression in common dating situations for 546 college students who completed a measure of rape acceptance beliefs. Results suggest that a consensus on definitions of unacceptable behavior is emerging among males and females, although differences in expectations remain. (SLD)

This study investigated the influences of gender, school year, and socioeconomic status on assertiveness for black students attending four predominantly white, southeastern universities. The study employed a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques. Quantitative data on assertiveness were collected from 560 black freshmen and juniors…

Project Decide is a 3-year study of adolescent moral reasoning and drug and alcohol use. Project Decide includes two studies. The first is a cross-sectional study of adolescents ranging in age from 13 to 19 and from grade 6 to college freshmen. In all 600 students will be individually interviewed to assess Kohlberg stage of moral reasoning and…

This report presents a national profile of black college freshmen in 1989-90 and shows how these students have changed based on the past 19 surveys (1971-1989), using data on 16,000-20,000 black freshmen from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program. The study focuses on a wide variety of characteristics of black college freshmen: family…

Focusing on purpose in the writing of college freshmen, a study examined the writing processes and how they related to the conceptions of purpose of four freshmen enrolled in a composition course at Indiana University. Discourse-based interviews were conducted before and after the students completed three tasks designed to vary their choice of…

Abstracts and bibliographic citations are given for the following documents concerned with the use and characteristics of the Hilson Adolescent Profile (HAP): (1) "Use of the Hilson Adolescent Profile To Compare Juvenile Offenders with Junior and Senior High School Students" (R. E. Inwald and K. E. Brobst); (2) "The Effectiveness of…