Off-campus UNL users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your NU ID and password. When you are done browsing please remember to return to this page and log out.
Non-UNL users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.
The effects of differential college environments on academic learning and student perceptions of cognitive development
Abstract
It was the purpose of this study to assess the effects of differential college environments on academic learning and cognitive development by testing Pascarella's theoretical general causal model with longitudinal data from a national data base on college students. Secondary analysis of longitudinal data from the 1986 Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) freshman survey and from the 1990 follow-up CIRP survey was conducted to formulate the five clusters of independent variables and two dependent variables as postulated by Pascarella. The final sample was composed of 2165 students at four-year institutions. The data were analyzed using path analysis. Direct, indirect and total effects of all variables are reported. Results of the path analyses partially supported Pascarella's theoretical causal model. Findings suggested that student precollege traits, the quality of student effort in academic pursuits during college, and interactions with faculty and peers are more salient influences on learning and student perceptions of cognitive development than institutional characteristics and institutional environment. Based on the findings of the present study, a refined causal model for college student academic and cognitive outcomes is proposed. Recommendations and implications for further study are given.
Subject Area
Higher education|Educational psychology
Recommended Citation
Franklin, Maureen, "The effects of differential college environments on academic learning and student perceptions of cognitive development" (1993). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9331415.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9331415