Use of Self-Actualization Scales as a Predictor of Academic Success with Underachievers
type: CreativeWork
description: The problem. Drake University placement officers do not know with any degree of certainty whether or not students selected for the Transitional Services Program can earn a first-semester 2.0 grade point average (CPA), which is a requirement for their admission to the University. The currently used ACT-prediction method (a computation provided by American College Testing Service using the student's high school CPA, ACT or SAT score, and a correction factor for the specific university) does not use scores of Time-Competence or Inner-Directedness scales from the Personal Orientation Inventory (POI) as indices of academic success. Yet, the implication is that a relationship exists between these variables and academic success or failure. The problem, then, was to determine whether POI scale pre-test scores could more accurately be used as predictors of first semester CPA's than is the ACT-prediction method. The second problem was to investigate the existence and degree of relationship between the POI major scale post-test scores, compared separately (a standardized measure of selfactualization) and actual CPA (evidence of behavior associated with self-actualization). Procedure. In the fall of 1973, 102 students were enrolled in the Transitional Services Program (TSP), a special-help program provided for students whose high school grades, ACT or SAT scores and/or class rank or a combination of these, prevents their admission to Drake. The TSP provides and requires participation in both a speed reading and study skills course, English I, other courses to total 10 hours or more, and regular individual counseling. At the end of the first semester, the student must have earned a 2.0 GPA to gain admission to the University. The sample consisted of 102 students currently enrolled in the TSP. Data were compiled from three sources--POI pre- and post-tests (given at the beginning and at the end of the semester), the ACT-predicted GPA (computed prior to the beginning of the semeste…
abstract: The problem. Drake University placement officers do not know with any degree of certainty whether or not students selected for the Transitional Services Program can earn a first-semester 2.0 grade point average (CPA), which is a requirement for their admission to the University. The currently used ACT-prediction method (a computation provided by American College Testing Service using the student's high school CPA, ACT or SAT score, and a correction factor for the specific university) does not use scores of Time-Competence or Inner-Directedness scales from the Personal Orientation Inventory (POI) as indices of academic success. Yet, the implication is that a relationship exists between these variables and academic success or failure. The problem, then, was to determine whether POI scale pre-test scores could more accurately be used as predictors of first semester CPA's than is the ACT-prediction method. The second problem was to investigate the existence and degree of relationship between the POI major scale post-test scores, compared separately (a standardized measure of selfactualization) and actual CPA (evidence of behavior associated with self-actualization). Procedure. In the fall of 1973, 102 students were enrolled in the Transitional Services Program (TSP), a special-help program provided for students whose high school grades, ACT or SAT scores and/or class rank or a combination of these, prevents their admission to Drake. The TSP provides and requires participation in both a speed reading and study skills course, English I, other courses to total 10 hours or more, and regular individual counseling. At the end of the first semester, the student must have earned a 2.0 GPA to gain admission to the University. The sample consisted of 102 students currently enrolled in the TSP. Data were compiled from three sources--POI pre- and post-tests (given at the beginning and at the end of the semester), the ACT-predicted GPA (computed prior to the beginning of the semeste…
author: Mitchell, Christina W.
language: en
keywords: Academic achievement--Psychological aspects, Inderachievers--Psychological aspects
date published: 1974-08
date modified: 2026-07-27T19:18:11Z
provider: Drake University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Drake University

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2092/1025