Interpreting students' experiences with academic disappointments using resourcefulness scores as a lens

Authors

  • Rebecca D. Martin Trent University
  • Deborah J. Kennett Trent University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.7.2.9

Keywords:

learned resourcefulness, academic disappointments, explanatory style, perceived control

Abstract

Most postsecondary students have to deal with academic disappointments at some point in time, with many of them succumbing to their anxieties and failing to learn from these lived experiences. Our study aimed to understand why and how disappointments unfolded in a sample of 20 undergraduate students, using a design whereby interview text was concurrently analyzed across the continuum of learned resourcefulness measured using Rosenbaum’s Self-Control Schedule in conjunction with an inductive, data-driven coding and theme-generation perspective. Reasons for attending university, attributional style, coping and learning, and perceptions of others markedly differed for high- and low- resourcefulness scorers. Whereas high-resourceful scorers used academic disappointments as a motivator to engage in more effort and problem-solving strategies, low scorers ruminated and tried to forget about them. Suggestions are provided on ways to effectively help students become more resourceful and in control of their studies.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Author Biographies

Rebecca D. Martin, Trent University

Rebecca D. Martin completed this research in partial fulfillment of her Master of Arts degree in psychology at Trent University (CAN). She currently works with Trent University’s Health, Environment, and Indigenous Communities Research Group, where she provides data analysis support on food security projects.

Deborah J. Kennett, Trent University

Deborah J. Kennett is Professor Emeritus at Trent University (CAN). Her research focuses on academic self-regulation with special emphasis on program development and on the personal and social factors influencing academic success and university adjustment.

References

Akgun, S. (2004). The effects of situation and learned resourcefulness on coping responses. Social Behaviour and Personality, 32, 441-448. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2004.32.5.441

Akgun, S. & Ciarrochi, J. (2003). Learned resourcefulness moderates the relationship between academic stress and academic performance. Educational Psychology, 23, 287-294. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144341032000060129

Ando, H., Cousins, R., & Young, C. (2014). Achieving saturation in thematic analysis: Development and refinement of a codebook. Comprehensive Psychology, 3, 03-CP. http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/03.CP.3.4

Boonpongmanee, C., Zauszniewski, J. A., & Boonpongmanee, S. (2002). Psychometric properties of the self-control schedule: Thai version. Research in Nursing and Health, 25, 471-478. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12424784

Bowering, E. R., Mills, J., & Merritt, A. (2017). Learning how to learn: A student success course for at risk students. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 8, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2017.3.12

Breines, J. G. & Chen, S. (2012). Self-compassion increases self-improvement motivation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38, 1133-1143. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22645164

Corbin, J. M. & Strauss, A. L. (2008). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, California, USA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Fast H. V. & Kennett D. J. (2015). Development and practical implications of the exercise resourcefulness inventory. Patient Education & Counseling, 98, 627-632. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2015.02.004

Fishbach, A. & Choi, J. (2012). When thinking about goals undermines goal pursuit. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 118, 99-107. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2012.02.003

Francis, J. J., Johnston, M., Robertson, C., Glidewell, L., Entwistle, V., Eccles, M. P., & Grimshaw, J. M. (2010). What is an adequate sample size? Operationalising data saturation for theory-based interview studies. Psychology and Health, 25(10), 1229-1245. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870440903194015

Freund, A. M. & Hennecke, M. (2012). Changing eating behaviour vs. losing weight: The role of goal focus for weight loss in overweight women. Psychology & Health, 27, 25-42. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721414559774

Giorgi, A. (2009). The descriptive phenomenological method in psychology: A modified Husserlian approach. Duquesne University Press: Pittsburgh, PA.

Guest, G., Bunce, A., & Johnson, L. (2006). How many interviews are enough? An experiment with data saturation and variability. Field methods, 18, 59-82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1525822X05279903

Haynes, T. L., Perry, R. P., Stupnisky, R. H., & Daniels, L. M. (2009). A review of attributional retraining treatments: Fostering engagement and persistence in vulnerable college students. Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, 24, 227-272. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9628-0_6

Huang, C., Sousa, V. D., Chen, H., Tu, S., Change, C., & Pan, I. (2007). Stressors, depressive symptoms, and learned resourcefulness among Taiwanese adults with Diabetes Mellitus. Research and Theory for Nursing Practice: An International Journal, 21, 83-97. https://doi.org/10.1891/088971807780852066

Katz, R. & Singh, N. (1986). A comparison of current smokers and self-cured quitters on Rosenbaum’s self-control schedule, Addictive Behaviors, 11, 63-65. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00848477

Kennett, D. J. (1994). Academic self-management counselling: Preliminary evidence for the importance of learned resourcefulness on program success. Studies in Higher Education, 19(3), 295–307. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079412331381890

Kennett, D. J. & Ackerman, M. (1995). Importance of learned resourcefulness to weight loss and early success during maintenance: Preliminary evidence. Patient Education and Counseling, 25, 197-203. https://doi.org/10.1016/0738-3991(95)00713-A

Kennett, D. J., & Keefer, K. (2006). Impact of learned resourcefulness and theories of intelligence on academic achievement of university students: An integrated approach. Educational Psychology, 26(3), 441–457. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410500342062

Kennett, D. J., O’Hagan, F. T., & Cezer, D. (2008). Learned resourcefulness and the long-term benefits of a chronic pain management program. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 2, 317-339. https://doi.org/10.1177/1558689808319732

Kennett, D. J., & Reed, M. J. (2009). Factors influencing academic success and retention following a 1st-year post-secondary success course. Educational Research and Evaluation, 15(2), 153–166. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803610902804382

Kennett, D. J., Reed, M. J., & Stuart, A. S. (2013). The impact of reasons for attending university on academic resourcefulness and adjustment. Active Learning in Higher Education, 14, 123-133. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787413481130

Kiefer, J. (2002). A cross validation of the self-control schedule (Doctoral thesis, California School of Professional Psychology, San Diego, USA). Retrieved from PsycINFO.

Krause, K. & Freund, A. M. (2014). How to beat procrastination: The role of goal focus. European Psychologist, 19, 132-144. http://dx.doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000153

Leung, G. S. M. & He, X. (2010). Resourcefulness: A protective factor buffer against the academic stress of school-aged children. Educational Psychology, 30, 395-410. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443411003682574

Lévesque, L. (1995). Validation canadienne-francaise du self-control schedule. Science et Comportement, 24, 133-149.

Levesque, L., Gauvin, L. & Desharnais, R. (2003). Maintaining exercise involvement: the role of learned resourcefulness in process of change use. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 4, 237-253. http://doi:10.1016/S1469-0292(02)00007-9

Martin, R.D., & Kennett, D.J. (2018). To be kind or not to be kind: The moderating role of self-compassion in the relationship between general resourcefulness and academic self-regulation. The Journal of Social Psychology, 158, 626-638. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2017.1407286

Menshadi, N., Bar-Tal, Y., Barnoy, S. (2013). The relationship between learned resourcefulness and cancer-related fatigue in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Oncology Nursing Forum, 40, 133-138. doi: 10.1188/13.ONF.133-138

Nakano, K. (1995). Assessment of self-control behavior: Validity analyses on a Japanese version of the self-control schedule. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 51, 378-382. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/1097-4679(199505)51:3<378::AID-JCLP2270510309>3.0.CO;2-N

Neff, K. (2003). Self-compassion: An alternative conceptualization of a healthy attitude toward oneself. Self and Identity, 2, 85-101. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298860309032

Neff, K., Hsieh, Y., & Dejitterat, K. (2005). Self-compassion, achievement goals, and coping with academic failure. Self and Identity, 4, 263-287. https://doi.org/10.1080/13576500444000317

Ngai, F., Chan, S. W., & Holroyd, E. (2008). Translation and validation of a Chinese version of the self-control schedule in Chinese childbearing women. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 17, 323-332. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2006.01882.x

Perry, R. P. (2003). Perceived (academic) control and causal thinking in achievement settings. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie canadienne, 44, 312-331. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0086956

Redden, E. M., Tucker, R. K., & Leslie, Y. (1983). Psychometric properties of the Rosenbaum schedule for assessing self-control. The Psychological Record, 33, 77-86.

Reed, M. J., & Kennett, D. J. (2017). The importance of university students’ perceived ability to balance multiple roles: a comparison of students with and without disabilities. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 47, 71-86.

Reed, M. J., Kennett, D. J., Lewis, T., & Lund-Lucas, E. (2011). The relative benefits found for students with and without learning disabilities taking a first-year university preparation course. Active Learning in Higher Education, 12, 133-142. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787411402483

Reed, M. J., Kennett, D. J., Lewis, T., Lund-Lucas, E., Stallberg, C., & Newbold, I. L. (2009). The relative effects of university success courses and individualized interventions for students with learning disabilities. Higher Education Research and Development, 28, 385-400. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360903067013

Rosenbaum, M. (1980). A schedule for assessing self-control behaviors: Preliminary findings. Behavior therapy, 11(1), 109-121. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7894(80)80040-2

Rosenbaum, M. (1990). The role of learned resourcefulness in the self-control of health behavior. In M. Rosenbaum (Ed.), Learned resourcefulness: On coping skills, self-control, and adaptive behavior, (pp. 3-30). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Co.

Rosenbaum, M. & Ben-Ari, K. (1985). Learned helplessness and learned resourcefulness: Effects of noncontingent success and failure on individuals differing in self-control skills. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 198-215. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.48.1.198

Rosenbaum, M. & Ben-Ari Smira, K. (1986). Cognitive and personality factors in the delay of gratification of hemodialysis patients. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 357-364. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.51.2.357

Seligman, M. E. P. (1991). Learned optimism. New York, NY, USA: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

Turkel, Y. D. & Tezer, E. (2008). Parenting styles and learned resourcefulness of Turkish adolescents. Adolescence, 43, 143-152.

Weiner, B. (1979). A theory of motivation for some classroom experiences. Journal of Educational Psychology, 71, 3-25.

Weiner, B. (1986). An attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion. New York: Springer.

Willig, C. (2013). Introducing qualitative research in psychology. Berkshire, England: Open University Press.

Zauszniewski, J. A. (1997). Evaluation of a measure of learned resourcefulness for elders. Journal of Nursing Measurement, 5, 71-86.

Zauszniewski, J. A., Chung, C. W., Chang, H., & Krafcik, K. (2002). Predictors of resourcefulness in school-aged children. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 23, 385-401. https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840290052587

Downloads

Published

2019-09-16

How to Cite

Martin, Rebecca D., and Deborah J. Kennett. 2019. “Interpreting students’ Experiences With Academic Disappointments Using Resourcefulness Scores As a Lens”. Teaching and Learning Inquiry 7 (2):136-53. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.7.2.9.