Coping at University: an examination of achievement, motivation, self‐regulation, confidence, and method of entry

Abstract

Undergraduate university students (n = 132) completed a questionnaire containing measures of psychological variables, verbal ability, an evaluation of their course of study, and demographic characteristics. We also had access to their academic results. We examined the relationships among these variables, especially the psychological variables, and compared them with those posited by recent theoretical work that makes connections among motivation, self‐regulation, and self‐efficacy. We then looked at which variables predicted academic achievement. The sample contained two sub‐samples: mature‐age students who had entered university via an enabling program; and younger students who entered university on the basis of high school results. With universities under severe financial pressure, university‐run enabling programs must demonstrate their effectiveness in terms of students’ successful progress in undergraduate degrees if they are to continue. We compared these two groups of students on the measures noted above.