Abstract
As strengths-based approaches continue to gain steady momentum in colleges and universities, a distinct need for scholarship on the benefits of strengths-based practices has emerged. In fall 2011, all first-year students at a university in the Midwest were invited to discover their strengths by taking the Clifton StrengthsFinder. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between first-year students' strengths awareness and two outcomes that influence students' success in higher education: academic self-efficacy and engagement. The results of a midyear survey of the first-year class (n = 1,397) suggest students' strengths awareness is positively associated with academic self-efficacy and engagement when controlled by demographic variables, academic achievement, and strengths interactions.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 69-88 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Journal of the First-Year Experience & Students in Transition |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| State | Published - 2014 |
Keywords
- Academic Achievement
- Bartletts Test of Sphericity
- College Freshmen
- Demography
- ERIC, Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE
- Factor Analysis
- Higher Education
- Interest Inventories
- Learner Engagement
- Measures (Individuals)
- Models
- Postsecondary Education
- Predictor Variables
- Regression (Statistics)
- Self Efficacy
- Statistical Distributions
- Student Characteristics
- Student Surveys
- Talent Identification
- United States (Midwest)
- Vocational Interests