LE3 .A278 2015

2015

Major, Sonya

Acadia University

Bachelor of Science

Honours

Psychology

Psychology

This study aimed to identify first-year students at Acadia University who report a history of reading difficulties and to investigate the relationship between reported history of reading difficulties and academic success. The Adult Reading History Questionnaire – Revised (ARHQ-R) was used to determine whether it can identify first-year students who may be at risk for academic problems. The Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) and Metacognitive Reading Strategies Questionnaire (MRSQ) were also given, and results were analyzed in order to investigate the relationships with the ARHQ-R, cumulative GPA, and/or support service use. Based on their ARHQ-R scores, students were categorized as having a history of reading difficulties (HRD) or not having a history of reading difficulties (NRD). The results showed that the HRD group had a significantly lower cumulative GPA than the NRD group, suggesting that a history of reading difficulties affects first-year university GPA. It was also found that a number of LASSI subscales significantly correlated with GPA, and that these correlations differed between the HRD and NRD groups. This suggests that learning and study strategies are important to first-year university success, and use of such strategies is associated with reading ability.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:1183