Doctor of Physical Therapy Student Grit as a Predictor of Academic Success: A Pilot Study

Examining the effects of stroke on students' L2-grit levels in an EFL context: A case of Northern Iraq

This article investigates the effects of stroke on students' L2-grit levels in an EFL context in Northern Iraq. A model was created to find how various components such as verbal, non-verbal, valuing, and activities that determine stroke levels affect students' grit. This study adopted the L2- Grit scale and a language domain-specific grit scale to measure the learners' L2-grit levels. Also, the Students' Stroke Scale (SSS) was used to measure the participants' stroke levels. The study's sample consisted of 199 participants from various academic levels, undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate at several Northern Iraq universities. The results reveal a positive and statistically significant association between the score on the L2-Grit scale and the score on the Stroke scale; more specifically, as the scores on the L2-grit scale rise, so do the scores on the Stroke scale. The mean of low stroke is lower than the means of medium stroke and high stroke indicating that as people's stroke levels grow, so does their L2-grit status. The regression coefficients estimated within the framework of the regression model structured with the logit, the link function, are the same in each category of the dependent variable, satisfying the parallel curves assumption. The overall results show that positive stroke helps learners' L2-grit levels to arise and lead to a better learning process.

Increasing Chinese EFL Learners' Grit: The Role of Teacher Respect and Support

Owing to the pivotal role of grit in scholastic success, factors that help learners become gritty are worth to be studied. Accordingly, this research sought to inspect the impact of teacher respect and teacher support on Chinese EFL learners' grit. In doing so, three reliable measures of the variables were sent to 613 Chinese EFL learners. Using Spearman correlation tests, strong connections were discovered between teacher respect, teacher support, and Chinese EFL learners' grit. Multiple regression analysis was then performed to inspect the role of teacher respect and teacher support in increasing Chinese EFL learners' grit. As a result, both teacher respect and teacher support were found to be highly influential in increased learner grit. The limitations and implications are discussed.

Initial Development and Psychometric Evidence of Physical Education Grit Scale (PE-Grit)

Background

Grit is a key concept in positive psychology and educational science. The construct measures two related constructs that are interest and effort. Several instruments have been developed to measure this construct in professional and educational contexts, but no tools have been developed considering specific contexts such as physical education and sport.

Objectives

The objective of this study is to develop and test a measurement scale to assess Grit in the context of physical education and sport.

Methods

Two exploratory (Phase 1) and confirmatory (Phase 2) samples were administered the 16-item PE-Grit scale in Arabic. In addition, the confirmatory sample also was administered the R-SPQ-2F two-factor learning approaches scale. The factor structure was examined first by exploratory factor analysis on the first sample and then by confirmatory factor analysis on the second sample. Reliability testing was performed by checking internal consistency simultaneously by the three indices: McDonald's ω, Cronbach's α and Gutmann's λ6. Concurrent validity was checked by Pearson's correlation between the PE-Grit and the two dimensions of the SPQ-2F.

Results

After the exploratory factor analysis, which identified the factors and gave a preliminary validation of the designed instrument, confirmatory factor analysis was performed on three hierarchical models to be able to identify the best fitting model. A third-order hierarchical model with two physical and academic components each formed by interest and effort presented the best fit indices: chi X2 = 192.95 (p < 0.01), and the X2/DF = 1.36; GFI = 0.99; AGFI = 0.99; CFI and TLI close to 1; RMSEA = 0.025. In addition, McDonald's ω, internal consistency, and Gutmann's λ6 ranged from 0.78 to 0.86 for all four scale dimensions.

Conclusion

The PE-Grit scale displays adequate factor structure, good reliability, and acceptable concurrent validity and can be administered to assess Grit in physical education and sport students.

The relationship of non-cognitive factors to academic and clinical performance in graduate rehabilitation science students in the United States: a systematic review

PURPOSE

Rehabilitation science programs utilize cognitive and non-cognitive factors to select students who can complete the didactic and clinical portions of the program and pass the licensure exam. Cognitive factors such a prior grade point average and standardized test scores are known to be predictive of academic performance, but the relationship of non-cognitive factors and performance is less clear. The purpose of this systematic review was to explore the relationship of non-cognitive factors to academic and clinical performance in rehabilitation science programs.

METHODS

A search of 7 databases was conducted using the following eligibility criteria: graduate programs in physical therapy (PT), occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, United States-based programs, measurement of at least 1 non-cognitive factor, measurement of academic and/or clinical performance, and quantitative reporting of results. Articles were screened by title, abstract, and full text, and data were extracted.

RESULTS

After the comprehensive screening, 21 articles were included in the review. Seventy-six percent of studies occurred in PT students. Grit, self-efficacy, emotional intelligence, and stress were the most commonly studied factors. Only self-efficacy, emotional intelligence, and personality traits were examined in clinical and academic contexts. The results were mixed for all non-cognitive factors. Higher grit and self-efficacy tended to be associated with better performance, while stress was generally associated with worse outcomes.

CONCLUSION

No single non-cognitive factor was consistently related to clinical or academic performance in rehabilitation science students. There is insufficient evidence currently to recommend the evaluation of a specific non-cognitive factor for admissions decisions.