1210
Hypothesis 4
Differential Effectiveness of Model-Reinforcement and Desensitiz1tion Group Counselling strateqies In Increasing Academic Involvement
To test the fourth hypothesis which states that, there will be no significant difference in the degre2 of 3c~demic involvement of subjects treated with model-reinforcement
group counselling and those subjects treated with d..::scmsitiz;ltion group counselling; the dat;a obta.i.ned from the self r:-'_tingscor-es on Si\AA scale were subjected to analysis of covariance; using PMT scores as covariateso The results from the statistical analysis are presented in Tables 18 and 190 From the results, it was revealed that, the main effects of the two group
counselling str"ltegies, when compared are not significant on degree of acarlemic involvement for both sexes, -'3.S meClsureJ.
by Sf..AA. ScrLe (F 10852, 2/138; P
=
NS)o The interpr2tationof these results is thClt there is no st~tistic3l gain difference between the post treatment scores in the degree of acnderru.c involvement of the subjects treated under model-reinforc0ment and desens Lt.Lzat.Lon group counselling str;).tegieso For this reason, the null hypothesis IV can not be rejectedo
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Analysis of Covariance for Academic Involvement of All s:ut(lectsUsing Model-Reinforcement and Desensitization
Group Counselling Strategi2s (COVhRIATES = PMI')
SOURCE OF V.'.RL\TION SSQ DF NSQ F P
COVi.RlATE S (Mental
107510547 1 107510574 20927 NS
IJJility)
MAIN EFFECTS 13fj09.602 2 68040801 10852 NS
fvialeVSo Female 56530320 1 5653.320 10539 US Mod-Reinf VSo Desen 78260004 1 78260004 20130 NS
2-WAY INTERl,CTIONS 27240770 1 27240770 00742 NS
(Sex Vs Type of Treatment)
BETI"JEEN 27086.000 4 67710500 10843 NS
WITHIN 5069330938 138 36730434
TOTAL 5340190938 142 37600704
I
TABlE 19
Means Showing Relative Effects of fvIodel-Reinforeement and Desensiti~ation on Academic Involvement
variable + Cntcgory N UNADJUSTED X i.DJUSTED X
Hale 72 117041 120009
Female 72 109071 107006
Model-reinfo 72 121001 120088
Desensitizatic:n 72 105094 106.00
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123.
Hypothesis 5
Relative Effectiveness of General Grouping, Dy~dic and Triadic Groupings on Academic Involvement
The role of group dynamics, in promoting classroom achievement has been recurring subject;of r,~searchstudy , The f;fth hypothesis was to investigate the effects of differcrt modes of 0rouping, ioeo general group, triadic group and dy3dic group, npon certain non-intellectual factors associated with student academic involvement, as measured by the SIJ-J\ scale.. The influence .ofthe three modes of grouping upon the criterion measures (S!\l;'A post tests) was analyzed by the analysis of covariance techniqueo
In table 20, the covariance analysis for the influence of the techniques of frcu~i.ngupon final S/\AAscale is presentedo In this analysis the pretest Sl~\A scores served as ccvariateso The F value obtained through this analysis was not significanto SAl~
=
(F = 20257, 3/138, P=
NS)oOn obtaining the F value, the adjusted criterion means were computedo The unadjusted and adjusted SAAA means for the three groups, treated under model-reinforcement and desensitization group counselling strategies are presented in Table 210 It appears that, insofur as group difference in initial SAlv..
performe.ncepotential were controlled by the SAAJ...pretest, and no uncontrolled factors related to SAiI.A performance contribute to
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TABLE 20
~alysis of Cova.ria'"1cefor ACC'ldemicInvolver.1entBetween General Group, Triadic group and Dyadic group"
(COVARIATE
=
PRE ~~\A)-SOURCE OF VARII,TION SSQ DF MSQ
r F p
!
-'COVARIi,Trs (Pre-SMv\.) 7410731 1
I
741.•731 100205 NSMAIN EFFECTS 244590316 , 3
I
8153,,105 2'0257 NSMod-reinf ..VSo Desen 7417,,816
I
1 74170816 2••053 NS Group x Triad x Dyud 169700578 2 84850289 20349 NS 2-WAY INTERI.CTIONS 138780250 2 69390125 10921 NS(Type of Treatment VSo Type of Group)
BETWEEN 39079e313 6 65130219 10803 NS
WITHIN 4949820188 138 36130009
TOTAL 5340610500 144 37340696
Tl\.BLE21
Means ~owin9 The Relative Effects of Grouping Methods on Academic Involvement
Variable + Category N UNADJUSTED
X
ADJUSTEDX
-
~I .
Model-reinforcement 72
I
120..81I
121 ..02 fIDesensitization 72
!
106..14 106035General Group 48 128009 128.•86
Triadic GroufJ 48 106013 109 ..99
Dyadic Group 48 106007 106..42
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125.
a bias, evidence has thus been found tha't, no aignif'Lcarrt
difference exists between the different modes of grouping in increasing the degree of academic involvement •
.L~y
OF FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONSIn presenting the findings of this study, which is
basically on the effect of two group counselling strategiEs in increasing academic achievement and the degree of academic involvement; a number of resu~ts and conclusions were arrived at. The summary of these results and conclusions are presented as
follows:-1. At the pretreatment level, the results show
that for both experimental and centrol groups, there were no significant differences between mean scores of
the experimental group <IDa control group, This indicates that any post test signific8nt differences observed
should be due to treatment effects.
2. When the achievement test scores were subjected to analysis of covariance, it shows significant F - ratios for the main effect of academic performance and
interaction. The tests of statistical differences,
reveal that upder the experimental conditions the group scored significantly higher than the control group
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3. As for the effect of trsotments on the degree of academic involvement, the SAAli.scores were also subjected to analysis of covariance. The resultant
F - ratios were significant, indicating the treatment effects on academic involvement.
4.
No significant differences were observed as tc the differential effectiveness of the two group counselling method.s on both academic performance and the degree of academic involvement.5.
Another problem for investigation wos to determine the relative effectiveness of the different groupings on academic involvement. The results of thisinvestigation show that, there was no signific8nt difference in the degreee of academic invulvement of students counselled in general group, triadic group and dyadic group.
6.
The results of this study lend support to the conclusions which follow. First, group counsellingwill generally improve and increase academic achievement and academic involvement respectively. Second,
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1270
the twc grouf-'counselling methods will be effective in de<:11ingwith academic prob.Lcms, Third, mo~lel-reinforcement group counselling str~tegy is 38 effective as ,:k:sensitiZi'.!tion qr oup counse L'li.nq in .irnpr'cvLnq ''l.cc!demicpcrf'orrnance, Similarly, nei.ther of these two orou: counselling methods is signific:-'ntly :nore effective in Lncz-ensLnqthe ·ie']ree of a acederrd.c LnvcIvement;of low ach.tever s , Lastly, the::results fror n the fifth hyj.o+hesLs show +hat , whencounselled, the s tu·jc::nt's '"1cademicinvo1vement, dues not
necessarily depend on the qr'oupd.nq pattern (if st.udent.s,
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CHAPTER FOUR DISCUSSION
In this chapt8r, the results of the study and the conclusions drawn from it are discussed. In addition, the possible implications of the study and recommendations for furth8r research are presented.
Hypothesis 1
On the basis of the analyses undertaken, the first hypothesis which states that "There will be no significant difference in the academic performance of subjects in the experimental group and those subjects in the control group"
is rejected; the rejection of this hypothesis thus leads to the first conclusion which suggests that group counselling intervention procedures would be effective in improving and increasing academic achievement, which therefore corroborates the aforementioned research. For example~ Havighurst and Neugaten,1 Berdie2 and Krumbol tz and Thonvesen3 found, similar overall main effects in comparison to the present study.
The results from the present study give evidence which indicate that when a student's study habits are
1. Havighurst, R. and Neugaten, B.
1962, Q£ 211.
2. Berdie, R.
1954 Q£.
Cit.). Krumboltz, J. and Thoresen, C.
1964Q£.
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improved ~nd enjoyable, his academic ~erformance is also chanelled in a more positive directiono The fact th2t both modalities ioeo model - reinforcement qr'oupcounselling and the systematic dcsens i.t i.zat.Lon pr ocedur=s ,rnved to be equally successful, gives cr(;,.~enceto the value of the fcrm6r .rode of treatmento
/.3 a L,sult of participation in a qrour. counselling, the exper irnent.eI group's GPh became compareb Le to t.hat; of the buseline group's GPA and significantly higher than the GPh of the control groupo It might be interesting to note that the experimental group did not; [x::ginits Lmpr'ovemen t;
until the third session of the tr,:atment yrocedureso Evir1ently, it takes some time before the results of the newly gained
insights as ~ result Gf the two group counselling strategies are trGnslated into actiono ~his is one of the i~portant reasons for the use of long range, r~ther than immediate criterion measures , Though some students do exhi.b Lt; a
"transference cure" and exhibit immedi'l.temarked behaviour changes; most of them seem to dG better it: the "long pull"
as a result of the counselling experienceo
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The improvement of scholastic behaviour on the part of the inappropriately performing experimental groups can not
logica.llybeCCc;:ounteJfor by the natural tendency to re(~resstowards the mean; The control groups do not indi.catethis phenomenon;
Therefore, the change in behaviour on the part of ti1t experimental groups can only be accounted for in terms of t"le treatment
variableso Further findings lend support to the effectiveness t'f these two group counselling strategies used in treating poor academic achieverso
In light of these findings, one can state "Jiti1 a high degree of certainity that, in the findings of an investigation which concerned itself, ~ith long-range results and which concerned controlled ability and motivational variables, indicated that students of comparable ability who began their scholastic career with inappropriate lower grades, who recognised and expressed their need for help and participated in group
counselling were indeed aided to perform in a manner more consistent with their abilityo In contrast, those subjects who were in the same circumstunce but were refused help continued to perform in a consistently inappropriate manner, ioeo they did not improve their gradeso
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1310
The outcome of this inv8stigation supports the results of many scudd.es concerrn.nq the effectiw;ness of gro1.'p
counselling pr-ocodur...'s in academic set.ti.nqs , The critical issue:
to which this research was addressed, was the establisfunent of controls and the mcmipulation of variables in a manner which was consistent with conclusions of an unequivocal nature an aim, whi.ch former studies accomplished only in small par-to The s~udy dealt,
with <crt once, a group pr-ocedure which focused on personality
var Lat-Lcsand scholastic skills simult.aneousLy, It also provided control for motiv~tional variables and used an objective criterion for measurement over a period of timeo In the light of the design, the findings indicated that such group counseLli..ng procedures which take into account the whole person are effective in changing scho.lasti.cbehaviour in 1
positive directiono
Hypothesis 2
In ctiscussingthe second hypothesis which states that
"There will be no significant c1ifference in the degree of academic LnvoLvement; of subjects in the experimental group and those in the con::rolgroup," the results of this investigation
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rejected the null hypothesis II, thus demonstrating that
both modeIe-r-e Infor-cement; and systemat.Lcdesensi.tLzc.tLon group
counselling st.raceqi.eacan be effective in incrc!,:,singthe degree of academic involveme:nto The experimental subjects
improved more on the total SAM scale than those suLjects who received no counsellingo The ,study is thus supporting the view that behc.vioural counselling techniques may bf:~effective even when the problem under consideration does not concern specific and well defined behev i.ours,
In order to adduce possible reasons for this finding, it is necessary to examine the construct of academic ~bility itselfo That satisfaction in ~cademic ability is related to congruent concepts of self and ideal self is construed as in keeping with ~indings of previous studieso These have
indicated that as an individual becomes better ndjusted his concept of self and sE~lfideal are brought into closer accord, that congruity of concepts is nssociut.ed with genero.laat.Lsfac tLon , and that this conrtruence may be indicative of a sense of seLf accepbance, \dhy this
association was found to be less clear in thf,;two methods, may
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1330
be that academic ability itself holds more values which
exist independently of their own feelings of satisfaction with self vJithin the experimental subjects, A. st:udent who is
disconted with self because of his performance in academic t.asks may find that, just he has been treated to overcome his
academic difficulti~s, he is more satisfied with his lot in life, irrespective of th~ methods used in group counsellingo
The indication of these findings, is that behcwioural
counselling techniques derived from social learning theory, can be used by counsellors in increasing the degree of ~cademic involvement 0 If it is assumed that counsellors ought to help students learn the processes involved in personal and
education~l making, this finding has considerable relevance for counsellors.. Group counselling has gained support from
many counsellors and counsellor educators, yet little experimental evidence demonstrates the v~lue of group couns~llingo This study is therefore, an experimental efidence to show that group
counselling methods are ef-:ecttve in increasing student's academic involvemento
Another possible explanation for these findings, may be thut, under the conditions of this study, the findinqs support the
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oo.raolusionsthat specific behaviours can be modified using a learning theory approach in counselling with small groups.
This conclusion is supported in other counselling studies using the learning theory approaches. Such studios include those of Akinboye1, Krumboltz and Thoresen2 and Ryan and Krumboltz
3•
As Skinner4
pointed out, it is an oversimplification not to evaluate others which affect the spread of effect, since it is a known fact that other variables in the environment may dilute behavioural changes achieved during
counselling. Difficulties in trying to effect changes in student behaviour within the classroom through reinforcement have been noted in some studies, like those of ICrumboltz and Thoresen. The
implication of this for counselling is that before a marked and lasting change in behaviours in other situations can be expected, the reinforcing aspects of significmlt others (teachers and peers) must also be evaluated and regulated. One of the goals of
---_._---1. Akinboye, J.
1974 Q£
Cit.2. Krumboltz, J. and Thoresen, C.
1964 Q£.
Cit.3.
Ryan, T. and Krumboltz, J.1964 Q£.
Cit.4.
Skinner, B. F.: Science and Human Behaviour.New York: Macmillan:
1953.
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135.
this study WiOlS to mcucimiseconditions fJr reinforcement during counsellingo
In Nig8ria todLlY,<Jroupcounselling is a reli'ltivelynew technique for many school counsellorso On0 of the greatest advamtages of group counselling is thc:tit serves as Ll
mi.cr-o.Labfor le<.:rni.'gnew behev.Lours, Vith appropr'Let;e reinforcers for motivation, sequencing of le::rningand specific Objectives, a student can be re-educ~ted in
behavioural patterns.. Students in the experimental situations learn to effectively discriminate between appropriate new
behaviours and inappropriate old behav i.ours, As each group mernb....r plays an "lppropriaterole in the group si.t.uat.Lon , he rcccLves reinforc0ment from the counselloro In addition, the presence and behaviours of peers provide L~portant modeling cues as well as additional reinforct~mento By providing the students with a model, for the desired behaviour, he is able to
imitate and this greatly increases the likelihood of receiving positive social reinforcement. The results of this study support the findings of other rcsearch demonstrating that the degree of student's commitment in acnderrd.c activities can be quickly influenced by group counselling methodso
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It is fairly clear from these data, that, there seems to be a possibility that a cycle of interaction takes place in counselling that affects one's perception of individual aC3demic ability in different ways at different points in counselling.. Perhar:sit is possible that after an early identification with the group members and their problems, t.heidcntific3tionI of their aCC"ldemic ability begins to dissipate and the student begins to differentii::;. cLearIy between himself and oth(·:rso The openness of the group allows him tc see their aCQdemic
abilities and others in a way heretofore unknowno Ohlsen ( 1963)1 s2id "he Lezirris that others have problems too" .•
Identificution with other group members reveals not only previously unknown similarities but also unique difforenceso If such a cycle occurs, it would seem t~at if a client was evaluated on the SAl~ scale after three or four sessions he probably would have a higher SAAA scores, However'; after
1,1> Qb.l.san., Mo: ~roup Counselling, Holt, Ri.nehnrt and
vJinston"19630
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sever~l more sessions, he would possibly see himself QS
different from ot.hers and be aat.LsfLed with this ,jifferenceo Therefore, in group counselling, they are .3.bleto work through their feelings of being differento
The consistency and comp~rative of the two therapies on self apprC'isnlof acndemic nbility in the present
study can be seen most clearly in the experimental results (Tables 12 and 13). One possible explanation of the
therapeutic effect is that subjects became sensitized to new ways of coping with their academi,c problems and evaluating themselv~so The result of such a sensitization to new ways labeling his p0rceptions possibly accounts for the change in the mean SlW\ scale scores among the experimental subjects.
Hypothesis 3
Another matter for conc.arn is 'theconf Lrmat.Lonof the third hynothesis that "There will be no significant difference.
in the academic performance of subjects treated under model-reinforcement group counselling mld those subjects treated under desensitization group counselling"o Th2 hypothesis demonstrated that model-reinforcement group counselling can
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reduce study habit problem due to anxiety as effectively as the systematic desensitization group counselling, which has been one of the most recommended methods to deal with study anxiety; Allen,1. Johnson and Sechrest,2 Aponte and Aponte3, Emery and Krumboltz
4,
and Lomont and Sherman5•
The practical advantages of having model-reinforcement as a competitive f~rm of treatment are, first, that it provides counsellors with wider range of treatments to choose'from and second, that this choice may also accommodate practitioners of a wider range of counselling orientations.An important implication of the results of this hypothesis concerns the use of desensitization as a
target by the structured model-reinforcement method. The extinction of anxiety reactions associated with the
desensitization procedures is an innovation introduced by the behaviourstic approach. In fact, a comparison of the theoretical principles underlying these two treatment
1. Allen, G. 1971
2£. Qi!.
2. Johnson, S. and Sechrest, L. 1968
QE. Qi!.
3.
Aponte, J. and Aponte, C. 1971QE.
Cit.4.
Emery, J. and Krumboltz, J. 19672£.
Cit.5.
Lamont, J. ahd Sherman, L. 1971Q£.
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139.
modalities show some incomp3tible differences. Despite, the theoretical differences, in practice, some similarities are also evident. These-can be illustr8ted in the case of the procedures usod for desensitizing t<·stanxiety. In both forms of treatment, the clients are given a substantia.l degree of control over the pe.rf'c.rmance , Thus, the model-reinforcement, although traditionally, considered a dyn3Jllicform of treatment, in the present case can be regs,rdedas a variant of in v.ivo dE~sensitization or rather a simulated in vivo desensitiz2.tLm.
'I'he fact that both group counselling strp,tE:giosshowed a significant effect on academic performance is an additional support for Doctor et a11 who obtained similar rc,sults in compar-Ing systematic desensitriza't.ion with model-reinforcement group counselling, in which subjects were ,encouraged to discuss attitudes and feelings associated with study habits and test situations. Similar finding was by Allen2, when he showed a model-reinforcement approach to be effective in reducing test anxiety relative to a no-treatment control group.
It should be noted that .allen used study counselling in addition
---~---1.
Doctor, R. et al.19702£.
Cit.2. Allen,