Date
2021
Department
School of Behavioral Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)
Chair
Christopher Gardner
Keywords
social-emotional learning, academic achievement, STEM, high school
Disciplines
Counseling
Recommended Citation
McDougald, Maurice LaVelle, "Social-Emotional Learning and Its Relationship to High School Student Academic Achievement in STEM Courses" (2021). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 6546.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/6546
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation of high school student social-emotional learning and its relationship to academic achievement in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) courses as moderated by gender and racial groups and within a rural school in the Sandhills area of North Carolina. Using a quasi-experimental variable-centered design, 202 Junior Reserve Officer Corps students participated in this research. The researcher sought to answer: (1) Do individual high school students' self-perceptions of social-emotional learning skills influence academic achievement in traditional STEM courses? (2) Are there significant variations of individual high school students' self-perception of social-emotional learning skills potentially influencing academic achievement in traditional STEM courses among gender and race? Data collection was via the Success Profiler survey and STEM academic reports. Overall, this research did not find statistically significant variations between STEM course academic achievement among high school students derivative from social-emotional learning in consideration to fourteen SEL components, though isolated components did result in a significant variation. Underserved students receive less STEM academic preparation, consequently reflecting less interest in STEM careers. Future research should examine education institutional social-emotional learning curriculum designs and the influence on academic achievement. Recommend a longitudinal study to examine student learning pattern variations emerging before secondary education as influencers to academic performance and future careers. Research limitations include student enrollment in various STEM courses with differing levels of difficulty, compounded with various intellectual levels per student, leading to ambiguity.
