The Relationship of Extracurricular Activities to Academic Achievement and Educational Expectations of Adolescents: A Cross-national Comparison

Download or read book The Relationship of Extracurricular Activities to Academic Achievement and Educational Expectations of Adolescents: A Cross-national Comparison written by Shu-Nui Wu and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of extracurricular activities (ECAs) to academic performance and educational expectations among adolescents in two countries, Taiwan, the Republic of China and the United States. The differences in the relationships in question between these two nations were further analyzed. The surveys were administered in the summer of 1988 for the American sample (chief researchers: Dr. Douglas A. Kleiber and Dr. Glyn Roberts) and the spring of 1991 for the Chinese sample (chief researchers: Dr. He Wann Chou and the author). The U.S. questionnaire consisted of 87 school- and ECA-related questions whereas the Chinese version, derived from the U.S. instrument by back translation method, adopted a shorter 44-item form. A total of 489 American students from three high schools in Champaign County, Illinois, U.S.A. and 577 Chinese students from four senior high schools in Tainan, Taiwan constituted the research samples. One-way, two-way, and four-way analysis of variance, and multiple regression analysis with dummy variables were utilized for data analyses. The findings of this specific study revealed that participation in ECAs in general was associated with higher academic performance for both Chinese and American subjects although the difference between activity participants and nonparticipants was greater for American students than for Chinese subjects. For American students, involvement in ECAs also seemed to foster higher educational expectations while for Chinese subjects, educational goals were uniformly high regardless of whether one participated in ECAs or not. Gender played an important role in influencing the relationships in question for Chinese adolescents, whereas socioeconomic status was a salient factor in mediating the associations under study for American youths. At last, the plausible reasons for why the results of this study yielded as such were discussed, and implications for future studies were indicated.