On Effort and Achievement of Business Undergraduate and Graduate Students under a Disastrous Event

Abstract

The 2011 tornado event in Alabama left college students with a choice to be exempt of their final examinations or participate in an attempt to improve their overall grades. This incident provided an opportunity to conduct an observational study with the goal of measuring the academic effort of business undergraduate and graduate students. The observation methodology utilized total enrollment of 3804 with an undergraduate enrollment of 3298 and a graduate enrollment of 506 for the spring term of 2011 which included 969 undergraduates and 276 graduates. A stratified random sampling was used to collect enrollment data according to 8 disciplines within the business college. Findings of this study suggest graduate students outperform undergraduate students in grade improvement. In fact, the eligibility rate and successful rate for obtaining a higher grade after taking a final examination for both undergraduates and graduates were statistically insignificant. However, the participation rate for taking the final examination between undergraduates and graduates was statistically different.

College Students and Environmental Disasters: A Review of the Literature

“…Hurricanes were the second most commonly discussed disaster (30%), with earthquakes as the third most common (24%). On the other hand, tornadoes, floods, and wildfires only made up 9% of the studies reviewed-there was one study on tornadoes (Mok et al 2016), two studies examining wildfires (Kornbluh Soc. Sci.…”

“…Hurricanes were the second most commonly discussed disaster (30%), with earthquakes as the third most common (24%). On the other hand, tornadoes, floods, and wildfires only made up 9% of the studies reviewed-there was one study on tornadoes (Mok et al 2016), two studies examining wildfires (Kornbluh et al 2022;Ritchie et al 2021), and three focused on floods (Breen and Meyer 2021;Ekuase-Anwansedo et al 2017;Lemieux et al 2020). Finally, three studies focused on a combination of disaster types (Anderson et al 2016;Carales and Lopez 2022;Carlton et al 2022).…”

“…Our data showed that articles referred to disasters in the m general sense nearly a third of the time (31%). Hurricanes were the second most c monly discussed disaster (30%), with earthquakes as the third most common (24%) the other hand, tornadoes, floods, and wildfires only made up 9% of the studie viewed-there was one study on tornadoes (Mok et al 2016) 2016) examined medical studen volvement and psychological impacts following the typhoon and earthquake in F shima, Japan, in 2011 finding those who had volunteered experienced higher post-t matic growth. In addition, Carales and Lopez (2022) interviewed community college dents who experienced Hurricane Harvey and the subsequent flooding in 2017, and fo that students relied heavily on advisers and institution members to assist with naviga their post-Harvey academics.…”