The Relationship between Life Events and Indices of Classroom Performance

Abstract

I investigated the relationship between stressful life events (e.g., personal injury or illness, death of a close friend) and student performance in the classroom. At the beginning of the semester, 159 students enrolled in a psychology course specified the amount of life stress they experienced during the previous year. Their responses were later correlated with measures of classroom performance at the completion of the course. As hypothesized, life stress was inversely related to exam scores, extra credit points, and total course points. A X² analysis also revealed that final course grades were predicted by life stress. It was suggested that teachers must recognize that students do not exist in a social, academic vacuum. Life events outside the classroom may directly affect performance in it.

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