Derrick

Prof. Sean Scanlan

ENG Comp 1

Date

Annotated Bibliography

Apaak, Daniel, and Emmanuel Sarpong. Internal Challenges Affecting Academic Performance of Student-Athletes in Ghanaian Public Universities. , 2015, files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1080130.pdf.

Apaak & Sarpong is empirical research that investigates the internal challenges that affect the student-athletes performance. The study was done in Ghanaian public varsities and was intentioned to illustrate why a typical student’s athlete might face challenges in his or her academic course. Notably, the research cohort employed the descriptive survey research approach and chose 1158 student-athletes from seven public universities in the country as named above. However, the criteria used in selecting the universities are that they must have participated in the 2014 university sports at Cape Coast. Further, by using simple random sampling, 332 respondents were chosen from the seven universities, and a questionnaire was the instrument that the researchers used to gather data for analysis. Mainly, the questionnaire was purposed to obtain information regarding the internal challenges that affect the student’s athletes. 

The research findings established that the student’s athletes face a unique set of challenges than other students who do not get engrossed in sporting activities. Accordingly, they spend significant time training on the sports which may detrimentally affect their studies. Further, it was noted that much time is also spent on traveling, and since some of the athletes have poor time management skills, they miss a lot in their lectures and assignments. Furthermore, some students spent a lot of time thinking about improving their sporting activities. 

These findings will be significantly helpful in preparing my research paper. It will help in debunking how university sports permeates society politically, educationally, psychologically, and more so, financially. Accordingly, it will help showcase how the student-athletes are an image to the universities, although this comes at a high cost since most of them compromise their study time. This study will be a good basis to argue that the student’s athlete compromises their academic performance as they are likely to suffer pregnancy, learning disabilities, substance abuse, identity foreclosure, and mental health disorders. 

Indeed, the research by Apaak & Sarpong is an exposition of the challenges that university student-athletes face while attempting to balance academics and sporting activities. This research will form the basis of my recommendations as it showcases stakeholders’ role in addressing the situation. For instance, it showcases the need for the stakeholders to collaborate in creating a sports schedule that will not disrupt a student’s academic year and offer them sufficient time for study and attain commendable grades.

O’Neill, Maureen, et al. “Student-Athletes in My Classroom: Australian Teachers’ Perspectives of the Problems Faced by Student-Athletes Balancing School and Sport.” Australian Journal of Teacher Education, vol. 42, no. 9, Sept. 2017, pp. 160–78, doi:10.14221/ajte.2017v42n9.10.

O’Neill et al. empirical research give a different view regarding the academic performance of athletes. In this case, it showcases that the student-athletes can perform exceedingly well in their academics with proper support. Notably, O’Neill et al.’s research was based on a large project of highly performing school athletes. The study was based on nineteen research participants, where 12 were females, and 7 were males. The research participants were internationally ranked athletes, although from various sporting activities. Also, ten parents, ten caregivers, and ten teachers got interviewed. To ensure that the research was conducted within the requisite ethical standards, approval got obtained from the ethics committee of institution research. 

The findings obtained from this research showcase that the young athletes missed their lecture time to either train or attended their competitive tournaments, thus adding pressure to catch up with their academics when they resumed school. For instance, one of the research participants averred that the elite athletes experienced trouble maintaining commendable grades since much time was spent in their selection camps. Further, this research demonstrated that the student’s connectedness was adversely affected as they would have challenges with their peer and school relationships. Further, it remained essential to appreciate that the classroom dynamics and the school culture were also negatively affected, hence poor, strong connection with their peers. 

Most importantly, this research was a combination of the problems and some of the most feasible solutions that would address the students’ problem. In this respect, technological aids to enable the student’s keep abreast with the learning process were noted to be helpful. The research identified programs such as Twitter and Skype through which the lecturers uploaded educational materials. The teachers who participated in the research process averred that populating the athlete students’ intranet with educational materials to support them while they traveled away from their respective learning institutions was a helpful strategy. Notably, some institutions furnished the student-athletes with tablets to keep abreast with the academic syllabus and complete their assignments. 

Ultimately, this empirical research will help underpin the various support strategies that the learning institutions could adopt to improve student-athletes’ academic grades. Accordingly, this research will establish a good commencement point to discuss both the issues and some of the strategies that have been adopted to alleviate poor performance by student-athletes. It will also form a good basis for suggesting recommended strategies to the policymakers on the need to offer junior teachers proper training to understand the dynamics of a student who get involved in extracurricular activities.

Grimit, Nicole. “Effects of Student Athletics on Academic Performance.” The Journal of Undergraduate Research, vol. 12, 2014, p. 5, openprairie.sdstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=jur#:~:text=found%20that%20participation%20in%20athletics.

Grimit research sought to determine the effect of the student’s academic performance due to their involvement in sporting activities. Determinatively, it was purposed to evaluate whether the students’ participation in collegiate athletics was either beneficial or disadvantageous. Accordingly, the research instrument used in obtaining data was a sixteen-question survey whereby seventy copies were distributed to South Dakota University students. Consequently, other survey questions were distributed amongst the student-athlete committee members, and twenty-one of them were also distributed amongst the fellowship members of the Christian athletes. Also, another twenty-two survey question was distributed amongst the women and men dive & swim team. There was a time limit given to fill in the survey questions. The first two questions sought to determine the demographic information. The remaining questions focused on answering the research question, which sought to showcase the correlation between students’ performance due to collegiate athletics participation. 

The research findings from Grimmit research were unique because they showcased that the students who participated in extracurricular activities at South Dakota university performed better than their peers. However, it remains critical to note that South Dakota University had hired a cohort of professionals who assist student-athletes. Notably, besides assisting the students in performing better in their sporting activities, the professionals also taught the students about the need to learn life skills and focus on their career paths. The research suggested that involvement in college athletics significantly motivated the students in their academics. Further, it motivated them to attend all their classes and keep tabs on all the learning activities in a quest for better academic performance. Notably, it was also noted that the involvement in the sporting games motivated the athletes to graduate while making their academic experience nostalgic. 

This research will help showcase that involvement in university sports is not entirely disadvantageous per se. However, it necessitates the university stakeholders to be concerned with the student’s welfare by hiring a team of professionals who will guide the students in their sporting endeavors and achieve both their academic and career goals. This empirical research will be a good source of secondary data to justify the need for various stakeholders to mentor the student-athletes and make their college learning a nostalgic experience.

Gomez, J., et al. “The Challenges of a High-Performance Student Athlete.” Irish Educational Studies, vol. 37, no. 3, June 2018, pp. 329–49, doi:10.1080/03323315.2018.1484299.

Gomez et al.’s research aimed to investigate the effect of challenges encountered by students who get involved in high-level sporting activities. It illustrated the need to establish a balance of sports and academic demands. The research participants were part of the 15000 Irish university students. The institution is situated in an Irish town and has various undergraduate and post-graduate programs for the natives and international students. The nine students that participated in this study were of 21-31 years. Notably, two students were involved in the research as mature students. The interview was the main data collection tool. However, a pilot study was done before the actual study to ensure that the methodology that would be used was reliable. 

Gomez et al. showcased that there was a correlation between time constraint and being involved in sporting activities. In this respect, the cohort demonstrated that time management was a critical skill needed by the student-athlete to excel in sports and academics. The researchers compared their findings with Stevens et al.’s findings which resonated with their research results. In this respect, they established that student-athletes were aware that they did not have adequate time to focus on academics or sporting activities. One of the athletes, who was an architecture student, alleged that he had a lot of practicum assessments and needed an intricate balance between training and academics. The research findings further focused on the first-year students who were involved in sports. They registered concerns regarding balancing their athletic pursuits with the academic goals, adaptation to isolation as they had to train, satisfying different relationships with their coaches, friends, teachers, and community. Nevertheless, the athletes who combine their training regimen with their academic studies demonstrate commendable organization skills. 

This research will help showcase the need to support collegiate athletes to perform better both in their athletic pursuits and academic endeavors. In this respect, it will necessitate showcasing how the research participants from Gomez et al. study were supported to achieve a delicate balance between studies and extra-curricular activities as time management is a critical hurdle for most student-athletes. The Irish universities demonstrated their effort to support the student-athletes, although there were improperly structured frameworks and a lack of collaboration between stakeholders to implement the strategy fully. Accordingly, my research will showcase the need to bridge that gap and paint a positive picture of students’ benefits in sport with a proper support framework. 

Works Cited

Apaak, Daniel, and Emmanuel Sarpong. Internal Challenges Affecting Academic Performance of Student-Athletes in Ghanaian Public Universities. , 2015, files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1080130.pdf.

Gomez, J., et al. “The Challenges of a High-Performance Student Athlete.” Irish Educational Studies, vol. 37, no. 3, June 2018, pp. 329–49, doi:10.1080/03323315.2018.1484299.

Grimit, Nicole. “Effects of Student Athletics on Academic Performance.” The Journal of Undergraduate Research, vol. 12, 2014, p. 5, openprairie.sdstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=jur#:~:text=found%20that%20participation%20in%20athletics.

O’Neill, Maureen, et al. “Student-Athletes in My Classroom: Australian Teachers’ Perspectives of the Problems Faced by Student-Athletes Balancing School and Sport.” Australian Journal of Teacher Education, vol. 42, no. 9, Sept. 2017, pp. 160–78, doi:10.14221/ajte.2017v42n9.10.