Jenna Thomas
Ball State University

To understand what contributes to students’ perceptions of academic challenge, three factors measuring high school challenge (i.e., quantitative reasoning, high school reading and writing, and learning strategies) were used as predictors of students’ perceived challenge in high school. The full model was significant (p=.007, r2=.09); however, the only factor that significantly predicted perceived challenge was learning strategies (ß=.341; p=.002). Thus, students’ perceptions of high school challenge depended on their use of certain study tactics, as opposed to their use of numerical analyses and the amount of reading and writing they did.

Jenna Thomas is a third-year student in the doctoral program in Educational Psychology and obtained her MS in Quantitative Psychology from Ball State. Her primary research interest centers around the educational needs of gifted learners. In particular, she is interested in contributing to the research on the relationship between academic challenge and success for gifted and talented students.