Studying Associations of Key Time Perspectives to Cognitive, Cultural, and Social Characteristics of College Student Performance: Early Evidence from a STEM Retention Study at the University of the Virgin Islands.

Abstract

The general purpose of this study is to examine the effects of Creative Problem Solving use on students in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics subject areas. This study is being conducted on a sample of thirty nine (39) male and female undergraduate students at the University of the Virgin Islands attending Science 100, a mandatory course for sophomore UVI students, throughout two labs, one being a control group. We measured temporal perspectives of student’s thinking using the Zimbardo’s Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI) and the Transcendental-Future Time Perspective (TFTP). In the combined scores, our study and control populations scored statistically significantly higher on their Past Negative, Present Fatalistic, and Transcendental Future dimensions, as compared to the reported national mean factor loadings, and in all three perspectives deviating further from the ideal scores (t scores of 3.84, 3.95 and 4.95 respectively; p