The Awareness about Different Scholarship Schemes among the Students of Assam Agricultural University

Various academic scholarship schemes are introduced in India with the aim of inspiring students for better academic performance. However, for availing such scholarships it depends largely on the level of awareness among the students about the scholarship schemes. Though a considerable number of scholarship schemes are available in India, level of awareness regarding scholarship among students is not known. The present study was conducted to assess the awareness of Agricultural University students on different Scholarship Schemes. Two hundred forty undergraduate students from Assam Agricultural University were included as respondents by using stratified random sample method for the study. One questionnaire was prepared on “Google Form” for online data collection. Frequency, percentage, Mean, Standard Deviation and chi square test were used for analysing the data statistically. The findings reveal that majority of the students of Assam Agricultural University had awareness on Ishan Uday Scholarship and State Merit Scholarship for Assam, while slightly more than 50.00 per cent respondents were aware about National Talent Scholarship.

Has the Genetic Contribution to the Propensity to Gamble Increased? Evidence From National Twin Studies Conducted in 1962 and 2002

Social changes, such as the expansion of legal forms of gambling, can influence not only the prevalence of gambling, but can also shape the relative importance of genetic and environmental contributions to individual differences in the propensity to gamble. In the present study, I examined differences in the prevalence and in the relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors to gambling involvement in the United States in 1962 versus 2002. The data came from two sources: (1) a survey of 839 17-year-old same-sex twin pairs from the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test twin study, and (2) an interview of 477 18- to 26-year-old same-sex twin pairs from Wave III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Similar measures of gambling participation were included in the two studies. Evidence for a genotype-by-time interaction was evaluated by testing whether the contribution of genetic influences was greater in the more recently born cohort of twins. Despite the major changes in the gambling landscape over the intervening 40 years, there was no evidence for such an interaction. The contribution of genetic factors and environmental factors did not significantly differ and there was no evidence for genetic influences at either time point. Instead, the variation in the propensity to gamble was explained nearly equally by common and unique environmental factors. Explanations for this surprising finding are discussed.

The New SAT: The Future of Transition Assessment

The SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) has become a part of our culture, a constant measure, a rite of passage. It has served its purpose well - to assist in the prediction of academic performance during the freshman year of college. During the 1993-94 school year, however, the College Board will change the SAT by introducing the SAT I: Reasoning Tests, the SAT II: Subject Tests, and the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. This array of assessment instruments, builds on the heritage of its predecessors, but also makes some new departures. This presentation looks at the context and process which informed decisions to change the tests, describes those changes and what they will mean, and then looks ahead to the future.

Merit-Based Scholarships and Student Effort

Twenty-one states offer merit scholarships that require students to maintain a minimum grade point average (GPA). Using a comprehensive administrative database from Clemson University, this study estimates the relationship between the incentives created by a South Carolina merit scholarship (LIFE) and students' academic performance. I hypothesize that being at risk of gaining or losing this scholarship will lead to increased effort and, as a consequence, higher grades. The results suggest that the incentives created by the scholarship increase GPAs by as much as 0.101 on a four-point scale, controlling for student and course characteristics. Moreover, the results indicate that for men the relationship between the risk of gaining or losing the scholarship and grades is large and statistically significant; for women, however, there is little evidence that the scholarship is related to grades.