The Group Process as an Aid to Academic Underachievers-A Review of the Literature.

This review of the literature was undertaken by the author with the hope that he would garner some knowledge which would be practically useful in using group work with underachieving junior college students. Of the studies reviewed, two seemed to offer ideas which could be of direct, functional benefit. One of these was a report of research which was unique in that it placed emphasis on the prevention of underachievement rather than its cure. The other report indicated that upperclassmen trained in group work would perhaps be the best qualified academic counselors available. However, it was the opinion of the author that taken in aggregate the research on group work with underachievers represents a fragmented, contradictory, incoherent hodgepodge of inconclusive data. The author of one of the reviewed articles indicated that the lack of uniformity in the identification of "underachievers" causes the confusion in related research. He suggested that more exacting criteria for selection of the population to be studied must be established. (Author/BW)