Modeling the impact of wilderness orientation programs on first-year academic success and life purpose

Wilderness orientation programs (WOPs) are becoming a popular method of encouraging college student retention and success. Previous studies have identified outcomes and correlates of participation in these programs, but a cohesive model of impact is lacking. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of WOPs on first-year student success and sense of purpose. A secondary aim was to elucidate predictors and correlates of WOPs identified in previous research. Participants included 295 students at a liberal arts college. Results indicate that WOP participants demonstrated higher levels of first-semester social engagement and reflection, thus leading to higher grade point average, better retention and a higher sense of life purpose. WOP participation, however, had a negative direct influence on sense of purpose. These findings are discussed in light of previous research, presenting a preliminary model of WOP influence on first-year academic success.     

How Well Do Undergraduate Research Programs Promote Engagement and Success of Students?

Assessment of undergraduate research (UR) programs using participant surveys has produced a wealth of information about design, implementation, and perceived benefits of UR programs. However, measurement of student participation university wide, and the potential contribution of research experience to student success, also require the study of extrinsic measures. In this essay, institutional data on student credit-hour generation and grade point average (GPA) from the University of Georgia are used to approach these questions. Institutional data provide a measure of annual enrollment in UR classes in diverse disciplines. This operational definition allows accurate and retrospective analysis, but does not measure all modes of engagement in UR. Cumulative GPA is proposed as a quantitative extrinsic measure of student success. Initial results show that extended participation in research for more than a single semester is correlated with an increase in GPA, even after using SAT to control for the initial ability level of the students. While the authors acknowledge that correlation does not prove causality, continued efforts to measure the impact of UR programs on student outcomes using GPA or an alternate extrinsic measure is needed for development of evidence-based programmatic recommendations.     

PREDICTING SUCCESS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS

The purpose of this study was to investigate the usefulness of standardized tests (ACT, Preprofessional Skills Test) as predictors of student success in early childhood studies. Success was measured as grade point average at the time of graduation. The sample consisted of students enrolled at a four‐year public institution in the United States (N = 129). Data analysis indicated the standardized measures, including ACT and the Preprofessional Skills Test, were significantly related to success in early childhood studies. In addition, both tests, along with high school rank and student age, were useful in the prediction of grade point average at graduation, but did little to predict success during the student teaching experience.     

The French zones d’éducation prioritaire: Much ado about nothing?

We provide an assessment of the French ZEP (Zones d’Education Prioritaire), a program started in 1982 that channels additional resources to schools in disadvantaged areas and encourages the development of new teaching projects. Focusing on middle-schools, we first evaluate the impact of the ZEP status on resources, their utilization (teacher bonuses versus teaching hours) and key establishments characteristics such as class sizes, school enrolments, teachers’ qualifications and experience, and student composition and mobility. We then estimate the impact of the ZEP program on four measures of individual student achievement: obtaining at least one diploma by the end of schooling, reaching 8th grade, reaching 10th grade and success at the Baccalauréat (the national examination at the end of high school). We take into account the endogeneity of the ZEP status by using both difference in differences and instrumental variables based on political variables. The results are the same in all cases: there is no impact on student success of the ZEP program.     

The impact of communication apprehension on college student retention and success

Communication apprehension is conceptualized as a causal agent in student success. It is implicated in both academic and interpersonal success, two factors identified by prior resesarch as primary predictors of persistence. A four year longitudinal study of the impact of communication apprehension on grade point average and persistence at the university level was conducted. Results indicated high CA students were significantly more likely to drop out and attain lower grade point averages compared to low CA students. The impact of CA was strongest during the first two years. A replication of the study confirmed the impact of CA on student persistence. It is concluded the impact of CA on the probablity of high CA students’ survival in college is substantial and this impact adds to the case favoring the provision of training programs to assist such students overcome their apprehension about communication.     

Do you want your child to have a certified teacher?

This study examines how the teaching staff composition with respect to certification affects student achievement in compulsory Swedish schools. We apply an instrumental variable to estimate the effect of the share of non-certified teachers on student achievement (measured by grade point average, GPA). We find statistically significant negative effects on the GPA. The effect is stronger for students with highly educated parents. A one percentage point increase in the share of non-certified teachers is expected to decrease student's GPA by, on average, 1.8 standard deviations per year. This is a substantial effect considering the large differences in the shares of non-certified teachers across schools and municipalities.     

Successful graduate students: The roles of personality traits and emotional intelligence

Given the complex role of school psychologists, it is in the interest of stakeholders to identify characteristics related to student success in graduate training, which is suggestive of their effectiveness as practitioners. This study explores the relationship of personality traits and Emotional Intelligence (EI) to graduate students' performance in the classroom and the field. Participants were 63 school psychology students who completed measures of EI and Big Five personality traits. These measures were compared with two outcomes that can be indicators of success: Graduate grade point average (GGPA) and supervisor ratings of student performance at internship upon completion of their studies. EI was significantly correlated with GGPA; personality traits were not. The personality trait Conscientiousness and EI were significantly correlated with internship ratings. The implications and limitations of this preliminary data set for school psychology training programs are discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Predicting Student Success in a Major’s Introductory Biology Course via Logistic Regression Analysis of Scientific Reasoning Ability and Mathematics Scores

Studies over the last 30 years have considered various factors related to student success in introductory biology courses. While much of the available literature suggests that the best predictors of success in a college course are prior college grade point average (GPA) and class attendance, faculty often require a valuable predictor of success in those courses wherein the majority of students are in the first semester and have no previous record of college GPA or attendance. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of the ACT Mathematics subject exam and Lawson’s Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning in predicting success in a major’s introductory biology course. A logistic regression was utilized to determine the effectiveness of a combination of scientific reasoning (SR) scores and ACT math (ACT-M) scores to predict student success. In summary, we found that the model—with both SR and ACT-M as significant predictors—could be an effective predictor of student success and thus could potentially be useful in practical decision making for the course, such as directing students to support services at an early point in the semester.     

The effect of student aid on the duration of study

In this paper I evaluate the effect of student aid on the success of academic studies. I focus on two dimensions, the duration of study and the probability of actually graduating with a degree. To determine the impact of financial student aid, I estimate a discrete-time duration model allowing for competing risks to account for different exit states (graduation and dropout) using individual level panel data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for the years 1984-2007. My findings suggest that the duration of study is responsive to the type of financial support a student receives. There are three main results. First, student aid recipients finish faster than comparable students who are supported by the same amount of parental/private transfers only. Second, although higher financial aid does on average not affect the duration of study, this effect is (third) dominated by the increased probability of actually finishing university successfully.     

From retention to satisfaction: New outcomes for assessing the freshman experience

To meet higher education's challenge of accountability from a customer-satisfaction perspective, one urban institution has developed an integrated approach to studying the freshman-year experience in order to develop comprehensive outcome measures for assessing freshman success. Multiple sources of data (freshman satisfaction survey data, enrollment data, and academic performance data) are integrated into a database that provides the institution with a comprehensive set of outcome indicators and a model of the freshman experience. This institution used the integrated data set to develop models of freshman retention. In order to focus more clearly on customer satisfaction, models of student satisfaction were developed to determine critical components in freshman satisfaction.     

Testing the Predictive Validity of the GRE Exam on Communication Graduate Student Success: A Case Study at University at Buffalo

GRE scores for entering M.A. and Ph.D. students in Communication at University at Buffalo from 1990 to 2001 were used to predict graduate student success. Graduate student success was measured in two ways: grade point average (GGPA) and graduation rates. Preliminary analyses on Master's students (M.A.) revealed that international students, compared to domestic students, earned lower GRE verbal (GRE-V) scores, higher GRE quantitative (GRE-Q) scores, had higher undergraduate grade point averages and were more likely to graduate from the program (82% vs. 49%). Only GRE scores were different for International vs. Domestic students when examining doctoral students. For M.A. students, GRE-V was positively correlated with GGPA and GRE-Q was positively related to earning the M.A. degree. Regression analyses controlling for several factors, including domestic student status, found only undergraduate GPA to predict GGPA and graduation for M.A. students. GGPA and GRE-V predicted graduation rates for M.A. students when GGPA was included in logistic regression analysis. GRE, GPA, and GGPA failed to predict Ph.D. success when examined together.     

‘I'm not a computer person’: Negotiating participation in academic Discourses

While there is little doubt that technology is, in many ways, central to the college student experience today, the expectations of students and colleges vis‐à‐vis technology may not always be the same. This research explores the role of technology in the lives of today's college students, particularly within the institutional context of the university, and asks the question: What role does technology play in a freshman college student's participation in the academic Discourse of her institution? This paper focuses on the Discourse analysis of one student, Nichole, a focal participant in a semester‐long, qualitative study of 34 undergraduate students at a university in the northeastern United States. Nichole's general dislike of technology places her in opposition to assumptions about the ‘typical’ Net Gen student; results indicated that the ways in which Nichole used technology in her personal life conflicted with her participation in the pro‐technology academic Discourse of her institution. For Nichole, the disconnect between the institutional expectations for technology use and her personal technology practices resulted in the need to negotiate another layer of complexity on the path to academic success.     

The Influence of Student Perceptions of School Climate on Socioemotional and Academic Adjustment: A Comparison of Chinese and American Adolescents

This study explored students' perceptions of 3 dimensions of school climate (teacher support, student–student support, and opportunities for autonomy in the classroom) and the associations between these dimensions and adolescent psychological and academic adjustment in China and the United States. Data were drawn from 2 studies involving 706 middle school students ( M  = 12.26) from Nanjing, China, and 709 middle school students ( M  = 12.36) from New York City. Findings revealed that students in China perceived higher levels of teacher support, student–student support, and opportunities for autonomy in the classroom than students in the United States. Furthermore, students' perceptions of teacher support and student–student support were positively associated with adolescents' self-esteem and grade point average but negatively associated with depressive symptoms for both Chinese and American adolescents.     

Student time choices and success

Internationally, first-year student experience surveys suggest that modern students are investing increasingly less time in their study at university, raising concerns about the impact this may have on their success. This paper describes a case study exploring student workload at a New Zealand university interested in understanding how student time allocation decisions are being made during actual weeks of study rather than hypothetical ‘typical’ weeks. The results show that the sampled students allocated time in line with university expectations. Time allocation on course work was significantly affected by assessment deadlines and by student achievement striving. Student grade point average was strongly correlated with time spent, and strongly influenced by students’ beliefs regarding their motivation and self-efficacy. Universities are encouraged to explore mechanisms that support students being better informed about the implications of their choices, actively influencing their sense of priorities and expectations regarding the effort needed to be successful in their studies.     

When in Doubt,Go to the Library: The Effect of a Library-Intensive Freshman Research and Writing Seminar on Academic Success

The paper is an extension of a previous study, which examined student perceptions of a unique freshman seminar offered to Criminology and Criminal Justice students at Florida State University. The seminar is characterized by a heavy focus on interactive library sessions in which students learn how to conduct research and write a scholarly paper. The previous article reported on student perceptions of research and writing skills developed in the seminar. This report, using Multivariate Regression and Propensity Score Matching reveals that compared to a carefully constructed comparison group, first time in college students enrolled in the seminar have statistically significantly higher cumulative grade point averages and percentages of graduation within four years. The seminar’s emphasis on the library as a research tool is thought to have contributed to the differences seen on academic outcomes between students who took the seminar and a matched comparison group.     

The Role of Socioeconomic Status in SAT–Freshman Grade Relationships Across Gender and Racial Subgroups

Recent research has shown that admissions tests retain the vast majority of their predictive power after controlling for socioeconomic status (SES), and that SES provides only a slight increment over SAT and high school grades (high school grade point average [HSGPA]) in predicting academic performance. To address the possibility that these overall analyses obscure differences by race/ethnicity or gender, we examine the role of SES in the test‒grade relationship for men and women as well as for various racial/ethnic subgroups within the United States. For each subgroup, the test‒grade relationship is only slightly diminished when controlling for SES. Further, SES is a substantially less powerful predictor of academic performance than both SAT and HSGPA. Among the indicators of SES (i.e., father's education, mother's education, and parental income), father's education appears to be strongest predictor of freshman grades across subgroups, with the exception of the Asian subgroup. In general, SES appears to behave similarly across subgroups in the prediction of freshman grades with SAT scores and HSGPA.     

大学生自我同一性变化趋势研究

大学生的自我同一性随着年级的提高而发生迅速的变化,年级越高,同一性形成者的比例越高,同一性混乱者的比例越低,早期达成的比例在大一中最高,积极延缓者的比例在大二中最高。在大一和大二时,开展职业生涯规划教育有利于大学生自我同一性的形成。     

The Relationship Between Undergraduate Attendance and Performance Revisited: Alignment of Student and Instructor Goals

We revisit the relationship between attendance and performance in the undergraduate university setting and apply agency theory in the instructor–student context. Building on agency theory propositions in the educational setting advanced by Smith, Zsidisin, and Adams (2005) , we propose that the student and instructor must align goals to promote the student's achievement of performance learning outcomes, and attendance functions as a behavior‐based alignment mechanism to encourage the convergence of faculty and student interests. Further, we propose that attendance does not equally affect lower‐ and higher‐performing students and that absences are also negatively related to students' cumulative grade point average. We test these hypotheses with data from undergraduates enrolled in management courses at a state university in the southeast. Our results show that attendance is positively related to exam performance, there are more pronounced negative effects of an absence for lower‐performing students than for higher performers, and absences are negatively related to a student's cumulative grade point average. We discuss the implications of our findings for students, instructors, and universities as well as practice in teaching and learning.     

The use of Peer Nominations as a Predictor of Academic Success in College

The peer nomination technique was investigated as a predictor of academic success among members of a college freshman class. The technique provided scores which were reliable and which were valid against a grade point ratio criterion. The peer nomination scores were shown to tap variance independent of SAT scores and, therefore, their applicability was suggested in academic counseling as a predictor which can be used to identify students who may face academic difficulties.     

Examining Person–Environment Fit and Academic Major Satisfaction

Decisions regarding college majors have the potential to affect a person's overall academic performance and long‐term career success. With Holland's ( 1997 ) trait‐and‐factor theory serving as a foundation, the authors examined relationships between person–environment fit, college major satisfaction, and grade point average of undergraduate students (N = 99). Results revealed that student–major congruence and academic major satisfaction were both significant predictors of grade point average.