Predicting academic success in electronics

This study was motivated by the desire to help potential electronics students answer the questions, 1) which program of study should I consider?; 2) how do I know if I'll be successful in that program? This study focused on: 1) identifying the best variables for predicting academic success in electronics, 2) determining if abstract learning preference is an effective discriminator between the three main types of electronics programs, and 3) finding a model for predicting success in each electronic program. The results give validity to the commonly held opinion that a student's success in math and science in high school is a good predictor of their success in the three programs of electronics. The results also show that abstract learning preference is a valid discriminator between students in each of the three programs of electronics. Implications are provided.     

Predicting faculty success in university graduate departments

This study tests a model of predicting faculty success in the different fields of chemistry, physics, sociology, and political science. The main hypotheses tested and confirmed are:

1. In a field with a low technological development, professional age is more important in predicting faculty success than in a field with a high technological development.
2. In a field with a high technological development, articles are more important in predicting faculty success than in a field with a low technological development.
3. In a field with a low technological development, books are more important in predicting faculty success than in a field with a high technological development.

These hypotheses are tested separately for the tenured and the nontenured faculty groups. The policy implications of this model in regard to the management of graduate departments have been discussed and explored.     

Predicting individual success in programing self-instructional materials

Conclusions In essence, this study has completed a triad of efforts to identify and weigh factors critical to the proper selection of individuals for training as self-instructional programers. It would now appear that we have reliable measures that can be used as guidelines. The most powerful of these selection criteria is the combined Otis IQ and Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking scores. It was found in the 1963 study that these two scores, working in concert, were more powerful and sensitive than either working alone. This result was confirmed in the present study with the finding of significance beyond the 001 level, indicating that the difference could be attributed to chance in only one case out of one thousand. In Figure 1, we find a representation of the utility of this predictor in assessing the success of programers in the upper and lower quartiles. Using figures to be explained below, we sought to determine whether a combined score of 187 or less would indicate failure while a combined score of 207 or more would indicate success. The research reported herein was supported by the Cooperative Research Program of the Office of Education, U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Cooperative Research Project No. OEC-1-7-068407-0286.     

Predicting adult academic success in an undergraduate program

Central Michigan University provides, through the Individualized Degree Program, a bachelor's degree to individuals who could not be served by conventional on-campus programs. The present study was undertaken in an effort to learn more about selected attributes of those in the program. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the data revealed characteristics common to participants in the Individualized Degree Program and isolated five factors which are predictive of academic success.     

Predicting student success in open and distance learning

This paper reviews some of the ways in which student success can be predicted in conventional and distance education. Predicting such success is particularly important for new students where the pre‐course start information available is sometimes slight and withdrawal often occurs very early in a course. It suggests that, in such cases, statistical methods involving logistic regression analysis are more useful than questionnaires or tutors’ opinions. Identifying students with low probability of success allows support to be targeted on them. However, there are ethical dilemmas to do with targeting support and openness with students about the results of any analysis.     

Predicting academic success for disabled students in higher education

Research has indicated that disabled and nondisabled persons experience communication strained by high levels of uncertainty for both communicators. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of being disabled on the academic progress of disabled college students. It was felt that academic success will be contingent upon positive communication with faculty, fellow students, and university personnel. A questionnaire assessing the campus' social climate, the quality of its programs and instruction, and the students' academic and career expectations was administered to 100 disabled students. Analyses of the data revealed that the disabled students' motivation was significantly related to their level of social alienation, while the students' perceived competence was most related to their level of social adjustment. The theoretical implications of these findings and avenues for future research are discussed.     

Predicting student success by modeling student interaction in asynchronous online courses

Early-warning intervention for students at risk of failing their online courses is increasingly important for higher education institutions. Students who show high levels of engagement appear less likely to be at risk of failing, and how engaged a student is in their online experience can be characterized as factors contributing to their social presence. Social presence begins with teacher-student and student-student interaction in online courses. Fortunately, student interaction data can be gleaned from learning management systems, used to model and predict at-risk students at an early stage. This research addresses an existing model for predicting at-risk students to test a previous hypothesis that a holiday effect is a contributor for failure. A new analysis then presents an alternative approach, one that tests the frequency of student interaction rather than amount of interaction as a preferable indicator.     

Predicting early school success with developmental and social skills screeners

The purpose of this study was to identify developmental, social skill, and problem behavior sub-domains that best predict academic achievement and grade promotion or retention in the early school years. Subjects were 184 children tested at the end of kindergarten using the Early Prevention of School Failure screening package and the Social Skills Rating Scale, and a year later using the Stanford Achievement Test. Information on promotion or retention was gathered in late spring for the two school years. Four kindergarten screening areas figured prominently in predicting first grade academic success: receptive language, visual memory, cooperation, and self-control. In addition, social skill subscales played significant roles in predicting promotion and retention. The findings suggest that assessment of social skills should be included in kindergarten screening packages with the possibility of targeting deficits for early intervention. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Some effects of the iscs program: A meta analysis

Many studies have been conducted to assess the effects of the ISCS program on student performance. On the basis of the conflicting findings, the task of arriving at a general conclusion about the effects of ISCS has been difficult indeed. This study was designed to integrate quantitatively the collective research dealing with the effects of ISCS on student performance and attitude. The weighted mean effect size was found to be 0.09, indicating that the performance of the ISCS students was 0.09 standard deviations above the performance of students in traditional science courses. The design of the study accounted for a significant proportion of variation in the effect size, whereas the type of instrumentation and reliability of the instrument did not.     

Predicting college success: the importance of ability and non-cognitive variables

This chapter introduces a study which focuses on predicting college success as measured by students’ grade point averages (GPAs). The chapter also reviews prior research related to various types of predictors. Specifically, two categories of predictors are identified: ability measures and non-cognitive variables. Finally, an overview of the study is presented.     

Predicting reading success in a multilevel schoolwide reading model: a retrospective analysis

Despite recent research findings that implicate a long list of student variables that predict reading success or failure, these predictor variables have not been considered in the context of contemporary models of multitiered schoolwide reading intervention. This longitudinal, retrospective study follows 668 kindergarten and first-grade students identified as at risk for later reading difficulties through third grade. Key predictor variables were examined to determine their validity for predicting initial status and growth on oral reading fluency, third-grade oral reading fluency, and third-grade performance on a standardized test of reading. Results are provided in light of the instructional model provided. Implications for instruction and assessment are discussed.     

Predicting reading level in grades 1 to 6 from listening level and decoding level: Testing theory relevant to the simple view of reading

The relationships among pronunciation level (decoding), verbal level (listening), and accuracy level (reading) were investigated in grades 1 to 6, and for students who are in the advanced phase of decoding. The data collected were used to investigate the validity of the simple view of reading and the causal model of reading achievement which holds that pronunciation level (P_L) and verbal level (V_L) are the proximal causes of accuracy level (A_L). A total of 135 students in grades 1-6 were given measures of nonword decoding, real word decoding, listening, and reading. All of the reliable variation in an indicant of the level of reading ability, A_L, could be predicted from an indicant of the level of ability to decode real words, P_L, and an indicant of listening level, V_L. Furthermore, the strong relationship between pronunciation level, P_L, and accuracy level, A_L, did not evaporate for the students who had mastered basic decoding skills, as measured by nonword decoding tests. The correlations between pronunciation level, P_L, and accuracy level, A_L, were high even for students in grades 5 and 6, most of whom probably had progressed beyond the alphabetic phase (phonological recoding). Correlational support was found for the simple view of reading and the causal model which holds that A_L is equal to the square root of the product of V_L and P_L. The above theory and supporting data were interpreted as suggesting that the level of reading accuracy, A_L, of students can be improved the most throughout grades 1 to 6 by emphasizing instruction that will improve pronunciation level, or decoding, even for children who have progressed beyond the beginning to read phase which involves learning the alphabetic principal, or phonological recoding.     

Word frequency and readability: Predicting the text‐level readability with a lexical‐level attribute

Assessment of text readability is important for assigning texts at the appropriate level to readers at different proficiency levels. The present research approached readability assessment from the lexical perspective of word frequencies derived from corpora assumed to reflect typical language experience. Three studies were conducted to test how the word‐level feature of word frequency can be aggregated to characterise text‐level readability. The results show that an effective use of word frequency for text readability assessment should take a range of characteristics of the distribution of words frequencies into account. For characterizing text readability, taking into account the standard deviation in addition to the mean word frequencies already significantly increases results. The best results are obtained using the mean frequencies of the words in language frequency bands or in bands obtained by agglomerative clustering of the word frequencies in the documents – though a comparison of within‐corpus and cross‐corpus results shows the limited generalizability of using high numbers of fine‐grained frequency bands. Overall, the study advances our understanding of the relationship between word frequency and text readability and provides concrete options for more effectively making use of lexical frequency information in practice.     

Predicting homework time management at the secondary school level: A multilevel analysis

The purpose of this study is to test empirical models of variables posited to predict homework time management at the secondary school level. Student- and class-level predictors of homework time management were analyzed in a survey of 1895 students from 111 classes. Most of the variance in homework time management occurred at the student level, with parent education appearing as the only significant predictor at the class level. At the student level, the variation in homework time management was positively associated with self-reported grade, adult-oriented reasons for doing homework, learning-oriented reasons for doing homework, and student initiative in arranging the homework environment.     

Level I and level II: A review

Jensen's Level I‐Level II theory of individual and group differences in mental abilities is examined in the context of the large body of research pertaining to the topic. The major hypotheses of Jensen's theory, concerning the equal distribution of Level I abilities among different racial and sociocconomic groups, and the differences in the distribution of Level II abilities are evaluated. It is concluded that the majority of recent research supports Jensen's hypotheses. Alternative theories to Jensen's arc presented and the implications of Jensen's theory for the education of disadvantaged and low Level II children arc discussed. A short section deals with the hypothesized functional relationship between Levels I and II.     

拷问“成功”

从读小学开始,父母和老师总是不厌其烦地告诉我们:每门功课考100分,就是最大的成功;上了初中,考上重点高中是唯一的出路;到了高中,毋庸置疑,"进军"名牌大学才是成功的象征——正如一句广告词:只要学习好,生活没