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 genetics achievement in nonmajors college biology

Students enrolled in a non-majors college biology course were pretested to determine their level of intellectual development, degree of field independence, mental capacity, amount of prior genetics knowledge, and amount of fluid intelligence. They were then taught a unit on Mendelian genetics. The only student variables found to not account for a significant amount of variance on a test of reading comprehension and/or a test of genetics achievement was amount of prior genetics knowledge. Developmental level was found to be the most consistent predictor of performance, suggesting that a lack of general hypothetico-deductive reasoning ability is a major factor limiting achievement among these students.     

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.     

Type of high school biology program and its effect on student attitude and achievement in college life science

A specially designed questionnaire and a modification of the “Science Classroom Activity Checklist” by L. H. Krockendorfer were used to categorize 299 life science students at the University of Iowa into two groups; those with high school biology backgrounds founded in the BSCS philosophy and those with traditionally oriented backgrounds. These groups were compared with respect to grade achievement in a college life science course, ratings of their background for the college course, and their attitude toward biology as established by their high school experience. With respect to inquiry and student-centered methods, texts were revealed as poor indicators of types of programs offered.     

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 reading achievement for Kindergarten boys and girls

This study assessed the validity of the Kindergarten Teacher Rating Scale (KTRS) in predicting reading achievement for male and female students. The KTRS was a significant predictor of reading achievement for both boys and girls; differential predictive validity for boys and girls was not found. The KTRS explained about 30% of the variance in reading achievement both at the end of the 1st grade and the beginning of 2nd grade. The proportion of variance in reading achievement explained by variance in KTRS scores was significantly greater than the proportion of variance in reading achievement explained by variance in reading readiness scores. There were no significant differences in the mean KTRS scores for male and female students.     

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 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.     

Effects of individualized assignments on biology achievement

A pretest-posttest, randomized, two groups, experimental, factorial design compared effects of detailed and nondetailed assignments on biology achievement over seven and a half months. Detailed assignments (favoring field independence and induction) employed block diagrams and stepwise directions. Nondetailed assignments (favoring field dependence and deduction) virtually lacked these. The accessible population was 101 tenth grade preparatory school male students. The 95 students enrolled in first year biology constituted the sample. Two by three ANOVA was done on residualized posttest score means of the students. Totally, the detailed students achieved significantly higher than the nondetailed students. This significantly higher achievement was only true of detailed students in the middle thirds of the deviation intelligence quotient (DIQ) range and of the grade point average (G.P.A.) range after the breakdown into upper, middle, and lower thirds of intellectual capability (ability and achievement). The upper third detailed DIQ grouping indirectly achieved higher than its peers, whereas the lower detailed DIQ third achieved lower than its peers. Thus, high capability students apparently benefit from flow and block diagrams, inductions, field independence, and high structure, whereas low capability students may be hindered by these.     

Relationships between attitude and achievement among college biology students

The purposes of this study were to (1) study changes in attitude toward science, school, and academic self among college biology students, and (2) to examine relationships between attitudes and achievement in an introductory college course in biology. The three attitude variables were assessed at the beginning and end of the study. Each of the three constructs was measured by the semantic differential and one additional instrument. One cognitive measure, biology achievement, was taken at the beginning and end of the study. This was accomplished by using the Nelson Biology Test. Another cognitive measure, grade in the course, as given by the instructor, was recorded at the end of the course. Normative data and correlation coefficients among pre- and postadministrations were calculated for each institution and the composite sample as well. An analysis of variance showed that while gains in scores on the Nelson Biology Test were significant beyond the 0.01 level of probability, changes in attitude scores were not. Correlations were calculated between the attitude and cognitive variables in this study. Relationships between academic self-concept and achievement in biology were the strongest. Data from this study show that while student cognitive behavior was changed during an introductory college biology course, selected attitudes either stayed the same or became slightly more negative. Affective as well as cognitive gains would appear to be desirable goals in college courses. As we learn more about relationships that exist between cognition and affect, science educators at all levels will become better equipped to improve learning in science.