Adult undergraduate students: Evaluating the appropriateness of a traditional model of academic performance

Adult learners (age 25 or older) now comprise approximately 40 percent of under-graduate enrollment. However, predictive models of undergraduate academic success are usually based on traditional young undergraduate students, presenting a problematic picture for the adult undergraduate population. Past research indicates that many older adult learners enter higher education from family backgrounds that tend to place them at an academic disadvantage, bring with them deficiencies in academic skills, and are less involved in academic and social aspects of campus life. Therefore, conventional wisdom would suggest that older students should have lower cumulative grade-point averages than younger students. However, past research on academic performance of adult undergraduates does not substantiate this prediction. This study focused on the validity of generalizing a traditional model of academic performance to older adult students. Results from this study indicate that a traditional model of academic performance prediction is inappropriate for use with older adult undergraduates. This research was supported in part by a grant from the Association for Continuing Higher Education.     

Integrating special-needs children into a preschool setting

For further information, write to Kim Stoddard, College of Education, University of South Florida—St. Petersburg, 140 7th Ave. South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.     

Using Instrumental Variables to Account for Selection Effects in Research on First-Year Programs

The widespread popularity of programs for first-year students is due, in large part, to studies showing that participation in first-year programs is significantly related to students’ academic success. Because students choose to participate in first-year programs, self-selection effects prevent researchers from making causal claims about the outcomes of those programs. The present research examined the effects on first-semester grades of students participating in themed learning communities at a research university in the Midwest. Results indicated that membership in themed learning communities was positively associated with higher grade point averages, even after controlling for entering ability, application date, gender, and first-generation/low-income status. However, when instrumental variables were introduced to account for self-selection, the effects of themed learning communities on grades were not statistically significant. The results have implications for campus leaders and assessment practitioners who are working to develop methods for understanding the effects of programs designed to enhance the undergraduate educational experiences on their campuses.     

Action theory and the value of sport

I present a corrective to the formalist and conventionalist down-playing of physical actions in the understanding of the value of sport. I give a necessarily brief account of the Causal Theory of Action (CTA) and its implications for the normativity of actions. I show that the CTA has limitations, particularly in the case of failed or incomplete actions, and I show that failed or incomplete actions are constitutive of sport. This allows me to open up the space for another model, drawn from Aristotle, for failed or incomplete actions, conceived of as ‘doables.’ This avoids some of the problems of the CTA. I explain the importance of difficult but doable actions, at which athletes often fail, and suggest that this establishes pro tanto value. Finally, I claim that this account of the actions that are constitutive of sport deepens our understanding of the value of sport as a whole.     

Strategies to boost international student success in US higher education: an analysis of direct and indirect effects of learning communities

Higher Education - Public universities worldwide have incorporated neoliberal behaviours and norms across their activities, moulding organizational practices, processes and cultures. In particular,...     

The Influence of Fraternity or Sorority Membership on Students' College Experiences and Cognitive Development

In recent years, the role of fraternities and sororities on college campuses has come under increasing scrutiny. Results of the National Study of Student Learning (NSSL) indicate that membership in a Greek organization can have a negative effect on students' cognitive development, particularly during the first year of college. The present research sought to assess the generalizability of the NSSL findings to first-year students attending a research university in the Midwest. In contrast to the NSSL findings, results indicated that Greek students had higher levels of involvement and gains in general abilities than did non-Greek students. Moreover, Greeks' gains in cognitive development were the result of their social involvement. Implications for the Greek system, as well as implications for the study of college effects, are discussed.