Abstract
Achievement in higher education is gaining importance and attracting attention among educational psychologists who seek for determining its correlates. This study examined longitudinal associations between academic achievement in higher education, university entrance exam performance, the psychosocial climate of the campus, and instructional behavior and socioeconomic status. Data concerning 2,361 students from three universities were collected via surveys and university records at Year 1, Year 2, and Year 4. Socioeconomic status (SES), university exam performance, perceived instructional behavior, and perceived psychosocial climate at Grade 1 were associated positively with academic achievement, perceived instructional behavior, and perceived psychosocial climate at Grade 2 and Grade 4. Indirect effects from SES, university exam performance, perceived instructional behavior, and perceived psychosocial climate at Grade 1 to Grade 4 outcomes were significant, through academic achievement, perceived instructional behavior, and perceived psychosocial climate at Grade 2. These results support that students’ SES, earlier entrance exam performance, and perceptions of their academics’ instructional behaviors and the campus’ psychosocial atmosphere at the first year of university life are associated with their academic achievement at the final year through their relations with the developing levels of academic achievement, perceived instructional behavior, and psychosocial climate of the campus toward the middle of university life.
Highlights
Higher education is a key source of development for individuals and countries
Analysis to achieve the first aim of the study showed that Socioeconomic status (SES), university exam performance, perceived instructional behavior, and perceived psychosocial climate at years 2014–2015 (Year 1) were associated with grade point average (GPA), standardized regression coefficient (β) = 0.19, p < .05 for SES; β = 0.22, p < .01 for university exam performance; β = 0.12, p < .05 for perceived instructional behavior; and β = .20, p < .01 for perceived psychosocial climate, perceived instructional behavior (β = 0.18, p < .01 for perceived instructional behavior), and perceived psychosocial climate (β = 0.28, p < .01 for perceived psychosocial climate) at Year 2
These outcomes indicate that GPA, perceived instructional behavior, and perceived psychosocial climate at Year 2 are significantly mediating mechanisms between input variables including SES, university exam performance, perceived instructional behavior, and perceived psychosocial climate at Year 1 and GPA at Year 4. These findings indicate that SES, university exam performance, perceived instructional behavior, and perceived psychosocial climate at Year 1 were associated with changes in GPA, perceived instructional behavior, and perceived psychosocial climate at Year 4 through their association with GPA, perceived instructional behavior and perceived psychosocial climate at Year 2
Summary
Higher education is a key source of development for individuals and countries. In an average Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country, investment for individuals with a higher education degree provides better economic outcomes (US$175067 for men and US$110007 for women) than investment for an individual with an upper secondary degree (US$77604 for men and US$63035 for women) (OECD, 2012, 2019). Academic achievement and associated learning outcomes in higher education are of significant interest to various stakeholders including students, researchers, teaching staff, tertiary education institutions, and funding authorities. The factors that can impact students’ achievement in higher education are complex, but they are sometimes categorized as being either individual factors (e.g., age, prior experiences, learning styles) or contextual factors (e.g., teaching and learning activities, assessment procedures).
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