A Study of the Relation between Achievement in Required Courses and Subsequent Academic Record in the College of Engineering, Cornell University

Abstract

College life is a very complex and variable phenomenon; in the strict sense, it is as broad and imponderable as life in general, hence success or failure in college is difficult to de fine and to predict with a high degree of re liability, according to Wood.1 He indicates that success in college depends upon several important factors, namely, a minimum of native intelligence, a minimum of preparation, character and moral habits, the direct influ ence of health, interest, adjustment to aca demic load, and adequate management of worry and distractions.2 It is to be expected, then, that not all of the students who begin a college course will complete it. This is true in the College of Engineering at Cornell University where this study was made. Out of eleven hundred and four stu dents3 who entered the College as freshmen in the years 1929, 1930, 1931 and 1932, a total of 687 graduated in their respective senior years: 1933, 1934, 1935, and 1936. In other words, 62.2 per cent of these freshmen survived to graduate. The others voluntarily left college, were dropped by faculty action, or transferred to other colleges.4 Any facts which may throw light on the question of which students will survive and graduate are important. The limitations of data in any restricted investigation must be considered. Some students of mental and educational measurement believe that the the best single measure of academic achievement is previous academic achievement. Slightly less valid for predicting academic achievement are scholastic-aptitude tests, commonly called intelligence tests. This study undertakes to determine the success or failure of students in selected courses and to follow through to senior year a large group of engineering students to get some light on these questions.