Exam Achievement Research Articles

Impacts of the School Starting Age on Academic Achievement

The present research attempted to investigate the impacts of gender and age on the freshly-graduatedeighth graders’ percentiles in the central high school entrance exam (LGS) in 2020. The sample of this causal-comparative study comprised 6,039 students selected from secondary schools in Isparta who took the LGS in 2020. The data were obtained from the Isparta Directorate of National Education on a chart demonstrating the participants’ demographic characteristics and the percentiles of their exam scores. The findings revealed significant differences between the students starting school at 60-65, 66-68, and 69-71 months and those with a school starting age of 72 months and older by exam achievement. In this sense, the students starting school at an early age (60-71 months) had poorer achievement in the LGS than their counterparts starting school at an older age (72 months and above). Moreover, the students’ achievement on the said exam significantly differed by gender. Accordingly, the female students demonstrated greater achievement in the LGS when compared to the male students. Considering the findings, it may confidently be asserted that it would be appropriate to amend the provision of the relevant regulation as the minimum age for starting school to be 72 months as of the fall semester.

Patterns, predictors, and outcomes of situated expectancy-value profiles in an introductory chemistry course.

Using latent profile analysis, we identified profiles of expectancy beliefs, perceived values, and perceived costs among 1433 first- and second-year undergraduates in an introductory chemistry course for STEMM majors. We also investigated demographic differences in profile membership and the relation of profiles to chemistry final exam achievement, science/STEMM credits completed, and graduating with a science/STEMM major. Four motivational profiles were identified: Moderately Confident and Costly (profile 1), Mixed Values-Costs/Moderate-High Confidence (profile 2), High Confidence and Values/Moderate-Low Costs (profile 3), and High All (profile 4). Underrepresented students in STEMM were more likely to be in profile 2 relative to profile 3. First-generation college students were more likely to be in profile 4 than profile 3. Finally, students likely to be in profile 3 had higher final exam grades than the other profiles and were more likely to graduate with a science major compared to profile 1. There were no differences in graduating science major between profile 3 and the other two profiles. Thus, profile 3 was most adaptive for both proximal (final exam) and distal (graduating with a science major) outcomes. Results suggest that supporting motivation early in college is important for persistence and ultimately the talent development of undergraduate STEMM students.

What role do students’ beliefs play in a successful transition from school to university mathematics?

The transition from school to university is a challenging process for many students which is reflected in high dropout and low examination success rates during the first year at university. Qualitative studies have found hints that students’ beliefs play an important role during the transition. Due to their dialectic nature with cognitive as well as affective valences, it is sensible to assume that beliefs influence rather cognitive and objective criteria of a successful transition such as exam achievement as well as subjective criteria like satisfaction that draw on affective sources. However, quantitative studies have been mostly focusing on the role of students’ beliefs for study achievement, neglecting possible effects on students’ satisfaction and actual dropout. In this contribution, I draw a more holistic picture of the effects of beliefs during the transition by analysing effects on students’ achievement, students’ satisfaction and students’ actual dropout behaviour. Data from over 600 first-year students in a longitudinal quantitative study show that dynamic beliefs (that emphasize the process character of mathematics and the usability of mathematics in everyday life and other disciplines) have a positive impact during the transition, while static beliefs (focusing on schematic aspects of mathematics) are problematic.

Balancing the COVID-19 Disruption to Undergraduate Learning and Assessment with an Academic Student Support Package: Implications for Student Achievement and Engagement

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic-induced emergency pivot to online teaching and assessment, an Academic Safety Net was implemented at a regional Australian university to provide academic student support. Bayesian hierarchical models were used to compare student performance between 2019 and 2020. More students withdrew from subjects in 2020, while fewer students remained enrolled but failed. While there was no overall year effect for overall student achievement, exam achievement increased and on-course assessment achievement decreased in 2020. When achievement was analysed according to an assessment task change, a year effect emerged, with the magnitude and direction of the effect dependent on the task changes. The results indicate that the enrolment component of the Academic Safety Net was an effective equity measure that enabled students an extended opportunity to self-withdraw in response to general impacts of the pandemic; while the results component protected the integrity of results awarded during the emergency pivot.

The role of psychological and academic variables in predicting transition from primary to secondary education exam achievement in Turkey

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to understand the role of academic (achievement goal orientation, academic self‐efficacy) and psychological (resilience, test anxiety) variables in predicting transition from primary to secondary education (TEOG) test achievement. Participants were eighth grade students (N = 334) in Istanbul. The data was gathered via 2 × 2 achievement goal questionnaire‐revised, academic self‐efficacy scale, resilience scale for early adolescents, state‐trait anxiety inventory and information form. Results showed that the mastery‐approach, performance‐approach, performance‐avoidance, academic self‐efficacy, psychological resilience, and trait anxiety were significant predictors of TEOG scores of the students. This study showed that the success of the national‐level transition to high school exam in Turkey was strongly associated with academic variables, and also weakly associated with psychological variables.

\u201cThat Wasn\u2019t the Math I Wanted to do!\u201d\u2014Students\u2019 Beliefs During the Transition from School to University Mathematics

It is a well-known fact that many students struggle during the transition from school to university mathematics. The aim of our quantitative study was to clarify the role of students’ beliefs concerning the nature of mathematics for a successful transition. We distinguish between static beliefs (mathematics as a finished system of rules, facts and formula) and dynamic beliefs (mathematics as a dynamic discipline with applications in everyday life). In particular, we examined whether first year students’ beliefs are suitable to predict students’ exam achievement and their satisfaction (as criteria for a successful transition) and how students’ beliefs develop during the transition. Therefore, we used questionnaires at the beginning and in the middle of the first term at university. Our results indicate that dynamic beliefs decrease during transition, whereas static beliefs remain rather stable. This seems problematic since dynamic beliefs turned out to negatively predict students’ dropout intention, while static beliefs are a negative predictor of students’ achievement in real analysis. Furthermore, the beliefs assessed in the middle of the term had a stronger predictive power than those at the beginning of the term. Based on these results, we discuss implications for the teaching of mathematics during the transition.

Assessment of Gender Disparity in Academic Performance Among Undergraduates of College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ambo University, Ethiopia

Introduction. Gender disparity in higher educational institutions of Ethiopia has become one of the cross cutting agendas that need special concern. The objective of this study was to assess gender disparity in academic performance among undergraduate students of Ambo University, College of Medicine and Health Sciences. Methods. This paper analyzed the university entrance examination score and Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 133 (92 male and 41 female) undergraduate graduates of 2017 at Ambo University, College of medicine and health sciences. The census survey was conducted through an anonymous self administered questionnaire from September 20-October 10, 2017. Independent sample t-test was performed to test gender disparity among the undergraduates with regard to academic performance. Results. The study findings revealed that, there were gender disparities among undergraduates of Ambo University, College of Medicine and Health Sciences. Female students joined the University with lower university entrance examination score (Mean=428.5, SD=27.1) compared to males (Mean=442.6, SD=25.2). Thus, their grade 12 exam achievement mean difference was found to be statistically significant (Mean difference=14.1; 95% CI= 4.52-23.67; t=2.913, df=131, p-value=0.004). Similarly, female undergraduates achieved lower CGPA (Mean=2.93, SD=0.39) than male undergraduates (Mean=3.29, SD =0.41). There was also a significant mean difference between male and female students in CGPA achievement at university (Mean difference=0.36; 95% CI= 0.21-0.51; t=4.780,df=131, p-value<0.001). Moreover, the proportion of females graduated from the college in 2017 was only 26.5%. Conclusion. According to the students’ high school performance, female students achieved university entrance examination score significantly lower than males. Similarly, female students’ academic performance at university was also low compared to male students. Regarding gender composition graduates, the result indicates that female undergraduates were underrepresented in the college accounting only 26.5%. The implication of this study suggests that the affirmative action intervention including tutorial classes, study skills, time management trainings and counseling provided to female students in the university was not effective since it couldn’t eliminate gender gap in academic performance. Keywords : Academic performance; Gender disparity assessment; independent t-test. DOI : 10.7176/RHSS/9-5-04 Publication date :March 31 st 2019

The genetics of university success

University success, which includes enrolment in and achievement at university, as well as quality of the university, have all been linked to later earnings, health and wellbeing. However, little is known about the causes and correlates of differences in university-level outcomes. Capitalizing on both quantitative and molecular genetic data, we perform the first genetically sensitive investigation of university success with a UK-representative sample of 3,000 genotyped individuals and 3,000 twin pairs. Twin analyses indicate substantial additive genetic influence on university entrance exam achievement (57%), university enrolment (51%), university quality (57%) and university achievement (46%). We find that environmental effects tend to be non-shared, although the shared environment is substantial for university enrolment. Furthermore, using multivariate twin analysis, we show moderate to high genetic correlations between university success variables (0.27–0.76). Analyses using DNA alone also support genetic influence on university success. Indeed, a genome-wide polygenic score, derived from a 2016 genome-wide association study of years of education, predicts up to 5% of the variance in each university success variable. These findings suggest young adults select and modify their educational experiences in part based on their genetic propensities and highlight the potential for DNA-based predictions of real-world outcomes, which will continue to increase in predictive power.

The Impact of the Distance between School and Downtown on the Result of the National Exam on Geography 2017

There are some factors that will determine the result of National Exam score. One of them is the distance between school and downtown. The schools that are located in the downtown should have higher score compared to the schools located far away from downtown. It is because of the circulation of information around the downtown schools is more rapid than those schools located in far away from downtown. There are some previous research on correlation between students’ accessibility to their schools with students achievement, however there no research on correlation between school distance from downtown and students achievement. This research aims to analyze the correlation between school distance to downtown and students’ National Exam achievement on geography subject in 2017. This research is a qualitative descriptive research. This research uses documentation and literature study. The result data of this research shows the school in downtown achieved highest National Exam score on geography, however, there is no positive correlation between the mileage to schools and students’ achievement. Furthermore, the distance beteween school and downtown does not show a positive correlation. Therefore it could be concluded that there is no correlation between distance and mileage from school to downtown with the National Exam result on geography subject in 2017 at SMA Negeri Kabupaten Bangka (Public Senior High School in Bangka Regency).

Investigation of the Effect of Peer-Led Team Learning Model on University Students’ Exam Achievement in General Chemistry

The purpose of this study is to compare freshmen engineering students’ exam achievement in general chemistry course using peer-led team learning model and traditional instruction and to investigate the effect of the methods on different achieving level students. A total of 128 students who were instructed by the same professor participated in the study. Both in PLTL and traditional class consisted of different engineering disciplines. Throughout the semester, PLTL model was implemented in the experimental group while traditional instruction was used in the control group. 14 peer leaders who have successfully completed general chemistry course in previous semester have been trained on basic communication and pedagogy issues and they have supported their teams in problem-solving throughout the semester. Both experimental and control group students took the same mid-terms and final exam which are constructed by the related department. The data were analyzed by two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results indicated that low and medium achieving students’ general chemistry exam grades are statistically higher in PLTL group than those of traditional group students; however, there is no statistically significant mean difference in high achieving students’ grades across the groups.

The use of drawing as an alternative assessment tool in biology teaching

Science required the recording of data to build knowledge. The act of drawing an illustration is one of the oldest methods to record the data in science. Illustration in science provides information that the written word cannot, hence the old adage “A picture is worth a thousand words” is very important for studying science. Drawings an illustration is not only valuable for artists but also for scientists because some aspects of science process skills can also be developed through drawing. In terms of science teaching, applying the act of drawing can also be used as an assessment tool. In this study, we assessed drawing of human internal organs of 38 student teachers who enrolled human physiology course and its correlation to their final exam achievement. Guidance of biological drawing was employed to assess the quality, labelling, and annotations of the drawing. The finding of this study showed that there was a positive correlation between the quality of drawing and final exam achievement. It is suggested that using the method of drawing in combination with written responses assessment would provide a more complete information about student’s understanding of human internal organs.

Implementation of Simulation Based-Concept Attainment Method to Increase Interest Learning of Engineering Mechanics Topic

The implementation of concept attainment method based on simulation was used to increase student’s interest in the subjects Engineering of Mechanics in second semester of academic year 2016/2017 in Manufacturing Engineering Program, Department of Mechanical PNUP. The result of the implementation of this learning method shows that there is an increase in the students’ learning interest towards the lecture material which is summarized in the form of interactive simulation CDs and teaching materials in the form of printed books and electronic books. From the implementation of achievement method of this simulation based concept, it is noted that the increase of student participation in the presentation and discussion as well as the deposit of individual assignment of significant student. With the implementation of this method of learning the average student participation reached 89%, which before the application of this learning method only reaches an average of 76%. And also with previous learning method, for exam achievement of A-grade under 5% and D-grade above 8%. After the implementation of the new learning method (simulation based-concept attainment method) the achievement of Agrade has reached more than 30% and D-grade below 1%.

Incremental Theory of Intelligence Moderated the Relationship between Prior Achievement and School Engagement in Chinese High School Students.

School engagement plays a prominent role in promoting academic accomplishments. In contrast to the relative wealth of research that examined the impact of students’ school engagement on their academic achievement, considerably less research has investigated the effect of high school students’ prior achievement on their school engagement. The present study examined the relationship between prior achievement and school engagement among Chinese high school students. Based on the Dweck’s social-cognitive theory of motivation, we further examined the moderating effect of students’ theories of intelligence (TOIs) on this relationship. A total of 4036 (2066 girls) students from five public high school enrolled in grades 10 reported their high school entrance exam achievement in Chinese, Math and English, school engagement, and TOIs. Results showed that (a) students’ prior achievement predicted their behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement, respectively, and (b) the association between prior achievement and behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement is strong for students with an incremental theory but not for those with an entity theory in the emotional and cognitive engagement. These findings suggest that prior achievement and incremental theory were implicated in relation to adolescents’ school engagement. Implications and future research directions were discussed.

Spatial and temporal patterns in primary school enrolment and exam achievement in Rural Uganda

ABSTRACTUsing a mixed-methods approach, including qualitative, quantitative and Geographic Information Science methods, we assessed the primary school landscape around a protected area in Western Uganda. Data from a household survey, interviews and standardized school examinations were mapped to visualize spatial patterns in enrolment and academic achievement. We found children on average were starting school at age nine, but started to dropout as early as age 14; especially orphaned boys. Twenty of 36 schools demonstrated improving examination results from 2004 to 2013, although in one district improvements were lacking. Girls traditionally perform poorer than boys on exams in Uganda, but we found girls’ exam scores were catching-up. Support from one non-governmental organization with a long-term local presence was improving academic achievement. The use of Geographic Information Science provided spatially explicit recommendations to guide local policy actions for primary school education.

Access to Papanicolaou Test by the Unified Health System users

Objective : to understand how is the access to the public health service users in the Papanicolaou Test. Methods : qualitative study, with 52 women who have changes in the Pap smear exam, questioning the exam achievement frequency and the difficulties of its access and the consultations. It was developed a thematic analysis based on the Fekete accessibility reference. Results : three categories emerged: access to information on the frequency of Pap smears, highlighting the completion of the examination linked only to the professional application; access to Pap smears, in which most women do not have difficulty; access to a return visit, showing the difficulty of women getting back into service after the exam. Conclusion : most women have easy access to the Pap smear. However, there are limitations on the return visit, hindering to establish immediate actions to the beginning of treatment.

Improvement of nursing students' learning outcomes through scenario-based skills training.

Objective: this study analyzed the influence of scenario-based skills training on students' learning skills.Method: the author evaluated the nursing skills laboratory exam papers of 605 sophomores in nursing programs for seven years. The study determined the common mistakes of students and the laboratory work was designed in a scenario-based format. The effectiveness of this method was evaluated by assessing the number of errors the students committed and their achievement scores in laboratory examinations. This study presents the students' common mistakes in intramuscular and subcutaneous injection and their development of intravenous access skills, included in the nursing skills laboratory examination.Results: an analysis of the students' most common mistakes revealed that the most common was not following the principles of asepsis for all three skills (intramuscular, subcutaneous injection, intravenous access) in the first year of the scenario-based training. The students' exam achievement scores increased gradually, except in the fall semester of the academic year 2009-2010. The study found that the scenario-based skills training reduced students' common mistakes in examinations and enhanced their performance on exams.Conclusion:this method received a positive response from both students and instructors. The scenario-based training is available for use in addition to other skills training methods.

Levels of music performance anxiety and test anxiety of Turkish prospective music teachers in piano exams

The purpose of this study was to determine the anxiety of prospective music teachers ( N = 129) during piano exams and to examine the effects of peer and self-assessments on anxiety and exam achievement of individuals with high performance and test anxiety ( n = 5). Female students were more anxious compared to males, students of the fourth class were the most anxious, and students who had graduated from fine arts high schools had lower anxiety levels. There was a positive and significant relation between test anxiety and music performance anxiety. No significant relation was determined between piano course achievement scores and test or performance anxiety. Despite awareness of coping recommendations, students with high levels of anxiety experienced anxiety that could influence performance during exams.

Reform of anatomy experiment teaching in nursing from the perspective of theory combined with practice

Objective In order to improve the teaching effectiveness of anatomy in nursing, this article made an exploration on the experimental teaching reform combined with the characteristics of nursing profession. Methods The nursing students of class 1and 2 of 2013were set as the research object. The class 1 (110) as experimental class, class 2 (110) for the control group. In the experimental class, the reform of teaching and teaching quality was improved by adjusting the teaching syl-labus and teaching contents. The control class used the traditional experimental teaching method. The experiment class' teaching reform research of the human anatomy carried on the 1 semester. Exam achievement evaluation and the questionnaire survey were adopted to assess the teaching effect. SPSS 13.0 software was used to do statistical analysis and t test was used to compare two groups of students test scores, experiment grades, test scores and total scores. Results Experimental theory examination results [(47.80±7.30) vs. (44.85±8.38)], experiment grades [(15.48±1.76) vs. (14.55±2.19)], experiment test scores [(15.52±2.22) vs. (14.35±2.64)], total score [(78.80±8.99) vs. (73.75±10.53)] were better than control group (P<0.05). In questionnaire survey, more than 80% of the students think that the teaching can help to improve the teaching effect. Conclusion In human anatomy experiment teaching reform, the reformed experiment teaching method can significantly improve students' scores and the teaching effect. It is better than the traditional method, and is worth publicizing. Key words: Human anatomy; Experimental teaching; Teaching reform; Case based learning

The Effects of Self-regulation Skills on TEOG Exam

In this study, the effects of secondary school students’ self-regulation skills on TEOG examination were examined. Motivational Strategy Scale, developed by Pintrinch and De Groot (1990) and adapted to Turkish by Üredi (2005), was used as the data collection instrument. TEOG exam scores of the students were obtained from their school administrations. The study group of the research consisted of 412 students attending the 8th Year Classes of 75th Year Secondary School of Güngören District in the province of Istanbul. To analyse the data of the research, multi regression analysis was used. The research showed that the variables of self-efficacy and anxiety were effective in predicting the TEOG exam,and that use of cognitive strategy came after self-efficacy and anxiety with respect to impacting the TEOG exam achievement, and also that self-regulation and intrinsic value dimensions were not effective in predicting the TEOG exam scores.

Effect of peer-led team learning (PLTL) on student achievement, attitude, and self-concept in college general chemistry in randomized and quasi experimental designs

This study investigated exam achievement and affective characteristics of students in general chemistry in a fully-randomized experimental design, contrasting Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) participation with a control group balanced for time-on-task and study activity. This study population included two independent first-semester courses with enrollments of about 600. Achievement was measured by scores on exams written by an instructor blind to student participation. Established instruments were used to assess changes in attitude to chemistry and self-concept as a chemistry learner. No differences were found in achievement, attitude, or self-concept for students who participated in PLTL vs. those who participated in documented alternative study activities. Overall, certain aspects of attitude and self-concept showed a slight but significant decline from beginning to end of semester, consistent with previous studies. Males have higher positive attitude and self-concept than females, and first-year students have higher positive attitude, self-concept, and achievement than non first-year students. In a quasi-experimental comparison of 10 other course sections over seven years, students who self-selected into PLTL showed stronger exam achievement than those who did not choose to participate. These findings suggest that past reports of improved student performance with PLTL may in part be a consequence of attracting students who are already motivated to take advantage of its value. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 52: 319–346, 2015