Measures Of Academic Performance Research Articles

The Role of Noncognitive Factors in Predicting Academic Trajectories of High School Students in a Selective Private School

Abstract. Compared to the vast literature on the cross-sectional relationships between cognitive and noncognitive factors and academic performance across all stages of schooling, relatively few studies have explored these relationships longitudinally at the high school level, especially in students who exhibit high academic performance. In this study, surveys of self-efficacy, locus of control, and intrinsic motivation were administered to 8,586 applicants to a prestigious private college-preparatory high school during the admissions process; simultaneously, standardized test scores (SSAT) were obtained. Enrolled and nonenrolled students were compared on prior academic performance and noncognitive measures. Further, noncognitive variables and trajectories of GPA (grade point averages) across 4 years (12 time points) were explored among the enrolled students (n = 818). The enrolled students, compared to the nonenrolled, showed advantageous scores on all measures. Also the relationships between noncognitive measures and academic performance were more weak between the enrolled than the nonenrolled students. Finally, a latent class growth analysis showed four trajectories of academic performance among the enrolled students. The only noncognitive measure distinguishing the students in different trajectories was anxiety about their own self-efficacy. The differences in the relationships between noncognitive measures and academic performance in high-achieving students in a high performance environment will be discussed.

Internationalising the psychology curriculum: Preliminary notes on conception and assessment of anticipated benefits

Advocates for internationalisation of the undergraduate psychology curriculum anticipate a variety of beneficial outcomes strongly associated with forms of intellectual growth – including critical thinking, appreciation for diversity, and global awareness – that are the defining purpose of a university education. As a prelude to an intervention to internationalise an introductory psychology course, we examined relationships between measures of these anticipated benefits in an online survey of 107 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory psychology course at a public research university in the US. Results indicated moderately strong relationships among measures of anticipated benefits of internationalisation but little relationship with conventional measures of academic performance. These results raise doubts about any necessary connection between anticipated benefits of internationalisation and conventional understandings of educational success. Accordingly, results motivate greater reflection among both proponents of internationalisation and psychologists in general about the learning outcomes that inform conventional approaches to undergraduate education in psychology.

Team-based learning: Application in undergraduate baccalaureate nursing education

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine the efficacy of Team-based Learning (TBL) in an undergraduate nursing course with regard to the outcomes of academic performance (Health Education Systems Incorporated [HESI ® ] Management exam) and self-reported measures of critical thinking, leadership and management skills, overall course ratings, accountability to learning, preference for lecture or TBL, and learner satisfaction with TBL. Methods: In a quantitative, quasi-experimental post-test study, 221 undergraduate senior nursing students participated in the TBL course or a traditional instructor-led control course. In both courses, academic performance was measured by the HESI ® Management scores; critical thinking, leadership and management skills, and overall course experience were measured using an online survey. In the TBL course, accountability to learning, preference for lecture or TBL, and learner satisfaction was measured with the Team-Based Learning Student Assessment Instrument. Results: When compared to lecture, TBL learners scored significantly higher on the HESI ® Management exam and reported significantly higher critical thinking, leadership and management skills and better overall course experience ratings ( p ≤ .01). TBL learners reported moderate to high levels of accountability, higher preference for TBL than lecture, and satisfaction with TBL. Total scores indicated moderate to high levels of favorable experiences with TBL. Conclusions: Results indicate TBL is an acceptable and efficacious instructional strategy in undergraduate nursing students. To control for extraneous factors and limit confounding, future research should evaluate the impact of TBL via a randomized control trial.

Incidence and Outcomes of Dating Violence Victimization Among High School Youth: The Role of Gender and Sexual Orientation.

The purpose of this study was to examine rates of dating violence (DV) victimization and DV victimization outcomes as a function of sex and sexual orientation. Participants were 25,122 high school students who participated in the 2013 New Hampshire Youth Risk Behavior Survey study. Heterosexual youth, especially heterosexual male youth, were less likely to report experiencing physical and sexual DV victimization than lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning (LGBQ) girls and boys. Among LGBQ girls and boys, there was little variability in rates of DV victimization with the exception of questioning boys being significantly more likely to experience physical and sexual DV victimization than several other LGBQ sub-groups. Furthermore, LGBQ DV victims reported worse outcomes than heterosexual DV victims on measures of depression, binge drinking, and poor academic performance. At the sub-group level, bisexual and questioning female victims were most at risk for depression; bisexual and questioning male victims were most at risk for binge drinking; bisexual male victims were most at risk for poor academic performance. The findings underscore the importance of better understanding variability in DV incidence and outcomes within the LGBQ population and using this information to inform clinical intervention and prevention efforts.

A comparison of pharmacy technician experience, degree and major as predictors of academic performance between two racial groups at a historically black university

ObjectiveTo compare the value of previous pharmacy technician experience, degree, and major as predictors of academic performance between African-American and non-African-American students at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore School of Pharmacy (UMES-SOP). MethodsStatistical analyses were conducted on the retrospective data of 201 students at UMES-SOP. The didactic assessment and experiential scores were used as measures of academic performance. ResultsSignificant positive correlations were observed between: (1) type of major and first year (P1) didactic performance for African-American students and (2) prior pharmacy technician experience and both P1 and second year (P2) didactic performance for non-African-American students. Further, the models for the combination of all independent variables on P1 didactic performance showed significance for African-American students. ConclusionThe combination of prior pharmacy experience, degree, and type of major was a significant predictor of P1 didactic performance in African-American pharmacy students.

Effects of Ambient Noise on the Measurement of Mathematics Achievement for Urban High School Students

Students from urban high schools are usually faced with adverse environmental factors in their pursuit of academic success. These factors make learning more challenging and may confound the measurement of academic performance itself. This study explores how one such factor, ambient noise, affects the measurement of mathematics achievement. Overall, about 40% of students were bothered by noise during testing. The more bothersome the noise is, the lower the math score tends to be. Noise coping explains about 10% of the test score difference, comparable with that by grade point average. These findings indicate a clear association between noise and math achievement measurement.

The Association between Health Behaviours and Academic Performance in Canadian Elementary School Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Establishing early healthy eating and physical activity behaviours is critical in supporting children’s long-term health and well-being. The objective of the current paper was to examine the association between health behaviours and academic performance in elementary school students in a school board in Nova Scotia, Canada. Methods: Our population-based study included students in grades 4–6 across 18 schools in a rural school board. Diet and physical activity were assessed through validated instruments. Academic performance measures were obtained from the school board for Mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA). Associations between health behaviours and academic performance were assessed using multilevel logistic regression. Results: Students with unhealthy lifestyle behaviours were more likely to have poor academic performance for both ELA and Mathematics compared to students with healthy lifestyle behaviours; associations were statistically significant for diet quality, physical activity, sugar-sweetened beverage consumption for ELA; and breakfast skipping, not being physically active at morning recess, and not being physically active after school for Mathematics. The effects of diet and physical activity were independent of each other and there was no interaction between the two exposures. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that support for healthy behaviours may help to improve academic outcomes of students.

The Reliability of College Grades

Little is known about the reliability of college grades relative to how prominently they are used in educational research, and the results to date tend to be based on small sample studies or are decades old. This study uses two large databases (N > 800,000) from over 200 educational institutions spanning 13 years and finds that both first‐year and overall college GPA can be expected to be highly reliable measures of academic performance, with reliability estimated at .86 for first‐year GPA and .93 for overall GPA. Additionally, reliabilities vary moderately by academic discipline, and within‐school grade intercorrelations are highly stable over time. These findings are consistent with a hierarchical structure of academic ability. Practical implications for decision making and measurement using GPA are discussed.

Determinants of conflict on Wisconsin School Boards

In this article, we use original survey data from Wisconsin school board members to determine the extent of conflict present on Wisconsin school boards and the determinants of different types of perceived board conflict. School boards, by virtue of overseeing a public good with readily measurable performance variables, offer an ideal case for testing a relationship between board governance performance and conflict. Using multivariate regression analysis, we find that that the perceived level of conflict on Wisconsin school boards is dependent on the quality of superintendent–board relations, the demographic profile of the school district overseen by the school board, and the age and experience level of school board members. Notably, we do not find a clear relationship between conflict and measures of school district academic performance.

Influence of Educational Environment on Academic Performance of Nursing Students

The context of learning, the educational environment and the learning styles have an influence on the academic performance. While the context of learning and learning styles are individualistic, the education environment provided by an institution is generic. The aim of this study was to assess the education environment as perceived by the learners. The objectives of the study were to describe the education environment and academic performance and identify the relationship between education environment and academic performance. A cross sectional survey was held in December 2013, one of the nursing institutions in India offering diploma and graduate nursing program. The Participants were the enrolled students available on the day of data collection and consented to the study. The total score obtained in the board/university examination was the measure of academic performance. The total score obtained from the administration of Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) was regarded as the educational environment. The Karl Pearson correlation coefficient was used to assess the relationship between education environment and academic performance. The education environment was perceived as 'more positive' by 84.84% of graduate (n=66) and 76.66% of diploma nursing students (n=90). However, the relationship between education environment and academic performance was not statistically significant among graduate (r= 0.006, p= 0.97, n=44) and diploma (r= 0.145, p=0.22, n=73) students. Nursing students should make effective use of the educational environment.

Cognitive training for children with ADHD: a randomized controlled trial of cogmed working memory training and 'paying attention in class'.

The goal of this randomized controlled trial was to replicate and extend previous studies of Cogmed Working Memory Training (CWMT) in children with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). While a large proportion of children with ADHD suffer from academic difficulties, only few previous efficacy studies have taken into account long term academic outcome measures. So far, results regarding academic outcome measures have been inconsistent. Hundred and two children with ADHD between the age of 8 and 12 years (both medicated and medication naïve) participated in current randomized controlled trial. Children were randomly assigned to CWMT or a new active combined working memory- and executive function compensatory training called ‘Paying Attention in Class.’ Primary outcome measures were neurocognitive functioning and academic performance. Secondary outcome measures contained ratings of behavior in class, behavior problems, and quality of life. Assessment took place before, directly after and 6 months after treatment. Results showed only one replicated treatment effect on visual spatial working memory in favor of CWMT. Effects of time were found for broad neurocognitive measures, supported by parent and teacher ratings. However, no treatment or time effects were found for the measures of academic performance, behavior in class or quality of life. We suggest that methodological and non-specific treatment factors should be taken into account when interpreting current findings. Future trials with well-blinded measures and a third ‘no treatment’ control group are needed before cognitive training can be supported as an evidence-based treatment of ADHD. Future research should put more effort into investigating why, how and for whom cognitive training is effective as this would also potentially lead to improved intervention- and study designs.

Effects of Vigorous Intensity Physical Activity on Mathematics Test Performance

The effect of an acute bout of physical activity on academic performance in school-based settings is under researched. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between a single, vigorous (70–85%) bout of physical activity completed during physical education on standardized mathematics test performance among 72, eighth grade students at a school in the Southwestern United States. Students received both a physical activity and nonactive condition, in a repeated measures design. Academic performance measures were collected at 30 and 45-minutes post condition. It was hypothesized that students would have greater gains in mathematics test scores post physical activity condition compared with post nonactive condition. Results reported students achieved 11–22% higher math scores at 30 minutes post physical activity condition compared with other time points (45 minutes post PA, 30 and 45 minutes post sedentary) (F(1, 68) = 14.42, p < .001, d = .90). Findings suggest that physical activity may facilitate academic performance in math.

The Relationship between Habitual Breakfast Consumption Frequency and Academic Performance in British Adolescents.

Breakfast has been shown to be beneficial for cognitive and academic performance in school children. However, there is a paucity of studies which examine the relationship between breakfast consumption and academic performance and a complete absence of studies in UK school children. The aim of this study, therefore, was to examine the association between habitual breakfast consumption frequency and Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT) performance, a reasoning test routinely used in UK schools. Adolescents aged 11–13 years (n = 292; males: 53.8%) completed a questionnaire to report usual weekly breakfast intake frequency. Breakfast was subjectively defined by the participants. Habitual weekly breakfast consumption frequency was categorized as rare (0–2 days), occasional (3–4 days), or frequent (5–7 days). Participants’ CAT performance was used as a proxy measure of academic performance. The CAT has three components: verbal, non-verbal, and quantitative reasoning. Normative standard age scores (SAS) for verbal, non-verbal, quantitative reasoning, and overall mean SAS were obtained from school records and hierarchical linear regression models were applied, adjusting for the confounders: gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status, English as an Additional Language, and body mass index. Habitual breakfast consumption frequency did not significantly predict any CAT SAS in all models (crude and adjusted). However, methodological considerations which could account for this disagreement with previous research, were identified. These included the isolation of school-day breakfast consumption, use of a standard definition of breakfast, and measurement of actual academic performance. The findings of the current study suggest more comprehensive ways in which future studies might investigate the relationship between habitual breakfast consumption and academic performance.

The Impact of Journal Rankings on Australasian Accounting Education Scholarship – A Personal View

The higher education environment in which academics currently find themselves is one characterised by corporatisation and commodification. The pursuit of scholarly academic research is increasingly plagued by quantification, ranking pursuits, and what might be referred to as a ‘publication’ maximisation culture. This paper provides reflective insight into the impact felt of journal rankings on Australasian accounting education research. The paper challenges the short-termism and narrow focus currently adopted by many business faculty executives, who continue to use journal rankings as the sole measure of academic performance. The paper argues that this results in incentive schemes not too dissimilar to that recently found within the financial industry. The paper concludes that such a narrow approach to measurement should be abandoned in order to encourage creativity and innovation in business research that assists in solving business problems today and well into the future.

Physical fitness and academic performance: a pilot investigation in USU medical students.

This study examined the correlations between physical fitness parameters and standard measures of academic performance in a cohort of students at the Uniformed Services University. Significant positive correlations were noted between the average aerobic fitness score and preclerkship grade point average (GPA; r = 0.37, p < 0.05) and cumulative GPA (r = 0.38, p < 0.05). Positive correlations were also noted between the average overall fitness score and preclerkship GPA (r = 0.34, p < 0.05), medical school cumulative GPA (r = 0.34, p < 0.05), and the score on Step 1 of the national board examination (r = -0.33, p < 0.05). Physical fitness may serve as one indicator to predict which students will succeed in medical school and to identify those who are at risk for poor performance and might benefit from a wellness intervention.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ SCORES IN SOCIAL STUDIES AND INTEGRATED SCIENCE AT JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION IN EDU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

The study compared the scores of students in Social Studies and Integrated Science at the Junior Secondary School Certificate Examination (JSSCE) in Edu Local Government Area (LGA) of Kwara State, Nigeria. The research design was correlational for which the t-test and one –way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed. The sample for the study consisted of all students who sat for the 2011, 2012 and 2013 JSSCE in six out of the eleven Junior Secondary Schools in the Local Government Area. The five schools were selected using the simple random sampling technique and all the 1,689 students who sat for the JSSCE in both subjects in the three years aforementioned were used for the study.The scores of students in both Social Studies and Integrated Science were obtained directly from the Junior Secondary School Certificate Examination result sheets from Principals of the selected schools. These were used as measures of academic performance. The data collected were analysed using the descriptive statistics, t-test and one way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The result revealed that there existed significant differences in the performances of male and female students in both Social Studies and Integrated Science in year 2011 with female students out performing their male counterparts however, there are no significant differences in male and female students’ performance in the two subjects in years 2012 and 2013.The multiple comparisons revealed that the scores of students in Social Studies were significantly different between years 2011 and 2012, 2011 and 2013 as well as between 2012 and 2013. In the same vein, the scores of students in Integrated Science for 2011and 2012 as well as 2011 and 2013 were found to be significant.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Lecture Capture: Lessons Learned from an Undergraduate Political Research Class

This article presents the results of a 4-year quasi-experimental study of the effectiveness of lecture capture in an undergraduate political research class. Students self-enrolled in either a traditional in-class lecture-discussion section or a fully online section of a required political research course. The class sessions from the in-class section were recorded and provided asynchronously to the online students. The instructor, course assignments, exams, and supplemental materials were the same for the in-class and online sections. The two types of sections were compared on course-embedded academic performance measures and on the completion rates of the course and of the course assignments, controlling for prior cumulative grade point average (GPA), prior credits completed, and gender. The mean overall course score for the online students was slightly, but significantly, lower than scores for the in-class students. The students’ GPAs interacted with the type of section such that the difference between in-class and online academic performance diminished or disappeared among students with higher GPAs. Completion rates for the course and for assignments were significantly lower for online students. Strategies for addressing these problems through greater student engagement are widely cited, but recent empirical tests of these strategies have not provided satisfactory results.

PROTOCOL: Small Class Sizes for Improving Student Achievement in Primary and Secondary Schools: A Systematic Review

PROTOCOL: Small Class Sizes for Improving Student Achievement in Primary and Secondary Schools: A Systematic Review

The social, educational and cognitive factors of success in the first year of university: A case study

The main objective of this study, which evaluated a sample of first-year students enrolled at the University of Burgundy, France, in 2010–2011, is to understand the factors determining success in the first year of university. The originality of this research lies in the inclusion of specific indicators of students’ skills when they start university within the explanatory models of educational achievement. These indicators include measures of academic performance (written comprehension skills) and cognitive abilities. While the impact of cognitive abilities on educational success has been examined at primary level in France, the present study is among the first to do this at higher education level, with the additional consideration of students’ educational and social backgrounds. The results show the significant impact of educational background (repeated years, type of baccalaureate and baccalaureate grade) on success. The researchers also found that written comprehension skills and cognitive abilities alone play a limited role in explaining success, since the impacts of these variables are apparent throughout a student’s educational career (and not just in higher education). Another finding was that subject choice based on specific career aspirations is an important factor associated with success – a significant insight which qualifies the impact of educational background.

Contextualizing Academic Performance in Russian Schools: School Characteristics, the Composition of Student Body and Local Deprivation

This study focuses on how social contexts promote disparities in academic performance between Russian high schools. In particular, we investigate how a school’s average Unified State Examination (USE) scores in Russian and mathematics relate to the social composition of its student body, its material and human resources, and local deprivation. We develop a two-level hierarchical regression model to analyze data from school profiles collected in two Russian regions (Yaroslavskaya Oblast’ and Moskovskaya Oblast’) during the 2011-12 academic year. Both social characteristics of the student body and the school’s material and human resources were associated with academic performance. However, after controlling for the characteristics of pupils and schools, our study did not discover any significant independent effects of the local context. In conclusion, we discuss the implications of these findings with regard to developing contextualized measures of academic performance in Russia, the limitations of current research and suggest several possibilities for its empirical development.