Predictors Of Academic Success Research Articles

Enhancing adult learner success in higher education through decision tree models: A machine learning approach

This article explores the use of machine learning, specifically Classification and Regression Trees (CART), to address the unique challenges faced by adult learners in higher education. These learners confront socio-cultural, economic, and institutional hurdles, such as stereotypes, financial constraints, and systemic inefficiencies. The study utilizes decision tree models to evaluate their effectiveness in predicting graduation outcomes, which helps in formulating tailored educational strategies. The research analyzed a comprehensive dataset spanning the academic years 2013–2014 to 2021–2022, evaluating the predictive accuracy of CART models using precision, recall, and F1 score. Findings indicate that attendance, age, and Pell Grant eligibility are key predictors of academic success, demonstrating the strong capability of the model across various educational metrics. This highlights the potential of machine learning (ML) to improve data-driven decision-making in educational settings. The results affirm the effectiveness of Decision Tree (DT) models in meeting the educational needs of adult learners and underscore the need for institutions to adapt their strategies to provide more inclusive and supportive environments. This study advocates for a shift towards nuanced, data-driven approaches in higher education, emphasizing the development of strategies that address the distinct challenges of adult learners, aiming to enhance inclusivity and support within the sector.

Students’ Attitude towards Economics, School and Home Variables as Determinants of Academic Achievement of Secondary School Students in Economics in Ogun State, Nigeria

This research explores the factors influencing academic achievement in Economics among secondary school students in Ogun State, Nigeria. It addresses a crucial knowledge gap by examining how student attitudes, school-related factors, and home circumstances collectively impact performance in a subject facing a decline in performance. Existing literature highlights the roles of attitudes, school environments, and home conditions in shaping academic outcomes, laying the foundation for this study. Using a descriptive survey design, all Senior Secondary Two (SS2) students in Ogun State were included, with 300 students selected through multistage sampling. Data was collected using a Students' Questionnaire (SQ) and an Economics Achievement Test (EAT).  Key Findings Include:  Academic achievement in Economics is significantly influenced by student attitudes, school-related factors, and home circumstances, explaining about 24.8% of the variance in performance.  Attitudes toward Economics are the strongest predictor of academic success, followed by home circumstances, with school-related factors playing a lesser role.  Gender does not significantly affect Economics performance, though males slightly outperform females.  School type does not significantly impact academic performance, though government school students perform slightly better than private school students. In conclusion, this research provides a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted factors affecting students' academic success in Economics. It offers actionable insights for educational stakeholders, including administrators, educators, parents, and researchers, such as optimising resources, tailoring teaching methods, and creating supportive home environments. Further research can explore the nuances uncovered here, informing evidence-based educational practices and policies.

Prediction of Academic Success in a Biomedical Sciences Program via a General Knowledge Anatomy Quiz.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-024-02008-w.

Core academic language skills as a predictor of academic success in Grade 6 South African learners

With this article I explore the relationship between core academic language skills (CALS) – a construct representing a set of high-utility language skills needed to manage the linguistic features prevalent in academic texts across content areas – and schooling outcomes. There has long been an understanding that there is a distinction between academic language and colloquial language, originally described by Jim Cummins (1976) as cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP) and basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS). The construct has only recently been operationalised (Uccelli, Phillips Galloway, Barr, Meneses & Dobbs, 2015) as the individual skills and competencies that underlie CALP. The CALS construct describes an empirically testable set of competencies that address this need. This has been used in the development of an assessment instrument aimed at South African learners – the CALS-I-ZA (MacFarlane, Barr & Uccelli, 2022) – and I investigate whether a measurable link exists between this assessment and schooling outcomes for a sample of Grade 6 learners in 2 public schools in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Schooling outcomes have been measured using the Gauteng Provincial Common Assessments – a provincial examination intended to measure schooling outcomes on a comparable assessment instrument. The study reported on here shows a moderately strong correlation between the CALS I ZA and the provincial common examinations (r = 0.64 and r = 0.65). This predictive relationship between CALS and schooling outcomes leads to an argument for direct instruction in CALS as an embedded feature of pedagogy in South Africa.

Cognitive Control among Primary- and Middle-School Students and Their Associations with Math Achievement

Background: Math achievement is an important predictor of academic success. While many studies have examined math achievement in young children, studies with older children are scarce. This study focused on primary- and middle-school students, examining math achievements and cognitive control. Cognitive control was assessed referring to both domain-specific and domain-general cognitive control mechanisms and eliciting both simple and complex levels of conflict, and their association with math achievements. Methods: One-hundred-and-twenty-two participants performed two versions of a cognitive control task: a numerical Stroop task (NST; manipulating the numerical and physical size of Arabic numerals) and a perceptual Stroop task (PST; manipulating the location and direction of an arrow). For math achievements, participants performed math fluency and math curriculum tests. Results: Overall, the congruency effect was smaller in older students than in younger ones. Moreover, all participants demonstrated a similar congruency effect in the simple conflict task, whereas younger students showed a larger congruency effect in the complex conflict task. In addition, performance on the basic math fluency task was predicted by both Stroop tasks. However, performance on the comprehensive math achievement test was predicted only by the PST. Conclusions: Our results demonstrated enhanced cognitive control abilities of middle-school students and suggest that they can contribute to math achievements. We call for considering the implementation of both domain-specific and domain-general cognitive control activities as a potential approach to support math achievements.

Is Dual Enrollment a Predictor of Academic Success?

Is Dual Enrollment a Predictor of Academic Success?

Well-Being as a predictor of academic success in student veterans and factor validation of the PERMA + 4 well-being measurement scale

Objective: The study sought to test whether well-being predicts academic performance for student service members/veterans (SSM/Vs) and to assess the factor structure of the PERMA + 4 measurement scale for use in this student population. Participants: Post-9/11 SSM/Vs (N = 199) from seven colleges and universities in the U.S. completed an online survey. Methods: A cross-sectional survey research design was used to assess PERMA + 4 and academic success. The PERMA + 4 framework and the measurement scale were examined using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and logistic regressions to determine if PERMA + 4 predicted academic performance in SSM/Vs. Results: Findings indicate that PERMA + 4 is a predictor of SSM/Vs academic performance, and CFA confirmed the factor structure of PERMA + 4 for use with SSM/Vs. Conclusions: The findings suggest that screening for the building blocks of well-being in SSM/Vs with a validated and comprehensive multidimensional instrument could be useful for mitigating transition challenges into college life and informing appropriate supports.

The Influence of Cooperative Learning Models and Learning Styles on Social Skills in University Student

The affective domain is very important in supporting students' social skills as a predictor of academic success. The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of the Jigsaw learning model compared to the Student Team Achievement Division (STAD) learning model as an effort to improve students' social skills. The method in this study uses an experimental method with a 2x2 factorial design. The population in this study were 270 students of the Department of Physical Education who contracted the Taekwondo Learning course. The sample involved in this research was 64 people using a cluster random sampling technique. The instruments used were the VARK Questionnaire to determine student learning styles, and the Social Skills Improvement System questionnaire. Data analysis technique using Factorial ANOVA test. The results showed that the value of the main effect on the learning model has a significant value. 0.274 > 0.05, which means that there is no significant difference in the effect of applying the learning model on students' social skills, but there is an interaction between the learning model and learning styles. The Jigsaw learning model has a significant effect compared to the STAD learning model for students with the Kinesthetic learning style, whereas for students with the Aural learning style there is no significant difference between the two models. Both social skills can be improved through the Jigsaw and STAD learning models, but when students who have a Kinesthetic learning style are more advised to use the Jigsaw learning model.

Utility of Noncognitive Admission Variables in the Prediction of Academic Success

Background: Graduate healthcare education programs commonly rely on cognitive measures such as grade point average for admission to their programs. Noncognitive measures are also collected at the time of application, with less information known about their utility in prediction of academic outcomes. This analysis observed the following noncognitive admission domains and their relationship with PA student academic success: employment hours, shadowing experience hours, research hours, hours spent in extracurricular activities, healthcare related activity hours, leadership experience, patient care experience hours, teaching hours, and volunteerism hours.
 Objective: This archival analysis aims to determine if noncognitive admission variables are predictive of Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE) failure or academic attrition at a West Texas Physician Assistant (PA) Program.
 Methods: Institutional Review Board exemption was obtained; then a series of univariate logistic regression models were constructed to predict using applicant self-reported cumulative experience hours. Five cohorts (n=235) were evaluated by noncognitive variables using R statistical software (version 4.1.2).
 Results: Patient care experience hours showed a positive association with PANCE failure, while healthcare and teaching experience had positive trends with attrition. High GPA was protective against attrition when controlled for employment, research, and shadowing experiences, and also when controlled for leadership and patient care experience. High GPA was not a protective factor for PANCE failures.
 Conclusion: Contrary to our hypotheses, increased self-reported experiences did not show a protective effect against PANCE failure or attrition but were instead detrimental.

THE EFFECT OF ANIMATION-GAME ON THE STUDENTS WORKING MEMORY CAPACITY AMONG PRESCHOOLERS IN HEBEI PROVINCE, CHINA

Memory is an integral part of intelligence. However, many studies have shown that working memory is a better predictor of academic success than intelligence. Although many parents are able to recognize the importance of memory for their children's development, they are still determining methods to improve their children's memory. This paper explores the improvement effect of animated games on children's memory, using empirical research to explore the types of games that improve children's problem-solving and to study new games that improve children's memory. The study experiment was conducted in rural and urban public kindergartens in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China. 30 children were selected to participate in this experiment and divided into groups, each with 15 children. The first group will be trained with a picture book, while the second group will play an animated detective game. Each experiment was performed once a week and required a time frame of four weeks for completion. The main objective of this study is to explore the effectiveness of different games to attract children's attention and improve their memory. If the approach of using games for children's memory enhancement is successful, it will provide another type of game instruction for preschool education, resulting in improved teaching methods. Subsequently, children's memory levels and overall learning levels would improve as well.

Control-value appraisals, academic emotions, and student engagement: A case of Chinese EFL undergraduates

Student engagement has long been recognized as a vital predictor of academic success, but how it associates with control-value appraisals and academic emotions of Chinese undergraduates of English as a foreign language (EFL) is underexplored. This article hence invoked the control-value theory and investigated the general profile of Chinese undergraduates’ control-value appraisals, academic emotions and student engagement in English learning, and the interrelationships between the three constructs. Descriptive statistics of the questionnaire data revealed that the 323 undergraduate participants generally showed a moderate level of control-value appraisals and engagement in English learning; furthermore, they experienced a variety of academic emotions, with positive emotions as more frequently experienced than negative ones. Correlation and regression analyses uncovered the significant predictive effect of control-value appraisals on academic emotions, and their profound impact on student engagement. Additionally, the influence of English control-value appraisals on student engagement was found to be mediated by academic emotions, with positive ones positively mediating and negative ones negatively mediating between the two. This study fills the research gap on related topics, and provides relevant pedagogical implications for EFL teaching at the tertiary level.

How do social and academic integration develop over time? Longitudinal analyses of differences based on students’ sociodemographic background

ABSTRACT Although social and academic integration are considered significant predictors of academic success, little is known about their longitudinal development. In addition, cross-sectional research indicates differences in the integration process based on the sociodemographic background of students, but lacks longitudinal confirmation, especially in Germany. This research gap was addressed by examining students’ integration across three years with measures at four time points (N = 4270) based on data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) in Germany. Longitudinal growth curve analyses were conducted considering interindividual differences between four groups: first-generation students with and without a migration background, and continuing-generation students with and without a migration background. Differences in students’ social and academic integration, measured by several sub-dimensions, partly supported expected advantages for students from academic backgrounds without a migration background, both at the first time point and regarding the longitudinal development. Nevertheless, these differences were small and partly accompanied by non-significant findings highlighting similarities across students. Assumptions about differences between students and implications for future research on the longitudinal development of student integration are discussed.

Grit as a Predictor of Academic Success Among Associate Degree Nursing Students.

Grit as a Predictor of Academic Success Among Associate Degree Nursing Students.

Sosyoekonomik Düzeyin Akademik Başarı Üzerindeki Etkisi: PISA’dan Kanıtlar

This research aims to examine the predictive relationship between the economic, social and cultural level index (ESCS) and academic achievement in the context of PISA 2018 Turkey sample. Research used secondary data analysis, a quantitative research method. In this regard, advanced analyzes were carried out in line with the new and different research questions on the data set obtained for the Turkish sample within the scope of PISA 2018. The sample of the research consists of 186 schools representing 12 regions and 6890 students representing these schools, which were selected in two stages by random stratified sampling from students in the 15-age group and continuing formal education in 2018. The findings revealed that the ESCS index is an important predictor of students' reading, mathematics and science scores in terms of both public and private schools. According to the findings, ESCS index explains greater variance in terms of academic achievement within the sample of private schools. The research also showed that the ICT resources index has emerged as a more effective predictor of academic success compared to the other sub-variables of ESCS such as educational resources index, parent education level and parent professional level.

Cognitive and non-cognitive predictors of academic success in higher education: a large-scale longitudinal study

ABSTRACT How important are learning strategies or personal attributes for learning outside of domain-specific knowledge or twenty-first-century transversal skills when predicting academic success in higher education? To address this question, we conducted a longitudinal study among 1,681 students at one of the leading universities in Hungary. Students took four tests and questionnaires when they entered the university. They measured knowledge from their previous studies (reading and mathematics), twenty-first-century skills like problem-solving and non-cognitive variables in learning strategies, motivation and attitudes. In the next five years, we followed their academic progress with the aim of detecting cognitive and non-cognitive predictors of academic success toward obtaining a degree and developing training programmes for the most important predictors to boost the probability of academic success. The overarching model, which was controlled for students’ socio-economic background, determined 18.4% of the variance in later academic success. Domain-specific knowledge from previous studies and learning motivation emerged as the strongest predictor, learning strategies proved to be the most stable of the other mediating factors as an independent predictor, and twenty-first-century transversal skills proved to be unimportant in earning a university degree. Results highlight the importance of transforming higher education so that it is consistent with the expectations of the twenty-first-century labour market, a future-fit education in Hungary.

Using the community of inquiry as a framework to promote online teaching and learning in advanced practice nursing education.

As advanced practice nursing education continues to shift toward a distance and hybrid format, it is important that nurse educators engaged in distance learning create and facilitate an online environment that successfully incorporates critical thinking, problem-solving skills, collaboration, and a sense of community. Although many learning theories and frameworks exist, there is a lack of literature on the applicability of these theories and frameworks to online teaching and learning in advanced practice nursing education. The purpose of this article is to describe the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework and how it can be applied to online teaching and learning activities in advanced practiced nursing courses. This CoI is an effective framework for online learning and has been successful in promoting student engagement, an important factor in and predictor of academic success.

Trait Emotional Intelligence and Multiple Intelligences as Predictors of Academic Success in Serbian and Greek IT Students

Even though research on predicting the academic achievement of IT students is not scarce, the inclusion of trait emotional intelligence and multiple intelligences as predictive factors is somewhat novel. The research examined associations between identified profiles of trait emotional intelligence and multiple intelligences, and academic success in the sample of 288 IT students, 208 from Serbia and 80 from Greece. The results show that trait emotional intelligence and multiple intelligences profile both proved to be important predictors of academic success. Another predictor of IT students’ academic success was related to their prior schooling success. The results indicate that fostering a student-centered learning model through tertiary education, with special emphasis on students’ personal dispositions and traits, could be crucial for their academic success, especially in the multidisciplinary field of information technology.

Analytics of self-regulated learning scaffolding: effects on learning processes.

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is the ability to regulate cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, and emotional states while learning and is posited to be a strong predictor of academic success. It is therefore important to provide learners with effective instructions to promote more meaningful and effective SRL processes. One way to implement SRL instructions is through providing real-time SRL scaffolding while learners engage with a task. However, previous studies have tended to focus on fixed scaffolding rather than adaptive scaffolding that is tailored to student actions. Studies that have investigated adaptive scaffolding have not adequately distinguished between the effects of adaptive and fixed scaffolding compared to a control condition. Moreover, previous studies have tended to investigate the effects of scaffolding at the task level rather than shorter time segments-obscuring the impact of individual scaffolds on SRL processes. To address these gaps, we (a) collected trace data about student activities while working on a multi-source writing task and (b) analyzed these data using a cutting-edge learning analytic technique- ordered network analysis (ONA)-to model, visualize, and explain how learners' SRL processes changed in relation to the scaffolds. At the task level, our results suggest that learners who received adaptive scaffolding have significantly different patterns of SRL processes compared to the fixed scaffolding and control conditions. While not significantly different, our results at the task segment level suggest that adaptive scaffolding is associated with earlier engagement in SRL processes. At both the task level and task segment level, those who received adaptive scaffolding, compared to the other conditions, exhibited more task-guided learning processes such as referring to task instructions and rubrics in relation to their reading and writing. This study not only deepens our understanding of the effects of scaffolding at different levels of analysis but also demonstrates the use of a contemporary learning analytic technique for evaluating the effects of different kinds of scaffolding on learners' SRL processes.

Academic Self-Efficacy and Value Beliefs of International STEM and Non-STEM University Students in Germany from an Intersectional Perspective

The expectancy–value theory (EVT) positions expectations and value beliefs as important predictors of academic success. We, thus, investigated the prevalence of academic self-efficacy and intrinsic, attainment, utility, and cost values amongst international STEM students in Germany, as well as their associations with gender, parental academic background, cultural characteristics, and their interplay. We also compared STEM to non-STEM students. Analyses with hierarchical multi-group regression models using data from 1590 international bachelor students (nSTEM = 882, nnon-STEM = 708) revealed high levels of academic self-efficacy, attainment, intrinsic, and utility values but also high costs. International STEM students indicated lower levels of academic self-efficacy than non-STEM students; all other results were similar in both subject-groups. There were no direct associations between gender and the expectancy–value components but continuous-generation students showed higher academic self-efficacy than first-generation students. Significant associations between cultural background and all expectancy–value components were identified, most of them applied to costs. In some cases, the associations differed by gender. Study-related language skills were related to all expectancy–value components whereas host- and home-culture orientations were distinctly associated with attainment, intrinsic, and utility values. Implications of the results for interventions supporting the academic success of international STEM students and future research needs are discussed.

Building the Parent and Child Math Anxiety Network model from empirical evidence

AbstractMath achievement is one of the strongest predictors of academic success and career attainment. While research has focused on cognitive factors that relate to math achievement, a growing body of literature suggests that affective factors like math anxiety also relate to math achievement. The field of math anxiety has expanded to recognize that not only children's but also parents' math anxiety is related to math performance. Yet, specific mechanisms through which parents' math anxiety relates to children's math performance are not well explicated. In this article, we synthesize research on the relation between parents' math anxiety and children's math achievement, and then propose a comprehensive model (the Parent and Child Math Anxiety Network model) to demonstrate the likely pathways through which parents' math anxiety may affect children's math achievement.