1 / 13

First-Year Student Academic Achievement at Four-Year Universities

First-Year Student Academic Achievement at Four-Year Universities. Joan V. Miller Pennsylvania State University Hi Ed 556. Relevant Statistical Data. 40% of all college students leave before completing their degree (Porter, 1990)

malana
Download Presentation

First-Year Student Academic Achievement at Four-Year Universities

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. First-Year StudentAcademic Achievementat Four-Year Universities Joan V. Miller Pennsylvania State University Hi Ed 556

  2. Relevant Statistical Data • 40% of all college students leave before completing their degree (Porter, 1990) • Only 55% of undergraduates who enrolled in a four year institution in 1995-1996 earned a bachelor’s degree within six years (Lotkowski, Robbins & Noeth, 2004) • The highest percentage of students who leave do so within their first year (Tinto, 1973) • More than 30% of first-year students do not return for their second year (Smith, 2002)

  3. Academic Achievement/GPA • The college outcome that is the best predictor of first-year student persistence to their second year (Nora, Cabrera, Hagedorn & Pascarella, 1996) • Both large national studies and small single institution studies show college grades to be the most statistically significant consistent indicator of student persistence and degree completion (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005) • An important component of student success (Kuh, 2007) • The higher a student’s first-year grade point average (GPA), the less likely they were to drop out (Ishitani & DesJardins, 2002)

  4. O Academic Achievement Persistence Retention

  5. Variable Affecting the Academic Achievement of First-Year Students • Pre-college abilities • High school GPA • Standardized achievement test ( SAT/ACT) • (Kuh, Cruce, Shoup, Kinzie & Gonyea, 2008; • Lotkowski, Robbins & Noeth, 2004; • DeBard, Speilman, & Julka, 2004)

  6. Personal/Psychological Characteristics • Academic motivation and self-efficacy – mixed results • (Gifford, Briceno-Perriott & Mianzo, 2006; Lotkowski, Robbins & Noeth, 2004; Reynolds & Weigand, 2010) • Resiliency - significantly related to first-year GPA • (Reynolds & Weigand, 2010; DeBerard, Speilmans & Julka, 2004) • Self-control – significant predictor of college GPA • (Mansfield, Pinto, Parente & Wortman, 2009; Gifford, Briceno-Perriott, & Mianzo, 2006; Stupinsky, Renaud, Perry, Ruthig, Haynes & Clifton, 2007) • Locus of control – internal higher GPA • (Gifford, Briceno-Perriott & Mianzo, 2006) • Self-regulation – some aspects such as time management contribute to variance in GPA • (Kitsantas, Winsler & Huie, 2008)

  7. Both academic variable and non-academic variables affect student achievement (Lotkowski, Robbins, & Noeth, 2004) • “To effectively provide early interventions and attention to transitioning first-year students, institutions must understand who its students are, what they are prepared to do academically and what they expect of the institution and themselves”(Kuh, Cruce, Shoup, Kinzie, & Gonyea, 2008)

  8. I O • Academic Variables • High School GPA • Achievement Scores • SAT/ACT • SES Academic Achievement + • Non-Academic Variables • Age, Race, Gender • Psychological • Characteristics/ • Attitudes • Resiliency • Self-regulation • Motivation • Self-confidence • Self-efficacy • Self-control • Academic Habits Persistence Retention

  9. Environmental Program Variables • Mentoring -statistically significant evidence of increased GPA (Salainitri, 2005) • Living Learning Communities – mixed results Freshman Interest Groups were significant (Pasque & Murphy, 2005; Purdie & Rosser, 2011; Noble, Flynn & Hilton, 2007-2008) • Engagement – positively related to academic outcomes (Kuh, Cruce, Shoup, Kinzie & Gonyea, 2008; Keup, 2006) • Support Services: Academic and Social • Supplemental Instruction (SI); Student Support Services (SSS); Multicultural Centers – all found to enhance achievement (Lotkowski, Robbins & Noeth, 2004;Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005) • First-Year Seminars- typically related to improved achievement (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005; Jamelske, 2007)

  10. I E O • Academic Variables • High School GPA • Achievement Scores • SAT/ACT • SES Academic Achievement First-Year Seminars Living-Learning Communities Support Services Social/Academic Mentoring + • Non -Academic Variables • Age, Race, Gender • Psychological • Characteristics/ • Attitudes • Resiliency • Self-regulation • Motivation • Self-confidence • Self-efficacy • Self-control • Academic Habits Persistence Retention

  11. Applicability • First-year students • Four-Year Universities • Some variation across institutional types, gender, race and ethnicty • Generally findings applied to all students

  12. Recommendations • Administration/Strategic Planning • Admissions Orientation Placement Testing • Student Affairs-Program Planning • Faculty

  13. Questions? Thank you! jxm1063@psu.edu

More Related