42.1 Educational Eiesearch Quarterly 45

 

 

 

Factors Influencing University Student Academic

 

Success

 

Daniel Hepworth Ben Tittlepage Katy Hancock

 

M urray State University

 

These findings suggest that, in the quest to ensure student success, social integration and commitment should be considered secondary factors to academic preparation.

 

 

Introduction

 

Rarely has

46 Educational Research Quarterly September 2018

 

The purpose of the present research is to identify influences for an acute measure of student academic success.

 

(2014) as well as the body of literature which examines the impact of academic preparedness of students on their academic success.

 

 

Literature Review

 

In a revision of his original theory, Tinto (1993) acknowledged other factors influence persistence, such as financial resources, experiences, and interactions within the classroom.

 

Other studies found influences beyond social integration impact academic performance, such as student

42.1 Educational Research Quarterly 47

 

background and modvation (Flynn, 2014; Vanthournout, Gijbels, Coertjens, Donche, & Van Petegem, 2012; Wolfe, 1993), degree and style of classroom organization, availability of faculty and other support sendees, style of classroom instruction, and enrollment in a first-year transitions course (Hopper, 2011; Kluger & Koslowsky, 1988; Kot, 2014; Lundquist, Spalding, & Landrum, 2002; Moore, 2007; Montgomery, Jeffs, Schlegel, & Jones, 2009; Pascarella, Seifert, & Whitt, 2008; Schenker-Wicki & Inauen, 2012; Wyatt & Bloemker, 2013).

 

This revised theory was later tested (Braxton et al., 2014) and student social integration and perception of institutional commitment to student success were identified as key variables influencing persistence into subsequent academic years at the school.

 

While both standardized test scores and HSGPA have shown separately

48 Educational Kiesearch Quarterly September 2018

 

(2008) found first year college GPA to be best predicted using a combination of HSGPA and SAT scores.

 

The authors controlled for multiple race- and class-oriented variables, and found race-related factors to be unimportant, especially against other factors, such as student personal study habits and father’s socioeconomic status.

 

Burton  and  Ramist  (2001)  support  the  predictive

42.1 Educational Eiesearch Quarterly 49

 

validity of both standardized test scores and HSGPA for not only graduadon and college GPA, but also of other factors, including college honors, college leadership, and earning potential after graduation.

 

In an article critical of the existing SAT and ACT formats and arguing for a more achievement-oriented test system, Atkinson and Geiser (2009) note that while both standardized tests and HSGPA are useful in predicting student college performance, HSGPA is presently the superior of the two, especially when accounting for other factors, such as student socioeconomic status.

 

M eth o d s

 

The research question is again posed here with a larger sample size and an

50 Educational Research Quarterly September 2018

 

Drawing from previous research, it is expected that all three variables of perceived commitment, social integration, and preparedness will be positively correlated to the dependent variable of class grade; additionally, it is expected that academic preparedness will have the strongest relationship of the three.

 

Financial aid, of some form, was awarded to 85% of the student population.

 

Students were informed of the surveys by their course instructors; the actual surveys were taken online; those students who completed the survey were given a small amount of extra credit for the course.

 

The course provides an overview of the American judicial system at both state and federal levels and serves as an introduction and gateway course to the criminal justice program for those students who wish to pursue it.

 

In addition to demographic data, results of which were reflective of the university at large (see Table 1), students were asked survey questions to better understand how their perception of institutional commitment and level

42.1 Educational Eesearch Quarterly 51

 

of social integration at the university.

 

Demographic Data from Survey Respondents and Associated University_______________________________________

 

	Survey percentage	University percentage
	(n = 300)	(n = 10,017)
Gender		53.0
Female	49.5
Male	50.5	47.0
R ace/ethnicity		80.4
W hite/C aucasian	81.1
Black/African-	7.8	6.8
American	11.1	12.8
O ther ethnicity
Age	95.1	84.0
U nder 25 years
Over 25 years	4.9	16.0

 

A total of 300 students returned a completed survey for a response rate of 53.7%.

 

In order to properly weight these three items for statistical analysis, the student’s ACT score (the ACT is the most commonly taken standardized test at this university) was broken down into quartile based on national averages (0-16, 17-20, 21-24, and 25-36) and high school GPA was categorized based on the standard 4-point scale (0-1.99, 2.00-2.99, 3.00-3.99, 4.00).

52 E ducational Research Quarterly September 2018

 

Survey Questions and Items_______

 

Institutional Commitment________

 

I felt welcomed the first time I entered class.«

 

I feel my CRJ 140 instructor wants me to succeed."

 

In the first four weeks of the course, I received prompt written or oral feedback from the instructor on my performance."

 

My academic advisor clearly explained how completing CRJ 140 meets an academic requirement for my degree."

" I understand the course syllabus. "

 

I feel comfortable asking my instructor for help."

 

In the first four weeks of the course, I discussed a topic related to the course with my instructor "

 

I attended summer orientation."

 

I attended transfer orientation."

 

I enrolled in a college preparation-transitions course."

 

Social Integration

 

I am an athlete"

I am a member of a fraternity/sorority"

 

*

In first four weeks, how often did you use email, social media or phone to communicate with a classmate about coursework ? h

 

Indicate how much time per week you spend relaxing and socializing (e.g. time with friends, watching TV, playing video games ) b

 

Indicate how much time per week you spend participating in co-curricular activities (e.g, student organizations, campus activities) *

 

" D ichotom ous m easure ''L ikert scale m easure

 

See Table 3 for descriptive statistics on each index.

 

Results of Descriptive Analysis of Predictors

 

	n	X	Range	SD
Academic preparedness	298	8.51	5-11	1.35
Perception of institutional	295	9.11	2-14	1.78
commitment
Social integration	295	12.57	6-24	3.21

42.1 Educational E3esearch Quarterly 53

 

For a breakdown of student grades, see Table 4.

 

 

Final Grade D istribution from the Course Surveyed

 

Final grade	A	B	C	D	EW	Total
	88	88	68	15	41	300

 

Results

 

The test of parallel lines indicated that the slope coefficients were the same across response categories (x - 4.014, df - 3 ,p The overall model was statistically significant (p =

 

.001, =  17.589, df= 3, n - 289; Nagelkerke pseudo R2 =

 

. 062 ).

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Individually, however, only one index, academic preparedness, was statistically significant (p < .001); student perception of institutional commitment (p = .226) and social integration (p For details, see Table 5.

 

 

Results of Ordinal Logistic Regression Analysis"

 

Predictors  o f  course	Estim ate
grade
Academ ic	.335
preparedness
Perception	.073
com m itm ent
Social integration	-.031

 

“ x 2 — 17.589, overall p = .001.

Std. error Wald x 2 P

 

.081 17 . 020 * <.001

 

.060 1.465 .226

 

.034 .869 .351

 

♦Significant with a = .01.

 

Individuals with an academic preparedness score of 5 had about an 11% likelihood of getting an A, but a 33% likelihood of getting either an E or a W. Conversely, those that had an academic preparedness score of 11 had a 50% likelihood of getting an A and only a 5.7% likelihood of getting an E or a W. See Table 6 for the complete breakdown.

 

 

M eans Table of Academic Preparedness

 

Academ ic	A	B	C	D	EW
preparedness
5	.1089	.1934	.2761	.0859	.3357
6	.1580	.2415	.2789	.0744	.2473
7	.1952	.2679	.2700	.0657	.2013
8	.2545	.2932	.2462	.0538	.1523
9	.3204	.3051	.2161	.0432	.1152
10	.3933	.3043	.1828	.0337	.0858
11	.5008	.2807	.1381	.0234	.0570
Total	.2964	.2898	.2253	.0487	.1397

42.1 Educational Elesearch Quarterly 55

 

Discussion

 

Existing research suggests that student perception of institutional commitment to student success and student social integration aids in overall retention, however, this research fails to find such a connection as they relate to the acute measure of class grade.

 

As such, the finding of no significant relationship between perception of commitment and social integration to student grade in a course should not be taken as reflective on student persistence.

 

 

Implications and Future Research

 

Universities, and those employed by them, seek not only to educate

56 Educational Research Quarterly September 2018

 

Others have altered the weight of or even eliminated standardized test scores for the admissions process.

 

In other words, it was seen that as students’ social integration increased, their performance in the course dropped, albeit in a manner that is not statistically significant.

 

In other words, those students who were academically and intellectually capable tended to succeed at a greater rate than those who were not, regardless of their feelings about the institution or the nature of their social circle.

 

Future research could explore new methods of collecting this information from students, measure student motivation, track graduation rates of said students, expand to other institutions, or gather information from a wider range of students.

 

The implications of this single study are clear and are

42.1 Educational Research Quarterly 57

 

Additionally, this research suggests that institutions of higher education might be better served in this regard by allocating resources to assist surrounding school districts in their academic preparation of students or by providing additional academic resources (e.g. tutoring) for those university students who are struggling academically or are at an academic disadvantage.

 

 

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