This paper uses student-level data from a statewide community college system to examine the validity of placement tests and high school information in predicting course grades and college performance. We consider the ACCUPLACER and COMPASS placement tests, using two quantitative and two literacy tests from each battery. We find that placement…

This essay contributes to the growing literature on the benefits of using in-class simulations. We find that the use of a simulation in an urban politics class improved student achievement and understanding of theoretical concepts across a range of measures regardless of student GPA or major status. Special care was taken to ensure the simulation…

This study investigated the relationship between multiple predictors of academic achievement, including course experience, students' approaches to learning (SAL), effort (amount of time spent on studying) and prior academic performance (high school grade point average--HSGPA) among 442 first semester undergraduate psychology students. Correlation…

This paper reports findings from the first national Australian study of the predictive validity of the Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT). Background on tertiary admissions procedures in Australia is presented, followed by information on STAT and the research methods. The results affirm that STAT, through the provision of baseline and…

Although the development and transfer of critical thinking skills are recognized as primary goals for education, there is little empirical evidence to help educators decide how to teach in ways that enhance critical thinking. In two studies, we compared explicit and imbedded instructional modes and assessed critical thinking with the Halpern…

The mathematics topics taught to engineering students at university are ostensibly no different to those taught to mathematics majors, so should these students be taught together or separately? Should engineering students be segregated by ability in their mathematics classes? This study analyses the grades of over 1000 engineering students, and…

The current study examines how using a multidimensional battery of predictors (high-school grade point average (GPA), SAT/ACT, and biodata), and weighting the predictors based on the different values institutions place on various student performance dimensions (college GPA, organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), and behaviorally anchored…

For the 2014 study, "Closing the Social-Class Achievement Gap: A Difference-Education Intervention Improves First-Generation Students' Academic Performance and All Students' College Transition," researchers investigated the impact of attending a moderated panel on incoming freshmen's adjustment to college. The panel featured…

Statistical prediction remains an important tool for decisions in a variety of disciplines. An equally important issue is identifying factors that contribute to more or less accurate predictions. The time series literature includes well developed methods for studying predictability and volatility over time. This article develops…

This paper examines the relationship between admission status and college performance. In particular, we analyze admissions data from Hamilton College and find that students who applied through the Early Decision Plan II program have significantly lower GPAs and are less likely to receive departmental honors, fellowships, and outside scholarships…

This study examined the historical performance of students at Michigan State University in 12 life sciences courses over 13 yr to find variables impacting student success. Hierarchical linear modeling predicted 25.0-62.8% of the variance in students' grades in the courses analyzed. The primary predictor of a student's course grade was his or her…

A review of 13 years of research into antecedents of university students' grade point average (GPA) scores generated the following: a comprehensive, conceptual map of known correlates of tertiary GPA; assessment of the magnitude of average, weighted correlations with GPA; and tests of multivariate models of GPA correlates within and across…

This study examines the relationship between sexual experience and various drinking measures in 550 incoming first-year college females. During this transition period, sexually experienced participants reported stronger alcohol expectancies and endorsed higher drinking motives, and drank more frequently and in greater quantities than sexually…

This paper examines whether graduates of high academic quality (as measured by their university or university college Grade Point Average or GPA) are recruited to and remain in school jobs. Extensive data from Norwegian administrative registers are used. The analyses show that graduates from specialised and concurrent general teacher programmes go…

We define Grade Lift as the difference between average class grade and average cumulative class GPA. This metric provides an assessment of how lenient the grading was for a given course. In 2006, we started providing faculty members individualized Grade Lift reports reflecting their position relative to an anonymously plotted school-wide…