We examine how gaps between students' chosen target grades and actual midcourse grades relate to their exam studying intentions and subsequent grade improvements. We further investigate whether those relationships are moderated by students' academic ability (as measured by high school averages) and implicit theory of intelligence or mindset (as…

Strategic note-taking is beneficial to students in that it provides a certain way a student can learn, and it can help a student perform better in courses. Taking strategic notes is seen as an important skill that is needed in a college setting. Strategic note-taking involves active listening, processing information, and writing. It is…

This dissertation investigates whether dual credit students' academic performance in subsequent university courses is comparable to that of non-dual-credit students. The study uses data from a Midwest regional public university over a ten-year period and employs propensity score matching and proportional odds ordinal logistic regression to create…

Who ends up in the teacher workforce is greatly influenced by who is admitted into teacher education programs (TEPs). To better understand how the preferences of teacher education faculty might shape admissions of STEM teacher candidates, we surveyed faculty who teach content or methods courses to STEM teacher candidates across five universities.…

Attendance rate is an important indicator of students' study motivation, behavior and Psychological status; however, the heterogeneous nature of student attendance rates due to the course registration difference or the online/offline difference in a blended learning environment makes it challenging to compare attendance rates. In this paper, we…

Nursing student retention is a concern for nursing programs globally, as the demand for nursing professionals in the workforce has increased. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the contributions of emotional intelligence (EI), science GPA, and Kaplan Nursing Admission Test (KNAT) scores to understanding retention of…

Despite the existent gender parity in undergraduate biology degree attainment, gendered differences in outcomes are prevalent in introductory biology courses. Less is known about whether these disparities persist at the upper-division level, after most attrition is assumed to have occurred. Here, we report the consistent presence of gender equity…

The attrition rate for online education continues to be high. To mitigate or better understand attrition, different researchers have developed survey tools in order to try to predict student outcomes in the virtual setting. Roblyer and Marshall first developed The Educational Success Prediction Instrument (ESPRI) in 2002 and then updated it in…

Student grade prediction is a popular task for learning analytics, given grades are the traditional form of student performance. However, no matter the learning environment, student background, or domain content, there are things in common across most experiences in learning. In most previous machine learning models, previous grades are considered…

As students move from grade level to grade level and onto college, their grades have an impact on the number of opportunities available to students. The competition for entering college and earning a scholarship are at an all-time high and the grades students earn have a direct impact on future opportunities. Grading practices vary by teacher…

Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree program curricula are typically comprised of heavy course loads and assessment burden. Typically, students "live" from exam to exam only preparing and studying for the exam directly ahead of them while neglecting concurrent courses. Therefore, the aim of the study was to determine the impact of weekly…

The importance of investigating the relationship of the high school scheduling plan and academic performance, spans across the high school grades, and into college. The implementation of block scheduling as a means to address concerns in declining high school performance has been widely regarded as an effective strategy. The connection between the…

The research entitled, "The Factors That Affect Retention Rates of African-American Students Pursuing Stem Degrees from Historically Black Colleges and Universities" is a quantitative study that analyzes academic factors, specifically in the first year of college, and their impact on the retention of African-American Science, Technology,…

We derived an index of high school academic rigor (HSAR) by optimizing the prediction of first-year college GPA (FYGPA) based on high school courses taken, grades, and indicators of advanced coursework. Using a large data set and nominal parameterization of high school course outcomes, the HSAR index capitalizes on differential contributions…

The effect of class size on student learning has numerous policy implications and has been a major subject of conversation and research for decades. Despite this, few studies have been done on class size in the context of university settings or physics courses. This dissertation helps address that gap in the literature by quantitatively analyzing…