Browsing by Subject "academic performance"
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Item ALE: Additive Latent Effect Models for Grade Prediction(Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, 2018) Ren, Zhiyun; Ning, Xia; Rangwala, Huzefa; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of MedicineThe past decade has seen a growth in the development and deployment of educational technologies for assisting college-going students in choosing majors, selecting courses and acquiring feedback based on past academic performance. Grade prediction methods seek to estimate a grade that a student may achieve in a course that she may take in the future (e.g., next term). Accurate and timely prediction of students' academic grades is important for developing effective degree planners and early warning systems, and ultimately improving educational outcomes. Existing grade prediction methods mostly focus on modeling the knowledge components associated with each course and student, and often overlook other factors such as the difficulty of each knowledge component, course instructors, student interest, capabilities and effort. In this paper, we propose additive latent effect models that incorporate these factors to predict the student next-term grades. Specifically, the proposed models take into account four factors: (i) student's academic level, (ii) course instructors, (iii) student global latent factor, and (iv) latent knowledge factors. We compared the new models with several state-of-the-art methods on students of various characteristics (e.g., whether a student transferred in or not). The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed methods significantly outperform the baselines on grade prediction problem. Moreover, we perform a thorough analysis on the importance of different factors and how these factors can practically assist students in course selection, and finally improve their academic performance.Item Early Identification & Intervention: Is There “Hope” for At-Risk Law Students?(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2014-04-11) Martin, Allison D.; Rand, Kevin L.Psychologists have defined hope as a cognitive style involving how people think about pursuing goals. Research by Snyder and colleagues has shown that hope predicts academic performance and psychological well-being among undergraduate students. Consistent with these findings, our prospective study of hope, optimism, academic performance, and psychological well-being in law students showed that hope predicted academic performance in the first semester of law school above and beyond previous academic achievement. Moreover, hope predicted life satisfaction during the last week of the semester. Thus, assessing for low hope in those entering law school may help to identify students at risk for academic underperformance and psychological maladjustment. Once low-hope students have been identified, legal educators can intervene by employing five strategies for engendering hope: (A) optimizing student goals; (B) increasing student autonomy; (C) modeling the learning process; (D) helping students understand evaluation as feedback; and (E) modeling agency. These strategies, derived from Snyder’s hope theory, are grounded in contemporary teaching and learning theories and are consistent with principles discussed in Best Practices for Legal Education. By identifying low-hope students early and intervening to improve their hope, legal educators may be able to improve their academic performance, enhance their life satisfaction, increase their bar passage rates, and, eventually, build a happier and more competent generation of lawyers.Item An Empirical Test of the Dimensionality of Self-Control(2013-08-23) Tunze, Chloe Ann; Rand, Kevin L.; Cyders, Melissa A.; Rexroth, Daniel F.; Stewart, Jesse C.; Ashburn-Nardo, Leslie; Hazer, JohnMinimal attention has been devoted to examining the dimensionality of self-control. The present study tested a multidimensional model of self-control in which dimensions were based on the nature of the behavior required (i.e., persistence, initiation, cessation, or prevention). A total of 336 undergraduates completed measures of self-control and psychological well-being. Seventy-four of these participants completed behavioral self-control tasks representing the proposed subtypes. Participants’ GPAs were obtained from the Registrar. Stop self-control was inversely related to previously-validated measures of persistence (β = -.61, p = .010) and prevention (β = -.56, p = .040) self-control and demonstrated differential predictive ability of persistence and prevention compared to the other proposed subtypes. Initiation self-control was inversely related to life satisfaction (β = -.35, p = .012) and demonstrated differential predictive ability of life satisfaction compared to stop self-control. These results were interpreted with caution due to inadequate power and questionable validity of several of the behavioral self-control tasks. Both handgrip persistence (r = -.25, p = .033) and blinking prevention (r = -.29, p = .023) were associated with depression. These pairwise correlations were not significantly different from each other, suggesting that no conceptual distinction should be made between persistence and prevention self-control. Confirmatory factor analyses of self-report data revealed that items clustered based on domain rather than on type of behavior required for self-control exertion. Thus, the structure of self-control remains unclear. Limitations of the present study and implications for future research are discussed.Item Hope and Optimism as Predictors of Academic Performance and Subjective Well-Being in College Students(Elsevier, 2020-07) Rand, Kevin L.; Shanahan, Mackenzie L.; Fischer, Ian C.; Fortney, Sarah K.; Psychology, School of ScienceObjective Snyder's (1994) hope and Scheier and Carver's (1985) optimism have been shown to independently predict academic performance and changes in subjective well-being. This study seeks to clarify their unique associations. Method An undergraduate class (N = 334, 59.6% female, 75.7% Caucasian, M = 19.89 years) was studied at two time points in a semester. Students predicted their expected grade in the course and completed measures of hope, optimism, and subjective well-being (i.e., positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction) the first week of classes. The final week of classes, students completed subjective well-being measures and final grades were obtained from the instructor. Results Path analysis showed that hope, but not optimism, predicted grade expectancy. Grade expectancy, in turn, predicted final grades, even after controlling for previous academic achievement. Hope did not directly predict final course grade, but had a significant indirect effect through grade expectancy. Path analysis showed that hope significantly predicted increases in positive affect and life satisfaction over the semester; whereas, optimism predicted decreases in negative affect. Conclusion These findings extend previous research demonstrating that hope and optimism, while conceptually similar, have differential longitudinal associations with academic performance and subjective well-being among college students. Implications for screening for at-risk college students and employing targeted interventions are discussed.Item Mediational Effect of Teacher-Based Discrimination on Academic Performance: An Intersectional Analysis of Race, Gender, and Income/Class(MDPI, 2023-04) Kyere, Eric; Hong, Saahoon; Gentle-Genitty, Carolyn; School of Social WorkDrawing on prior research, this study applies an intersectional framework to investigate discrimination in the context of teacher–student relationships and its influence on students’ academic outcomes. Outcomes assessed were inclusive of self-efficacy, school attendance, and grade point average (GPA). For this analysis, structural equation modeling was used with a cross-sectional sample of the Maryland and Adolescent Development in Context Study (MADICS) and the youth self-administered (YSA) questionnaires administered when the youth were in 8th grade (Wave 3). A total of 1182 students completed the survey, of whom 704 were selected for this study. Findings show teacher discrimination as a mechanism to uncover some of the ways race, gender, and income simultaneously intersect to affect students’ academic outcomes. The current study confirms and extends prior work establishing associations among race, gender, income, and teacher discrimination and academic outcomes among African American youth. African American students, especially males, regardless of income levels, may benefit directly—evidenced in visible academic performance—from more positive and race-conscious interactions with teachers. Future implications for practice are shared.Item Self-Leadership, Self-Efficacy, and Academic Performance in Undergraduate Students and Peer Mentors(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2013-04-05) Bouchard, Lauren M.This study investigates the role of self-leadership and self-efficacy on the academic performance of students—specifically academic peer mentors. It investigates if undergraduate academic peer mentors differ from comparable students in terms of self-leadership and self-efficacy as well as in general academic performance. Self-leadership is a construct based on how well a person can utilize cognitive and behavioral strategies to manage their own development while academic self-efficacy refers to a person’s belief in their academic competency. We hypothesize that peer mentors will have higher scores on the revised self-leadership questionnaire (RSLQ) and academic self-efficacy as well as higher levels of academic performance as evidenced by GPA and specific academic self-report questions. This study also seeks to understand self-efficacy as a mediating variable between self-leadership and academic performance. We hypothesize that self-efficacy will mediate self-leadership and academic performance in this context. Results from this study will be meaningful for students in academic leadership positions as well as comparable peers, and it is anticipated the results will be used for student growth and leadership development.