Developing a biodata measure and situational judgment inventory as predictors of college student performance

This article describes the development and validation of a biographical data (biodata) measure and situational judgment inventory (SJI) as useful predictors of broadly defined college student performance outcomes. These measures provided incremental validity when considered in combination with standardized college-entrance tests (i.e., SAT/ACT) and a measure of Big Five personality constructs. Racial subgroup mean differences were much smaller on the biodata and SJI measures than on the standardized tests and college grade point average. Female students tended to outperform male students on most predictors and outcomes with the exception of the SAT/ACT. The biodata and SJI measures show promise for student development contexts and for selecting students on a wide range of outcomes with reduced adverse impact.     

A domain-specific validation of the core self-evaluations scale

Core self-evaluations have been recently proposed as indicating positive self-concept and as being predictive of various forms of subjective wellbeing. In an effort to further validate the Core Self-Evaluations Scale (CSES), structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed in three independent samples of university students to examine the extent to which scores on the Core Self-Evaluations Scale predicted two measures of university satisfaction. Good fit was found for models that also controlled for status in college, student major, class satisfaction, life satisfaction, college grade point average, and overall grade fairness. Statistically significant relationships corrected for attenuation by SEM between scores on the Core Self-Evaluations Scale and university satisfaction range from .24 to .37.     

A Multilevel Multivariate Analysis of Academic Performances in College Based on NCAA Student-Athletes

This is an application of contemporary multilevel regression modeling to the prediction of academic performances of 1st-year college students. At a first level of analysis, the data come from N > 16,000 students who were college freshman in 1994–1995 and who were also participants in high-level college athletics. At a second level of analysis, the student data were related to the different characteristics of the C = 267 colleges in Division I of the NCAA. The analyses presented here initially focus on the prediction of freshman GPA from a variety of high school academic variables. The models used are standard multilevel regression models, but we examine nonlinear prediction within these multilevel models, and additional outcome variables are considered. The multilevel results show that (a) high school grades are the best available predictors of freshman college grades, (b) the ACT and SAT test scores are the next best predictors available, (c) the number of high school core units taken does not add to this prediction but does predict credits attained, (d) college graduation rate has a second-level effect of a small negative outcome on the average grades, and (e) nonlinear models indicate stronger effects for students at higher levels of the academic variables. These results show that standard multilevel models are practically useful for standard validation studies. Some difficulties were found with more advanced uses and interpretations of these techniques, and these problems lead to suggestions for further research.     

An investigation of vocational indecision in college students: Correlates and moderators

This study investigated the relationships among fear of success, locus of control, and vocational indecision in college students and the extent to which these relationships are moderated by sex and ability. Subjects, 103 female and 98 male undergraduate students, were administered measures of fear of success, locus of control, and career indecision. In addition, American College Test (ACT) composite scores were available for 154, or 77%, of the subjects. Results indicate that vocationally undecided college students are more external in their locus of control, are more fearful of success, and have lower ACT scores than decided students. Multiple regression analyses for the prediction of vocational indecision yield mixed results, as the power of prediction of the independent variables of locus of control and fear of success were influenced by the sex and ability level of the student. Results, implications for future vocational indecision research, and implications for counseling assistance of vocationally undecided students are discussed.     

The relationship between self-concept and selected academic and personal factors

One-hundred sixty-five high school students were the subjects in a study to determine if selected personal and academic variables were predictive of self-concept scores. The full model was moderately predictive of self-esteem, accounting for approximately 46% of the variance of the criterion variable. Also, it was found that, as a subset of variables, both academic and personal variables made a significant, unique contribution to the prediction of self-concept scores. Of the eleven independent variables used in this study, it was noted that grade point average, extracurricular activities, health, and home life individually made a unique contribution to the prediction of self-concept scores. These four variables also were found to be significantly correlated with self-concept. Other independent variables found to be significantly correlated with self-concept were: parents married and parents divorced. However, these variables were not considered as making a unique contribution to the prediction of self-concept.     

Positive Affect and College Success

This study investigated the relation between positive affect and a variety of variables related to college success for undergraduate students matriculating at 21 academically selective 4-year colleges and universities in the United States. Positive affect??cheerfulness??is generally positively related to students?? self-rated academic abilities, self-predicted likelihoods of various college outcomes, self-stated major and academic-degree intentions, and self-reported subjective college outcomes, but negatively related to most objective college-success variables (e.g., cumulative college grade-point average) recorded by the institution of matriculation, and not related to objective college outcomes reported by the student. Positive affect is thus associated with ??positive illusions?? about college-success variables.     

Sex‐specific Differential Prediction of Academic Achievement by German Ability Tests

Tests of cognitive ability play a major role in the selection of students. Still, data regarding the fairness of standardized tests in Germany is scarce. We use three samples (N = 2,616; 58% women) from German universities to investigate the sex‐specific differential prediction of college performance based on intelligence tests. The predictive bias we find is small and in line with US‐American research. The direction of the effect depends on the cognitive ability domain investigated: Numeric test scores are prone to disadvantage women whereas verbal test scores are more likely to discriminate against men. Including high school grade point average in the prediction model can help to offset differential prediction that underestimates women's academic achievement.     

Academic Achievement and Self-Esteem Among Black and White College Students

Abstract

Most studies on self-esteem among black and white Americans include samples of elementary school and high school students. In the present study, data on 298 black and white college students and an examination of the relationship between student's grade point average and self-esteem were presented. Several findings corroborate earlier research on school-age children. Self-esteem scores of blacks and whites were not significantly different, despite blacks having significantly lower grade point averages than whites. The relationship between grade point average and self-esteem, however, was negligible among blacks and among white males, suggesting that academic achievement is not critical to the self-concept of college students.     

Academic and Psychosocial Antecedents of Academic Performance for Minority and Nonminority College Football Players

This study investigated the effects of academic and psychosocial variables on the academic performance of minority and nonminority college student athletes. Analyses revealed that higher levels of competitive trait anxiety and negative life stress were associated with lower fall-term grade point averages for certain nonminority athletes. The academic variable was weakly related to the academic performances of minority and not related to nonminority football players' performances. These findings call into question the use of standardized test scores for predicting academic performance and suggest that academic counselors may want to consider the effects of noncognitive variables in their work with student athletes.     

Do remedial programs really work?

The results of an evaluative study demonstrate that the remedial reading-writing program at a large urban community junior college did not produce any meaningful differences in student withdrawals from college or in grade point averages during the second semester of college; did not improve achievement in social science, humanities, or English courses; and did not result in higher scores on writing and reading tests for those students in the remedial program than for those in a randomly selected control group who did not participate in the program.     

Relationship between academic achievement and measured career interest: examination of Holland's theory

The present study was designed to examine Holland's hypothesis that person-environment congruence relates positively to academic achievement. The sample of 157 nontraditional premedical students completed Holland's Self-directed Search interest inventory. The students were enrolled in the Medical/Dental Education Preparatory Program, which is designed to increase the number of qualified applicants who are underrepresented in the medical profession. Using scores on Holland's inventory students were classified as congruent or incongruent. A cumulative grade point average and a science grade point average were calculated for each student. An analysis of variance supported Holland's Congruence-achievement hypothesis. Congruent students did in fact achieve significantly higher cumulative GPA and science GPA than did incongruent students. Implications for counseling and academic advisement as well as further research are discussed.     

Prevalence and effects of life event exposure among undergraduate and community college students

The purposes of this study were to assess lifetime and recent exposure to various life events among undergraduate and community college students and to assess the relation between event exposure and a broad range of outcomes (i.e., mental and physical health, life satisfaction, grade point average). Undergraduate students from a midwestern university (N = 842) and a community college (N = 242) completed online measures of lifetime event exposure and outcomes at Time 1 and recent event exposure at Time 2 two months later. Life events assessed included events that did and did not meet the definition of a traumatic event (i.e., posttraumatic stress disorder Criterion A1) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) as well as directly (e.g., own life-threatening illness) and indirectly (e.g., others' illness) experienced events. Students reported experiencing many lifetime and recent Criterion A1 and non-A1 events, and community college students reported more events than did university students. Generally, individuals who reported more lifetime events also reported poorer outcomes (e.g., poorer health). The number of non-Criterion A1 and directly experienced events tended to be more strongly correlated with negative outcomes than were the number of Criterion A1 and indirectly experienced events reported. These findings suggest that non-A1 events are important to assess and can be significantly related to outcomes for students.     

A Case Illustrating the Concept of the Alpha Schizophrenic

The construct validity of the Academic Self-Concept Scale (Reynolds, in press) as a measure of an academic facet of general self-concept in college students was examined. Subjects were 589 undergraduate students from three colleges. Convergent validity was demonstrated in the form of correlations between the academic self-concept measure and subjects' grade point average (GPA), and scores on measures of general self-concept and locus of control. A multiple regression analysis of the Academic Self-Concept Scale produced a multiple correlation of .59 with GPA and general self-concept. Discriminant validity was shown via low correlations between academic self-concept and measures of mental ability and social desirability. As expected, differences in academic self-concept between year levels in college were also found. Factor analysis of the Academic Self-Concept Scale and subsequent oblique rotation resulted in seven interpretable factors. The results of this investigation lend support for the construct validity of the Academic Self-Concept Scale.     

Development and validation of the Intervention Skills Profile–Skills: A brief measure of student social-emotional and academic enabling skills

The purpose of this study was to support the development and initial validation of the Intervention Selection Profile (ISP)–Skills, a brief 14-item teacher rating scale intended to inform the selection and delivery of instructional interventions at Tier 2. Teacher participants (n = 196) rated five students from their classroom across four measures (total student n = 877). These measures included the ISP-Skills and three criterion tools: Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS), Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA), and Academic Competence Evaluation Scales (ACES). Diagnostic classification modeling (DCM) suggested an expert-created Q-matrix, which specified relations between ISP-Skills items and hypothesized latent attributes, provided good fit to item data. DCM also indicated ISP-Skills items functioned as intended, with the magnitude of item ratings corresponding to the model-implied probability of attribute mastery. DCM was then used to generate skill profiles for each student, which included scores representing the probability of students mastering each of eight skills. Correlational analyses revealed large convergent relations between ISP-Skills probability scores and theoretically-aligned subscales from the criterion measures. Discriminant validity was not supported, as ISP-Skills scores were also highly related to all other criterion subscales. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses informed the selection of cut scores from each ISP-Skills scale. Review of classification accuracy statistics associated with these cut scores (e.g., sensitivity and specificity) suggested they reliably differentiated students with below average, average, and above average skills. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed, including those related to the examination of ISP-Skills treatment utility.     

Effects of acculturation on the MMPI-2 scores of Asian American students

The use of the MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstron, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) with minorities has been questioned due to potential misinterpretations related to cultural differences. This study examined acculturative differences among Asian American college students and their scores on the validity and clinical scales. A sample of Asian American students (n = 90) was assigned to groups based on acculturation level. Analysis of variance tests indicated that low-acculturated, bicultural, and high-acculturated Asian Americans yielded different profiles. Compared to a matched White student sample, low-acculturated Asian Americans scored significantly higher on 9 scales, and bicultural Asian Americans had 6 significantly different scores. These differences were clinically interpretable with a range from 6.46 to 21.65 T-score points. High-acculturated Asian Americans did not differ from Whites. Cultural variables to be considered when interpreting Asian American profiles are discussed.     

The relation between formal operational reasoning and academic course selection and performance among college freshmen and sophomores

The significance of Inhelder and Piaget's (1958) construct of “formal operations” depends in part on establishing the extent to which formal operations have real-world relevance beyond the narrow domain of assessment situations in which Inhelder and Piaget studied them. The present research investigates this question by examining the effect of exhibiting a concrete versus formal operational level of reasoning in an isolation of variables task on academic program selection and performance of beginning college students over a two-year period. Students who reasoned at the concrete operational level did not differ from students matched on ACT scores who reasoned at a formal operational level with respect to either number of college credits obtained or overall grade point average. When courses were broken down into three categories, however, “formals” took significantly more science/math courses and received significantly higher grades in them. No differences were found in the other two categories: liberal arts/social sciences or activities/vocational courses. A further study of beginning college students already enrolled in science/math courses confirmed that very few concrete operational reasoners were present in these courses, suggesting that a process of self-selection is in operation.     

The measurement of role taking in young adults

Sociometry is presented as an alternative way of measuring role taking, specifically, an alternative to an often used projective measure, the Role-Taking Task (RTT). Study 1 assesses role taking in 161 college students. In this study, a sociometric measure, the Peer Role-Taking Questionnaire (PRTQ) was shown to correlate with class year, group status, social choice, and friendship. In contrast, the RTT correlated weakly with grade point average and some personality test measures. In Study 2, the PRTQ, and not the RIT, was associated with interaction skills in a sample of 39 college nursing students. The PRTQ and RTT did not correlate with each other in either study. The validity and reliability of these two role-taking measures are discussed. It is suggested that researchers need to examine the adequacy of the role-taking measures they use.     

Some considerations relating to the choice of an educational program

A random sample of 1098 new freshmen was cross-classified on sex and the extent to which the college major they selected was saturated with natural science and mathematics requirements. The responses of these students on 14 cognitive and 14 goal variables relating to the choice of an educational program were separately analyzed by means of the multivariate analysis of variance. The results of these analyses indicated that students entering natural science/mathematics programs tend to be oriented more towards the concrete and visible outcomes of an education and a career, e.g., training relevant to a career, an above average income, and success and recognition, than are students not choosing this type of program. Non-science students, on the other hand, value the interpersonal and usefulness to society outcomes of their educational and vocational pursuits. The results relating to the cognitive variables were less definitive, although students entering natural science/mathematics programs were more certain of successfully completing their educational program. Contrary to one of the major hypotheses the program groups did not differ with respect to the certainty of their choice of a college major. The results of this study were developed with a decision-making framework for choice of education and career.     

The incremental variance problem: enhancing the predictability of academic success in an urban, commuter institution

The authors identified variables that enhance the predictability of academic performance and retention in an urban, commuter college. They used a longitudinal design with 2 waves of data collection: prior to 1st-semester attendance and again 6 semesters later. The results support the following conclusions: (a) After controlling for precollege indices of academic ability, specific variables within demographic, personal behavior, expectations, and attitudinal domains improved the predictability of grade point average by 15.5% for Whites and 20.3% for Blacks; overall, these analyses accounted for 61% of the variance in grade point average for Whites and 47% for Blacks; (b) for retention, the comparable increment in predictability was 2.5% for Whites and less than 1% for Blacks; overall, the percentage of retention variance accounted for was 42% for Whites and 29% for Blacks; and (c) a paradoxical finding was the combination of a positive correlation between high school average and students' expected grades on tests and a negative correlation between expected and actual grades. The paradox is resolved by citing data that demonstrate (a) a disparity between high school grades and independently measured academic accomplishment; (b) the consequent false attributions students draw about their academic abilities; and (c) the impact of these false attributions on the priority students place on their academic responsibilities.     

Accountancy, teaching methods, sex, and American College Test scores

This study examines the significance of sex, methodology, academic preparation, and age as related to development of judgmental and problem-solving skills. Sex, American College Test (ACT) Mathematics scores, Composite ACT scores, grades in course work, grade point average (GPA), and age were used in studying the effects of teaching method on 96 students' ability to analyze data in financial statements. Results reflect positively on accounting students compared to the general college population and the women students in particular.