ERIC ED404904: Under- and Over-Achievement in First Year.

31 Pages·1996·0.4 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 404 904
HE 029 908
AUTHOR
Grayson, J. Paul
TITLE
Under- and Over-Achievement in First Year.
INSTITUTION
York Univ., Toronto (Ontario). Inst. for Social
Research.
REPORT NO
ISBN-1-55014-309-3
PUB DATE
96
NOTE
31p.
PUB TYPE
Reports
Research/Technical (143)
EDRS PRICE
MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.
DESCRIPTORS
*Academic Achievement; *College Freshmen; Foreign
Countries; *Grade Point Average; Higher Education;
Majors (Students); *Overachievement; *Predictor
Variables; Standardized Tests; Student Attitudes;
*Underachievement
Canada; York University ON
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
This study examined factors contributing to under-
and over-achievement in first-year college students at York
University in Ontario (Canada). The difference between predicted and
actual first-year grades of a sample of 1,229 students entering York
University in 1994 was examined on the basis of information obtained
from administrative records, a mailed survey carried out before the
start of classes, and a mailed survey completed at the end of the
first year. Overall, students were likely to receive lower than
expected grade point averages (GPAs) if they had high Ontario
Academic Credit (OAC) marks, were in science, believed at the
beginning of the first year that family problems would interfere with
their studies, or were employed. Students likely to get higher than
expected GPAs were in environmental studies, were highly involved in
their classes, and earned relatively high numbers of course credits.
(Contains 17 references.) (MDM)
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Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
*
from the original document.
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4
UNDER- AND OVER-
ACHIEVEMENT IN FIRST YEAR
WORKING PAPER
J. PAUL GRAYSON
BEST COPY AVAILABLE
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Educational Research and Improvement
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
CENTER (ERIC)
6/'his document has been reproduced as
received from the person or organization
originating it.
0 Minor changes have been made to improve
reproduction Quality.
Points of view Of opinions stated in this docu-
ment do not necessarily represent official
OERI position or policy.
C'PERMISSION TO
REPRODUCE THIS
MATERIAL HAS
BEEN GRANTED BY
Institute
for Social
Research,
York Univ
TO THE EDUCATIONAL
RESOURCES
INFORMATION CENTER
(ERIC)."
Under- and Over-Achievement in First Year
J.
Grlyson. 1996
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including, photocopy, recording, or any
information storage or retrieval. system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.
Published by:
Institute for Social Research
York University
ISBN: 1-55014-309-3
1
Under- and Over-Achievement in First Year
Institute for Social Research
Founded in 1965, the Institute for Social Research (ISR) is
an Organized
Research Unit of York University. The Institute's purpose is to promote,
undertake and critically evaluate applied social research. The Institute provides
consultation and support services to York faculty, students and staff conducting
research in the social sciences, and, to a lesser extent, in the biological and
physical sciences. For researchers from other universities, government agencies,
public organizations and the private sector, the Institute provides consultation
on
research design and undertakes data collection, data processing and statistical
analysis, on a fee-for-service basis.
ISR houses the largest university-based survey research unit in Canada,
annually conducting twenty to thirty research projects ranging from small
surveys in one locale to provincial and national surveys. The capabilities of the
Institute include questionnaire and sample design, sample selection, data
collection, preparation of machine-readable data files, statistical analysis and
report writing.
ISR's Statistical Consulting Service provides consultation
on research
design and statistical analysis. The Service also sponsors short
courses on
statistical analysis, research methodology and the use of statistical software. The
consulting service is partially supported by a grant from the Natural Science and
Engineering Research Council (NSERC).
ISR's data archive provides public access to surycy data collected by the
Institute, to data sets from major Canadian surveys, and to official statistics, such
as the census aggregate and public-use microdata files from the Canadian
Census.
For more information, write to:
Institute for Social Research
York University
4700 Keele Street
North York, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3
Telephone: [phone]; Fax [phone]
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4
Under- and Over-Achievement in First Year
Foreword
The Institute for Social Research produces four types of articles in its publication
series:
Working papers;
Reports on various technical and managerial aspects of the
research process designed for technical support staff and
research managers;
Reports on topics of general interest to non-specialist readers;
and,
Reports on various methodological and substantive issues aimed
at experts in the field.
The following is a working paper.
Acknowledgements
A number of indiN.,iduals at the 1SR contributed to various phases of the research
on which the following report is based. In no particular order I would like to
thank: Tammy Chi, Darla Rhyne, and David Northrup for their assistance in data
collection; John Tibert, Bill Bruce, and Greg Hanson for file preparation; Anne
Oram for proof reading; and Mike Ornstein for assistance in statistical
methodology. I would also like to thank Linda Grayson for comments made on
an early draft of the report.
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Under- and Over-Achievement in First Year
Other Publications
on York Students
The Retention of First Year Students in Atkinson College:
Institutional Failure or
Student Choice?
J. Paul Grayson (1996)
Value Added in Generic Skills Between First and Final
Year: A Pilot Project
J. Paul Grayson (1996)
Race and First Year Retention on a Canadian Campus
J. Paul Grayson (1996)
Place of Residence and First Year Marks
J. Paul Grayson (1995)
The College-University Linkage: An Examination of Transfer
Students in the
Faculty of Arts at York University
Stephen Bell (1995)
The First Generation at York University
J. Paul Grayson (1995)
The Health of First Year Students
J. Paul Grayson (1995)
Globe and Mail Reports, Student Experiences, and Negative
Racial Encounters
J. Paul Grayson (1995)
Comparative First Year Experiences al. York University: Science,
Arts and
Atkinson
J. Paul Grayson (1994)
A Characterization of Areas of Racial Tension Among First Year Students:
A
Focus Group Follow-Up to a Large Survey
J. Paul Grayson (1994)
Race on Campus: Outcomes of the First Year Experience
at York University
J. Paul Grayson (1994)
'Racial ization' and Black Student Identity at York University
J. Paul Grayson with Deanna Williams (1994)
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6
Under- and Over-Achievement in First Year
The Social Construction of 'Visible Minority' for Students of
Chinese Origin
J. Paul Grayson with Tammy Chi and Darla Rhyne (1994)
Who Leaves Science?
- The First Year Experience at York University
J. Paul Grayson (1994)
The Characteristics, Needs, and Expectations of Students Entering
York
University
J. Paul Grayson (1993)
Gender and Minority Group Differences in Desired Outcomes of Adult
Post-
Secondary Education: The Student Perspective
J. Paul Grayson (1993)
Outcomes and Experiences of First Year Science in Two Universities
J. Paul Grayson (1993)
Improving First Year Science Education in
a Commuter University
J. Paul Grayson (1993)
The Experience of Female and Minority Students in First Year Science
J. Paul Grayson (1993)
Response Effects: Variations in University Students' Satisfaction by Method
of
Data Collection
David A. Northrup and Michael Ornstein (1993)
I
I
Student Withdrawals at York University: First and Second Year Students,
1981-9c
Gordon Darroch, David A. Northrup and Mirka Undrack (1989)
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Under- and Over-Achievement in First Year
Summary
The difference between predicted and actual first
year grades of a sample of
1,229 students entering York University in 1994 was examined
on the basis of
information obtained from administrative records,
a mail survey carried out in
the Summer of 1994 prior to the commencement of classes, and
a mail survey
completed at the end of the first year in the Spring of 1995. Overall, students
were likely to receive lower than expected GPAs if they had high OAC marks,
were in Science, believed at the beginning of the year that family problems
would interfere with studies, and were employed. Students likely
to get higher
than expected marks were in Environmental Studies, were highly involved in
their classes, and earned relatively high numbers of
course credits.
I
Under- and Over-Achievement in First Year
Introduction
In Ontario, the majority of students are admitted to university
on the basis of
their Ontario Academic Credit (OAC) marks. Although research carried
out in
both Canada and the United States suggests that high school marks
may be better
than the results of standardized tests in predicting educational achievement
at the
university level, there is a growing demand in the province for the latter. Within
this context this report examines the differences between first
year grade point
averages (GPA) predicted on the basis of OAC marks and actual GPAs for a
sample of 1,229 students who entered York University in 1994. The
extent to
which the characteristics, self-evaluations, and experiences of students affect this
relationship will be of particular concern.
After a short review of the literature on the predictive validity of high school
marks, the report will focus briefly on the amount of variance in first
year GPAs
explained by OAC marks. Then the characteristics and experiences of students
that affect the relationship between predicted and actual marks will be examined.
Finally, a regression analysis will be used to summarize the overall relationships
among OAC marks, students' characteristics, self-evaluations and experiences
(independent variables), and differences between predicted and actual GPAs
(dependent variable).
Predictors of GPA
In a 1993 review of 36 studies carried out in the United States
on the relations
between predictors of GPA and actual GPA, Mouw and Khanna distinguish
between traditional predictors such as high school marks and the results of
standardized tests (like Scholastic Aptitude Tests
SATs) and non-traditional
predictors such as demographic and attitudinal variables. The median variance
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in GPA explained by traciiiiolial pi-edicters is 28% (p. 332) Mouw and Khanna
conclude that the addition of non-traditional variables, such as social class,
personality traits, and attitudes toward the academic environment, results in only
marginal increases in explained variance in GPA (p. 333).
Astin (1993) comes to a conclusion similar to that of Mouw and Khanna
regarding the variance in GPA that can be explained by easily obtained
admissions data. In addition. he notes that the predictive validity of high school
grades is different from that of standardized tests.
Hundreds of studies using various measurements and methodologies
have yielded similar results: college grade point averages
can be
predicted with modest accuracy [explained variance around 30%] from
admissions information. The two most potent predictors are the student's
high school GPA and scores on college admissions tests. Grades almost
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Under- and Over-Achievement in First Year
always carry more weight than tests.
In his own examination of 38,587 students who first entered
478 American
institutions of higher learning in 1985 Astin found that high school
marks
combined with the results of SATs explained approximately 25%
of the variance
in GPA; however, grades had twice
as much influence as SAT results (p. 188).
Astin also examined the impact on GPA of demographic and
attitudinal variables
such as gender, race, socio-economic status, self-ratings of
academic and writing
ability and drive to achieve. Each
was found to have a positive effect on GPA;
however, the effects of being Mexican American and being
a non-citizen were
negative (p. 189).
Astin also observed that certain 'involvement' activities, such
as hours per week
talking to faculty outside of class, positively affected GPA while
others, like
belonging to a fraternity or sorority and working full-time had negative
implications for GPA (p. 190).
Overall, Astin finds that approximately one third of students receive
university
grades that are comparable to those earned in high school; about
one fifth obtain
higher grades in university; and nearly a half of students
get lower grades in
university than in high school (p. 188).
The fact that tests such as SATs explain less variance in GPA than
high school
marks or that standardized tests are relatively
poor predictors of first year grades
has been found in other studies (Baron & Norman, 1992; Hudson,
McPhee, &
Petrosko (1993). Others (Fuertes & Sedlacek, 1994) have found SATs
to be
reasonably predictive of grades but not of retention.
Researchers have also noted that the predictive value of various
measures varies
by gender and race. For example, Pennock-Roman (1994) noted that high
school
marks were better predictors of first year grades for
men than for women.
Similarly, Stricker, Rock, & Burton (1993) found that the results of SAT
scores
under- predict the first year grades of women and over-predict those of
men.
With respect to race, Pennock-Roman (1992) observed that high
school grades
and SAT scores were of greatest utility in predicting the marks of Asian
Americans and of least value in predicting the grades of Blacks. Pearson
(1993)
found that SAT scores under-predict the first
year grades of Hispanics.
While Stricker, Rock, & Burton (1993) observed that SAT
scores were better
predictors of first year grades for male than female students, they
also discovered
that gender based differences in prediction
were reduced if self-assessed
academic pre.paration, studiousness, and attitudes to math
were considered.
Likewise, Young (1993) concluded that non-traditional predictors like
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