Conceptualizing Institutional Policies for Students’ Academic Success in Cambodian Universities: What Matters for Policy?

Abstract

The Cambodian government aims to promote students' academic success in the country's tertiary education. In order to reach this goal, it is important to explore possible potential factors that determine the educational attainment of Cambodian students. There has been no previous research on students' academic success in Cambodian higher learning institutions, while this topic has been widely researched in the United States and some developed countries since the 1970's. Accordingly, a number of research models have been developed by famous scholars to determine institutional factors which lead to the outcome of better academic performance in post secondary education. Therefore, this paper intends to conceptualize the academic experiences connected to existing institutional policies for contributing to the enhancement of students' academic success in the specific context of Cambodian higher education institutions. In this paper, Astin's theory (1984, 1993, 1999) and a Tinto's theory (1975, 1993) are employed to link the concept of institutional policies and Cambodian students' academic success because they model the relationship between institutional experiences of students, which are deemed to be relevant to the current status of Cambodian educational policies. Based on these concepts, this paper will propose ten variables as predicting factors that influence institutional policies toward students' academic success and will design a conceptual model to elaborate this influence within the Cambodian educational system. Thus, this model to predict students' academic success is proposed as a result of a literature review among the relationships of theoretical model of student input (pre-entry attributes), academic environment (institutional experiences and policies), and students' academic success. Based on these relationships, ten propositions are developed.

Impact of Service Package Offered on Student Involvement: Case of Distance Education in Sri Lanka

“…These peripheral services create hassle free learning conditions which in turn motivates the student to engage in academic activities (Hopland, 2013(Hopland, , 2016Omar, Ariffin, & Ahmad, 2015). This results in enhanced effort towards academic activities and thereby better performance and reduced dropout rates (Foreman & Retallick, 2013;Kretovics, 2003;Sam et al, 2013). Based on these findings, this study proposes the following hypothesis related to peripheral services.…”

“…Further, provision of adequate facilities such as wellequipped and arranged lecture halls can make the learning environment more comfortable and appealing for studies. They encourage students to attend lectures and visit the university frequently (Astin, 1984;Sam et al, 2013). The student interface of the LMS, its user friendliness, and continuous functioning of it without failure is of paramount importance (Jung, 2012;Mbwesa, 2014).…”

Academic Success for Students in Postsecondary Education: The Role of Student Characteristics and Integration

“…The list of inputs students bring with them to postsecondary education is extensive and includes various qualities such as demographic information, educational background, degree aspirations, financial status, disability status, career choice, life goals, reasons for attending college, academic self-concept, achievement aspirations and expectancies, parental education, and goal commitment to name just a few major categories (Astin, 1993; Astin & Antonio, 2012; Sam et al., 2013; Thurmond, Wambach, Connors, & Frey, 2002). Bringing some order to this list, Robbins et al.…”

The Experiences Of Three Students With Learning Disabilities as they Transition from High School to Postsecondary Education

“…According to the I-E-O model, inputs consist of the experiences and characteristics of students that they bring with them to their postsecondary institutions. This can include demographic information, educational background, reasons for attending school, and academic self-concept just to name a few (Astin, 1993;Astin & Antonio 2012;House, 2002;Thurmond et al, 2002;Sam et al, 2013). Traditionally, demographic inputs have been the main consideration (e.g., Pingry O'Neill et al, 2012), however, more recently psychosocial inputs are gaining prominence because they are more malleable and thus a venue for support and intervention.…”