High school and college biology: a multi-level model of the effects of high school courses on introductory course performance

Loehr, John F.; Almarode, John; Tai, Robert H.; Sadler, Philip M.

doi:10.1080/00219266.2011.617767

Cited by 17 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…High school biology content in Germany is limited to the topics of genetics, ecology, and evolution whereas the content at the university covers zoology, botany, and cellular biology. This explanation for our finding is supported by the findings of Loehr et al (2012). Among several high school course grades, they identified only the grades of certain high school courses to be predictors of achievement in freshmen biology courses and the predictivity seemed to be an issue of content validity.…”

Section: Hs Gpa and Academic Achievementsupporting

confidence: 84%

“…This stresses the subject-specific relevance of the prior knowledge types. Our result is related to the findings of Loehr et al (2012) that high school courses that fostered deep understanding of biology concepts were positively related with academic achievement, and those of Lin, Liang and Tsai (2014), who found that students who contextualise learning as meaningful acquisition of knowledge are good academic achievers. A reason for our finding might be that For more information concerning logits and their advantages for science education research, see Boone and Scantlebury (2006).…”

Section: Knowledge Types and Academic Achievementsupporting

confidence: 78%

“…Our findings are consistent with previous research on academic achievement in science subjects. Subject-specific prior knowledge is a good predictor of academic achievement in science classes (Loehr et al, 2012;Sadler & Tai, 2001). The current study contributes to relating different prior knowledge types to achievement in introductory courses in biology and physics.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, in these studies, the test scores are only correlated with the respective courses' grades. One largescale, multi-level modelling study (Loehr et al, 2012) addressed, among others, high school science grades, laboratory pedagogy, and how biology content was covered in high school as predictors of the final grade in introductory biology. They found that students who took a high school course with a focus on a deep understanding of biology content performed a third of a grade better in their first introductory biology course than their peers who took a course focusing on memorising facts.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, some results in biology and physics (e.g. Loehr et al, 2012;Halloun & Hestenes, 1985) present indications that certain types of prior knowledge (e.g. deep understanding) could be better predictors for academic achievement than other types (e.g.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing prior knowledge types as predictors of academic achievement in the introductory phase of biology and physics study programmes using logistic regression

et al. 2019

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Background: Increasingly, high dropout rates in science courses at colleges and universities have led to discussions of causes and potential support measures of students. Students' prior knowledge is repeatedly mentioned as the best predictor of academic achievement. Theory describes four hierarchically ordered types of prior knowledge, from declarative knowledge of facts to procedural application of knowledge. This study explores the relevance of these four prior knowledge types to academic achievement in the introductory phase of the two science subjects, biology and physics. Results: We assessed the knowledge types at the beginning and student achievement (measured by course completion) at the end of the first study year. We applied logistic regression models to evaluate the relationship between the knowledge types and academic achievement. First, we controlled for a well-established predictor of academic achievement (high school grade point average). Second, we added the knowledge types as predictors. For biology, we found that only knowledge about principles and concepts was a significant predictor in the first year. For physics, knowledge about concepts and principles as well as the ability to apply knowledge to problems was related to academic achievement. Conclusion: Our results concerning the knowledge types, which are of special relevance in biology and physics studies, could lead to effective measures, e.g. for identifying at-risk students and course guidance. Furthermore, the results provide a profound starting point for controlled intervention studies that systematically foster the identified relevant knowledge types in each subject and aim at a theory-and empirical-based optimization of pre-and introductory courses.

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Section: Hs Gpa and Academic Achievementsupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Knowledge Types and Academic Achievementsupporting

confidence: 78%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Assessing prior knowledge types as predictors of academic achievement in the introductory phase of biology and physics study programmes using logistic regression

et al. 2019

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Studienerfolg von Fachstudierenden im Anfangsstudium der Biologie

Binder

Waldeyer

Schmiemann

2021

ZfDN

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ZusammenfassungBesonders in den naturwissenschaftlichen Studiengängen brechen viele Studierende ihr Studium ab. Bislang war ein Studium der Biologie davon eher weniger betroffen. In den letzten Jahren zeichnet sich für Deutschland auch im Bachelorstudium Biologie der Trend einer steigenden Studienabbruchsquote ab. Empirisch begründete Studienberatungen und fundierte Unterstützungsangebote könnten hier geeignete Maßnahmen sein. Die individuellen Voraussetzungen wie Noten, soziodemographische und motivationale Faktoren, Fachwissen, sowie die Lebens- und Studienbedingungen und das Studier- und Lernverhalten (z. B. Lernstrategien und -motivation) sind relevante Faktoren für den Studienerfolg. Bislang fehlen für das Biologiestudium in Deutschland allerdings weitgehend Untersuchungen hierzu. Daher prüft diese Studie schulisches und universitäres Wissen sowie Lernstrategien als Erfolgsprädiktoren für den Studienerfolg im biologiebezogenen Anfangsstudium, da diese geeignet erscheinen in der kritischen Phase des Studienbeginns mögliche Präventionsmaßnahmen abzuleiten. Die Ergebnisse legen nahe, dass auch über den üblicherweise starken Prädiktor der Abiturnote hinaus universitäres Fachwissen, Zeitmanagement und Anstrengung den Studienerfolg in Biologie vorhersagen. Auf Basis dieser Ergebnisse lassen sich universitäre Maßnahmen ableiten, die potenziell zu einer Reduzierung des Studienabbruchs beitragen könnten.

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Socio-economic status and academic performance in higher education: A systematic review

Hernández

Cascallar

Kyndt

2020

Educational Research Review

127

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show abstract

High school and college biology: a multi-level model of the effects of high school courses on introductory course performance

Cited by 17 publications

References 20 publications

Assessing prior knowledge types as predictors of academic achievement in the introductory phase of biology and physics study programmes using logistic regression

Assessing prior knowledge types as predictors of academic achievement in the introductory phase of biology and physics study programmes using logistic regression

Studienerfolg von Fachstudierenden im Anfangsstudium der Biologie

Socio-economic status and academic performance in higher education: A systematic review

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