Retention: predicting first-year success

Lourens, Amanda; Smit, Ilze

doi:10.4314/sajhe.v17i2.25310

Cited by 23 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Mills, Heyworth and Rosenwax (2009) identified a number of factors associated with first-year students' success; the most influential being an average and above average Grade 12 mark, English as a first language and Accounting as a Grade 12 subject. Lourens and Smit (2003) confirmed that students' aggregate Grade 12 mark and main fields of learning are significant predictors of success in their first year of study at an academic institution.…”

Section: Literature Reviewsupporting

confidence: 55%

Accounting students’ profile versus academic performance: A five-year analysis

Papageorgiou

2017

SAJHE

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The purpose of the study was to explore first-year accounting students' profile (N= 3075) in terms of academic performance over a period of five years (2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014) at a South African university.The objectives were to determine the impact of students' profile (age, gender, race) and the students' pre-university knowledge brought to lectures (language, subject choice, whether Accounting was a Grade 12 subject) on academic performance. A quantitative research method was used. The study concluded that student profile, in particular gender, race and pre-university knowledge of first-year accounting students, does have an impact on the academic performance.Interestingly, for the period 2010 to 2013, no correlations was found between Accounting I students' academic performance and languages other than English and Afrikaans but in 2014 significant correlations were found between Accounting I students' academic performance and two first languages; Sepedi and Sesotho. The findings identified trends for at-risk students consequently assisting to implement interventions to assist at-risk students to pass Accounting I. The study's limitations include, firstly, the use of only one university and, secondly, a sample size including only first-year Accounting students. The value of this study should enable the university to identify students who fit the profile in terms of passing Accounting I in their first year at an academic institution.

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Section: Literature Reviewsupporting

confidence: 55%

Accounting students’ profile versus academic performance: A five-year analysis

Papageorgiou

2017

SAJHE

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“…However, the value of matric results as predictor of academic achievement is subject to some debate in the literature. Barnes et al (2009), Eiselen andGeyser (2003), and Lourens and Smit (2003) all find that there is a significant relationship between matric marks and academic success. In one of the most detailed statistical studies of ten higher education institutions by the HERD-SA project group (Lourens et al 2007), matric results were found to correlate significantly with university performance, but a number of other factors were more significant in a regression model to predict success.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

The language issue and academic performance at a South African University

Rooy

2015

Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies

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Academic performance at universities in South Africa is a cause of concern. It is widely acknowledged that there are a variety of factors that contribute to poor academic performance, but language is regarded as one of the most important issues in this discussion. In this article, the relationship between language and academic performance at a South African university for the first-year group in 2010 (n = 900) is investigated, taking their performance in their second (2011) and third (2012) year into account. The authors review: (a) the relationships between measures of language ability (matric scores, and scores on university placement tests like the NBT and TALL/TAG); and (b) the relationship between these language measures, performance in courses offered by universities to support students and general academic success indicators to investigate the language issue and academic performance at university. The main findings of the study are: (a) matric average results above 65% are useful to predict academic success at university; matric average results below 65% cannot be used with confidence to predict success at university; (b) language measures (e.g. matric language marks, and scores on academic literacy tests used by some universities) are not good predictors of academic success at university; (c) there are strong positive relationships between the academic literacy components in the NBT and TALL/TAG; and (d) scores achieved in academic literacy modules are good predictors of academic success. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of strategic decisions that academic managers should consider when they reflect on the language issue and its impact on academic performance at South African universities.

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“…Admission testing is a highly complex and contested domain, with some institutions using personality inventories and occupational aptitude tests, while others employ biographical questionnaires and/or school grades. Moreover, although school grade 12 performance of disadvantaged students does correlate with tertiary academic performance and cannot therefore be completely disregarded as a predictor of tertiary academic performance (Samkin, 1996;Huysamen and Rabenheimer, 1999;Lourens and Smit, 2003), it is generally accepted that it cannot be used as a sole predictor of academic success at university.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Selection Tests and Social Justice: A Profile of Applicants Seeking Admission to the Social Work Undergraduate Degree at a South African University

Ross¹

2010

Social Work Education

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Despite the integration of schools and the introduction of progressive educational policies after South Africa became a non-racial democracy in 1994, many prospective students are still disadvantaged by an unevenly resourced schooling system, and do not meet the requirements for automatic admission to university. Although universities have succeeded in increasing access for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, the proportion of students able to complete a four-year degree in four years has not increased accordingly. This has important implications for universities as government funding is linked to throughput rates. In 2007 the social work department at a South African university faced possible closure partly due to low student throughput rates. New selection tests and admission criteria were therefore introduced for the 2008 student cohort. The Biographical Questionnaire revealed school experiences made difficult by problems such as poverty, illness and death of a parent, requirements to care for siblings, lack of basic facilities at home and school, language difficulties and the trauma of rape. Despite these experiences, many responses demonstrated resourcefulness in seeking alternate sources of help and approaching learning purposefully. These findings highlight the value of social work biographical questionnaires as an adjunct to the matriculation point system and faculty entrance tests.

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Retention: predicting first-year success

Cited by 23 publications

References 5 publications

Accounting students’ profile versus academic performance: A five-year analysis

Accounting students’ profile versus academic performance: A five-year analysis

The language issue and academic performance at a South African University

Selection Tests and Social Justice: A Profile of Applicants Seeking Admission to the Social Work Undergraduate Degree at a South African University

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