Researchers investigated the impact that a first-year college experience course had on students' first-year grade point averages (GPAs) and retention rates. A sample of 109 first-year students enrolled in the course was compared to a sample of 326 students from the same university who had not taken the course. The goals of the experience course…

While a great deal of research has examined students' critical thinking skills, less is known about students' tendencies to use these skills. Specifically, little is known about what factors contribute to students developing a disposition to think critically or what impact this disposition has on college students' academic achievement. Perceived…

Examines structural features of grade point averages (GPAs) and offers examples showing that GPAs cannot consistently determine class rank since class rank is sometimes permuted with arbitrary change of scale. Notes relativistic efforts to resolve inconsistencies are insufficient. Discusses the function of GPAs as predictors of academic…

Academic cheating behavior by university students was surveyed using the randomized response technique and by conventional anonymous questionnaire methods. Underreporting is concluded to be a serious problem with anonymous questionnaires. (Author/MLW)

Evaluated the usefulness of three approaches for predicting college grades: traditional regression models, high-school-effects models, and hierarchical linear models. Found that both the high-school-effects and the hierarchical linear models were more accurate predictors of freshman GPA than the traditional model, particularly for lower-ability…

Two studies examining the effect of grade inflation on the piling up of grades in fewer grade categories and on the reliability of grade point averages found that reliability suffered significantly only in graduate study in which almost all grades were in two categories, A and B. Some other small effects were found in different rating scales. (MSE)

The relationship between academic achievement and the financial success of baccalaureate recipients in the workplace is the focal point of an investigation that covers the first 3 years following graduation. Employment activity and quarterly earnings of university baccalaureate recipients were tracked in a comprehensive study that merged state…

Transcripts of graduates of an elective studies degree program were compared with those of a group of traditional liberal arts graduates. Results indicated that both groups had similar numbers of credits, but nontraditional students completed courses in more departments and have slightly lower overall GPA's at graduation. (Author/LBH)

The structural relation of the seven noncognitive dimensions proposed by Sedlacek and Brooks in 1976 and traditional definitions of academic ability, as indicated by Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores, to first semester grade-point average and persistence after three and five semesters was examined. (Author/MLW)

The performance of minority and nonminority students in four successive entering classes at a highly selective college were compared. Graduation rates were comparable, but the two groups were found to be sharply differentiated with respect to cumulative grade point average. (Author/MLW)

A study found college students majoring in "pure" disciplines were less likely than those in applied fields to hold naive beliefs in simple knowledge, quick learning, and certain knowledge. Gender, age, grade point average were also related to beliefs. Results suggest students' beliefs about the nature of knowledge and learning are related to…

Examined the organizational characteristics of 51 higher education institutions in relationship to student performance and growth. Findings included that the different 2-year and 4-year campus missions do exert significantly different influences on undergraduate GPA and self-reported intellectual growth, with students at 2-year institutions…

Five groups of undergraduate students (academic dismissals, low grade point average [GPA] stopouts, high GPA stopouts, low GPA persisters, and high GPA persisters) were compared in terms of their responses to a checklist of financial sources of support. Clear sex differences were observed in the reliance on financial sources. (Author/MLW)

Regressing adjusted grade point averages (GPAs) on freshman Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores and high school GPAs increases the SAT's predictive validity. However, these adjusted SATs change only a small proportion of admissions decisions, do not increase freshman grades, but do change freshman class composition in some majors and limit…