Evaluating factors affecting university students’ academic performance by using structural equation model

PurposeCreating suitable learning conditions in university classrooms continues to be a topical issue in higher education. The above means that a continued search for innovative teaching and learning strategies in universities remains a priority issue. The study therefore investigated conditions that facilitate the effective implementation of cooperative learning (CL) as well as how CL influences the academic performance of students in universities in Zimbabwe.Design/methodology/approachThe research adopted a quantitative research approach located in the descriptive research design. A sample of 341 undergraduate students selected using a simple random sampling strategy from a sample frame of 701 undergraduate students participated in the study. The study first used a pre-test and later, a post-test to determine the initial and end of semester (EOS) academic performance levels of students, respectively, on a Calculus 1 course. A self-constructed structured questionnaire was also used for data collection on the views of students towards the use of CL with particular reference to the 5 dimensions of positive interdependence (PDI), promotive interaction (PI), individual and group accountability (IGA), social and interpersonal skills (SS) and group processing (GP). The questionnaire was validated using confirmatory factor analysis. Structural equation modelling was used to test proposed relationships. A total of 341 questionnaires were administered through an email survey. Of the total, 149 completed questionnaires were received from the students, giving a return rate of 43.7%.FindingsThe results showed that positive interdependence, promotive interaction, social and interpersonal skills, individual and group accountability as well as group processing were important antecedents to the effective implementation of CL in universities. The results further showed that CL plays a significant role in improving the academic performance of university students; hence, academic performance was viewed as a significant consequence of CL.Research limitations/implicationsThis is the first study on the application of CL to enhance the academic performance of university students in the context of Zimbabwe. As a result, caution should be exercised when generalising the results as more studies to either confirm or disconfirm these results in the context of Zimbabwe may still be required.Practical implicationsThese results have implications on policy and practice with regards to active teaching strategies in universities. With regards to practice, the results demonstrated that the use of group activities that allow students to share knowledge and support each other while the teacher plays a facilitating role is important for enhancing students' academic performance. With regards to policy, the results showed that universities can enhance the academic performance of students if policies that promote student-centered teaching and learning approaches to ensure that teaching in universities is more student-led than lecturer-led are developed.Originality/valueWhile many studies have been conducted in other contexts, to establish the influence of CL on the academic performance of university students, there is no known study on the influence of CL that has been conducted in the context of Zimbabwean universities. The results of this study therefore are an eye opener on the role of CL in enhancing the academic performance of students in Zimbabwean universities.

<p style="text-align: justify;">This study used the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach to test a model that hypothesized the influence of self-efficacy, self-control, emotion, and engagement on student academic performance. The structural equation modeling model was developed to link all the study variables with a literature review to describe the interrelationship. Data collected were from 413 college students in their second year. The results show that self-efficacy, self-control, emotion, and engagement predict student academic performance. And through emotion and student engagement, both self-efficacy and self-control predict student academic performance indirectly. Practically the measures used in this study give more information about the learning environment in higher education settings than those usually come from traditional practices faculty received in the classroom, such as student rating forms and feedback. The main findings of this study have some implications for higher education, theory development, measurement, and future research.</p>

Effects of co-curricular activities on student's academic performance by machine learning

BackgroundThis study aimed to examine differences in socio-demographics and health behaviour between Belgian first year university students who attended all final course exams and those who did not. Secondly, this study aimed to identify weight and health behaviour related correlates of academic performance in those students who attended all course exams.MethodsAnthropometrics of 101 first year university students were measured at both the beginning of the first (T1) and second (T2) semester of the academic year. An on-line health behaviour questionnaire was filled out at T2. As a measure of academic performance student end-of-year Grade Point Averages (GPA) were obtained from the university’s registration office. Independent samples t-tests and chi 2 -tests were executed to compare students who attended all course exams during the first year of university and students who did not carry through. Uni- and multivariate linear regression analyses were conducted to identify correlates of academic performance in students who attended all course exams during the first year of university.ResultsStudents who did not attend all course exams were predominantly male, showed higher increases in waist circumference during the first semester and consumed more French fries than those who attended all final course exams. Being male, lower secondary school grades, increases in weight, Body Mass Index and waist circumference over the first semester, more gaming on weekdays, being on a diet, eating at the student restaurant more frequently, higher soda and French fries consumption, and higher frequency of alcohol use predicted lower GPA’s in first year university students. When controlled for each other, being on a diet and higher frequency of alcohol use remained significant in the multivariate regression model, with frequency of alcohol use being the strongest correlate of GPA.ConclusionsThis study, conducted in Belgian first year university students, showed that academic performance is associated with a wide range of weight and health related behaviours. Future studies should investigate whether interventions aiming at promoting healthy behaviours among students could also have a positive impact on academic performance.

Education for centuries has focused on the intellect, leaving aside the emotional factor, which impacts the mental health of students and, in turn, academic performance. The objective is to establish the relationship between emotional intelligence with academic performance in university students. It is multicenter with a quantitative approach; sampling is non-probabilistic. The TMMS-24 meta-knowledge trait scale about emotional states was applied to measure Emotional Intelligence. In the academic performance, the general average of the participants was used. There is a relationship between levels of emotional intelligence with academic performance. The information is useful for proposing intervention strategies during the training of emotional competencies from admission.

PurposeThe study aims to propose a predictive model that combines personality and demographic factors to predict student academic performance (SAP). This research study works on understanding, enhancing and applying techniques to enhance the prediction of SAP.Design/methodology/approachThe authors gathered information from 305 university students from Al-Zintan University Libya. The study uses a survey questionnaire to collect data on essential variables. The purpose of the questionnaire is to discover variables that affect students' academic performance. The survey questionnaire has 44 closed questions with Likert scale designs that were distributed to a variety of college students at the start of the first semester of 2022. It includes questions about demographics, personality, employment and institutional aspects. The authors proposed a predictive model to identify the main fundamental components, consisting of one dependent variable (SAP) and five independent constructs. The suggested model is tested using partial least squares (PLS) and structural equation modeling (SEM), which perform better than covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM). PLS-SEM performs well with smaller sample sizes, even for complicated models.FindingsThe study results show that the proposed model accurately predicted the student's academic performance. The personality trait variables are a key factor that determines the actual student's academic performance. The student's academic performance is significantly impacted by each variable in the personality trait variables as well.Originality/valueThe process of validating research was done empirically through the accuracy and efficiency of model performance. The study differs from previous studies in that it accumulated a wide range of factors from different dimensions, including student demographics and personality trait factors. The authors developed a structural equation model to predict students' academic performance.

This study investigates the mediating effects of teacher organizational commitment on the relationship between principal's instructional leadership and students' academic performance. Principals' effective leadership performance is assumed to be responsible for students' academic performance. However, many findings from the literature indicate no significant direct effect between instructional leadership and students' academic performance. Therefore, the current study hypothesized that principals' instructional leadership indirectly enhances students' academic performances through teacher organizational commitment. Data obtained from 440 primary school teachers from the state of Azad Jammu & Kashmir of Pakistan and pre-existing school academic performance data obtained from each school participated. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling, employing AMOS. The study's findings indicate that there is an indirect positive effect of principals' instructional leadership and students' academic performance through teacher's organizational commitment. Hence, schools with higher instructional leadership levels had better teachers, commitment to school, teaching work, teaching occupation, workgroup, and higher student's academic performances. Therefore, increasing the instructional leadership practices in schools through teacher organizational commitment contributes to Pakistan's overall student academic performances. Therefore, it is recommended to use instructional leadership components in the curriculum that effectively train new principals.

Student performance is related to complex and correlated factors. The implementation of a new advancement of technologies in educational displacement has unlimited potentials. One of these advances is the use of analytics and data mining to predict student academic accomplishment and performance. Given the existing literature, machine learning (ML) approaches such as Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) can continuously be improved. This work examines and surveys the current literature regarding the ANN methods used in predicting students’ academic performance. This study also attempts to capture a pattern of the most used ANN techniques and algorithms. Of note, the articles reviewed mainly focused on higher education. The results indicated that ANN is always used in combination with data analysis and data mining methodologies, allowing studies to assess the effectiveness of their findings in evaluating academic achievement. No pattern was detected regarding selecting the input variables as they are mainly based on the context of the study and the availability of data. Moreover, the very limited tangible findings referred to the use of techniques in the actual context and target objective of improving student outcomes, performance, and achievement. An important recommendation of this work is to overcome the identified gap related to the only theoretical and limited application of the ANN in a real-life situation to help achieve the educational goals.

Nursing students’ nomophobia, social media use, attention, motivation, and academic performance: A structural equation modeling approach

In the current media-dominated era, social media significantly impacts the lifestyles and perceptions of females, profoundly influencing their thoughts through its content. This study, "Relationship between Social Media Usage on the Academic Performance of Female Students," delves into the frequency and type of media content employed by female university students, examining its impact on academic performance—specifically, the enhancement or decline in GPA and CGPA. Utilizing a survey approach and simple random sampling, the study analyses responses to statements such as "Excessive usage of social media affects the academic performance of university students." Findings reveal that 12.0% strongly agreed, 44.7% agreed, 26.7% were neutral, 14.3% disagreed, and 2.3% strongly disagreed with this statement. Similarly, regarding the statement "Social media sites detract university students from academic goals," 18.7% strongly agreed, 44.7% agreed, 25.7% were neutral, 8.7% disagreed, and 2.3% strongly disagreed.

The aim of this research study is to find out cause and effect of clinical depression on academic achievements and performance of students. The Main objective of this chronic mental illness is to find out the striking depth of stress and depression on learning outcomes of students. Factors that impact on academic performance caused by clinical depression were investigated. Literature review indicates that clinical depression negatively impact on academic performance of students in terms of lack of confidence, communication problem, time management and trust issues particularly at university level. Public sector university of Karachi was selected as the population of the study. This research is based on the quantitative method. Questionnaire has been set, as a tool for this research. The sample size included 100 students from twenty departments of eight faculties through simple random sampling. Data analysis has been done by descriptive statistical techniques using percentage method. Closed ended questionnaire tool were designed for the collection of data based on five liker scale. The collected was analyzed and results were at moderate level 33% respondents were strongly agree, 47% agree, 13% neutral while strongly disagree and disagree were7%.The findings of this research shows that clinical depression adversely impact on academic performance of the students at University of Karachi. It affects academic performance as well as it has long term impact on student’s mental performance. The hypothesis considered for this research is accepted.

Introduction Several studies in the literature have highlighted the impact of cognitive impairment and academic performance (AP) in students with sensorineural hearing loss in specialised schools for the deaf. However, few studies have been conducted on this subject in our setting. Purpose The objective of this study was to determine the influence of hearing impairment (HI) and cognitive level on AP in students attending specialised schools for the deaf in Kongo Central. Methods This was a cross-sectional study conducted among 126 deaf students. The parameters collected included sociodemographic, clinical, and paraclinical data. HI was confirmed using pure tone audiometry (PTA) and classified according to WHO criteria. Cognition was assessed using Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM), a non-verbal intelligence test, to determine the intelligence quotient (IQ). Data were analysed using SPSS version 26.0. Results A total of 126 students, including 75 boys, were enrolled. The dominant age group was >18 years (44.4%). Most participants were Jehovah’s Witnesses (38.1%) and lived in low-income households (62.7%). Nearly 85.7% of the students had severe to profound HI, with post-lingual onset in 60.3%, and 57.1% had a low IQ. The mean AP was 50.54 ± 6.56%. There was a weak negative correlation between hearing loss and AP (r = -0.30; p < 0.001). Students with above-average IQ had significantly higher AP scores compared to those with low or average IQ (p = 0.005). A significant negative correlation was also observed between advancing age and IQ (p < 0.001), indicating that IQ tends to decline slightly with age, explaining 10.7% of the variance. Conclusion The lack of schooling for deaf children is a significant issue in our context. Advancing age significantly impairs AP, underscoring the need to enrol these students at the appropriate school age.

This study compares the effectiveness of virtual and traditional field trip strategies on academic performance and motivation of students in conservation concepts of biology in North-West Nigeria. The study developed 2 research objectives one of which is to: compare the effectiveness of virtual and traditional field trip strategies on academic performance of students in conservation concept. The study was guided by 2 research questions and 2 null hypotheses. A Quasi experimental research using test-retest method of pretest and posttest was adopted for the study. A sample of 120 N.C.E II biology students comprising of 81 males and 39 females were randomly selected from the population of 357 students of which 213 are males and 114 are females. The study developed 2 instruments namely: Conservation Concepts Performance Test (CCPT) and Conservation Concepts Motivation Questionnaire (CCMQ) which are validated and found reliable with r=0.65. At the end of the treatment data was collected and analyzed using Means and standard deviations to answer the research question while t-test and Mann- Whitney Statistics were used to answer the null hypotheses. The results obtained showed that: significant differences exist between the performance of students taught using virtual field trip strategy and those exposed to traditional field trip strategy. From the findings recommendations were made one of which is: the Ministry of Education/ colleges should provide a biology Virtual environment to serve each school in the region as technology is seen to help improve the performance and raise the level of motivation in biology concepts, moreover it will help to overcome problems faced by teachers from a lack of real field trips which leads to ignorance of some abstract concepts such as conservation concepts biology.

Introduction: emotional intelligence in university students is crucial for managing stress, improving relationships, and making effective decisions, which optimizes their academic performance and personal well-being.Objective: To analyze the perception of the impact of Emotional Intelligence on the academic performance of students from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at a public institution in Ecuador.Methods: a quantitative approach with a descriptive scope was adopted. Additionally, a cross-sectional observational design facilitated data collection at a single point in time, evaluating ordinal variables through a structured questionnaire; a chi-square test was applied to analyze differences in proportions, and the adjusted Bonferroni method was used to determine the magnitude of these differences. The significance level for both tests was set at p < 0.05.Results: regarding self-regulation, more than half of the students, 51.06%, believe that this dimension contributes to having self-discipline. Furthermore, 42.55% consider that authorities show interest in Emotional Intelligence to control students' emotions. Also, 72.46% of students believe that understanding and guiding feelings effectively and positively motivates participation and improves academic performance. Similarly, 72.33% consider that teachers, as advisors, should observe the problems students face.Conclusions: students consider that Emotional Intelligence has a positive and significant impact on managing their learning process.

Higher education providers have redefined their focus to include work-integrated learning (WIL) as an alternative way to prepare graduates for professional and future employment. Although WIL was designed to enhance graduates' work readiness, there is little evidence that the program supports the development of behavioural and employability competencies among participating students. Thus, this study aims to predict the effect of WIL through the partial least square path model on seven employability competencies. The sample consisted of 375 final-year engineering students from two Nigerian universities who had participated in a WIL program. A two-stage composite-based structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data. The average variance extracted and Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio were used to establish the validity and reliability of the instruments. A structural model was used to test the hypothetical constructs' relationship and level of significance. The findings supported all hypothesized direct relationships that WIL enhances graduate employability skills. The study concludes that WIL has immense benefits for students, including developing employability skills (i.e., Analytical, adaptability, communication, fundamental, ICT, interpersonal, and 4IR skillsets) for future employment. Consequently, it was recommended that higher education providers strengthen and establish frameworks for effective work-integrated learning program to enhance graduate employability.