Elements Influencing Study Success

• Authors: Eva Jereb
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Study success can be influenced by following factors: (i) social elements (social class position, parents' education, parents' profession, parents' income); (ii) student-related factors (motivation, aptitude, effort, IQ, time spend on study, opportunity to learn, pre-university education); (iii) quality of instruction (organisation, course material, communication, assignments, exams, grading, course outcomes); (iv) curriculum (number of courses, sequence of courses, test schedule, system-block or parallel); (v) government (grant, student accommodation). In the paper the influence of these factors on study success is presented. Social and academic integration are central aspects. In the research we found out that "social elements" greatly influence the decision to enrol, but have less influence on marks received and the duration of study. Grants also greatly influence study success. We were surprised when we found out that factors from the "quality of instruction" group can only explain 12.3% of the variance of exam results.

Keywords

EN

study success; students; social elements; academic elements

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Organizacija
• Year: 2010
• Volume: 43
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 9-20

Dates

published

2010-01-01

online

2010-02-19

Contributors

author

Eva Jereb

• Faculty of Organisational Sciences, University of Maribor, Kidričeva 55a, 4000 Kranj, Slovenia

References

• Annual Statistics of the Republic of Slovenia (2005). Ljubljana: Statistical Office of RS.
• Anderman, L. H., & Midgley, C. (1998). Motivation and middle school students [ERIC digest]. Champaign, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 421 281. Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Slovenia (2005).
• Bean, J. P. (1982). Conceptual model of student attrition: How theory can help the institutional researcher. In E. T. Pascarella (Ed.), Studying student attrition, pp. 17-33. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Bevc, M. (2003). Učinkovitost in pravičnost visokošolskega izobraževanja v Sloveniji [Efficiency and justice of higher education in Slovenia]. Teorija in praksa, 40(1):90-102.
• Biggs, J. (1996). Enhancing teaching through constructive alignment. Higher Education, 32: 347-364. DOI: 10.1007/BF00138871[Crossref]
• Blau, P. M. & Duncan, O. D. (1967). The American Occupational Structure. New York: The Free Press.
• Bowles, S. & Gintis, H. (1976). Schooling in Capitalist America. London: Routledge & Kegan.
• Bowles, S. & Gintis, H. (2001). Schooling in Capitalist America Revisited. Retrieved May 15, 2006, from University of Massachusetts Web site:
• Carroll, J. B. (1963). A model of school learning. Teachers College Record, 64(8): 723-733.
• Cornbleth, C. (1990). Curriculum in Context. (Basingstoke: Falmer Press.)
• Creemers, B. P. M. (1994). The effective classroom. London: Cassell, School development series.
• Curriculum (2007). Retrieved January 10, 2007, available from
• Dev, P. C. (1997). Intrinsic motivation and academic achievement: What does their relationship imply for the classroom teacher? Remedial and Special Education, 18(1): 12-19. DOI: 10.1177/074193259701800104[Crossref]
• Duncan, B. (1967). Education and social background, American Journal of Sociology, 72(4):363-72.[Crossref]
• Eurostudent Report (2005). Social and Economic Conditions of Student Life in Europe 2005. Hannover: Higher Education Information System.
• Feldman, K. A. (1989). The association between student ratings of specific instructional dimensions and student achievement: Refining and extending the synthesis of data from multisection validity studies. Research in Higher Education, 30(6): 583-645.
• Finaly-Neuman, E. (1994). Course work characteristics and student's satisfaction with instruction. Higher Education, 21(1): 14-22.
• Goldthorpe, J. (1980). Social Mobility and Class Structure in Modern Britain. Oxford: Clarendon Press)
• Hyman, H. H. (1953). The value systems of different classes. In: R. Bendix, & S. M. Lipset (Eds.) Class, Status and Power, pp. 426-442. Glencoe IL: Free Press.
• Higher Education: Quality, Equity and Efficiency (2006). Background Report. Meeting of OECD Education Ministers, Athens.
• Jansen, E. P. W. A. (2004). The influence of the curriculum organisation on study progress in higher education. Higher Education, 47: 411-435. DOI:10.1023/B:HIGH.0000020868.39084.21[Crossref]
• Lindblom-Ylänne, S., Lonka, K. & Leskinen, E. (1999). On the predictive value of entrylevel skills for successful studying in medical school. Higher Education, 73(3): 239-258. DOI: 10.1023/A:1003574125457[Crossref]
• Macan, T., Shahani, C., Dipboye, R. L. & Phillips, A. (1990). College students' time management: Correlations with academic performance and stress. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(4): 760-768.[Crossref]
• Nonis, S. A., Hudson, G. I., Logan, L. B. & Ford, C. W. (1998). Influence of perceived control over time on college students' stress and stress-related outcomes. Research in Higher Education, 39(5): 587-605.
• Phelps-Brown, H. (1979). The Inequality of Pay. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press)
• Quinn, J. (2004). Understanding Working-Class ‘Drop-Outs’ from Higher Education through a Socio-cultural Lens: Cultural Narratives and Local Contexts. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 14(1): 57-74. DOI: 10.1080/0962021040020119.[Crossref]
• Rapid reports (2005). Education. Ljubljana: Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia.
• Shah, C. & Burke, G. (1999). An undergraduate student flow model: Australian higher education. Higher Education, 37(4): 359-375.[Crossref]
• Slavin, R. E. (1995). A model of effective instruction. The Educational Forum, 59, 166-176. Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, Statistical Yearbook 2006
• Toličič I. & Zorman, L. (1977). Okolje in uspešnost učencev [Environment and pupils' success]. (Ljubljana: DZS).
• Tuckman, B. (1991). Motivating college students: A model based on empirical evidence. Innovative Higher Education, 15(2): 167-176. DOI: 10.1007/BF00898028[Crossref]
• Van den Berg, M. N. & Hofman, W. H. A. (2005). Student success in university education: A multi-measurement study of the impact of student and faculty factors on study progress. Higher Education, 50: 413-446. DOI: 10.1007/s10734-004-6361-1[Crossref]
• Van der Hulst, M. & Jansen, E. (2002). Effects of curriculum organisation on study progress in engineering studies. Higher Education, 43: 489-506. DOI: 10.1023/A:1015207706917[Crossref]
• Vaughan, Ch. & Chr. Carlson (1992). Teaching and learning. One-course-at-a-time. Innovative Higher Education, 16(4): 263-276.

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/v10051-010-0002-5