Relating emotional intelligence to academic achievement among university students in Barbados

This study investigated the relationships between emotional intelligence and academic achievement among 151 undergraduate psychology students at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Barbados, making use of Barchard (2001)’s Emotional Intelligence Scale and an Academic Achievement Scale. Findings revealed significant positive correlations between academic achievement and six of the emotional intelligence components, and a negative correlation with negative expressivity. The emotional intelligence components also jointly contributed 48% of the variance in academic achievement. Attending to emotions was the best predictor of academic achievement while positive expressivity, negative expressivity and empathic concern were other significant predictors. Emotion-based decision-making, responsive joy and responsive distress did not make any significant relative contribution to academic achievement, indicating that academic achievement is only partially predicted by emotional intelligence. These results were discussed in the context of the influence of emotional intelligence on university students’ academic achievement.peer-reviewe

The Relationships between Fine Arts Course Enrollment and Middle School and High School Academic Ratings, Campus Rating Improvement and Graduation Rates in Texas Public Schools

Research continues to demonstrate a correlation between the study of fine arts and overall academic achievement. To explore this relationship of fine arts participation to academic achievement in Texas schools, the Texas Coalition for Quality Arts Education, together with Texas Music Educators Association (a TCQAE participating organization) collected data regarding campus academic achievement ratings, campus rating improvement, graduation rates, and fine arts enrollment from 2006 to 2010 as reported by public schools across Texas

Can cognitive performance predict physical fitness and academic achievement one year later?

Previous studies have shown that physical activity, fitness and academic achievement might predict cognitive performance later in life . However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no studies examining the inverse relationship, that is, whether cognition may predict fitness and academic achievement in adolescents one year later . Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the associations between cognitive performance and physical fitness and academic achievement one year later .Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Cultural identity and academic achievement among Māori undergraduate university students

Cultural identity and academic achievement were investigated among a nonrandom sample of 72 undergraduate Māori university students studying at Massey University. Student problems were examined to identify the types of difficulties most prevalent among this population. The degree to which cultural identity moderates the relationship between student problems and academic achievement was then examined. Major findings were that (a) there is a consistent negative relationship between student problems and academic achievement; and (b) cultural identity moderates the effect of student problems on academic achievement, in that: a high degree of problems were associated with decreases in grade point average among respondents with low cultural identity; while among respondents with high cultural identity, high levels of student problems had little negative effect on grade point average. Despite the study having limitations, the findings have important implications for Māori students, deliverers of tertiary education, tertiary education providers, and those involved in the development and implementation of tertiary education policy

The efficacy of using data mining techniques in predicting academic performance of architecture students.

In recent years, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of applicants seeking placement in the undergraduate architecture programme. It is important to identify new intakes who possess the capability to succeed during the selection phase of admission at universities. Admission variable (i.e. prior academic achievement) is one of the most important criteria considered during selection process. The present study investigates the efficacy of using data mining techniques to predict academic performance of architecture student based on information contained in prior academic achievement. The input variables, i.e. prior academic achievement, were extracted from students' academic records. Logistic regression and support vector machine (SVM) are the data mining techniques adopted in this study. The collected data was divided into two parts. The first part was used for training the model, while the other part was used to evaluate the predictive accuracy of the developed models. The results revealed that SVM model outperformed the logistic regression model in terms of accuracy. Taken together, it is evident that prior academic achievement are good predictors of academic performance of architecture students. Although the factors affecting academic performance of students are numerous, the present study focuses on the effect of prior academic achievement on academic performance of architecture students. The developed SVM model can be used a decision-making tool for selecting new intakes into the architecture program at Nigerian universities

Impact of the prior school environment on academic achievement of students at the secondary stage in Punjab (Pakistan)

This study investigates the impact of the prior school environment on academic achievement of students at the secondary stage in Punjab (Pakistan). School environment is a very important school resource input. All the indicators of school environment collectively produce an academic environment that is helpful for the student achievement. The present school environment of a session is the prior school environment for the next session. Therefore, this study used mean of the prior five years results of SSC examination. Population of the study comprised all secondary and higher secondary schools and secondary students in Punjab. Overall, a total of 288 schools, and then 20 students from each school were randomly selected as the sample of the study. The longitudinal data of academic achievement in the form of aggregate marks of the annual examinations of the Classes VI, VII, & VIII as prior achievement and that of the Class X as academic achievement of the same students through “Result Sheet”. The data were summarized at school level and then analyzed collectively. Pearson correlation was used to find out the relationship (association) of the prior school environment with academic achievement. Furthermore, Stepwise Regression analysis with linear function was used to find out the differential impact (causal-relationship) of the prior school environment on academic achievement. The results of the study show that the prior school environment is an important predictor of academic achievement for arts students; however, it has some insignificant positive impact on academic achievement of science students. The insignificant and weak causal-relationship for science students may be improved if the indicators of school environment are properly defined and improved up to the higher standards. Prior school environment is very helpful in producing the present school environment. In this way, both the present and the prior school environments are important. The policy implications of the study are that the prior school environment provides the accelerating or the declining trend of academic achievement of students.prior school environment; relationship (association); impact; academic achievement;

Long-run effects of Catholic schooling on wages

Using panel data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics Australia Survey and fixed effects estimation, this report examines the effect of Catholic schooling on long-term wage rates in Australia, independent of effects on academic achievement. Abstract: Previous studies have linked Catholic schooling to higher academic achievement. We add to the literature on Catholic schooling by examining its effect on long-term wage rates in Australia, independent of effects on academic achievement. Using panel data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics Australia (HILDA) Survey and fixed effects estimation, we find that during the prime-time of a career, wage rates for Catholic school graduates progress with labor market experience at a greater rate, on average, than wage rates for public school graduates. Importantly, we find no evidence to suggest that these benefits are peculiar to Catholic schooling, with similar benefits estimated for graduates of independent private schools. These findings suggest that private schooling may be important in not only fostering higher academic achievement, but also in better preparing students for a working life