Student Self-Reported Academic Confidence as an Indicator of First-Year Retention

Many first-year college/university students have low retention and success rates which affect their ability to remain in college and attain a career. Despite matriculation practices employed by institutions of higher learning to increase retention, a gap remains in the understanding of the causative factors of retention. The purpose of this study was to determine if academic self-confidence scores of students prior to entry and post- completion of an FYS are reliable predictors of students\u27 ability to progress from the first year to the second year of college. Tinto\u27s (1987) academic retention theory framed the study. A quantitative case study approach including a paired t-test for the dependent sample analysis, point-biserial correlation analysis, and a one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was employed for this study. The findings are that students\u27 self-reported academic confidence does improve postcompletion of the FYS and that these results are not gender specific. The statistical analysis of correlation between posttest self-confidence scores and re-enrollment for second year of college were not statistically significant. The findings of this study contribute to the body of knowledge in current literature on factors of retention, specifically students\u27 self-reported academic confidence. When careful investigations are conducted to determine causative factors that can be used as predictors of student retention, those investigations directly impact positive social change and promote accountability for current matriculation practices employed by institutions of higher learning

Development and evaluation of a quality score for abstracts

BACKGROUND: The evaluation of abstracts for scientific meetings has been shown to suffer from poor inter observer reliability. A measure was developed to assess the formal quality of abstract submissions in a standardized way. METHODS: Item selection was based on scoring systems for full reports, taking into account published guidelines for structured abstracts. Interrater agreement was examined using a random sample of submissions to the American Gastroenterological Association, stratified for research type (n = 100, 1992–1995). For construct validity, the association of formal quality with acceptance for presentation was examined. A questionnaire to expert reviewers evaluated sensibility items, such as ease of use and comprehensiveness. RESULTS: The index comprised 19 items. The summary quality scores showed good interrater agreement (intra class coefficient 0.60 – 0.81). Good abstract quality was associated with abstract acceptance for presentation at the meeting. The instrument was found to be acceptable by expert reviewers. CONCLUSION: A quality index was developed for the evaluation of scientific meeting abstracts which was shown to be reliable, valid and useful