Predictors and Determinants of University Student’s Academic Performance
Different studies have revealed several factors that influence the academic performance of individual students at the university level. El Massah, Suzanna, and Dalia (4), identifies that while this largely depends on the learning environment individual factors like personality and socio-economic factors cannot be ignored. Similarly, Thiele and Tamara (1427), performed a study to establish how academic performance is related to psychosocial factors. The study observed several psychosocial factors to affect the level of academic performance among individual students in higher learning institutions. Some of these include financial difficulty, social support, psychological health, institutional integration, and commitment to the university. In light of this, Vicente Tinto developed a student integration model that primarily focuses on the social and academic student integration as well as the educational and institutional commitment of the student as the most essential predictors of an individual student’s attrition. The model defines social and academic integrations as the subjective sense of fitting and belonging, which defines the level of compatibility or conflicting views between a university and its students (Thiele and Tamara, 1432).
The model also suggests that for a two-tier commitment to be achieved between the students and the learning institution in the form of educational commitment and institutional commitment there is need to create a match between the academic ability of and motivational levels of an individual student with the level of social integration within the university. The realization of these will result in helping students realize their career goals through enhanced academic and institutional performance. Through this, the model asserts that failure to integrate students into the different systems and procedures involved in the university will result in the development of low commitment, which will reflect in poor overall academic performance. Though the model has been positively received by several stakeholders in this Vuttipittayamongkol (7), criticized it citing the lack of identification of an individual student’s academic history. The study asserts that a student’s academic history is an essential factor that determines their level of performance while they progress the ladder within the education system. Thiele and Tamara failed to acknowledge the importance of the academic history of an individual student and advanced that study skills form one of the essential factors that impact the academic performance among students and this can be enhanced through training. There are several factors that have been identified by different studies as aligned bellow.
Amount of money received from family
The amount of money an individual student receives from family members has been observed to have a significant impact on their level of performance. Several studies led by Dudovitz et al. identifies that the amount of money received can be a motivating factor to help individuals students achieve higher academic performances or demotivating factors. Wigfield, Ecces, and Jens (4) identifies social integration to be an essential determinant of how the amount of money received from family can motivate or demotivate an individual student. As part of their learning process students at the university level are always required to assimilate themselves to a particular group, which can help them further develop their skills and enhance their academic performance. Through this, the amount of money received from family, which is always meant to help them to satisfy specific wants and needs impacts their level of integration into such groups.
Sufficient amounts of money that can help them satisfy their wants and needs always enhance the self-esteem of individual learners; hence enable their proper integration into their social environment and be part of a group. On the other hand, an insufficient amount of money from family always lowers the self-esteem of individual students; hence restrict themselves on the level of their social integration, which consequently impacts their academic performance negatively. Turner (97), also acknowledges the significance of effective social integration to an individual student’s academic performance. Turner (98), further advances that an individual personality also influences their level of spending on campus and those determines the adequacy of the amount received from the family.
Average individuals are those high on neuroticism and extraversion while lower in openness. These are the individual students who like to highly socialize but take time to incorporate new ideas. In most instances, they have a significant number of basic wants and needs, which cannot be fully satisfied with the amount they receive from their parents. This impacts their level of social integration as well as their academic performance. Similarly, the next personality identified by Wigfield et al., (8), is the reserved individuals. These individuals are mostly emotionally stable but are not neurotic and open. They can be introverts and exhibit a high level of conscientiousness and agreeableness. Individual students with a combination of these traits are always responsible and trim their budget in accordance with the level of their finances and hence always find the amount received from their family to be sufficient. The next personality as identified by Wigfield et al., (8), is role models. These individuals are quite open to new ideas and are reliable. They exhibit a low level of neuroticism and a high level of agreeableness, openness, consciousness, and extraversion. Individual students who exhibit this kind of personality are highly outgoing, which helps them to identify other opportunities that can help them supplement the amount of money received from family in case it does not fully satisfy their wants and needs.
Though these individuals always easily achieve social integration within their respective institutions they always find it hard to ensure effective academic performance that reflects their level of social integration since they have limited academic time (Rafi, 1683). However, those with proper time management always achieve enhanced academic performance. The last category identified in this case is self-centered individuals. These individuals always exhibit high extroversion with low agreeableness, consciousness, and openness. Individual students who exhibit this type of personality always demand more from their family members. However, a significant number of them always ensure academic excellence. Turner (104), also observed that personality affects the level of social integration among learners on campus. The amount of money received from family members dictates the level of an individual student’s academic performance.
The first choice of department
The choice of the department is always a private matter that individual learners should independently choose out of their passion since it directly impacts their career aspirations and goals. Individual learners should always consider their talents, career ambitions, and passions before choosing a career vehicle that can help them achieve these. These have an impact on the level of commitment that learners will have in relation to realizing their career ambitions through better academic performance. There is also some level of influence that learners go through during their selection. Egalite (75), asserts that family and friends form the largest influence that individual learners always face considering that their departmental choices always shaped by the perception and views of their family members and friends. Some learners will always want to be like their successful friends in which they make their decisions to follow in the footpath of these friends while some will also want to enjoy much success like their parents and siblings as well as close relatives and so they choose similar or better departments as these individuals.
Some learners’ choices may also be made with an attempt to disappoint parents and guardians. In most cases, this is always come out as a communication strategy to let these people know that they are independent and need to make their own choices without interference in whatever manner. Kruck and Teer (13), States that college-going students always require autonomy, which some parents are not ready to allow them to have. Through this, they demonstrate their independence at every chance they have. While in most cases the majority of such students are always committed to proving their parents wrong about their choice in which they put more effort in their academic commitment and achieve excellent performance, there are some instances in which some of them regret their choices. These learners are not always attached to their learning institutions and so they poorly perform academically as a result of lack of commitment.
On the same note, successful personalities within the community also influence the career choice of individual learners. Those individuals with the capability and passion of achieving the same heights as these famous personalities in the community always perform to their level best to attain their dreams. Learning institutions also influence the career choices made by individual learners. The influence comes in the form of an institutional branding to the public. An individual learning facility with a reputation of offering high-quality learning experience enlist a significant trust among learners and hence a majority of them choose. Similarly, successful graduates from these learning facilities also publicly brand them as effective career vehicles, which in turn influence the choices made by learners. Booker (221), asserted that though these brandings are essential in directed learners to the best career vehicles, they can influence a learner to make unnecessary choices that will ultimately affect their academic performance through financial distress and lack of compatibility of goals and objectives. Booker (221), further states that the strategic management utilized in the contemporary world’s higher education learning environment drives learning institutions to brand themselves as the most effective education centers with a relatively higher financial requirement that the majority of its learners cannot afford. Such is a selfish act that greatly impacts the lives of so many learners and plunges them into stressful conditions that also affect their psychological and emotional wellbeing.
Preparing timetable
Burk-Rafel, Sally, and Joel (67) identified the two factors that influence the habit of preparing timetables among learner. These include study time and the student’s behavior. Study time and student behavior largely impact the level of academic performance among learners. The palm-beach study time learning theory asserts that study time is an essential tool for predicting and controlling learning outcomes and behaviors. Through this academic achievement is a function of the total time spent trying to complete a specific task or assignment. Bunce Amy and Siân (1962) observes that learners in the contemporary world spend less time on academic matters than they use to before the emergence of the millennium. The results from the study reveal that current leaners use fourteen hours a week, seven hours less than learners before the new millennium did.
There is also a significant relationship between anxiety and short-study time sessions before examinations with the level of an individual learner’s performance. Bunce Amy and Siân (1962) observed that the more students study the more they retain academic knowledge, which enhances their level of comfort while answering questions during examination. This always helps them experience low levels of anxiety and mental wellbeing. Burk-Rafel et al., (68), also asserts that study skills and study time also influence the level of grades and points an individual learner achieves in a single course. Academic anxiety is a negative predictor of student’s performance. Longer study time duration forms one of the most effective predictors of an individual student’s performance in consideration of a learner’s commitments and depth of preparation. Burk-Rafel et al., (68), emphasizes that study time entails a pattern of activities that goes beyond reading for pleasure. It requires a significant level of commitment and understanding to generate high grades that can guarantee excellence in career pursuit. Students who become successful in their careers developed a habit of dedicating a considerable amount of time. High grades and high scores form the parameters used in gauging the level of an individual learner’s commitment to study. However, there are several factors that also influence the level of grades and scores attained by learners. These include IQ, gender, study habits, and mode of learning delivery.
The preparation of a time table for learning also illustrates the level of organization within an individual student. Nguyen, Rienties, Toetenel, Ferguson, and Whitelock (710), assert that such an action requires a high level of commitment and enhanced learning etiquette through proper time observation. It is always a battle of wills and the individual learners who are willing to excel in their academic performance will dedicate enough time and commitment to their study routines. Nguyen et al., (715), recommends that students should develop a good study habit to enlist proper understanding in their learning capacity and capabilities for effective academic performance. Similarly, they should ensure their study environment is also conducive to their learning. Students should also ensure they are optimally fit and ready to study in relation to their general wellbeing physically, psychologically, and emotionally. Additionally, the level of student involvement during the preparation of the examination timetable also affects the psychological wellbeing of individual learners and can impact the level of their performance.
Family socioeconomic status
There are several factors under the family socioeconomic status of an individual learner’s family that can impact their level of academic performance. First, as identified by Li and Zeqi (13), religious beliefs aligned to a learner’s family can influence their level of social integration while in school. Religious beliefs can also impact the level of an individual learner’s commitment to their education by consuming significant study time and efforts; hence can result in poor performance under such circumstances. The second factor in this regard involves the level of family earnings. The level of income within the family dictates the amount of cash set aside for helping a learner through the campus system inform of fee requirement and the amount available for upkeep (Li and Zeqi, 13). In circumstances where the family income is sufficient individual learners always experience high self-esteem since they can easily afford to meet their basic financial needs. However, under circumstances that the level of family income is insufficient to even meet the basic needs at home individual leaners always experience significant challenges in meeting their financial obligations (Li and Zeqi, 13). Considering the psychological challenges that always result from such situations individual learners always poorly perform academically.
The third factor in this regard is the number of siblings an individual learner has. Studies have identified that there exists an inverse relationship between the number of siblings also referred to as sibship and the level of educational performance of an individual learner. This relationship is not affected by the level of parental income, education, race, and age (Nnadi, Dimnwobi, Nwokoye, Osigwe, and Sylvester, 189). The number of siblings also impacts the level of years of education attained. It also affects other education outcomes in the form of probability of graduating from college, grades achieved, and scores in a standardized test. As sibship increases, the level of educational outcomes in the form of the number of years taken while studying, grades achieved, and the probability of graduating from college.
Several studies have been conducted trying to explain the inverse relationship in this regard. Some of the explanations advanced towards this is the no effect phenomenon. In this, Nnadi et al., (194), argue that the inverse relationship between educational performance and the number of siblings is artifactual and it is a function of socio-economic status. The study further argues that large families are disproportionately from a lower socio-economic class. Usman, Mukhtar, and Auwal (16) refutes this claim citing that though large families negatively affect an individual’s educational performance the effects of sibship are always strong even when the socio-economic status of families are controlled. Similarly, Nnadi et al., (194), also supports the no effect phenomenon asserting that the inverse relationship always exists because intellectually superior parents always give birth to few children compared to less intelligent individuals.
Usman, Mukhtar, and Auwal (16), also presents the confluence model to try and explain the inverse relationship between the number of siblings and educational performance. The model asserts that a child’s intelligence is a function of the intellectual capacity developed. The intellectual capacity is the unweighted average of the intellectual levels of all members of an individual learner’s family considering that other children always depress the intellectual capacity since they do not possess similar mental knowledge and skill and skills that exist among the adults in the family. Through this additional children in the family lowers the intellectual capacity of the family.
Additionally, the resource dilution model also explains the inverse relationship that exists between educational performance and the number of siblings. The model works on the assumption that parental resources are depletable (Nnadi et al., 196). Through this, an increase in the number of children results in a decrease in the number of parental resources accrued by a child. The parental resources are categorized into three groups. The first group contains the type of home and necessities of life. The second group contains the level of personal attention, level of parental teaching, and the level of parental intervention in different situations. The third group contains the specific chances to engage with the social environment.
Father’s education level
In most families fathers are the breadwinners, which also puts them on the mark as the role-model in the family. Similarly, the existing culture in the contemporary world that install fathers as heads of the family also gives them the power to dictate the systems and procedures within the family as they deem it fit. In all these, a father’s level of education significantly influences the choices they make in the family and how they influence the behaviors of other members of the family including college-going members. Highly educated fathers have been revered as systematic and open to accommodate new systems and procedures as long as they help individual family members realize their full potential and self-fulfillment. Muenks, Allan, and Jacquelynne (27), also assert that fathers with a high level of education are always more understanding and proactive in handling the different challenges the youths in the contemporary world faces. Through this, the majority of their children view them as their best friend in which they share confidential information. This always results in the general wellbeing of their children and consequently enhances academic performance.
As breadwinners and family heads in most instances, fathers’ income always dictate the level of funds available for educational purposes to individual learners. Fathers with high educational levels tend to earn significantly high income compared to their counterparts with relatively low educational levels. Through this, students who have highly leaned fathers always enjoy a considerable level of educational success as a result of readily available financial support (Rogers and Avi, 335). On the other hand, students whose fathers have relatively low educational attainment experience financial challenges as a result of poor financial background, which negatively impacts their educational performances. Though the level of education provides an advantage to individuals in relation to increased income levels, sometimes equality is always achieved in relation to equal income with differences in educational levels. This can be as a result of well-executed business opportunities from the part of fathers with low educational levels.
Similarly, highly educated fathers also help their children with their course work something that most fathers with low education always avoid to not embarrass themselves in front of the family. Similarly, learning materials relating to university education requires a high level of expertise that cannot be handled by fathers with low educational levels (Pesu, Jaana, and Kaisa, 65). Similarly, fathers with high education also have high expectations for their children and so perform everything within their power to help their children realize their career aspirations. Through this, they ensure their children attend the best learning institution and avail every necessary material that can help them perform in their learning. All these illustrate the need for fathers to attain high education levels to spur their children into better educational performance at the university level.
Family support
The social learning theory stresses on how environment, behavior, and perception interact to produce an individual’s personality. The theory advances two forms of learning, which include observational learning and direct learning. In direct learning, individuals acquire their skills through experience while in observational leaning they imitate different actions and perceptions from members of the community (Thiele, Singleton, Pope and Stanistreet, 1434). Observational learning occurs every day without the learner even realize that it is happening. Similarly, the inborn unique factors like attentiveness, motivation, and the manner of reproduction of memories and informational setting affects the manner in which individuals learn.
Parental involvement in an individual learner’s education can occur in different forms, which can either impact their educational performances positively and negatively. Pekrun et al., (1663), argue that when parental involvement positively impacts their children’s academic performance, it negatively impact them socially since parents are always hovering on a child’s college life. Depression is also a constant factor among students, which affects their psychological wellbeing and hence their level of involvement in academic-related activities as a result of low self-esteem. Family support can of significance in navigating around such challenges among college students.
There are some other factors associated with family support that influence an individual student’s academic performance at the university level. One of these is the frequency of contact with the family. Parents always have an emotional attachment with their children especially those at the college level and adolescence (Menges et al., 708). This attachment always helps them in solving challenging confidential issues, which in turn ensures an individual child’s wellbeing. Campus life is a crucial developing stage among children considering that it forms the beginning of their transition into adulthood. Learners experience several challenges at this stage and their family support especially from their mother dictates their level of academic performance. Similarly, college students always expect their parents to view them as adults and treat them in the same manner. Through this, they mostly appreciate parents who generate adult-to-adult conversation as it signals them to take responsibility for their lives and strive for their individual academic success.
The level of financial support received from family also dictates how students perform academically on campus. The efficiency from which individual students meet their college expenses affects the manner in which they perform ion their campus education as it gives them assurance of the love their parents have for them; hence help the, settle psychologically. Additionally, the level of support from siblings in relation to different activities involved in campus also impacts an individual student’s general wellbeing. Siblings can play a part in influencing an individual learner’s career choice and level of participation in extracurricular activities (Menges et al., 708). Additionally, the educational background of their parents also impacts the level of academic performance among campus students. The parental level of education influences their level of understanding relating to different aspects within campus life and at such can encourage or discourage their children to participate in some activities. Participation in these activities may consume much of an individual student’s study time resulting in anxiety during the examination and poor performance (Pekrun et al., 1667). Parental advice may also help individual learners free up much time to engage in academic activities, which in turn help enhance their academic performance.
Peer influence
Socialization is a continuous process and cannot be limited to family members. As children grow they get the opportunity to interact with the outside world that largely shapes their perception and decision-making as well as critical thinking. Through this, at different stages, children do get the opportunity to interact with their peers. DeLay et al., (905), identifies peer groups as the most essential agent of socialization that helps in developing an individual child to the required social standards of independency when they ultimately grow up. A Peer group is a small group of similarly aged and fairly close allies that share similar activities.
Peer groups provide a platform in which individuals construct and reconstruct their identities. Through this, interaction with peers enables an individual learner to develop positive identities, which can help them excel in their academic tasks. It can also result in the formation of negative identities, which also deter individual learners from excellent performance academically. As identified by Wentzel (11), positive peer influence includes participation in religious activities and participating in social activities among others. Such peer influence enhances an individual’s affection, understanding, and sympathy. Negative peer influence should form one of the primary concerns among educational professionals in the contemporary world. The underlying factor in this is that such influence affects the level of academic performance among students and can sometimes hamper their level of social development into responsible and independent individuals (Meda et al., 12). The educational system should consider recognizing academic excellence in areas outside the core curriculum to help in combating native peer influence among learners.
Additionally, the relationship between individual behavior and other group members’ behavior comes in three diverse effects. The first of these is the endogenous effect in which an individual’s behavior varies with the primary behavior exhibited in the group. The second effect is the exogenous effect in which an individual’s actions vary with the predetermined characteristics of the peer group (Meda et al., 17). The last effect is the correlated effect in which an individual group member tries to maintain a behavioral pattern because they are subjected to common characteristics or similar institutional environment. The social bonding theory asserts that peer group influence will be strong in the absence of strong social bonds with the school environment and family. This is consistent with Maslow’s model that asserts that a sense of belonging and love are essential elements that motivate individuals to excel in greater heights.
Quality teacher
The quality of an individual teacher is largely shaped by factors within the external environment that can include institutional factors as well as political factors. Institutional factors are individual elements within a learning institution that shape the level of motivation and commitment exhibited by individual teachers while they perform their duties (Hanushek, Marc, and Simon, 864). These include the branding of a learning institution together with the available systems and procedures that guide the level of interaction among stakeholders. An institutional branding as the best institution always motivates individual teachers to commit their time and energy in delivering quality services to individual students. Similarly, well-structured systems and procedures within an individual institution outline the manner in which information flow within the institution hence avoids ambiguity and lack of clarity. These are essential in motivating teachers to deliver quality services in a customized manner. As a result of these, individual students always benefit from such quality services and highly perform in their education and enhance their chances of realizing their career aspirations.
The remuneration system utilized by an individual institution also plays a role in the level of quality of services received by learners. Hornstein (14), identified that the remuneration system is an essential motivational factor that can enhance the quality of services teachers deliver to learners. There are two types of remuneration systems that are utilized among learning institutions. The first of these is the position-based remuneration system in which individual teachers are remunerated in accordance with their rank within the organization. This type of motivation promotes bureaucracy and strict observation of available systems and procedures and can sometimes demotivate teachers and affect the quality of their services, consequently impacting the level of academic performance among individual learners (Koedel, Jiaxi, Matthew and Li 254). The other remuneration system utilized among organizations is the person-based remuneration system. This kind of remuneration system acknowledges the skillset and level of expertise and competency of an individual teacher. It always ensures individual teachers enhance the quality of services they deliver to their students, which in turn promotes better academic performances among individual learners.
Quality teacher services can be identified through the development and academic performance of individual students. The education environment contains diverse types of students in relation to their intellectual capacity and capabilities (Koedel et al., 276). Quality teaching services should be customized down to the specific needs exhibited by an individual student. The level of customization of teaching services by individual teachers forms the standard at which best teachers are identified. Such teachers always consider the different characteristics exhibited by individual learners before they channel the best and appropriate approaches that can help learners with low intellectual capacity to enhance their study time and study habits to excel in their academic performance (Hornstein, 15). Similarly, though the level of organization among individual students in terms of study time and study habits can depend on their interest and passion, the majority of students borrow these from their teachers who act as their role models.
Teacher commitment
Teacher commitment has been identified as an internal force that drives teachers to invest more time and energy in the level of services they render to students. An individual teacher’s willingness to promote the brand of the learning institution creates an emotional link between teachers and the learning institution, which also inspires them to seek ways of enhancing their competency levels and the general learning environment (Lambersky, 376). The level of teacher commitment significantly impacts the academic outcomes of individual learners. It is always imperative for individual learning institutions to align an individual teacher’s long-term goals and objectives to the specific objectives of the institution to generate passion among teachers. Passion forms one of the bases of effective teaching. It generates enthusiasm and desire, which are essential elements in ensuring commitment and emotional attachment.
Afshar, Hassan, and Mehdi (104), also acknowledges that commitment is a psychological attachment to an organization in which people give their loyalty to its values and goals. And for teachers, it also involves an emotional attachment to their duties, which results in the generation of difference to the learning and achievements of individual learners. Committed teachers are always excited to generate new ideas that can eventually change the different systems and procedures I the world. Passion is also critical in maintain enthusiasm and energy as well as enhanced creativity while delivering services to individual learners. Anderson (4), also identified that teacher commitment is essential for promoting the teaching profession and work performance as well as promoting the teaching profession. It is also an essential factor for promoting both student and school achievement.
Commitment ensures teachers possess the love, energy, and desire needed to ensure proper performance within this profession. Consequently, all stakeholders including learners and schools benefit from such energy and love (Anderson, 8). Students realize enhanced academic performance which helps them realize their career ambitions while schools benefit from the resulting increase in brand recognition; hence attracts more learners. Committed teachers are always concerned with high performance and always demand a constant increase in the level of an individual leaner’s performance levels. Similarly, understanding the needs exhibited by individual students is also essential in ensuring an appropriate framework that can allow them to develop their learning skills to enhance their academic performance (Lambersky, 377).
The contemporary world’s teaching environment is highly volatile with numerous challenges faced by learners and teachers as well as learning institutions. Through this, individual teachers need to be agile in developing a new teaching framework that can ensure smooth navigation of all stakeholders involved. This cannot be achieved without the passion and that generates teachers’ commitment (Lambersky, 367). The success and future of education heavily rely on the level of commitment from teachers. Students from the most essential element in any learning institution and so quality services should be channeled to them. All learning institutions must ensure they generate enhanced emotional attachment from teachers to enlist their commitment to quality services to individual learners.
Teaching methodologies
The methodology through which teaching services are delivered significantly impacts the level of academic performance among students. There are different teaching methodologies utilized in ensuring effective learning. One of these is the teacher-centered method. In this teaching approach, individual students derive information from their teachers without necessarily having to construct deep engagement levels with the subject under discussion (Vo et al., 21). Teacher-centered methodology heavily assumes a theoretical approach in delivering learning objectives and ignores necessary practicals. It also heavily appreciates learning from applied knowledge as the basic concepts to guide individual learners to real-life problems. The teacher has significant control over the information shared and the mode of transmission, which enables them to maximize information shared while minimizing time and effort. This can result in a loss of interest from learners and consequently poor academic performance. Vo et al., (27), recommends that teachers utilizing this mode of delivery to consider students as the primary participants hence pay attention to their demands for effective performances.
The student-centered approach also forms another teaching methodology (Chang and Gwo-Jen, 228). This approach heavily utilizes the concept of discovery learning to enhance active learning experience from individual learners. Discovery learning instills excitement and passion as well as commitment from both students and teachers, which results in enhanced academic performance among individual learners. It also promotes critical thinking and enjoyment among learners. The approach does not centralize the flow of information and so ensures effectiveness. It also promotes goal-oriented behaviors among individual learners, which consequently improves individual student’s achievements. The last teaching methodology is the teacher-student interactive method. This teaching methodology utilized both the methods used in the teacher-centered method and the student-centered method. Broadbent (25), observes that it is quite easy to remember information produced by learners than that produced by the lecturer.
Through this, the approach encourages students to seek relevant information rather than letting the lecturers monopolize the services. Additionally, promoting the use of technology in delivering learning information is an emerging trend in the contemporary world that will continue into the future. The intense technological innovations and inventions witnessed in the contemporary world dictate several proceedings in the contemporary world including the education sector (Chang and Gwo-Jen, 228). This also promoted by the emergence of generation y and generation Z as the primary consumers of educational programs in the contemporary world. These two generations were born and raised in an era of intense use of technology, which also influences their perception of effective services.
Evaluation methodologies
There are several methodologies used in evaluating how students have gained from class activities and their interaction with their teachers. One of these is the outcome assessment approach (Steinberg and Rachel, 295). This evaluation technique primarily focuses on generating the level of knowledge among students as well as their capabilities in relation to influencing the systems and procedures in real life as a result of their interaction with their teachers in the course module. This easement technique is always essential to departmental heads in relation to improving curricular structure, course content as well as for instructions. Departmental heads can also use the secondary results of individual students to demonstrate how successful the program and faculty is at nurturing careers.
The different activities involved in this type of assessment include developing practical outcomes in fields that require practical solutions like the laboratory operation. It also entails determining the point at which individual learners should develop specific skills in the form of internships and laboratory works. It also entails developing appropriate assessment strategy student learning of the information delivered (Patterson et al., 44). It can also involve adjusting the learning outcomes and assess the learning again. Some of the testing techniques applied in this framework include projects, classroom quizzes, and exams, co-operative experiences, standardized tests internally and externally as well as student journals and questionnaires. All these are gauged through the use of a score or a grading system. High scores grades illustrate that the students have excelled in their academic performance while low scores and grades illustrate that students need significant improvement in their academic performance to enhance their chances of becoming highly competent within their career choices.
The other evaluation methodology is the formative evaluation technique. In this approach, instructors utilize informal forms of evaluating the effectiveness of their efforts on an individual student’s academic performance. This allows them to design effective strategies that can help in improving an individual student’s performance. Some of the techniques applied in this approach include direct questions from students, just-in-time teaching, student teams, student notes, and chain notes as well as student study groups (Steinberg and Rachel, 299). The approach promotes collaborative effort in realizing quality teaching services, which is essential in the contemporary world’s educational environment.
The type of teaching methodology used dictates the level of commitment from both students and teachers. The significance of commitment from these stakeholders always determines the level of performance realized by individual learners. The demographic factors within an individual institution need to be considered before selecting an evaluation methodology and technique. The contemporary world’s learning environment is significantly dominated by generation Z and generation Y which highly appreciate the use of technology (Patterson et al., 54). Through this, learning institutions need to avail their assessment systems and procedures on viable technological platforms that can ensure self-fulfillment and self-actualization among leaners.
Social activity
The level of student engagement in social activities in the school environment has a significant impact on their level of academic performance. Some activities like charity works and voluntary services always consume an individual learner’s study time leaving them with relatively little study time. Through this, the majority of leaners engaged in such activities always experience anxiety during exams, which consequently affect their level of performance. Though such activities are essential for helping an individual learner develop various skills that cannot be learned in class it has an impact on their level of academic performance but not their competency levels in the job market (Ruttert et al., 3098). These activities are also essential in helping an individual learner build a corporate network necessary for gaining access to the highly competitive job market.
However, students who have low participation in social activities are always perceived to have high academic performance. Rutter et al., (3099), disputes this by asserting that students with high involvement in different social activities are responsible and good planners in which they plan and balance their time to ensure ample study time and effective participation in social activities. On the other hand, students with low participation in social activities tend to be lazy and poor planners hence spend a significant amount of their time in unproductive activities like substance use in which they end up addicted and consequently irresponsible.
The theory of behavioral explanation asserts that individuals use social networks to gain rewards such as escaping reality and for entertainment. Similarly, the biomedical theory also posits that addiction is affected by the presence of some chromosomes in an individual’s system and the lack of some chemicals that regulate brain activity while the cognitive theory asserts that addiction results from the use of social networks to escape from both internal and external problems (Eid et al., 16). Through all these addictions resulting from social networking negatively impacts the physical and psychological health of individuals. This affects the level of academic performance of individual students.
The level of influence that parents have on an individual student’s activities also influences their participation in social activities. Strict parents regulate the level of activities a student can engage in while studying. This always creates time for these students to ensure effective academic performance. Giunchiglia et al., (179), asserts that these students always ensure such enhanced performance to please their parents and not to fulfill their career ambitions. However, in the long run, they achieve their career goals and objectives.
Time spent on social media
Social media platforms have become a concern in the contemporary world. These platforms have ensured the current generation is always busy either interacting socially or entertaining themselves. While this has enhanced the psychological and emotional wellbeing of individual users, questions have been raised in relation to the amount of time these individuals allocate for productive activities like studying and undertaking their professional duties. Giunchiglia et al., (183), also posits that social media is currently dictating the pace at which organizations in the contemporary world control their stakeholders and will continue to dictate these proceedings into the future and it is upon individual institutions to restructure their systems and procedures to be effective.
Social media consumes a significant amount of student’s time, which affects the amount of time they allocate for their personal studies, class attendance, and other learning activities. With the rise of Generation Z and Generation Y as primary consumers of educational services has placed the education sector in the spotlight on whether they will change their systems and procedures to fit the unique characteristics exhibited by these generations (Amin et al., 27). The two generations have been identified as heavy consumers of social media content and so dedicate a significant amount of time to these sites like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat, and Twitter among others. This always affects their level of academic performance. The only solution to this phenomenon is a change in systems and procedures in the educational sector to abolish physical attendance of classes and put in place virtual attendance that can allow individual students classes in their own free time.
The newly acquired autonomy with lack of close parental supervision among some campus students makes them abuse their privileges and spend too much time on social media platforms, which consequently affects their level of academic performance. Amin et al., (25), suggest that there is a need to restrict the level of usage of social media platforms among campus students to allow them to allocate enough time and resources to their academic performance. The study suggests that increasing the cost of accessing these platform s can be quite effective in restricting the level of consumer involvement. However, Al-Rahmi et al., (528) refute these claims and state that such cannot be realized among developed nations ruled by democracy. Additionally, the level of infrastructural development among these nations has resulted in easily accessibly Wi-fi necessary for internet connection. Scraping such infrastructure will affect the functionality of other sectors.
Conclusion
There are several factors that impact the level of academic performance of individual students. These factors range from individual factors to socio-institutional factors. From the above presentation, it can be said that the Predictors and determinants of university student’s academic performance have been exhausted and comprehensively covered. However, there are some elements that have not been effectively tackled one of these relates to the problem relating to individual students from rich families but still poorly perform academically. The other area that has not been effectively tackled the health aspect related to different elements involved in student performance. The study will look into contributing to these two problems.
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