Exploring individual differences as determining factors in
student academic achievement in higher education

Cassidy, SF

Abstract

study investigated the association and relative influence of
cognitive/motivational and demographic factors on final degree grade point average (GPA) in a single undergraduate cohort. Although academic selfefficacy, approaches to learning, prior achievement and age all produced significant correlations with GPA, regression analysis identified prior achievement, age and academic self-efficacy as the only significant predictors of GPA. Significant increases in academic self-efficacy, deep and strategic approaches to learning and self-confidence, and a significant decrease in internal locus of control were also reported when comparing first and final year scores. Conclusions suggested that prior academic achievement, age
and academic self-efficacy provide a partial explanation for academic achievement in higher education, that any measure of prior achievement must be relevant, that self-efficacy appears to be the most relevant perceived
control construct in a learning context, and that further work focusing on age in the context of academic achievement in higher education is both necessary and warranted.

Citation

student academic achievement in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 37(7), 793-810. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2010.545948

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Aug 9, 2011
• Deposit Date: Apr 20, 2011
• Journal: Studies in Higher Education
• Print ISSN: 0307-5079
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 37
• Issue: 7
• Pages: 793-810
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2010.545948
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2010.545948
• Related Public URLs: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cshe20/current