Factors related to the academic performance of students in the statistics course in Psychology

Abstract

Many studies have examined the factors that influence academic performance in primary and secondary education as well as at university, with the purpose of enhancing learning at these stages and reducing drop-out rates. It is within this research framework that we want to emphasise the deficient performance of students enrolled on the statistics course in the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Barcelona. Consequently, this paper attempts to determine the factors that affect student performance in this subject by under- taking an analysis of a structural equation model and determining its stability over time. In order to accomplish our objective, we worked with two samples of students enrolled sta- tistics classes. The first group comprised 211 students enrolled in the academic year 2000 2001, while the second comprised 287 students enrolled in the academic year 2001 2002. By administering a questionnaire, we obtained information concerning such variables as demo- graphic data, previous academic record, information related to the subject and the degree of satisfaction with it, and the final mark obtained by the students in the subject. The param- eters for each group of students were estimated separately and the goodness of fit of the proposed structural model was assessed. The data analysis showed a good fit with both data bases, but the set of estimated parameters differed in the two academic years under consideration.