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Are your students ready for A & P? Developing an effective tool to identify students at risk for failure in introductory science courses
Author(s) -
Gultice Amy Denise,
Kallmeyer Robert,
Witham Ann
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.518.4
Subject(s) - gateway (web page) , medical education , mathematics education , reading (process) , psychology , logistic regression , medicine , computer science , world wide web , political science , law
Introductory science courses, such as Anatomy and Physiology, are gateway courses to professional degree programs in nursing, radiation technology, and other fields. At the University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College, Anatomy and Physiology I and Fundamentals of Biology I have failure/withdrawal rates of ~35%. In order to identify students at risk for failure, an online survey that collected information regarding students’ high school grades, current college status, personal responsibilities, and math and reading skills was administered to 200 students. Analysis of the data demonstrates statistically significant differences in the academic preparation of passing versus failing students. These results led to a comprehensive study of the college records of more than 2,000 students from a 5‐year period. The analysis shows statistically significant differences between passing and failing students in the following categories: age, high school GPA, college GPA, number of college hours earned, and placement test scores in English and math. Logistic regression analysis using the historical data produces a model with factors that predict student success in these courses. Evidence‐based advising that communicates this information to students could encourage underprepared students to delay entry into gateway courses until they develop the necessary skills, potentially increasing student success.