Recently in this journal, Sciffer, Perry, and McConney (2020) argued that school socioeconomic-background (SES) compositional effects are important for both research and policy. In response, this commentary argues that realistic school SES effects can only be identified in properly specified models. Otherwise, the estimated school effects are very…

Sense of belonging entails students' comfort level in the classroom and experienced faculty and peer support. A diminished sense of belonging can hamper academic performance. Therefore, it is important to know which student groups may experience weaker belonging and whether these disparities extend to students' authenticity, or perception they can…

The rapid increase in international students, many of whom study in a second language (L2), has driven extensive research that examines the contribution of L2 proficiency to students' academic success. However, focusing solely on L2 proficiency as captured by language test scores provides a limited perspective, ignoring the many factors that…

The current study investigated whether the grade point average (GPA) of high school courses and the score on the test for admission to a bachelor's degree in Psychology--assessing logical reasoning, reading comprehension, and general knowledge--can predict student academic success (AS) and to what extent. Archival data from 5147 candidates (82.4%…

This quantitative study examines the impact that selected academic and personal demographic characteristics had on the successful completion of online coursework during the COVID-19 pandemic. Focused on a high-research university in the Southeastern United States during the Fall of 2020, this research looked the potential influence that prior…

The massification and diversification of the student population who enters university has become a challenge for Higher Education institutions. A better consideration of this diversity could help to gain a greater understanding of students' achievement process, and this requires observing situations where this diversity is substantial. Thus, in…

This research delves into the attitudes, perceptions, and motivations of student-athletes enrolled in Intermediate Algebra courses. It focuses on the distinct challenges they encounter in juggling academic and athletic responsibilities at a southeastern university in the United States. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study gathered…

It is well established that socioeconomic status, cognitive ability, and non-cognitive abilities such as self-efficacy are substantially associated with academic achievement. However, the specific relationships of these variables remain a relatively unexplored topic in regard to more recent and representative samples. The current study examined…

Widely accepted as a foundational course within health professions education, anatomy is often taken at the beginning of the health professional curriculum and students are expected to be prepared for the rigors of the course. Anatomy preparedness, evaluated in this study, has been defined as matriculating into a graduate or professional anatomy…

We respond to Malatinszky and Armor's, and Marks' comments on our article recently published in this journal. We agree with Marks in the use of prior achievement to control for spurious effects in school effects research. Marks makes an incorrect statement about our article, refers to dated critiques, and presents an empirical demonstration with…

Numerous studies have proven the learning benefits of concept maps in science subjects, particularly for students with low prior knowledge. There is a scarcity of research dedicated to the examination of chemistry courses at the university level, and the findings pertaining to academic performance in that subject exhibit a lack of consistency.…

Self-efficacy is associated with a range of educational outcomes, including science and math degree attainment. Project-based statistics courses have the potential to increase students' math self-efficacy because projects may represent a mastery experience, but students enter courses with preexisting math self-efficacy. This study explored…

Regional comprehensive universities offer accessible and diverse undergraduate educational programs, while grappling with funding cuts and affordability. The study's first research question underscores the enduring importance of factors such as student characteristics, pre-college characteristics, and financial situations. The findings highlight…

A multidisciplinary Australian University introduced a block model of blended, sequential 4-week blocks to first-year students. This natural experiment compares the inaugural block and two prior cohorts on satisfaction and performance (n = 15,989 satisfaction and n = 86,545 assessment observations). Mixed effect cross-classified models with…

Knowing the factors affecting students' learning achievement in digital learning is a crucial educational issue nowadays. However, recent research has paid less attention to how an individual's internal factors (prior knowledge) influence their learning achievement through cognitive engagement, and previous studies generally employed students'…