Utilization of Standardized College Entrance Metrics to Predict Undergraduate Student Success in Chemistry
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Ryan P. Kreiser [1] ; Aidan K. Wright [1] ; Tristan L. McKenzie [1] ; J. Alex Albright [1] ; Eric D. Mowles [1] ; Jared E. Hollows [1] ; Scott Limbocker [1] ; Melissa Eslinger [1] ; Ryan Limbocker [1] ; Lam T. Nguyen [1]
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[1] United States Military Academy
United States Military Academy
Town of Highlands, Estados Unidos
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- Localización: Journal of chemical education, ISSN 0021-9584, Vol. 99, Nº 4, 2022, págs. 1725-1733
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
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Resumen
Quantitative metrics are widely employed to determine the probability of an applicant succeeding in a specific program of interest, ranging from undergraduate or graduate admissions to fellowships. The admissions office at the United States Military Academy at West Point uses an internal college entrance examination rank (CEER) assessment algorithm of high school students, based on ACT and SAT scores in addition to consideration of high school performance, to assess student academic abilities and their probability of surpassing graduation requirements. To develop a tool for predicting student performance in first-semester general chemistry, we utilized CEER scores to predict student success on the national exam produced by the American Chemical Society (ACS) for general chemistry. Our results show that CEER is a strong predictor of student outcomes and a better predictor when compared to SAT Math, ACT Science, or ACT Math in isolation. Further stratification of the CEER distribution into four categories, ranging from at-risk to high achiever, identified a gradient by which students are likely to exceed the national average on the ACS exam. To further assess this prediction, we then demonstrated that the CEER brackets correlated closely to student grades in the course, therein illustrating its utility in predicting categories of students who are likely to fail, underperform, or excel. We anticipate that these tools are broadly generalizable to undergraduate admissions decisions, can assist in the placement process for students in general or advanced sections of chemistry, could yield insight when making scholarship or fellowship decisions, and more broadly can facilitate the design of group learning dynamics aimed at enhancing student outcomes.
