Predictors of academic performance during the covid-19 outbreak: impact of distance education on mental health, social cognition and memory abilities in an Italian university student sample

Background This study aimed to investigate the impact of distance education (DE) on mental health, social cognition, and memory abilities in a sample of university students during the national COVID-19 lockdown in Italy and to identify the predictors of academic performance. Methods Two hundred and three students (76.4% women, mean age 24.3, SD ± 4.9) responded to an anonymous online cross-sectional survey between July 15 and September 30, 2020, on DE experience and cognitive and social-cognitive variables. A short version of the Beck Depression Inventory-II, ten images from the Eyes Task, and five memory vignette stimuli were included in the survey. Descriptive, one-way ANOVA, correlation, and logistic regression analyses were conducted. Results Half of the student sample reported significant impairment in concentration and learning abilities during DE. Regarding psychological health, 19.7%, 27.1%, and 23.6% of the sample reported mild, moderate, and severe depressive symptoms, respectively. Correlation analyses showed a statistically significant negative association between depression and the overall subjective evaluation of DE (r = − 0.359; p < 0.000). Changes in one’s study context and habits, i.e., studying alone at one’s parents’ home instead of studying with colleagues or alone in a university “social place” (e.g., the university library), seemed to increase the likelihood of poor academic performance by almost 3 times (O.R. 3.918; p = 0.032). This predictor was no longer statistically significant in the subsequent step when the individual impairment predictors were entered. Learning concentration impairment during DE (O.R. 8.350; p = 0.014), anxiety about COVID-19 contagion for oneself or others (O.R. 3.363; p = 0.022), female gender (O.R. 3.141; p = 0.045), and depressive symptomatology (O.R. 1.093; p = 0.047) were ultimately determined to be the strongest predictors of poor academic performance, whereas the appreciation of DE represented a protective variable (O.R. 0.610; p < 0.000). Conclusions The study showed a negative impact of DE on the mental health of students presenting depressive symptoms and impairment in concentration and learning, the latter identified as the strongest predictors of poor academic performances. The study confirms the emerging need to monitor the impact of DE, which occurred during the 2019/2020 academic year and will continue in the coming months, to refine educational offerings and meet students' psychological needs by implementing psychological interventions based on the modifiable variables that seem to compromise students’ psychological well-being and academic outcomes.

Regression Model on Self-Esteem, Self-Efficacy, Locus of Control as Predictors of Academic Performance of students in Higher Education

This research computed the combined effects of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and locus of control as predictors of academic performance of students in different universities of Karachi by using the Regression model. Previous researches were correlational studies in nature and reported the moderate positive correlations between the variables self-esteem, self-efficacy, and locus of control and academic performance. A questionnaire with 40 items related to self-esteem, self-efficacy,locus of control, and academic performance was designed. The data was collected from the public and private universities of Karachi. Descriptive Statistics, t-test, Correlation, and Regression were calculated through SPSS. The regression model showed that self-esteem, self-efficacy, Locus of Control significantly predicted the academic performance of the graduate students. In Structural Equation Modeling self-efficacy contributed more to the academic performance of students. Thisresearch recommends more future researches for in-depth analysis of latent variables as the idea has not researched its maturity in the context of higher education in Pakistan.

Assessing Predictors of Academic Performance for NMEI Curriculum-Based Medical Students Found in the Southern Ethiopia

Background. In Ethiopia since 2012, the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health and Education implemented a new medical education initiative in 13 institutions. Currently, as a nation, very little is known about the predictors of academic performance for new medical education curriculum-based students. Identifying different factors affecting students’ academic performance in the local context so as to enrich the empirical evidence and provide new insights into the effect of variables in developing countries is very important. Thus, the main aim of this study was to assess predictors of academic performance for new medical education initiative curriculum-based medical students. Objective. This study designed to assess the predictors of academic performance for new medical education initiative curriculum-based medical students found in Southern Nations and Nationalities Peoples’ Region, Ethiopia. Methods. Institutional-based cross-sectional study design was used on 472 new medical education system students. The study setting includes three medical institutions (Dilla University College of Medicine and Health Science, Wolaita Sodo University College of Medicine and Health Sciences, and Yirgalem Hospital Medical College) within southern region from February to July 2020. The study subjects were those medical students under the NMEI curriculum and had at least one-year cumulative grade point average in the abovementioned institutions. Results. A total of 167 (35.4%) of the students’ academic performance scores were poor. Being agriculture graduate with educational background, mothers with no formal education, being married, first-degree performance score of 2.7–3.2 CGPA, monthly allowance of 10–24.99 USD, nondormitory, student age of 31–35 years old, and being stressed have shown an association with poor academic performance score of the students. Conclusion. First-degree educational background, marital status, maternal educational status, first-degree academic performance, age of the student, monthly allowance, residency during medical school, and history of stress were significant predictors of academic performance for new medical education system students. Thus, it is recommended that special attention should be paid to the admission criteria and financial support of the students.

An Investigation of Secondary School STEM Subjects as Predictors of Academic Performance in Tertiary Level Health Sciences Programs

Tertiary institutions are experiencing an increased number of enrolments, with students varying in their demographics, previous education, and academic achievement. This relative increase in undergraduate enrolments in Australia has not translated to an increase in student retention or graduate numbers. This prompts the need to explore predictors of academic performance for tertiary students to identify those most at risk of underperforming. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between secondary school subject completion and undergraduate grade point average (GPA). A cohort of 709 secondary school students entering undergraduate health science courses between 2012 and 2015 at an Australian university were investigated. Completion of Mathematics 3C3D, Physics, Chemistry and Physical Education Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) subjects were significantly associated with GPA. In a subset of 458 students, longitudinal analysis revealed completion of secondary school Mathematics 3C3D was a significant predictor of academic performance over the duration of the tertiary health science courses. The results suggest that completion of advanced secondary school mathematics, but not physical sciences, is predictive of student achievement. This outcome further supports the need for improved uptake and completion of advanced mathematics in secondary school.