Prediction of academic performance/success of engineering technology students and validation of the MSU-IIT college admission test

• Main Author: Salazar, Fermina S.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1992
• Subjects: Academic performance; Success; Engineering students; Universities and colleges > Entrance examinations; Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology > Students; Curriculum and Instruction; Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/1460
• Institution: De La Salle University

The study focused on the: (a) analysis of the performance of MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) technician students in the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), MSU-IIT College Admission Test (CAT), in high school, and in the technician program (b) study of the abilities of cognitive and non-cognitive factors to predict academic performance and academic success in the technician program and (c) determination of the predictive, concurrent, and construct validity and reliability of the MSU-IIT CAT. Academic performance was taken to mean grades obtained during the first semester in the School of Engineering Technology (SET) program, while academic success was referred to as completion of the technician course.The sample used for the concurrent and predictive validation of the CAT, NCEE, and HSGA was composed of 379 (79 percent) SET grantees who were enrolled during the first semester of AY 1987-1988, majority of whom graduated last March 1990. The 376 subjects used for establishing the reliability and construct validity of the CAT were drawn from the population of 6,531 examinees from 34 testing centers in Mindanao and Sulu who took the simultaneous test. Selection of subjects was done utilizing the purposive and proportionate stratified random sampling techniques for the first and samples, respectively. The data gathered were fed into the computer and analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation coefficients, and multiple regression programs of the MICROSTAT software for the first sample, and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for the second sample. The study indicated the following findings, conclusions, and recommendations: 1. There existed significant difference on the performance of SET students in HSGA, NCEE, CAT, and in the technician course across non-cognitive variables-- sex, type of school, geographic origin, economic status, and course preference. 2. The graduates of the technician program had significantly higher scores in NCEE and CAT and better performance in high school and ultimately in the technician program than the non-graduates. 3. NCEE, CAT, and HSGA, taken singly or in combination, have significantly moderate abilities to predict performance of technician students. 4. The best combination of variables that could predict academic performance in the MSU-IIT technician consisted of NCEE, CAT, HSGA, and School Type. The best combination of variables that could predict success in the technician program is the combination of Quality Point Index, Sex, Economic Status, Geographic Origin, and HSGA. The best predictor of grades in the 1st semester of freshman technician subjects is the combination of Language Usage (LU) and Total Numerical Ability (TNA) subtests of the MSU-IIT CAT.5. The items on the MSU-IIT CAT are moderately discriminating, and is neither too easy nor too difficult. Its reliability is also moderate. The CAT is likewise found to be measuring two constructs---general intelligence and achievement--and as such, it exhibited a concurrent validity with NCEE. 6. The MSU-IIT CAT proved to be predictive of academic performance as far as technician students are concerned. It also manifests concurrent and construct validity. Finally, the low reliability level of the CAT indicates that there is a need for further investigation of the test items and of the factors affecting it.