the Sam Jackson College Experience

Through “a series of multiple-choice questions,” researchers plan to predict how students will succeed (or not succeed) in college. What test could I be talking about: the SAT, the ACT, the AP, IB, or maybe even the TOEFL? No, it’s some new test–so new it doesn’t have a dehumanizing acronym applied to it yet! Better yet, it doesn’t use language or math to predict aptitude–it uses background information! Awesome! Wait…

(Article truncated here)

update Aug 2: the Research being done at MSU by MSU researchers, MSU has belatedly put up a nice, extra-informative article on the subject HERE.

update Aug 3: I emailed Dr. Schmitt, chair of the MSU psych department, and got the prepublication papers, which are very interesting. I’m reading through them now (~175 pages, so sort of skimming) and will report on them soon. Yeah, I know, excellent use of my time.

Professors Find Ways to Predict Student Success

By KATHLEEN POLESNAK

http://www.statenews.com/article.phtml?pk=37042
The State News

Grade-point averages and SAT scores can only do so much to predict student success at college. That’s why two MSU professors researched other ways to anticipate how student life beyond the books plays into college performance.After looking at students’ interests, background experiences and motivational characteristics from 10 universities during a four-year period, psychology professors Neal Schmitt, Frederick Oswald and a team of undergraduate and graduate students found predictors for student potential, including their likeliness to cheat, drop out of school and attend classes regularly.

The College Board approached Schmitt and Oswald about conducting the study, which it plans to use to enhance college admissions.

“I think it’s a step forward in terms of learning about college performance more broadly and how to admit students that will create a more well-rounded student body,” Oswald said.

Oswald and Schmitt started by examining college mission statements to find which student traits universities desire. They narrowed them down to 12 categories, including artistic and cultural appreciation, social responsibility and citizenship, and career orientation. [...]

“It is daunting in a sense that no test is perfect in predicting students’ success,” Oswald said. “We did the best as we could to make the test as reliable and predictable of student outcomes as possible.” “You lose some of that individual richness, but what you gain is the consistency, and it’s interpreted in a similar way on the admissions side of things,” Oswald said.

The next step in utilizing the information is extending the research to high school seniors, said Viji Sathy, an associate research scientist for the College Board.

Good:

• “If you expand your selection beyond that of ability, you can look at these elements and expand the array of (students at) the college.”
• “I think it’s a step forward in terms of learning about college performance more broadly and how to admit students that will create a more well-rounded student body,” Oswald said.

Bad:

• “We’re just trying to find a way to measure people,”
• “You lose some of that individual richness”

Worst:

• The College Board approached Schmitt and Oswald about conducting the study, which it plans to use to enhance college admissions.
• The next step in utilizing the information is extending the research to high school seniors, said Viji Sathy, an associate research scientist for the College Board.

Scary…

Read part 2 of this exciting story here: Feed it Gossip hear your future GPA pt. 2