Measuring the impact of academic development courses in first-and second-year chemistry
Journal Article
2013
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Journal Title
South African Journal of Chemistry
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South African Chemical Institute
Publisher
University of Cape Town
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Abstract
This paper uses multivariate analysis to estimate the impact of educational interventions in the first-year academic development chemistry courses on students' final course marks. The cohorts for seven years are pooled, which generates a more robust set of results than was previously the case. To counter the sample-selection problem that arises as academic development students are placed onto the academic development programme, a selection of control variables is included in the estimations. The results suggest that the educational interventions in the first year had a positive impact on academic development students' performance, relative to mainstream students, in both the first- and second-year courses. The implications of the results for education policy and research are considered.
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Reference:
Smith, L. 2013. Measuring the impact of academic development courses in first-and second-year chemistry. South African Journal of Chemistry.