The Impact of Tertiary Students' Entry Characteristics and their Academic Performance

Abstract

This article examines the effect of tertiary students’ entry characteristics
on academic performance using the ‘value added’ approach and MET
Polytechnic, Ghana as a case study. The input-process–output-context
framework presented in the Global Monitoring Report (2005) by Scheerens
was used to select appropriate variables for the study. The study
focused on three generic courses - African Studies, Communicative Skills,
and Computer Literacy. Data from different sources, including secondary
data and administrative records from the Polytechnic were analysed using
multilevel analysis. The overall effect of the selected variables was mixed
and outcomes specific. For example, English language impacted positively
on African Studies but negatively on second-semester Computer Literacy,
while age and gender had a negative effect on first-semester Computer
Literacy. Although the findings may not directly benefit analogous institutions,
several lessons, including the need to create appropriate institutional
datasets for future comparisons across institutions can be learnt.

Key words: Age, gender, department context, previous achievement, SES,
‘value added’.