Adult undergraduate students: Evaluating the appropriateness of a traditional model of academic performance |
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| Authors: | Carol E Kasworm Gary R Pike |
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| Institution: | (1) College of Education, University of Tennessee, 212 Claxton Education Building, 37996-3400 Knoxville, TN;(2) Center for Educational Assessment, University of Missouri-Columbia, 403 S. 6th Street, 65211 Columbia, MO |
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| Abstract: | Adult learners (age 25 or older) now comprise approximately 40 percent of under-graduate enrollment. However, predictive models
of undergraduate academic success are usually based on traditional young undergraduate students, presenting a problematic
picture for the adult undergraduate population. Past research indicates that many older adult learners enter higher education
from family backgrounds that tend to place them at an academic disadvantage, bring with them deficiencies in academic skills,
and are less involved in academic and social aspects of campus life. Therefore, conventional wisdom would suggest that older
students should have lower cumulative grade-point averages than younger students. However, past research on academic performance
of adult undergraduates does not substantiate this prediction. This study focused on the validity of generalizing a traditional
model of academic performance to older adult students. Results from this study indicate that a traditional model of academic
performance prediction is inappropriate for use with older adult undergraduates.
This research was supported in part by a grant from the Association for Continuing Higher Education. |
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