Abstract

SMITH, Leonard C.. Measuring the impact of academic development courses in first- and second-year chemistry. S.Afr.j.chem. (Online) [online]. 2013, vol.66, pp.00-00. ISSN 1996-840X.

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.

Keywords : Academic development; academic performance; chemistry; educational interventions; multivariate analysis; South Africa.

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