UoP Proceedings

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Browsing UoP Proceedings by Subject "Academic performance"

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    An analysis of academic performance of undergraduates
    (The University of Peradeniya, 2013-07-04) Weerahewa, Jeevika; Bulathwela, Sahan; Silva, Pradeep; Perera, Kalyani
    The objective of this study is to assess the extent to which academic history vis-à-vis other factors influence the academic performance of the undergraduate students in the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka. A series of educational production functions were estimated treating Grade Point Average of students at semester level and cumulative Grade Point Average as the measures of academic performance. Academic history, engagements in student associations and other extra-curricular activities, learning environment, associations with the teaching staff, resources and support services provided by the university, social interactions, psychological factors, family background, funding and student inherent characteristics/personal background were hypothesized as the factors affecting academic performance. A structured questionnaire was distributed among 196 students in the final year of Agricultural Technology and Management degree program offered by the Faculty of Agriculture in 2011 to gather the needed data and 121 students responded to the survey. Results of the econometric models specified at semester levels reveal that during the first semester, English language proficiency, efforts made by the student and family background have positive and statistically significant effects on academic performance of undergraduates while the performance during semesters 2-7 is largely driven by the performance of the previous semester. A significant gender disparity in academic performance of undergraduates exists. In general, female students perform better than the male students and psychological factors explain a considerable proportion of the variability of academic performance. The results further reveal that the overall academic performance is influenced by the language proficiency and the academic efforts made by the students. Female students and those who came from privileged districts perform much better than their respective counterparts. Academic performance at school does not have a significant effect even when the other factors affecting undergraduate performance are controlled for. The study concludes that the English language proficiency, family background and academic efforts made by the students are the three key elements that determine the academic performance at every level. Contrary to the expectation, the performance at the Advanced Level examination, as measured by the Z score, does not seem to influence undergraduate academic performance in a statistically significant manner. The above findings imply a need to upgrade the facilities to improve English language proficiency and to create an enabling learning environment primarily through strengthening of social interactions and enhancing psychological spirits of undergraduates in order to obtain the best return for the investment made in higher education in Sri Lanka.
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    Association between perceived stress and the academic performance among undergraduate female students in the University of Peradeniya
    (University of Peradeniya, 2019-09-12) Ekanayake, E. H. M. R. K.; Mudiyanse, R. M.
    University students are particularly subjected to stressors. Student can be stressed due to different stressors such as academic, financial and health related issues and female students suffer considerably higher level of stress than male students. Stress is the bodies’ reaction both neurologically and physiologically to adapt to the new condition. Stress can either negatively or positively influence the academic achievement. This study explores the association between perceived stress measured by Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) with current Grade Point Average (GPA), up to previous semester. Scores ranging from 0-13, 14-26 and 27-40 would be considered as low, moderate and high perceived stress. This cross-sectional study conducted among 450 third year undergraduate female students of the University of Peradeniya. Stress level and its correlation with current GPA of the students were analyzed using Pearsons’ correlation analysis. The mean age of the respondents was 23.30(SD ± 0.89). The mean perceived stress score and the GPA were 18.92(SD ± 5.22) and 3.16 (SD± 0.33) respectively. The findings of the study showed that overall, the undergraduate students experienced moderate levels of stress (76.8%). The correlation between perceived stress and the GPA was statistically negative and not significant (r= -0.006, P>0.05). Better stress levels in the Peradeniya compared to local and foreign universities, probably indicating the psychosocial relief provided by this garden university. Although the recent finding shows that undergraduate students were in moderate levels of stress, related research is encouraged to be conducted. This is important for the discovery of the current state of psychological well-being among undergraduate students.