Indicators of Achievement in College Physics

This study was made to investigate some factors which might indicate a student’s success in college physics. The researchers were interested in determining if the following factors were significant in predicting achievement in college physics. It was hoped that answers to some of the following questions would be forthcoming. 1) What percent of students taking college physics took high school physics? 2) Does high school physics contribute to success in college physics? 3) is the size of the high school a factor in determining success in college physics? 4) Can the grades received in Mathematics 16 or English 1 serve as indicators for determining probably achievement in college physics? 5) Knowing that high school rank is an important factor in college success, is rank more of less important in college physics than other courses? 6) Is there any trend toward increased enrollment in high school physics? Data to achieve the above were taken from South Dakota State College Admissions and Records files. The data were analyzed by the following methods: 1) each student’s grade in Physics 20 was compared with his achievement in the other areas, 2) each student’s quartile rank in his graduating class was compared with his grade in each of the courses, 3) the size of the high school and grades in physics 20 were compared, and 4) the percentage of students which took high school physics each year is recorded