Resumen

MOLINAS F, Carlos. EL RENDIMIENTO ACADÉMICO DE LOS ESTUDIANTES DE LA FACEN: UNA METODOLOGÍA PARA SU MEDICIÓN. Rep. cient. FACEN [online]. 2010, vol.1, n.1, pp.30-39. ISSN 2222-145X.

Academic performance is commonly thought as directly associated to students examination scores. However, nowadays this notion has changed towards a multidimentional approach, involving several variables for assessment. We propose to measure academic performance using the principal components technique, with which influential dimensions can be identified. This research does not examine causes that might affect perfor-mance, instead, focuses on the study of several dimensions, such as, according to Garnica Olmos (1997), quality, quantity, dropping and the speed. Data for analysis come from academic records of students at FaCEN-UNA. Performance was evaluated using 20 variables, resulting in 3 dimensions to mention: quantity-delay, speed-quality and dropping. A good fit is obtained after varimax rotation, giving the model an 85,2% of explained variance and a variables adequacy of 0.80. Once dimensions had been established, measures of performance were estimated for students, and these were used for comparisons among careers by means of an ANOVA analysis. Significant differences, p<0.0001, are found among careers offered at FaCEN. The Gabriel's post hoc analysis resulted in two groups of careers, one with positive performance and the other with negative performance, this is to say, one group performed above the average score, whereas the other below. These results will help to broaden the study in order to find out the underlying causes of performance differences.

Palabras clave : Academic performance; principal components; varimax rotation..

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