Abstract:
On a national scale, college success levels differ between Hispanics and non-Hispanics and between males and females. I conducted a study to determine if such disparity exists within a course taught primarily to agriculture students at a dominantly Hispanic university, and if so, what components of course performance contributed most to the disparity. I analyzed student performance data from an introductory soils course by factorial ANOVA with gender and ethnicity as factors. Through a 10-year period Hispanic students earned significantly (P<0.01) lower course scores than non-Hispanic students. Gender differences for this period were marginal (P=0.06). Considering student performance in the course format in use for the last four years, Hispanic students scored significantly (P<0.01) lower in the course and on most components comprising the overall course grade. Differences related to gender were not significant. The highest performing student group, by all measures of performance, was non-Hispanic females, followed by non-Hispanic males, then Hispanic females, and lastly Hispanic males. Correlation analysis indicated that course scores were more sensitive to points earned on assignments than to other factors. Non-Hispanics, and especially non-Hispanic females had higher rates of assignment submission than other groups. Strategies to improve student engagement in assignments and other components of learning may improve student performance in courses such as the course described here.
Keywords:
introductory soils course, academic performance, ethnicity, gender
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