More students of better quality? Effects of a mathematics and physics aptitude test on student performance

ABSTRACT

This paper examines whether subject-specific admission tests may allow Swedish higher education institutions to admit better-performing students. The performance of students admitted via a mathematics and physics aptitude test was reviewed with a focus on activity, retention, and credits earned, and the results were compared with students admitted in traditional ways, such as secondary school grade point averages (GPA). The results show that the students admitted in the test quota show a higher activity rate as well as a higher retention rate than most other students, but that they are not as successful as the GPA quota students in acquiring their intended credits. It is concluded that subject-specific admission tests seem to entail higher student motivation and that they therefore may be a valuable instrument to supplement traditional admission instruments. The observed differences in the study have generated a number of hypotheses that would need further study to fully understand the merits of different admission instruments.

KEYWORDS:

• Admission
• aptitude test
• math
• physics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Johan Söderlind is a Ph.D. student at the Department of Learning at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology. He holds a MSc from Uppsala University.

Lars Geschwind is an Associate Professor in Engineering Education at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, with special focus on policy, governance, and leadership issues. He holds a Ph.D. from Uppsala University.

ORCID

Johan Söderlind http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4280-9866

Lars Geschwind http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2983-5573

Notes

1. For each student a quotient is calculated based on how many credits they have earned divided by the number of credits they should have earned (60 each year) depending on when they started their studies.