Over the past 30 years, there has been very little research done related to predicting academic achievement utilizing a mastery learning based delivery system. The majority of research concerning student characteristics and academic achievement was conducted within four-year institutions and focused on the traditional lecture-based classroom. Descriptive variables such as age and gender were the two most often cited as significant predictors of academic achievement. Cognitive variables such as high school grade point average and rank were also found to be significant predictors of academic performance. Specific measures of motivation, such as locus of control, were also cited as significant predictors of academic achievement.
This study was a descriptive research project using a survey design. A total of 203 subjects participated, 101 enrolled in traditional lecture courses and 102 enrolled in open learning courses. Due to the deviation of the data from a normal distribution, nonparametric statistical tests were used. Ninety males participated of which 51 were enrolled in traditional courses while 39 were taking courses in open learning. One hundred thirteen females participated, 50 were enrolled in open learning and 63 in traditional classes.
Analysis of the data indicates that the delivery system made little difference in overall success rates. For only those subjects taking open learning classes was there a statistically significant relationship between locus of control and academic achievement. For both subject groups there was a statistically significant relationship between the high school grade point average, rank and academic achievement. For subjects in the traditional classroom there was a statistically significant relationship between gender and academic achievement.
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