Measurement models of factors influencing academic achievement and completion of tertiary studies

Studies involving both technical and further education (TAFE) students and university students have identified social integration, motivation and quality of teaching as important factors influencing non-completion and academic achievement. This study develops and tests a measurement model that captures these constructs in tertiary students. Questionnaire responses were collected from 165 TAFE marketing students and 148 university undergraduate psychology students. A three-factor independent cluster measurement model comprising latent factors for social integration, motivation and teaching was specified and tested using confirmatory factor analysis. While the three-factor model was found to fit the data well for the students from TAFE, contrary to expectations, this model was not valid for university students. The lack of congruence between the results may be partly due to the greater degree of skewness of the items comprising the motivation factor in the university cohort. A two-factor model comprising only the teaching and social integration factors was subsequently specified for the university sample and was found to have adequate fit. Further research is warranted to determine the extent to which the measure might be generalised to other tertiary student populations.