The risk factors caused by exams used for student selection and placement into higher education on the academic performance

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the risk factors caused by exams used for student selection and placement into higher education (the YGS, the Transition to Higher Education Exam; and the LYS, the Undergraduate Placement Exam) and the academic performance of students continuing their education in 10(th), 11(th) and 12(th) grades of secondary education, and also to investigate the causes behind this relationship. Evaluation of data obtained from the quantitative aspect of the study demonstrated that the theoretical model developed by the researcher could be verified and confirmed with the data obtained from 10th, 11(th) and 12(th) grades students; however, this evaluation also revealed that good consistency values could not be obtained for 10(th) grade students. When data obtained from the qualitative aspect of the study were evaluated, it was observed that students' interest in school classes as well as the time they spent on social activities decreased as their grade increased. in addition to this, it was determined that the students' communication with their family and friends with regards to the discussions they had on exam preparations did not change according to the students' grade; however, it was observed that students with high academic performance communicated less with their family and friends and spent more of their time studying and solving tests as their grade level increased. Furthermore, it was observed that as the students' grade increased, they placed more pressure on themselves and felt greater responsibility towards their families due to the expenses made for the exam preparations. Most students described that classes such as physical education, music and drawing were not sufficiently covered in school, and that, as result, these classes did not assist them in discovering their own skills.