Mul idisciplina y Jou nal o Educa ion, h p://dx.doi.o g/10.4995/muse.2016.4693
Social and Technological Sciences EISSN: 2341-2593
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S uden s Academic P og ess Analysis a he Escola
Poli ècnica Supe io o he Uni e si a de les Illes Balea s:
Backg ound implica ions
Miquel Roca*, Yolanda González, Ramon Mas, Joan Rossello, Lo en Ca asco,
F ancisco Fo eza, Biel Ca dona, Me cè Llab és, Ca los Gue e o
Uni e si a Illes Balea s
* Co esponding au ho : miquel.[email p o ec ed]
Recei ed: 2016-04-16; Accep ed: 2016-08-18
Abs ac
In his wo k, he in luence o he backg ound o he Uni e si y s uden s is
analyzed. In pa icula how he a e age ma k o he s uden s a ec s hei
academic p og ess. An anonymously collec ed da a analysis is pe o med,
Among hese da a a e he numbe o Eu opean C edi T ans e and
Accumula ion Sys em (ECTS) en olled, he ma k exams, a e age ma k exams,
access ype, e c. Conclusions o each conside ed deg ee a e p esen ed a he
end o he wo k.
Keywo ds
Backg ound, Academic pe o mance, access exams.
Mul idisciplina y Jou nal o Educa ion, h p://dx.doi.o g/10.4995/muse.2016.4693
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1. In oduc ion
One o he main conce ns o deg ee managemen eams in Spanish uni e si ies is he
analysis o s uden academic p og ess, in o de o ind he main causes when his is no
sa is ac o y, and implemen imp o emen p ocesses whe e e possible.
Success ul s uden p og ess is o pa icula in e es when i comes o he deg ees ha ha e
been adap ed o he Eu opean Highe Educa ion A ea. I is supposed ha he Highe
Educa ion Sys em has e ol ed o a sys em based on compe ences e alua ion, a sys em
ocused on s uden wo k, a sys em which conside s con inuous e alua ion p ocesses, ha
is, a sys em whe e he eaching-lea ning p ocess should imply be e esul s in compa ison
o he educa ional sys ems ha was in place be o e he Bologna Plan.
In he case o enginee ing deg ees, success a es a e usually wo se han in o he deg ees.
In ac , hese deg ees a e conside ed as di icul ones in ou socie y, he e o e he analysis
p esen ed in his pape is highly signi ican in his kind o deg ees.
In addi ion o ha , he g ea e pa o Enginee ing Schools in Spain a e in ol ed in he
p ocesses o deg ees’ acc edi a ion enewal because hey ha e been augh hei deg ees
o six yea s and an analysis o he esul s is now manda o y, in o de o de ec s eng hs
and weaknesses and gene a e imp o emen plans whe e e needed.
The p ocess o enewal acc edi a ion (ACREDITA [1] & ACREDITA + [2]) will end wi h
he d a ing o a sel - epo om he uni e si y and hei e alua ion om a Panel o Expe s
appoin ed by he Na ional E alua ion Agency ANECA o by he Regional E alua ion
Agencies, in some cases.
Due o all he abo e a special mo i a ion o de elop hese s udies, analysis and e lec ions
as he ones p oposed in his wo k is highligh ed. Simila s udies can be ound in he
li e a u e [3-6] whe e colleagues om he EUETIB analyze hese ac o s a hei
Enginee ing School. A compa ison o esul s can be ound he e and di e ences and
simila i ies be ween hem a e commen ed.
Mul idisciplina y Jou nal o Educa ion, h p://dx.doi.o g/10.4995/muse.2016.4693
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The pape is s uc u ed as ollows. In sec ion 2 he main de ails o how he s udy is
pe o med and how he da a is analyzed a e p esen ed. Sec ion 3 deals wi h he p esen a ion
o he ob ained esul s and a i s commen abou hei causes. Finally in sec ion 4 he main
conclusions o he wo k a e poin ed ou .
2. Pe o med s udy
The main objec i e o his wo k is o s udy he co ela ion be ween he a e age ma k o he
s uden s and hei pe o mance h oughou hei academic ca ee . A a second phase we
ha e s udied he ela ion be ween he ECTS ob ained in he i s yea and he ECTS
ob ained along he es o he deg ee, as well.
Ma ks conside ed du ing he s udy a e calcula ed wi h he high-school a e age g ades and
sco e on he Uni e si y speci ic en ance exam.
The s udy conside s all he di e en deg ees augh a he Escola Poli ècnica Supe io o
he Uni e si a Illes Balea s (UIB): Indus ial Elec onic and Au oma ion Enginee ing
Deg ee (GEEI), In o ma ics Enginee ing Deg ee (GEIN), Cons uc ion Deg ee (GEED),
Ag i- ood and Ru al En i onmen Enginee ing Deg ee (GEAM), Telema ics Enginee ing
Deg ee (GTTT) and Ma hema ics Deg ee (GMAT).
The s udy akes in o accoun 2625 s uden s om yea s 2009-10 o 2014-15. The s uden s’
dis ibu ion acco ding o he di e en yea o en ollmen and deg ee is p esen ed in Table
I.
Mul idisciplina y Jou nal o Educa ion, h p://dx.doi.o g/10.4995/muse.2016.4693
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Table I. S uden s dis ibu ion (academic yea s and he di e en deg ees)
Yea
09/10
Yea
10/11
Yea
11/12
Yea
12/13
Yea
13/14
Yea
14/15
To al
GEEI
126
55
71
65
69
386
GEIN
175
132
160
158
141
766
GEED
86
83
205
249
142
56
821
GEAM
57
37
54
46
41
235
GTTT
41
31
76
50
44
242
GMAT
29
26
31
41
17
31
175
The da a analyzed ha e been ob ained om he UIB S uden s Se ice and om he
In o ma ion Technologies Cen e (CTI), h ough sp eadshee s iles in Excel o ma . The
da a a e anonymous, whe e e e y s uden is indica ed by a code, and i is no possible o
us o iden i y he s uden , he anonymi y o he da a is gua an eed.
The da a p ocess has been done using Ma Lab. A i s ansla ion om Excel o Ma Lab
has been made and a e he esul s and g aphs ha e been ob ained h ough Ma Lab
p og amming.
As an example, igu e 1 shows he e olu ion o i s yea s uden s as he a io be ween
ECTS o e come and ECTS egis e ed (no malized a io) e sus he ma k, as i has been
de ined p e iously.
Mul idisciplina y Jou nal o Educa ion, h p://dx.doi.o g/10.4995/muse.2016.4693
Social and Technological Sciences EISSN: 2341-2593
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Figu e 1. ECTS passed/ECTS en olled in he i s cou se s a e age ma k o he case o GEEI s uden s.
Each poin o he g aph ep esen s one s uden . The x-axis o he g aph ep esen s he
a e age ma k o he s uden s. The y-axis ep esen s he a io be ween he numbe o ECTS
c edi s passed in ela ion o he numbe o ECTS c edi s en olled in he i s yea . F om
hese dis ibu ions, co ela ion be ween da a is ound and conclusion ex ac ed.
3. Resul s. Causes Analysis.
I we ake a look a he case o GEEI s uden s, we can dis inguish h ee di e en zones in
igu e 1.
The i s one co esponds o he le pa o he g aph (ma ks be ween 5 and 6). In his zone
he pe cen age o ECTS o e come is e y low. This zone includes he s uden s wi h low
ma ks and a low pe o mance in he i s yea o s udy a he Enginee ing School.
The second zone co e s s uden s wi h a ma k o 6 o 9. In his zone s uden s’ pe o mance
a ies widely. This g oup includes he s uden s wi h medium ma k o access exam. In his
se , some s uden s a e easily adap ed o academic demands o hei p og am o s udy while
o he s a en’ and p esen some adap a ion p oblems in he ansi ion om high school o
4 6 8 10 12 14
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
A e age ma k
ECTS passed/en olled (1s cou se)
GEEI

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uni e si y deg ees. Finally, he hi d zone ep esen s s uden s wi h ma ks be ween 9 and
14. In his zone he s uden s’ pe o mance is e y high.
The obse a ion can be made ha he e may be a s onge co ela ion in he case o s uden s
o lowes and highes ma ks and hei pe o mance, while in he case o s uden s wi h
medium ma k he e is no clea co ela ion: he e a e some s uden s wi h high pe o mance,
o he s wi h medium pe o mance and o he s wi h low pe o mance, independen ly o hei
ma k.
Figu e 2. ECTS passed/ECTS en olled s a e age ma k o he case o GEEI s uden s.
Following he same app oach, looking now a he case o s uden pe o mance du ing all
o hei academic ca ee ( igu e 2), and no only in he i s yea o s udy, a e y simila
esul is obse ed. The pa e n is almos iden ical.
Finally, igu e 3 e lec s he success du ing he deg ee e sus he success in he i s yea
o s udy. A e y high co ela ion o esul s can be obse ed in his g aph. S uden s showing
a high pe o mance in he i s cou se also ha e a high pe o mance du ing all he deg ee
and ice e sa, low pe o mance in he i s cou se usually indica es he same end all
h oughou he deg ee.
4 6 8 10 12 14
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
A e age ma k
ECTS passed/en olled (all cou ses)
GEEI
Mul idisciplina y Jou nal o Educa ion, h p://dx.doi.o g/10.4995/muse.2016.4693
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Figu e 3. Pe o mance all cou ses s Pe o mance a he i s cou se in he case o GEEI s uden s.
I may seem ha he high ma ks ange o access exams is se a high ma k (abo e 9 in he
analyzed case), bu i mus be aken in o accoun ha his ma k is o e 14, whe e 2 poin s
could be ob ained om he speci ic pa o he Uni e si y en ance exam. In his way, o
ins ance, a ma k o 9 could be ob ained om sco ing 7 in he gene al pa o he exam, as
he ma k o access is done by he weigh ed a e age (60% high school ma k and 40%
gene al pa o he access exam) plus a alue be ween 0 o 2 depending on he esul o he
speci ic pa o he exam.
In he case o GEIN deg ee (Figu es 4, 5 and 6), i can be obse ed as he zone o high
ma k s uden s s a s a simila alues as in he p e ious analyzed GEEI deg ee case. I can
also be deduced ha he e is also a co ela ion be ween hese high ma ks and he s uden s’
pe o mance. On he o he hand, he e does no seem o be a co ela ion be ween low
en ance g ade and s uden ’s (o his zone is e y na ow). The e is also a high numbe o
s uden s wi h medium en ance ma k who p esen ex emely low pe o mance h oughou
hei s udies. This could be due o a high numbe o s uden s being e y in e es ed in
In o ma ics (a e y a ac i e ield in ou socie y) who do no know he di e ence be ween
In o ma ics use and In o ma ics enginee , and consequen ly hey ha e some di icul ies o
00.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
ECTS passed/en olled (1s cou se)
ECTS passed/en olled (all cou ses)
GEEI
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p og ess in he uni e si y deg ee. These s uden s o en ha e li le o no backg ound in
ma hema ics and science aspec s.
The beha io in he pe o mance h oughou he deg ee is almos he same as when looking
a conside ing i s cou se pe o mance. As in he p e ious deg ee a signi ican co ela ion
be ween pe o mance h oughou he deg ee and s uden pe o mance in he i s cou se
can be obse ed, al hough he co ela ion is sligh ly weake in his case.
Figu e 4. ECTS passed/ECTS en olled in he i s cou se s a e age ma k o he case o GEIN s uden s.
Figu e 5. ECTS passed/ECTS en olled s a e age ma k o he case o GEIN s uden s.
4 6 8 10 12 14
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
A e age ma k
ECTS passed/en olled (1s cou se)
GEIN
4 6 8 10 12 14
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
A e age ma k
ECTS passed/en olled (all cou ses)
GEIN
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Figu e 6. Pe o mance all cou ses s Pe o mance a he i s cou se in he case o GEIN s uden s.
Figu e 7. ECTS passed/ECTS en olled a i s cou se s a e age ma k o he case o GEED s uden s.
When looking a GEED deg ee (Figu es 7, 8 and 9), he pa e ns obse ed a e e y simila
o hose in GEEI, al hough he zone o high ma ks appea s in a ange which begins wi h a
sligh ly uppe ma k, a ound 10 o e 14. In his case i mus be poin ed ou ha he e is a
signi ican se o s uden s which p esen a high s uden pe o mance du ing he i s cou se,
bu whose pe o mance dec eases h oughou hei s udies (poin s x=1 and y<1 in Figu e
9). This esul can be a ibu ed o he ac ha some s uden s come om he p e ious
deg ee Technical A chi ec u e and in he i s cou se a se o di e en c edi s a e
ans e ed. I he da a om he i s yea s (2009, 2010) is elimina ed, his end becomes
less signi ican .
00.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
ECTS passed/en olled (1s cou se)
ECTS passed/en olled (all cou ses)
GEIN
4 6 8 10 12 14
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
A e age ma k
ECTS passed/en olled (1s cou se)
GEED