Analyzing Students' Academic Success in Pre-requisite Course Chains: A Case Study in Turkey

Abstract

There are several principles which have been accepted as approaches to successful curriculum development. In spite of the differences in the proposed sequencing of topics, all approaches basically depend on the pre-requisite chains to implement their educational approach in the curriculum development for specifying the order of the subjects. In this research, two prerequisite chains representing two different curriculum development approaches are taken into consideration in a case study. The first research question considered is whether academic success in a follow-up course is positively related to success attained in the pre-requisite course. The second one is whether or not the selected curriculum development approach for deciding the chains has a significant impact on the academic success relationships between a pre-requisite and its follow-up course. To answer these questions, course data of 441 undergraduate students who graduated from the Atilim University between Fall 2001 and Spring 2015 semesters were collected and analyzed. The results indicate that the succes levels gained in a pre-requisite and its follow-up course are corelated. Moreover, different cirriculum development methods can affect this corelation. Thus, cirriculum developers should consider appropriate approaches to improve student success for deciding chaining courses and their contents.