Citation
(2014), "2013 Awards for Excellence", Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, Vol. 6 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-04-2014-004
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
2013 Awards for Excellence
Article Type: 2013 Awards for Excellence: Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, Volume 6, Issue 1
The following article was selected for this year's Outstanding Paper Award for Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education
"The investigation of multiple paths to success in college-level mathematics: a fuzzy qualitative comparative analysis"
Sally A. Lesik and Maria T. Mitchell
Purpose – This paper aims to describe how a fuzzy qualitative comparative analysis can be used to describe which combinations of
academic factors are most influential for achieving success in college-level mathematics. Using a fuzzy qualitative comparative
analysis allows for the comparison of all possible combinations for a collection of predictor variables, as well as strategies
for determining which configurations of these sets of variables are the most consistent with success in college-level mathematics.
Recent advances in fuzzy qualitative comparative analysis techniques have now integrated traditional qualitative comparative
analysis strategies with formal statistical tests, thus allowing for the analysis and comparison of complex relationships
that are difficult to describe with more traditional statistical methods such as regression analysis.
Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 259 full-time, first-time freshmen at a large state university in the USA. They were analysed
using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (FQCA).
Findings – Findings from this study suggest that the most parsimonious configuration of college remediation status, spending less
time away from mathematics, and doing better in high school mathematics are key to success in college-level mathematics.
Originality/value – Although numerous studies have made great progress in describing the complex relationship between prior mathematics exposure
in high school with success in college-level mathematics, one limitation of many studies is that they rely on analytic methods
that only estimate the net effect of a single predictor variable, or a very small collection of predictor variables. This
study utilises fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (FQCA) which can be used to analyse more complex interrelationships
among a collection of predictor variables.
This article originally appeared in Volume 5 Number 1, 2012, Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education
The following articles were selected for this year's Highly Commended Award
"Higher education abroad: Palestinian students from Israel studying in Jordanian universities"
Khalid Arar and Kussai Haj-Yehia
This article originally appeared in Volume 5 Number 1, 2012, Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education
“The rise of contingent faculty: its impact on the professoriate and higher education”
Randall Bowden and Lynn P. Gonzalez
This article originally appeared in Volume 4 Number 1, 2012, Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education
"What makes a good university lecturer? Students’ perceptions of teaching excellence"
Feng Su and Margaret Wood
This article originally appeared in Volume 4 Number 2, 2012, Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education
Outstanding Reviewer
Curt Bonk and Lesley Diack