Assessing the Trends and Predictors of Academic Achievement among College of Agriculture Students: The Case of Razi University

The purpose of this descriptive-correlational study was to explore trends and predictors of academic achievement among college of agriculture students. In the first part of the study, trends in academic achievement of students in the years 2003-2005 in College ofAgriculture at Razi University (N=159) were investigated. Results revealed an increasing trend in academic achievement for all students. However, there was a significant difference in academic achievement across traditional and non-traditional students except for those registering in 2003. Moreover, there was no significant difference in academic achievement across students of different years. In the second part of the study, predictors of academic achievement across census of traditional and non-traditionalagricultural extension and education students (N=107) were analyzed. Step-wise regression analysis showed that students’ place of sitting in class, economic status of their families, exam stress, being native or non-native, interest and motivation towards college, self-efficacy, students’ family size, interest towards advisor, job prospects, and students’ parents’ educational level accounted for %76 of the variance in academic achievement. If students in college of agriculture are to excel academically, they should be provided with more interactive mode of sitting, more time in student advising, and exposure to more experiential learning strategies in teaching and learning.