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Antecedents to academic success in higher education institutions: The case of UAE University

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Abstract

This research develops a model to investigate the influence of different determinants on student’s Academic Performance (AP) in UAE University (UAEU). The model consists of Big Five personality traits (BigF) and other learning-orientation strategies. The importance of this research to the UAE’s context stems from the fact that determinants of AP vary from one country to another and hence, UAE students may possess different personal traits and learning strategies. From 179 legible responses, the proposed model showed its success in detecting AP of UAEU students with the BigF attributes being the main contributors to explaining AP. The research showcases interesting insights and implications pertaining to UAEU-student’s learning strategies, traits and habits. The implications point to different theoretical and professional contributions and contentions and hence, suggesting different recommendations.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Information Technology, UAE University, Abu Dhabi, UAE

    Nabeel Al-Qirim, Mohamad Adel Serhani & Marton Gergely

  2. College of Business Administration, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait

    Kamel Rouibah

  3. Department of Information Systems, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman

    Ali Tarhini

  4. Faculty of Business, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan

    Mahmoud Maqableh

  5. College of Engineering, Abu Dhabi University, Abu Dhabi, UAE

    Ashraf Khalil

Authors
  1. Nabeel Al-Qirim
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  2. Kamel Rouibah
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  3. Mohamad Adel Serhani
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  4. Ali Tarhini
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  5. Mahmoud Maqableh
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  6. Ashraf Khalil
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  7. Marton Gergely
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Correspondence to Kamel Rouibah.

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Appendix 1. The survey questions

Appendix 1. The survey questions

  1. A.

    Extraversion

  1. 1.

    like to do a great deal of activities

  2. 2.

    like to be with others

  3. 3.

    can easily say to others what I think

  4. 4.

    do something not to get bored

  5. 5.

    happy and lively

  1. B.

    Agreeableness

  1. 6.

    behave correctly and honestly with others

  2. 7.

    understand when others need my help

  3. 8.

    like to give gifts

  4. 9.

    treat my peers with affection

  5. 10.

    If a classmate has some difficulty, I help her/him

  6. 11.

    trust in others

  1. C.

    Conscientiousness

  1. 12.

    do my job without carelessness and inattention

  2. 13.

    When I start to do something, I have to finish it at all costs

  3. 14.

    like to keep all my university things in a great order

  4. 15.

    It is unlikely that I divert my attention

    1. D.

      Neuroticism

  5. 16.

    usually in a depressed mood

  6. 17.

    argue with others with excitement

  7. 18.

    easily get angry

  8. 19.

    easily lose my calm

  9. 20.

    usually feel guilty even about silly things

    1. E.

      Openness

  10. 21.

    know many things

  11. 22.

    have a great deal of imagination

  12. 23.

    easily learn what I study at class

  13. 24.

    able to create new games and entertainments

  14. 25.

    like to know and to learn new things

  15. 26.

    would like very much to travel and to know the habits of other countries

    1. F.

      Motivation

  16. 1.

    make university work enjoyable by focusing on something about it that is fun

  17. 2.

    try to find ways that the material relates to my life

  18. 3.

    remind myself about how important it is to get good grades

  19. 4.

    push myself to see if I can do better than I have done before

  20. 5.

    persuade myself to work hard just for the sake of learning

  21. 6.

    challenge myself to complete the work and learn as much as possible

  22. 7.

    think about trying to become good at what we are learning or doing

  23. 8.

    try to study at a time when I can be more focused

  24. 9.

    try to get rid of any distractions that are around me

    1. G.

      Mastery effort

  25. 1.

    try to be strict with myself in my study habits, so that I can do the very best I can

  26. 2.

    look at most of the additional readings suggested by the lecturer

  27. 3.

    limit my studying to the slides only

  28. 4.

    use the prescribed textbook in my study

  29. 5.

    make sure I clearly understand the assessment requirements early in the course

  30. 6.

    usually set out to understand thoroughly the meaning of what I am asked to read

  31. 7.

    usually put a lot of effort into trying to understand things that at first seem difficult

    1. H.

      Time-poorness

  32. 1.

    don’t have enough time to do as much study as I need to for my course

  33. 2.

    Other things such as work, and family do not leave me enough time to think about the ideas from my studies

  34. 3.

    Often, I don’t have enough time to really understand the ideas I read about

    1. I.

      Assessment focus

  35. 1.

    pay close attention to information the lecturer gives about exams

  36. 2.

    Lecturers sometimes indicate what is likely to be in the exams, so I look out for hints

  37. 3.

    take care to find as much information as possible on what will be in an exam

  38. 4.

    When working on an assignment, I try to keep in mind exactly what the lecturer seems to want

  1. J.

    Competitiveness

  1. 1.

    want top grades in my studies so that I will be able to select from among the best jobs available

  2. 2.

    see myself as an ambitious person

  3. 3.

    The main benefit of a university education is that it will enable me to earn more money

    1. K.

      Listening

  1. 1.

    remember best things that are spoken

  2. 2.

    remember best what I hear

  3. 3.

    prefer listening to the lecturer than reading textbooks

  4. 4.

    prefer listening to reading

  5. 5.

    understand better if the lecturer explains things rather than reading about them

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Al-Qirim, N., Rouibah, K., Serhani, M.A. et al. Antecedents to academic success in higher education institutions: The case of UAE University. Educ Inf Technol 25, 1663–1688 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-019-10034-0

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