Browsing by Author "Schlechter, Anton"

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    Fluid intellingence and spatial reasoning as predictors of pilot training performance in the South African Air Force (SAAF)
    (AOSIS OpenJournals, 2009-04) De Kock, Francois; Schlechter, Anton
    Pilot selection is a form of high-stakes selection due to the massive costs of training, high trainee ability requirements and costly repercussions of poor selection decisions. This criterion-related validation study investigated the predictive ability of fluid intelligence and spatial reasoning in predicting three criteria of pilot training performance, using an accumulated sample of South African Air Force pilots (N = 108). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses with training grade achieved as criterion were performed for each of the phases of training, namely practical flight training, ground school training, and officers’ formative training. Multiple correlations of 0.35 (p < 0.01), 0.20 (p > 0.05) and 0.23 (p > 0.05) were obtained for flight, ground school and formative training results, respectively. Spatial ability had incremental validity over fluid intelligence for predicting flight training performance.
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    Investigating the moderating effect of student engagement on academic performance
    (SUN MeDIA, 2013-12-20) Gerber, Charlene; Mans-Kemp, Nadia; Schlechter, Anton
    The academic performance and success of students are important for both higher education institutions and students. Student engagement has been identified as a crucial factor in academic success. Studies investigating student engagement have typically used self-report measures of engagement, collected at a given point in time. Self-report measures are, however, prone to positive bias (social desirability). In an attempt to overcome these shortfalls, data were collected over three years (2010-2012) in a third-year Business Management module, presented at a South African university (n=380). Academic and behavioural student engagement was measured by assessing academic activities (class attendance and weekly homework assessments), rather than with a self-report measurement scale. Unlike previous studies that correlated student engagement with academic performance, this article argues that student engagement enhances academic performance. It was found that student engagement significantly moderated the relationship between early and late semester assessments of academic performance (semester test and examination marks). It was, therefore, concluded that higher levels of engagement enhance the learning experience and subsequent performance in the module. High levels of student engagement may even lead to higher, than would otherwise be expected, academic performance.