Predicting Academic Performance in an Introductory College-Level IS Course

This study describes a model to predict academic performance in an introductory college-level information systems course. We base the model on one developed by Eskew and Faley (1988) to predict grades in accounting classes. We collected data from students in four sections of an introductory college-level IS class at a single university. Motivation and GPA predict performance. Prior related courses do not predict performance. Unexpectedly, SAT predicts performance for male students but not for female students. We discuss these findings and suggest what faculty members can do to improve performance in the class.