Journal article
Age is no barrier: predictors of academic success in older learners
n j p Science of Learning, Vol.2, 13
2017
Abstract
Although predictors of academic success have been identified in young adults, such predictors are unlikely to translate directly to an older student population, where such information is scarce. The current study aimed to examine cognitive, psychosocial, lifetime, and genetic predictors of university-level academic performance in older adults (50-79 years old). Participants were mostly female (71%) and had a greater than high school education level (M = 14.06 years, SD = 2.76), on average. Two multiple linear regression analyses were conducted. The first examined all potential predictors of grade point average (GPA) in the subset of participants who had volunteered samples for genetic analysis (N = 181). Significant predictors of GPA were then re-examined in a second multiple linear regression using the full sample (N = 329). Our data show that the cognitive domains of episodic memory and language processing, in conjunction with midlife engagement in cognitively stimulating activities, have a role in predicting academic performance as measured by GPA in the first year of study. In contrast, it was determined that age, IQ, gender, working memory, psychosocial factors, and common brain gene polymorphisms linked to brain function, plasticity and degeneration (APOE, BDNF, COMT, KIBRA, SERT) did not influence academic performance. These findings demonstrate that ageing does not impede academic achievement, and that discrete cognitive skills as well as lifetime engagement in cognitively stimulating activities can promote academic success in older adults.
Details
- Title
- Age is no barrier: predictors of academic success in older learners
- Authors
- Abbie-Rose Imlach (Author) - University of TasmaniaDavid D Ward (Author) - University of TasmaniaKimberley E Stuart (Author) - University of TasmaniaMathew J Summers (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and EngineeringMichael J Valenzuela (Author) - University of SydneyAnna E King (Author) - University of TasmaniaNichole L Saunders (Author) - University of TasmaniaJeffrey Summers (Author) - University of TasmaniaVelandai K Srikanth (Author) - Monash UniversityAndrew Robinson (Author) - University of TasmaniaJames C Vickers (Author) - University of Tasmania
- Publication details
- n j p Science of Learning, Vol.2, 13; 7
- Publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- Date published
- 2017
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41539-017-0014-5
- ISSN
- 2056-7936
- Copyright note
- Copyright © The Author(s) 2017. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons. Org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Health; School of Social Sciences - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Health - Psychology; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99451145602621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web Of Science research areas
- Education & Educational Research
- Neurosciences
- Psychology, Experimental