Attentiveness and Self-Studying are Keys to Academic Performance

Abstract

We applied k-means clustering to a class of senior undergraduate computing students. Weekly study time, inside and outside of classrooms, increases 52 minutes from weakest students to mid-pack students. But it decreases 20 minutes from mid-pack students to best students. Studying for longer helps weakest students. Mid-pack students do not get better by increasing their study time but they can improve by reallocating time spent on recorded lectures to autonomous self-study such as writing programs and studying lecture notes which better cultivate reflective thinking than lectures. We have identified specific study strategies to suit students according to their current performance. For all students, better attentiveness improves their results noticeably.