Selection of Candidates in the Absence of a College Entrance Exam

Given the exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic and the problems faced in conducting mass student examinations, this article explores alternatives to an in-person exam to select candidates hoping to gain admission to higher education institutions, based on available information about students and their schools. Census-based information on entrance evaluations for six annual cohorts is used to obtain a predictive model that incorporates candidates’ average grades and the historical performance of their schools of origin, measured through EXANI II. The results allow us to identify a model able to correlate to.69 the estimated and actual scores;additional scenarios were proposed with greater levels of prediction (r =.86). A discussion is offered on the implications of using high school grades, in light of their power to predict academic performance in higher education © 2022. Revista Electronica de Investigacion Educativa.All Rights Reserved.

Perceptions of the Learning and Emotions of Beginner Students During the Pandemic

This article compares the perceptions of learning and emotions of students with a high and low academic performances during the course of the pandemic. It undertook an exploratory survey, with a qualitative focus, which followed an inductive logic for the establishment of categories on the basis of the data provided by 132 beginner university students. The results show a positive perception of the synchronic virtual class, along with a negative perception to do with the lack of practical assignments, due to their virtual nature. The emotions they experienced were stress and uncertainty on the part of the students with a high performance and frustration on the part of those with a lower performance.