Using Mixed-Effect Structural Equation Models to Study Student Academic Development

Studies of the relationship between coursework and student academic development occupy a prominent place in the literature on college outcomes. Because of the inadequacies of traditional methods of measuring academic development, this analysis of freshman-to-senior gains uses an alternative method—mixed-effect structural equation models incorporating latent variables. The study, countering the conclusion of a previous analysis, found that coursework and student characteristics interact to influence academic development.