Effects of Trimester System and Orientation Programme on Students’ Grade Point Average in Abdul-Raheem College of Advanced Studies, Igbaja, Kwara State

Orientation is widely conceived to encompass activities that support thetransition in educational institutions. This paper examines the performanceof a sample of 81 students who graduated in 2014 from the Abdul-RaheemCollege of Advanced Studies. The analysis of students’ performance wasconducted against the three trimesters (First, Second and Third). The soleobjective of the Institution is ensuring that students are performing efficientlyin the three trimesters, including their final grade point so as to allow thestudent secure admission into 200level in any institution of choice. Thestudy, relying on statistical analysis, identified two factors (Trimesters,Orientation) as important determinants of student final performance (Gradepoint). The paper concludes with implications from the study’s findings.The third trimester accounts for the highest correlation coefficient (0.553) with the grade point and p-value <0.05 (which indicate that it is significant).The forward method of variable selection was used to detect the parsimoniousmodel among the possible models. The model with the three independentvariables (first, second and third trimester) has the highest explanation ofthe total variation present in the grade points (dependent variable). The R2value of 0.770 indicates that 77% of the total variation in the grade pointcan be explained by the three independent variables all together. Also, thethird trimester result explains over 50% of the total variation. The outcomealso showed that orientation and trimester is significant to the Grade PointAverage (GPA) scores of students. Based on these findings, a recommendationwas made for the management to improve the orientation programmesgeared towards helping students to maximize learning throughout the threetrimesters.