Do prior studies matter?. Predicting proficiencies required to excel academically in law school at Makerere University, Uganda
| Pages | 139-154 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/QAE-09-2013-0038 |
| Date | 01 February 2016 |
| Published date | 01 February 2016 |
| Author | Betty Nalukenge,Robert Wamala,Bruno Ocaya |
Do prior studies matter?
Predicting prociencies required to excel
academically in law school at
Makerere University, Uganda
Betty Nalukenge, Robert Wamala and Bruno Ocaya
School of Statistics and Planning, Makerere University,
Kampala, Uganda
Abstract
Purpose – Introduction of law school admission examinations has increased the debate regarding the
relevance of prior studies for the enrollees in the program. The key issues of contention are whether
prior studies reliably predict academic achievement of enrollees, and demonstrate prociencies
required for admission in the program. The purpose of this paper is to use administrative records of law
students at Makerere University – over a four-year stipulated period of bachelor’s studies – to
investigate the above-mentioned issues further.
Design/methodology/approach – Panel data of 2,485 records enable us to explore time variant and
invariant factors in the course of bachelor’s candidature.
Findings – About 81 per cent of differentials in academic achievement was found to be due to variation
across students. In addition to conrming prior academic attainment as a contributing factor to
variations in academic achievement, our ndings afrm that competence in literature, history and
divinity predicts success on the program.
Research limitations/implications – Competence in these subjects (literature, history and
divinity) certainly demonstrates prociencies required by a student of law. Thus, admission based on
competence in these subjects provides insights into prociencies required by enrollees to excel
academically in the program.
Originality/value – Unlike prior studies, this study explores time-variant factors in the course of
bachelor’s candidature, and is based on subjects taken during prior studies (secondary education) rather
than a pooled index or weighted score adopted on admission to the program.
Keywords Education, Performance, Higher education
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
There is overwhelming evidence in support of successful performance of enrollees
who have excelled academically in the past (Alfan and Othman, 2005;Duff, 2004;
DeBerard et al., 2004; Navarro et al., 2011;Shultz and Zedeck, 2011;Wamala, 2013).
This evidence is supported by studies across disciplines, for example, accounting
and business economics (Duff, 2004; Alan and Othman, 2005), business management
and national statistics (Halpern, 2007;Hoskins et al., 1997), nursing (Navarro et al.,
2011) and actuarial science (Wamala, 2013). In the recent past, however, there has
been a shift in admission criteria of various graduate and undergraduate programs
from attainment of enrollees in their prior studies to application of pre-entry
examinations. Although eligibility to sit for the examinations is based on attainment
of enrollees in their prior studies, admission is mainly based on the outcome of the
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Predicting
prociencies
required to
excel
139
Received 12 September 2013
Revised 11 January 2014
19 August 2015
19 October 2015
Accepted 20 October 2015
QualityAssurance in Education
Vol.24 No. 1, 2016
pp.139-154
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0968-4883
DOI 10.1108/QAE-09-2013-0038
examination. A major disadvantage of the examination is that it reinforces racial
and class privileges, according to Kidder (2000, 2001, 2003) and the Society of
American Law Teachers as cited by Shultz and Zedeck (2011). The consensus
regarding racial and class differentials in enrollments is that better performance in
such examinations is more likely among the afuent candidates compared with their
less advantaged counterparts. In any case, universities also seek to admit students
with the strongest academic potential. Thus, the aspect of class differentials may
not be a key issue as long as enrollees are able to excel academically. Unlike the
traditional approach to admission, administering pre-entry examinations questions
the relevance of enrollees’ attainment in prior studies to predicting their academic
achievement in a program. Particularly, administering examinations for admission
to law school suggests that the program requires a unique approach to admission
when compared with the requirements for other undergraduate programs. In any
case, a generalization of this argument to admission of law students across
institutions and/or countries would be questionable. Thus, an assessment of this
issue is required to provide a basis for informed choices regarding admission to the
program in various institutions and countries.
Prociencies for studying law
Students intending to enroll in a law program are required to possess certain qualities
that would enable them to excel academically and professionally, subsequently. The
grounding for the qualities is to a greater part assumed to be obtained from prior studies.
In afrming the relevance of prior studies in building prociencies required by
prospective students of law, the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) 2012-2014
Undergraduate Catalogue stipulates that “the core curriculum is built on the assumption
that the foundations of the general part of a student’s education are laid in secondary
school” (UTSA, 2013, p. 3). Pertaining to admission to law school, the UTSA, 2012-2014
Undergraduate Catalogue stipulates that enrollees should be able to demonstrate
prociency in four major areas:
(1) Communication⬊Writing in English, critical prociency in oral and graphic
communication as well as ability to identify and formulate problems and draw
conclusions.
(2) Conceptual approaches and history of arts⬊Ability to comprehend factual
concepts and human creativity.
(3) Political and economic dimensions of a society.
(4) Cultural diversity including nature as well as limits of knowledge and academic
elds.
The requirements for law enrollees presented by the Alabama State Bar (ASB), an
association of lawyers in the USA, do not show otherwise regarding the prociencies
required for candidates in the program. The association identies the importance of
enrollees’ grounding in the disciplines, namely, analytical writing, English and
literature, political science, government, economics, accounting, history, philosophy,
logic, scientic methods and public speaking (ASB, 2013). In afrming the relevance of
these disciplines, the Parent Advising Handbook of John Hopkins University further
stipulates that competence in economics, history, political thoughts and mathematics
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