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Attendance in a First-year Educational Support Program and Academic Performance Among Allied Health Students in
Rei Ishihara1, Yuki Murakami1, Yusuke Ono1
1Department of Medical Technology and Clinical Engineering, Gunma University of Health and Welfare, Maebashi, Gunma, Japan.
Advances in Medical Education and Practice
|April 28, 2026
Summary
Student attendance in educational support programs is linked to higher academic performance. This finding suggests attendance may indicate students needing extra help, but more research is needed to confirm causality.
Area of Science:
- Health Professions Education
- Educational Psychology
Background:
- First-year students in allied health programs often require targeted support to succeed.
- Self-regulated learning theory provides a framework for effective educational interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between attendance in a first-year educational support program and academic performance (GPA) among allied health students.
- To determine if attendance can be an early indicator of students needing additional academic support.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective observational study of 67 first-year allied health students.
- Attendance recorded for an 11-session self-learning management program.
- Academic performance measured by end-of-semester GPA.
- Statistical analysis included multiple linear regression and independent-samples t-tests.
Main Results:
- Attendance was significantly associated with higher GPA, even after controlling for prior academic variables (β = 0.20, P = 0.005).
- Students with fewer absences had significantly higher GPAs (mean difference 0.89, P = 0.0007).
- Prior academic scores (foundation and math placement tests) were not significantly associated with GPA.
Conclusions:
- Attendance in the educational support program positively correlates with academic performance in this student sample.
- The study's observational design limits causal conclusions.
- Further prospective studies are recommended to validate attendance as a predictive indicator for identifying at-risk students.
