Enhancing academic achievement through innovation: the role of student characteristics, contextual factors, and learning methods

This research studies whether implementing innovation-based activities enhances academic performance, even when controlling for the effects of individual student characteristics and learning context. Data on individual students and first-year student traits were collected from 2011–2012 to 2023–2024 and analysed using regression models. The results show that innovation-based activities significantly impact two key outcomes: academic achievement and dropout. However, most variation in student outcomes was associated with student characteristics and contextual factors. Gender, age, admission grade, admission procedure, and afternoon study schedules were among the variables significantly related to academic outcomes. The analysis also considered the disruption caused by the pandemic. On average, students during the COVID-19 period obtained approximately half a grade point more than those in the pre-pandemic period, a difference that may be partly related to the sudden and abrupt shift to distance learning and assessment methods. These findings suggest that innovation has a targeted but limited effect, depending on its alignment with diverse student profiles and specific contextual conditions. Consequently, tailoring innovation initiatives to individual class groups appears to be the most efficient strategy for allocating resources wisely and maximising educational outcomes.