Validity of the Study Practices Inventory for Pharmacy Students

Abstract

The validity of the Study Practices Inventory (SPI) for a group of entering pharmacy students was assessed. The four subscores of the SPI were correlated with students' entering grade point average (GPA) and with their scores on the four subtests of the Nelson-Denny (ND) Reading Test. Statistically significant correlations included : (1) SPI-Systematic and Purposeful Study with GPA; (2) SPI-Total Score with GPA; (3) SPI-Verbal Comprehension with ND-Vocabulary ; and (4) SPI-Scholastic Motivation with ND subscores. Further analysis showed (1) that a significant correlation between ND-Vocabulary scores and GPA did exist and (2) that an optimally weighted combination of the total scores on the SPI and ND yielded a multiple correlation coefficient greater than the zero-order correlation of either the SPI or ND with GPA. The results were interpreted to indicate that the administration of both the SPI and the ND is likely to yield more valid prediction of academic achievement than that afforded by either instrument alone.