Student voice and attainment: associations in six Colombian universities

Updated Sep 07, 2026

Correction, 7 September 2026: This briefing replaces our overlapping June and July accounts of the same paper. We have removed causal wording and added the study’s measurement and model limitations. The original publication date and address are preserved.

What the study found

Uriel Eduardo Torres Castro and Clelia Pineda-Baéz studied 1,713 final-year students at six accredited private universities in Colombia. Their Higher Education paper, published online on 29 May 2026, examines relationships between engagement, classroom voice and attainment.

Students reporting their preferences and opinions in class showed small indirect links between collaborative learning, staff interaction and GPA. Staff interaction had a stronger positive association with GPA among students reporting less classroom voice. These are statistical relationships, not evidence that inviting feedback causes higher grades.

The study is cross-sectional and uses self-reported engagement and GPA. Its purposive sample is not representative of all Colombian or UK universities. The authors also report poor global fit for their structural path model and an unstable mediated proportion for staff interaction. Those qualifications limit how confidently the proposed mechanisms can be interpreted.

Questions to test locally

Our suggested starting point is to separate attendance, participation and influence in a review of student voice. A student may attend regularly while feeling unable to ask a question or suggest a change. Ask what opportunities students recognise and what happens after they use them.

For example, a module team could invite a brief written response about what needs clarification, discuss the themes with students and record the resulting decision. This is a local practice suggestion, not an intervention evaluated by the paper. Check who responds, whether alternative routes are available and whether students can see the follow-through.

Open comments can describe experiences of being heard. They cannot, by themselves, establish why grades changed. Keep that distinction when deciding what to claim from an analysis or how to evaluate a teaching change. The comment analysis governance checklist can support that planning.

Reference

Torres Castro, U. E. and Pineda-Baéz, C. (2026). Student agency in Colombian higher education: a dual-pathway model of mediation and moderation between student engagement and academic achievement. Higher Education. Read the paper. DOI: 10.1007/s10734-026-01669-3.