Predictive model for admission uncertainty in high education using Naïve Bayes classifier

Abstract

Purpose The uncertainty of getting admission into universities/institutions is one of the global problems in an academic environment. The students are having good marks with highest credential, but they are not sure about getting their admission into universities/institutions. In this research study, the researcher builds a predictive model using Naïve Bayes classifiers – machine learning algorithm to extract and analyze hidden pattern in students’ academic records and their credentials. The main purpose of this research study is to reduce the uncertainty for getting admission into universities/institutions based on their previous credentials and some other essential parameters. Design/methodology/approach This research study presents a joint venture of Naïve Bayes Classification and Kernel Density Estimations (KDE) to predict the student’s admission into universities or any higher institutions. The researcher collected data from the Kaggle data sets based on grade point average (GPA), graduate record examinations (GRE) and RANK of universities which are essential to take admission in higher education. Findings The classification model is built on the training data set of students’ examination score such as GPA, GRE, RANK and some other essential features that offered the admission with a predictive accuracy rate 72% and has been experimentally verified. To improve the quality of accuracy, the researcher used the Shapiro–Walk Normality Test and Gaussian distribution on large data sets. Research limitations/implications The limitation of this research study is that the developed predictive model is not applicable for getting admission into all courses. The researcher used the limited data attributes such as GRE, GPA and RANK which does not define the admission into all possible courses. It is stated that it is applicable only for student’s admission into universities/institutions, and the researcher used only three attributes of admission parameters, namely, GRE, GPA and RANK. Practical implications The researcher used the Naïve Bayes classifiers and KDE machine learning algorithms to develop a predictive model which is more reliable and efficient to classify the admission category (Admitted/Not Admitted) into universities/institutions. During the research study, the researcher found that accuracy performance of the predictive Model 1 and that of predictive Model 2 are very close to each other, with predictive Model 1 having truly predictive and falsely predictive rate of 70.46% and 29.53%, respectively. Social implications Yes, it is having a significant contribution for society; students and parents can get prior information about the possibilities of admission in higher academic institutions and universities. Originality/value The classification model can reduce the admission uncertainty and enhance the university’s decision-making capabilities. The significance of this research study is to reduce human intervention for making decisions with respect to the student’s admission into universities or any higher academic institutions, and it demonstrates many universities and higher-level institutions could use this predictive model to improve their admission process without human intervention.

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