IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecanpo/v53y2017icp1-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Getting the basics right: Factors shaping student performance in intermediate economics

Author

Listed:
  • Tse, Harry
  • Tam, Kwok Leung

Abstract

This article examines the determinants of student performance in a second-year undergraduate economics course at a major Australian university–the University of Technology Sydney. This article contributes to the literature by focusing on economics teaching in second-year, which is an area that has received little scholarly interest. The relevant data was collected by administering a survey and accessing student records, ultimately providing a usable sample group of 122 students. Out of a wide range of variables two strong determinants of performance emerged; namely, students’ pre-course aptitude and hours spent in paid employment. Based on these findings suggestions for increasing student performance in second-year economics are provided.

Suggested Citation

  • Tse, Harry & Tam, Kwok Leung, 2017. "Getting the basics right: Factors shaping student performance in intermediate economics," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1-8.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:53:y:2017:i:c:p:1-8
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2016.10.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0313592615301533
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eap.2016.10.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Angus Duff, 2004. "Understanding academic performance and progression of first-year accounting and business economics undergraduates: the role of approaches to learning and prior academic achievement," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(4), pages 409-430.
    2. Durden, Garey C & Ellis, Larry V, 1995. "The Effects of Attendance on Student Learning in Principles of Economics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(2), pages 343-346, May.
    3. Jane S. Lopus & Nan L. Maxwell, 1994. "Beyond High School: Does the High School Economics Curriculum Make a Difference?," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 38(1), pages 62-69, March.
    4. Girijasankar Mallik & John Lodewijks, 2010. "Student Performance in a Large First Year Economics Subject: Which Variables are Significant?," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 29(1), pages 80-86, March.
    5. Kevin J. Mumford & Matthew W. Ohland, 2011. "Student Performance in Undergraduate Economics Courses," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(3), pages 275-282, July.
    6. Petronella Horn & Ada Jansen & Derek Yu, 2011. "Factors Explaining The Academic Success Of Second‐Year Economics Students: An Exploratory Analysis," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 79(2), pages 202-210, June.
    7. Louise Gracia & Ellis Jenkins, 2003. "A quantitative exploration of student performance on an undergraduate accounting programme of study," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 15-32.
    8. Michaela Rankin & Mark Silvester & Mark Vallely & Anne Wyatt, 2003. "An analysis of the implications of diversity for students’ first level accounting performance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 43(3), pages 365-393, November.
    9. Ian Crawford & Zhiqi Wang & Robert Faff, 2014. "Why are first-year accounting studies inclusive?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 54(2), pages 419-439, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tang, Tommy, 2019. "Perceptions of assessment demands in economics," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 80-90.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Huikku, Jari & Myllymäki, Emma-Riikka & Ojala, Hannu, 2022. "Gender differences in the first course in accounting: An achievement goal approach," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(3).
    2. Byrne, Marann & Flood, Barbara, 2008. "Examining the relationships among background variables and academic performance of first year accounting students at an Irish University," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 202-212.
    3. Delgado Hurtado, María del Mar & Castrillo Lara, Luis Ángel, 2015. "Efectividad del aprendizaje cooperativo en contabilidad: una contrastación empírica," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 138-147.
    4. Nicola J. Beatson & David A. G. Berg & Jeffrey K. Smith, 2020. "The influence of self‐efficacy beliefs and prior learning on performance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(2), pages 1271-1294, June.
    5. Ann L. Owen, 2011. "Student Characteristics, Behavior, and Performance in Economics Classes," Chapters, in: Gail M. Hoyt & KimMarie McGoldrick (ed.), International Handbook on Teaching and Learning Economics, chapter 32, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Duff, Angus & Mladenovic, Rosina, 2015. "Antecedents and consequences of accounting students' approaches to learning: A cluster analytic approach," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 321-338.
    7. Melanie A. Fennell & Irene R. Foster, 2021. "Test Format and Calculator Use in the Testing of Basic Math Skills for Principles of Economics: Experimental Evidence," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 66(1), pages 29-45, March.
    8. Mallik, Girijasankar & Shankar, Sriram, 2016. "Does prior knowledge of economics and higher level mathematics improve student learning in principles of economics?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 66-73.
    9. James E. McClure & Lee C. Spector, 1997. "Behavior and Performance in the Economics Classroom," Working Papers 199701, Ball State University, Department of Economics, revised Jan 2003.
    10. Dey, Ishita, 2018. "Class attendance and academic performance: A subgroup analysis," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 29-40.
    11. Hazra, Ummaha & Priyo, Asad Karim Khan, 2022. "Unethical practices in online classes during COVID-19 pandemic: an analysis of affordances using routine activity theory," MPRA Paper 117853, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Arulampalam, Wiji & Naylor, Robin A. & Smith, Jeremy, 2012. "Am I missing something? The effects of absence from class on student performance," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 363-375.
    13. Cuffe, Harold E. & Waddell, Glen R. & Bignell, Wesley, 2014. "Too Busy for School? The Effect of Athletic Participation on Absenteeism," IZA Discussion Papers 8426, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. repec:zbw:rwirep:0235 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Richard B. Dull & Lydia L. F. Schleifer & Jeffrey J. McMillan, 2015. "Achievement Goal Theory: The Relationship of Accounting Students' Goal Orientations with Self-efficacy, Anxiety, and Achievement," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(2), pages 152-174, April.
    16. Muhammad Shahid Iqbal & Muhammad Atif Ishaq & Ume Habibah & Shehzadi Sidra & Muhammad Ismail, 2017. "Accounting Student,s Motives, Expectations and Preparedness for Higher Education: A Study among University and College Students in Multan," Research Journal of Education, Academic Research Publishing Group, vol. 3(12), pages 173-179, 12-2017.
    17. Dobkin, Carlos & Gil, Ricard & Marion, Justin, 2010. "Skipping class in college and exam performance: Evidence from a regression discontinuity classroom experiment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 566-575, August.
    18. Massimiliano Bratti & Stefano Staffolani, 2013. "Student Time Allocation and Educational Production Functions," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 111-112, pages 103-140.
    19. Karen E. Dynan & Cecilia Elena Rouse, 1995. "The Underrepresentation of Women in Economics: A Study of Undergraduate Economics Students," NBER Working Papers 5299, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. McPhail, Ken & Paisey, Catriona & Paisey, Nicholas J., 2010. "Class, social deprivation and accounting education in Scottish schools: Implications for the reproduction of the accounting profession and practice," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 31-50.
    21. Astrid Schmulian & Stephen Coetzee, 2011. "Class absenteeism: reasons for non‐attendance and the effect on academic performance," Accounting Research Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(2), pages 178-194, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:53:y:2017:i:c:p:1-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/economic-analysis-and-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.