Student Level Factors Influencing Performance and Study Progress By Liv Susanne Bugge and Gerd Wkan

ABSTRACT A large proportion of Norwegian youths are students in higher education. This is in line with Norwegian education policy. However, progress and performance are a problem. This is costly both for the individual and for the institutions. This paper examines which student-related factors seem to have a bearing on performance and progress. The analytical model includes sex, age, ability, parenthood, housing expenditures, social background and motivation. Additional factors which are included are how many hours the students spend on their studies as well as how much and when the students have paid work. The paper also examines whether the study program may influence performance and progress. Data was gathered in a quantitative study. 565 students in a Norwegian University College completed structured questionnaires. Five explanatory factors were found to have a bearing on performance and progress: ability, motivation, time spent on studies, time spent on paid work and social background. Some of these factors are interdependent. There are few detrimental consequences for academic performance when the students work a moderate number of hours, less than 15 hours weekly .practices with data drawn from classroom observations and scoring rubrics.

Student Level Factors Influencing Performance and Progress In this section we will discuss which student level factors influence performance, and we will use the performance index in the discussion. In general there is no difference in performance according to sex. One of three students gets top score on the index, regardless of sex. However, there are differences according to study programme. Female teacher trainees perform better than male, while male students in Games, Arts and Simulation get better results than female. Age is another factor that may influence performance, but the differences are small and contradictory. Among students under 25 years 34% have good performance; in the eldest group 29% fall in this category. However, we also see a tendency that older students are more seldom low performing than younger students. The conclusion is that we do not find that age has any bearing on performance. Ability is difficult to define. In the present study we have looked at results from upper secondary school and the study programme at upper secondary school. In principle there are two streams in Norwegian upper secondary schools, an academic stream and a vocational stream. The academic stream qualifies for higher academic studies. In Norway even students from vocational streams can be admitted to university studies. They must take one extra year in order to catch up on the most important academic subjects. We find that there is a correlation between results from upper secondary school and performance (Table 1). Students with better results from upper secondary school perform better than those with lower results, 37% and 20% have good performance respectively. However, the findings are weakened by the fact that only 316 out of 565 students have answered this question. We find some interesting differences according to study programmes. It is on the Kindergarten Teacher Education Programme that intake points seem to influence performance mostly. 29% of those with low intake points perform low compared to 9% of those with higher intake points.Parenthood could be expected to influence performance. 51 students in our material live together with children. Children imply more tasks and responsibilities in family life, but it could also strengthen the ability and need to plan your time and thus have a positive effect on performance. In general parenthood does not seem to influence performance significantly. It is mainly students on the Kindergarten and General Teacher Education Programmes who have children of their own. Among general teacher education students we find that living with children is associated with better performance. Housing expenditures will take more than 50% of the loan and grant given to a student per year, so this will be largest expenditure. Sharing accommodation will possibly lower the costs. Students in our sample live in a variety of types of households. Some share the rent with someone; others have to pay it all alone. It is likely that students with heavy financial burdens will work more hours paid work, and then have less time for studies and hence perform lower. In our study we find no support for this. Whether the student shares housing expenditures does not seem to affect study performance. Social background is a factor influencing performance. However in this study social background, measured as whether the parents have higher education, seems to be of little importance regarding the students performance. Nevertheless, students coming from a family background where both parents have higher education are more often good performing (42%) than students coming from homes with a weaker academic background (31%). In the Norwegian context secondary school results are clearly positively correlated with social background measured as parents educational niveau (Statistics Norway 2012b). Thus our findings might be inter correlated with students ability. We find a strong correlation between the indexes for motivation and performance. The better motivated the students are, the better they perform (Table 2). This is not surprising. Thus motivation for studies seems to be a crucial factor for good performance.

source : http://www.tojned.net/pdf/v03i02/v03i02-04.pdfStudy Habits, Skills, and Attitudes The Third Pillar Supporting Collegiate Academic Performance By Marcus Crede and Nathan R. Kuncel University at Albany, SUNY, and University of Minnesota

ABSTRACTStudy habit, skill, and attitude inventories and constructs were found to rival standardized tests and previous grades as predictors of academic performance, yielding substantial incremental validity in predicting academic performance. This meta-analysis (N 5 72,431, k 5 344) examines the construct validity and predictive validity of 10 study skill constructs for college students. We found that study skill inventories and constructs are largely independent of both high school grades and scores on standardized admissions tests but moderately related to various personality constructs; these results are inconsistent with previous theories. Study motivation and study skills exhibit the strongest relationships with both grade point average and grades in individual classes. Academic specific anxiety was found to be an important negative predictor of performance. In addition, significant variation in the validity of specific inventories is shown. Scores on traditional study habit and attitude inventories are the most predictive of performance, whereas scores on inventories based on the popular depth-of-processing perspective are shown to be least predictive of the examined criteria. Overall, study habit and skill measures improve prediction of academic performance more than any other noncognitive individual difference variable examined to date and should be regarded as the third pillar of academic success.

SHSAs and Academic Performance The relationship between the various SHSA dimensions and subsequent academic performance has been considered from three perspectives: direct effects, mediational effects, and interactive effects. The first and most straightforward perspective conceptualizes SHSAs as direct measures of study-specific behaviors that cause academic success. This framework is applicable to some SHSA measures that ask about specific study behavior, but it is overly limiting for some of the attitudinal measures that are not likely to be proximal determinants of academic behaviors and success. The mediational approach that we favor argues that SHSA measures quantify groups of academic specific attitudes and behavioral tendencies that are more proximal in their relationship to learning than are individual differences like personality, attitudes, and interests. The relationships between personality, attitude, and interests and academic performance are indirect and mediated through their influence on SHSAs. For example, study anxiety would be a more proximal determinant of performance than would trait anxiety. In addition, some of the effects of cognitive ability would be predicted to be mediated through study skills but not study motivation. Finally, characteristics like typical intellectual engagement would be mediated through some types of study attitudes. The framework we present here is an extension of both a general theory of work performance articulated by Campbell and colleagues (e.g., Campbell, 1990) and the application of this general theory to the academic performance domain (e.g., Kuncel, Hezlett, & Ones, 2001, 2004). The application of the Campbell model to the academic domain, and our extension of it to include SHSA constructs, is presented in Figure 1. This model proposes that performance on a task is a function of three direct proximal determinants: declarative knowledge (knowledge of facts and procedures), procedural knowledge (the skill to do what is required in a situation), and motivation (the willingness to engage in and sustain a high level of effort in completing the task). The model is also characterized by a series of indirect and more distal determinants: cognitive ability; interests and personality; and education, training, and experience. The effects of these distal determinants on performance are fully mediated by the three direct determinants. In other words, effective performance on a dimension of student performance is directly a function of task-relevant knowledge and skill and the immediate willingness to engage in a high level of effort that is sustained over time. The influence of all other individual differences are mediated through knowledge,

Source: http://scottbarrykaufman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/YAN_Project4_article_Sp_2011.pdf

How Much Do Study Habits, Skills, and Attitudes Affect Student Performance in Introductory CollegeAccounting Courses?By Yu, Darwin D.New Horizons in Education, v59 n3 p1-15 Dec 2011Background: FinancialAccountingis a skills course which to a large extent can be best learned through deliberate practice. Teachers implement this by continuously assigning homeworks, encouraging good study habits, asking students to budget time for studying, and generally exhorting students to "work hard". Aims: This paper examines the impact of "study habits, skills, and attitudes" (SHSAs) on the performance of students in an introductory financial accounting college course. Sample: 395 2nd year business students in a Philippine university. Method: Data related to variables found to have influenced accounting performance in previous researches as well as SHSA variables are collected through student survey and school records. They are treated as independent variables using multiple regression analysis, with the accounting course final grade as the dependent variable. The paper also examines the factors that differentiate high- from low-performing students. Results: The study found that math proficiency, English proficiency, high school accounting, and academic aptitude influence accounting performance, supporting the findings of many previous researches on cognitive factors. Among the SHSA factors, only student perception of teacher effectiveness and level of effort influence accounting performance. Time spent studying, attendance in review classes conducted in tutorial centers, motivation, and study habits have no significant effect. Upon further analysis comparing high and low performers, study habits show up to be significant as well. In particular, students who performed better are those who did more in terms of reading ahead, doing their homework, participating in class, and cramming for exams. Conclusion: Since student perception of teacher effectiveness strongly influences accounting performance, it is critical that hiring and training of accounting faculty be given utmost importance. Level of effort and good study habits also help, but not the sheer number of study hours.

Author Darwin D. YU, Associate Professor, Finance & Accounting Department, John Gokongwei School of Management, Ateneo de Manila University Katipunan Road, Loyola Heights, Quezon City, PhilippinesSource: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ955535.pdf

Factors Affecting Accounting Students Performance : The Case Of Students At The Islamic Azad University Mansour Garkaza , Bahman Banimahdb and Hadis Esmaeilic * a Assistant Professor, Department Of Accounting, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran , Iran. b Assistant Professor, Department Of Accounting, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran c Master Student , Department Of Accounting , Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract Several factors may affect students academic performance at universities. This study aims to measure and study these factors using theories on academic performance. The present research enjoys a survey method. Using stratified random sampling method, a total of 450 students majoring accounting in 2011 at Islamic Azad university are randomly selected and finally, the data was analyzed using T-test. The results show that gender, type of diploma, interest and employment status are meaningfully related to the academic performance. However, it has been proved that students marital status and family role in choosing major have no significant relationship with academic performance.

Theoretical framework and literature reviewAll schools, scholars and writers in sociology, psychology, educational sciences and its sub-disciplines have discussed factors affecting students academic performance and various theories have been suggested with regard to these factors. Some scholars put emphasize on individuals internal characteristics (e.g. intelligence, self-concept, etc) and some others consider external characteristics (family, social status, educational environment, etc) important. On the other hand, one of the most important factors underlying development is education. Developed countries usually have effective educational system but education lacks adequate infrastructure in developing countries (Poor Ali, 2005). In educational psychology, students performance is considered as a product of his learning and for information on individual learning rate, one should refer to his visible behavior or to be more precise see his performance. According to Hillgard and Bauer, the distinction between learning and performance is the same as the distinction between knowing how to do a job and actually doing it. It is also believed that Individual performance is highly affected by motivation and emotion, environmental condition, tiredness and illness. So, these factors may yield a fairly accurate indicator of how much he is learning, unless he can show it well (Seif, 2009). Wong & Chia (1996) argue that accounting-based performance evaluation of students is based on both deep and surface approaches. Most initial studies have investigated the surface accounting approach and numerical skills ( basic mathematic ) needed for accounting is one of many topics covered by many reasearches. However, advanced accounting studies requiring analysis enjoys a deep approach. Elias (2005) examined the relationship between students academic performance and surfurce and deep approach. The results of this research indicate that there is a significant relationship between students scores and their use of deep approach, while there is a negative relationship between stdudents use of surface approach and their scores. A long history of research have been conducted on accounting, management, mathematic, organizational behavior, finance and economy to observe various factors affecting students academic performance. Also, variables such as age, gender, talent, scores, high school experience, academic experience, motivation and students expectations are considered by many scholars to recognize accounting students characteristics necessary for their success. Some studies have confirmed the positive relationship between gender and acounting students academic performance (Koh and Koh (1999); Gracia and Jenkins (2003); Vickers et al. (2003)). While, Naser & Peel (1998) and Yilmaz & Guney (2009) believe that there is no significant relationship between gender and accounting students academic performance. Nasser and Peel (1998) have also found that variables such as age, English language proficiency, mathematic score and type of university (state or private) have no significant effect on the accounting students academic performance. Instead, university conditions and educational characteristics i.e. professors ability, attempt and motivation has significant relationship with students performance and students with previous experience in accounting and advanced mathematic enjoyed higher level of performance. Koh and Koh (1999) also suggested that previous work experience, scholastic aptitude and academic background in mathematic have positive significant relationship with accounting students performance. To evaluate students performance through their exam scores, Wooten (1998) suggest that one should consider students talent through their scholastic aptitude test scores, their struggle through their attendance in classes and their assignment and educational environment through asking about course materials, class hours and classrooms. Noxel & Cheek (1988) and Arrington & Cheek (1990) have emphasized the relationship between interest in the field of study and academic achievement. King and Kotrlid (1995) believe that students wishing to enter university and their use of logical programs and physical and human equipment such as professor, libarary and laboratory are among factors explaining academic achievement and quality of educational institutions. Among these factors, interested student is the most effective factor, if so inclined and interested in learning, he can handle other factors and employ them for success and learning. Wijewardena and Rudkin (1999) have found that students attendance in the classrooms and importance of accounting and interest in this field of study has positive and significant relationship with academic performance. Cheung and Kan (2002) have considered factors relating to the students performance in Hong Kong and indicated that there is a positive correlation between classroom instruction and previous experience in learning and students performance. Gol and Fong (1993) have also indicated that there is a direct relationship between students academic achievements and their personal characteristics, mathematic and accounting scores and their prior knowledge of accounting. In a research conducted by Gracia and Jenkins (2003), they found that women act better than men in the second year of study and also maintained that there is a negative correlation between age and score. According to the findings of this research, students with experience related to their field of study act better than those who are just studying. Darayseh and Waples (2005) have considered the importance of four independent variables used to predict students performance. These variables were: diploma GPA , financial accounting scores , management-accounting scores and students GPA. The findings of this research suggested that students GPA will assess his academic ability better and is the best evaluative indicator of his performance. Rudkin and De Zoysa (2007) have carried out a study on the Australian accounting students and found that there is no relationship between students employment and their work hours and their academic performance. However, there is a positive relationship between native students employment and their academic performance and there is a negative relationship between foreign students employment and their academic performance. It is noteworthy to say that they found a positive relationship between shift work patterns and academic performance. On the other hand, Mostafa and Zheng (2010) have also considered factors affecting students performance in accounting and advanced auditing in the USA and concluded that there is a considerable relationship between students performance and holding jobs unrelated to accounting, having long work hours during the week and having a lot of responsibility during the term. Among three variables used as motivation variables, this research also suggests that there is a significant relationship between students scores and their performance but one cannot find such a relationship between students performance and taking final exams and attending M.A entrance exam. Moreover, students scores in intermediate accounting and their GPA are strong predictors for their academic performance. It is noteworthy to say that there was a strong relationship between listening and reading comprehension skills and students performance, but the ability to write and understand mathematic was not related to the students performance. Considering management-accounting students performance, Ayob and Selamat (2011) suggested that performance of more than 40 percent of students has lead to academic failure and also indicated that there is a positive significant relationship between students score in management-accounting courses and their attendance hours in introductory management-accounting classes and their GPA before entering university. On the other hand, there is a significant and negative relationship between students scores and their absenteeism in introductory management-accounting programs. Yilmaz Guney (2009) showed that there is a positive significant relationship between age and academic performance and consequently one can assume that older students are more likely to get higher scores than younger students. It is also suggested that there is positive significant relationship between students higher performance and their attendance in classes, their familiarity with mathematic and previous job experience in accounting. Students personal and financial problems may cause his weak performance. The findings of his research also suggested that the lower the number of students is, the higher the quality of students academic performance is. Nonis and Hudson (2010) also indicated that there is no positive significant relationship between study hours and students academic performance. However, there is a significant positive relationship between study habits and students academic performance. Their study also offered that accounting students tend to devote less time to study than other students, but they enjoy better academic performance and more appropriate study habits. The findings of a research conducted by Al-Twaijry (2010) on the students of Qasim University in Saudi Arabia indicated that pre-university educational background in accounting may have significant effect on advanced management-accounting program and students mathematical skills have had a significant positive effect on management-accounting program.

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