Performance Decision Rules for Students in an Introductory Information Systems Course: A Recursive Partitioning Approach

Abstract

The increased importance of computers in business, in particular the emphasis on applications, end-users, and small computer systems, has spurred questions concerning student performance and content in the introductory business computer information systems course. The present paper utilizes the recursive partitioning technique to develop decision rules for performance in the course. This paper presents a set of variables and decision rules that effectively explain the performance of students in the introductory business computer information systems course. While using logit and discriminant analysis for comparison, this study focuses on the recursive partitioning approach in predicting performance. Results, using recursive partitioning for two semesters of student data, indicate that GPA, ACT, and other variables influence performance; however, prior exposure to computers in high school does not.