Effects of lecture attendance, aptitude, individual heterogeneity and pedagogic intervention on student performance: A probability model approach

Abstract

This article uses a logistic probability distribution approach to examine the effect of lecture attendance, aptitude test results, individual heterogeneity and pedagogic intervention on student performance for first-year microeconomics and second-year macroeconomics modules at a leading South African university. The research was motivated by the throughput concerns in South African institutions of higher education, where approximately one in four of the students enrolled complete their degrees in the minimum regulated time. Using secondary data of 630 and 360 first- and second-year students, respectively, the findings revealed that lecture attendance, aptitude score and having received a foreign high school education have a positive and statistically significant effect on academic performance. Students who received intervention and those using English at home performed better than others at second-year level. Based on these findings, a more stringent attendance policy, varied assessment measures, and wider intervention strategies, among others, are recommended to enhance performance.

Keywords:

• Academic performance
• attendance
• logistic regression
• heterogeneity
• pedagogic intervention

Notes

1. The term ‘throughput’ in this paper refers to progression and the timely completion of degrees, while the term ‘performance’ in this paper refers to module pass rates.

2. Due to data limitations, this study excludes from its analysis the impact of lecture quality and socio-economic variables on academic performance and leaves this to future research.

3. Though the sample of foreign students is small and their socio-economic characteristics were not factored into this analysis, the result is statistically significant and exceptional.