Date of Award
2009
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
October 2026
Abstract
The American Association of Colleges and Universities reports that over 50% of the students entering colleges and universities are academically under prepared; that is, according to Miller and Murray (2005), students "lack basic skills in at least one of the three fundamental areas of reading, writing, and mathematics". Furthermore, approximately 30% of the students in a state university undergraduate quantitative business course fail or withdraw from the course. The purpose of this study was to explore non-cognitive and cognitive factors that may be related to the academic success of those students enrolled in the course. To this end, a survey was conducted, collecting the perceptions and opinions of 301 undergraduate college of business students with regard to relevant constructs such as cognitive load, mathematics and general self-efficacy, math anxiety, and motivation. Additional data were collected from the students' transcripts. Findings revealed that the significant cognitive factors contributing to the academic success were the overall GPA of the students as well as the average of their grades in the two prerequisite courses. The statistically significant non-cognitive factors related to the final exam score were the students' perceived levels of cognitive load and mathematics self-efficacy. A moderating effect of mathematics self-efficacy was revealed between the final exam score and overall GPA; however, other selected potential moderators of the final exam score and cognitive load were not significant. Post-hoc analyses verified no significant difference in the final exam score for gender or race; however, a statistically significant difference was found on cognitive load for different instructors. The findings emphasized the importance of prior knowledge and instructional design as both are sensitive to cognitive load (Mayer & Moreno, 2003; Sweller, 1999).
Extent
ix, 117 p. : ill.
Recommended Citation
Davis, Mary M., "exploration of factors affecting the academic success of students in a college quantitative business course" (2009). Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009. 1672.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general_5/1672
Identifier
FADT331845
Comments
by Mary M. Davis.|Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009.|Includes bibliography.|Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.|by Mary M. Davis.