The Influence of Educational Psychology Variables on Student Grades in an Introductory Economics Course

Abstract

In the two principles of microeconomics classes that I taught during the spring and fall semesters of 2013, 170 students participated in the completion of five questionnaires. The first questionnaire covered determinants of student performance recognized in economic education literature, including GPA, gender, age, and race. The other questionnaires were developed by well-known scholars in the field of educational psychology, and they describe the following recognized educational psychology variables: a 29-item Locus of Control Scale, a 12-item Achievement Goal Scale, a 19-item Test Anxiety Scale, and a 16-item Procrastination Scale. The test results were provided to show student characteristics and psychological profiles of students who outperformed others in terms of grades. The regression results show the influence of economic education and educational psychology variables on student grades. The regression equation with only economic education determinants shows that GPA, gender, and ethnicity are the significant variables on student grades, with GPA having a positive effect, males outperforming females, and whites outperforming non-white students. When psychological variables are added to the initial equation, regression results show a significant improvement as reflected by the increase of the adjusted R2 from 0.25 to 0.39. Regression results show that GPA, mastery approach, and debilitating test anxiety are the only significant variables on student performance, with both GPA and mastery orientation variables having a positive effect, while debilitating test anxiety has a negative effect on student performance. The implication of these results for educators is discussed in the paper.