Knowledge Growth, Academic Beliefs and Motivation of Students in Business and Economics - A longitudinal German Case Study

Abstract

In this study we examine the determinants of and the relationship among economic knowledge, epistemological beliefs, and extrinsic and intrinsic motivation over the course of undergraduate studies in a sample of students of business and economics at a university in Germany. We found economic knowledge increased over the course of studies, extrinsic and intrinsic motivation declined, and students became more skeptical in their epistemological beliefs about the objectivity of economic content being taught in their courses. The students" level of economic knowledge was related to intrinsic motivation but unrelated to extrinsic motivation and epistemological beliefs. Furthermore, the students" tendency to become more skeptical over the course of their studies was mitigated by high levels of extrinsic motivation.

How Gender and Primary Language Influence the Acquisition of Economic Knowledge of Secondary School Students in the United States and Germany

“…In prior research, various reasons for the gender gap have been discussed. In many studies, male students have shown greater interest in economic topics (Jensen and Owen 2001;Schumann and Eberle 2014), a connection between interest and media use has been found (Behrens et al 2014;Förster and Happ 2019;Krapp and Ryan 2002), and factors of this kind have correlated to economic knowledge acquisition (Biewen et al 2018;Förster and Happ 2019).…”

The Influence of Refugee Students’ Personal Characteristics on Study Success in Online Education

“…Non-cognitive factors are also decisive for educational success (Fonteyne et al 2017). These include, in particular motivation, self-esteem, and a positive self-concept (Biewen et al 2018). Non-cognitive factors are decisive to better explain group differences in later educational success (Lleras 2008).…”

“…Study motivation was assessed using scales from the questionnaire on academic interest (FSI; Schiefele et al 1993). In the SUCCESS project, we use the validated short scales with four items each for intrinsic and extrinsic study motivation and a four Likert scale as the response options (Biewen et al 2018). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (IM/ EM) were scaled through a generalized partial credit model (Muraki 1992).…”

Economic literacy among beginning higher education economics students in Japan and Germany and its socio-demographic influencing factors

“…However, there are only few comparative studies measuring students' economic literacy across countries and cultures, and hardly any studies focusing on beginning higher education students in particular (Förster et al, 2015a;Rebeck et al, 2009). Based on prior research on students' economic literacy in secondary school (Happ and Förster, 2018;Yamaoka et al, 2010a) as well as on the economic literacy and knowledge of higher education students (Biewen et al, 2018;Brückner et al, 2015aBrückner et al, , 2015bZlatkin-Troitschanskaia and Schlax, 2020) this study focuses on a particularly interesting phase of education, the transition between secondary school and higher education. This stage is especially relevant in the context of international education, as at this point students most frequently move to another country to study abroad 1 .…”