Students' perceptions regarding classroom attendance and its impact on their academic performance: evidence from a developing country

Abstract

PurposeThe purposes of this study are to identify the reasons that prevent students from attending lectures, to examine the impact of absenteeism on their academic performance and to explore the role of gender in their attendance.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire survey made up of statements was distributed to accounting students. Descriptive measures, a five-point Likert scale, Pearson's chi-square test and phi test were employed to achieve the study's objectives.FindingsThe study shows that most of the accounting students surveyed are aware of the importance of attending lectures, since they believe that attendance will have a positive impact on their understanding of course material and on their academic performance. The study indicates that overall academic performance and student attendance are related. It also indicates that there is a statistically significant association between the overall academic performance of accounting students and their gender.Practical implicationsTo gain greater insight into educators, academic institutes, researchers and parents concerning the reasons that lie behind students not attending accounting lectures in public higher education institutions in Kuwait and the effect of attendance on academic performance.Originality/valueMost prior studies have been conducted in developed countries and Western contexts. Especially, with the potential perceived differences in cultures and norms, this empirical study is expected to contribute to fill the gap in this research field.

Factors Affecting Accounting Students’ Academic Performance

“…The result indicate that the most significant predictor variables are gender and prior accounting knowledge (p=0.001), and accounting anxiety (p<0.05). The result shows that gender is a predictor of academic performance, consistent with Koh and Koh (1999), Alfan and Othman (2005), Guney (2009), van Wyk (2011), Jansen and de Villiers ( 2015) and Almutawa and Suwaidan (2020); but inconsistent to Brook and Roberts (2021). Indeed, prior literature has indicated that female students are more academically diligent than their male counterpart is.…”

“…Future research could introduce other determinants such as absenteeism or class attendance. Previous literature discovered that absenteeism is a factor that negatively affects the students' academic performance (Almutawa & Suwaidan, 2020), which means that a student who is absent frequently will not perform well in accounting.…”

“…Another determinant that can be included in future research that was discussed by Almutawa and Suwaidan (2020) is the availability of course materials and lecture explanation, which are important to help student understand the subject and improve academic performance. Next possible predictor recommended is student-learning time (SLT).…”

Analisa Kesulitan dan Kebutuhan Modul Pembelajaran Secara Mandiri

“…Sebanyak 68% responden menyatakan bahwa aplikasi yang digunakan selama pembelajaran jarak jauh mudah digunakan dan dipahami, namun hanya 17% responden yang menyatakan bahwa belajar secara elearning mampu meningkatkan kemampuan mereka dalam memecahkan masalah terkait akuntansi. Permasalahan yang timbul dalam pembelajaran jarak jauh, khususnya pada mata kuliah akuntansi antara lain kinerja siswa dalam belajar akuntansi memiliki hubungan dengan frekuensi kehadiran [2], kecurangan mahasiswa dalam pengerjaan tugas akan meningkat jika tidak ada perubahan dalam metode assessment-nya dari metode yang diterapkan saat tatap muka [1].…”

Impact of absenteeism on academic performance under compulsory attendance policies in first to fifth year university students

“…But to establish a relationship between attendance and performance, it is necessary to control other effects, such as gender, quality of teaching, and environmental variables (Sund & Bignoux, 2018). Regarding gender, previous research found that females perform better than males (McNabb et al, 2002;Richardson & Woodley, 2003;Voyer & Voyer, 2014;Almutawa & Suwaidan, 2020), although Lumsden & Scott (1987) found that variations occur depending on the type of assessment and that females perform better than males in coursework, whereas males perform better than females in exams. Furthermore, Cortright et al (2011) found that the influence of regular attendance on examination performance is more important for female students than for male students.…”