Description
Other business education literature, particularly in the field of economics, has developed
theories in respect of the reasons for non-attendance of lectures and the positive correlation between
class attendance and academic performance. The aim of this paper is to determine the generalizability
of these theories to a large accounting class in South Africa.
Accounting Research Journal
Class absenteeism: reasons for non-attendance and the effect on academic
performance
Astrid Schmulian Stephen Coetzee
Article information:
To cite this document:
Astrid Schmulian Stephen Coetzee, (2011),"Class absenteeism: reasons for non-attendance and the effect
on academic performance", Accounting Research J ournal, Vol. 24 Iss 2 pp. 178 - 194
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Class absenteeism: reasons
for non-attendance and the effect
on academic performance
Astrid Schmulian and Stephen Coetzee
Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences,
University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Abstract
Purpose – Other business education literature, particularly in the ?eld of economics, has developed
theories in respect of the reasons for non-attendance of lectures and the positive correlation between
class attendance and academic performance. The aim of this paper is to determine the generalizability
of these theories to a large accounting class in South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper is a differentiated replication of the study by Paisey
and Paisey, who provided initial evidence of the generalizability of these theories to a small accounting
class in Scotland, employing a research questionnaire and the analysis of quantitative and qualitative
data.
Findings – The reasons given for the non-attendance of lectures generally correspond with those
previously reported. Certain differences that are identi?ed are likely a result of speci?c country or
economic factors. This study found a signi?cant positive correlation between class attendance and
academic performance; however, the correlation is low and not very meaningful. Further analysis
reveals some difference between language groups suggesting that culture and ethnicity may have an
effect on the relationship between class attendance and academic performance.
Originality/value – This paper raises questions as to the generalizability of prior research on class
attendance and academic performance. The ?ndings of this study suggest other factors, including
students’ economic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, are likely to affect associations between class
attendance and academic performance.
Keywords Accountingeducation, Class attendance, Academic performance, SouthAfrica, Absenteeism,
Students
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Accounting lectures at the tertiary level in South Africa tend to focus on the application
of accounting rules in various ?ctitious single-answer scenarios (Botha, 2001; University
of Pretoria, UP, 2009) This focus is largely driven by the nature of the South African
professional qualifying examinations which assess students’ competence based on such
scenarios (Botha, 2001; South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, SAICA, 2005;
van der Schyf, 2008). Students who miss lectures lose the bene?t of having this
application explained and demonstrated to them. In addition, these absentee students
forfeit the bene?t of the auditory and visual supplementation of the textbook (Sleigh and
Ritzer, 2001); the opportunity to learn from questions asked by other students during
lectures and the resultant explanation provided by the lecturer (Sleigh and Ritzer, 2001);
the guidance provided in the critical thought process through the line of questioning
followed by a lecturer; and the ability to generate class notes as an additional source of
information (Marburger, 2001).
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1030-9616.htm
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Accounting Research Journal
Vol. 24 No. 2, 2011
pp. 178-194
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1030-9616
DOI 10.1108/10309611111163718
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The bene?ts associatedwithclass attendance have ledresearchers to hypothesise that
class attendance should positively correlate with academic performance (Durden and
Ellis, 1995; Devadoss and Foltz, 1996; Rodgers, 2001; Marburger, 2001; Rodgers and
Rodgers, 2003; Paisey and Paisey, 2004; Gump, 2005; Sauers et al., 2005; Wood?eld et al.,
2006; Massingham and Herrington, 2006; Halpern, 2007; Chen and Lin, 2008;
Newman-Ford et al., 2008; Horn and Jansen, 2009; Crede´ et al., 2010). These researchers
have generally con?rmed this correlation – although cautioning that the link could be no
more thana casual one as students who attend lectures may already be more predisposed
to academic achievement (Romer, 1993; Devadoss and Foltz, 1996; Marburger, 2001;
Rodgers, 2001; Paisey and Paisey, 2004; Gendron and Pieper, 2005; Halpern, 2007) and
may exhibit greater levels of motivation (Longhurst, 1999; Massinghamand Herrington,
2006; Moore et al., 2008).
Despite the evidence that there may be a positive relationship between attendance
and academic performance, some students continue to be absent from lectures.
Researchers have identi?ed several possible reasons for this absence. These reasons
vary from the more “valid” reasons, such as illness and part-time work (Longhurst,
1999; Paisey and Paisey, 2004; Wood?eld et al., 2006; Massingham and Herrington,
2006) to less “valid” reasons, such as sleeping late and engaging in various forms of
merrymaking (Longhurst, 1999; Paisey and Paisey, 2004; Moore et al., 2008).
Much of the research at the university level investigating the reasons for
non-attendance and the possible correlation between student attendance and academic
performance has been performed in various business and economics subjects other
than accounting. Researchers applying the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator have
concluded that accounting students’ personality types and learning styles differ from
students in other disciplines (Booth and Winzar, 1993; Wolk and Nikolai, 1997;
Briggs et al., 2007). Further, it has been suggested that accounting students differ from
other students in terms of achievement, attitude, goal orientation, independence and
self-discipline (Giacomino and Akers, 1998; Ridener, 1999). Accordingly, given these
differing characteristics, the generalizability, to an accounting context, of the theories
developed outside of accounting may be limited (Ylijoki, 2000). Little research
considering class attendance has been conducted in an accounting context. Paisey
and Paisey (2004) conducted an exploratory study in this regard and their results
provided initial con?rmation of the generalizability of the theories developed in the
broader body of literature to an accounting context (see Table I for a description of
this context).
The results reported by Paisey and Paisey (2004) are limited to a small accounting
class of 81 students in Scotland. The generalizability of the theories has therefore yet to
be established in a larger accounting class in another country. It is submitted that the
background of the students who study at a South African university may differ from
that of students who study at a Scottish university. Non-attendance at a South African
university could potentially be in?uenced by factors which may not be present in
Scotland, such as a non-existent or very poor public transport system, language barriers
and vastly different levels of quality and pedagogical styles within school education
systems as result of previous historical and political in?uences. Further preliminary
research by McChlery and Visser (2009) has hinted at possible learning style differences
between accounting students in the UKand South Africa. The broader body of literature
on learning style differences has identi?ed a latent association between students’ levels
Class
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of individualism and their preference to learn by doing or watching (Sugahara and
Boland, 2010). Accordingly, any difference between the Scottish and South African
students’ learningstyle preferences mayimpact ontheir preference to “watch” (i.e. attend
lectures or not). Finally, the Scottish study considered lecture and seminar attendance
separately and concluded that lectures had a higher average attendance level and that
lecture attendance was a better indicator of performance than seminar attendance
(Paisey and Paisey, 2004, p. 46). Given that the nature of classes in this study is limited to
lectures, comparisons drawn between results of this study and that of Paisey and Paisey
(2004) are restricted to lectures.
The purpose of this study is to expand on that of Paisey and Paisey (2004) through
performing a differentiated replication[1] of their study to determine the
generalizability of the theories established in the literature to a larger accounting
class in South Africa. In particular, this study aims to determine, within the context of
a larger accounting class in South Africa:
.
the reasons for non-attendance of lectures; and
.
whether there is any correlation between class attendance and academic
performance.
In light of the declining attendance rates that have been observed in a variety of
disciplines across several universities, the ?ndings of this paper hold importance for
both lecturers and students in accounting education programmes (Rodgers and
Rodgers, 2003; St Clair, 1999). Lecturers may consider the appropriateness of their style
of pedagogy given the outcomes of the study and whether they are adding value in the
classroom. Students, and other parties with a vested interest in a student’s academic
performance, namely parents; grantors of ?nancial support; the university and the
accounting profession, may also be interested in indicators demonstrating the possible
value being added by a student’s class attendance.
The following section of the paper provides the background to the study after which
the research design and method is documented and, ?nally the results and conclusions
of this study are presented.
Paisey and Paisey (2004) This study
Cohort of students: third-year students for a BA or
BA (Hons) Accounting degree accredited by the
main UK accounting bodies
Cohort of students: second-year students studying
for a BCom (Accounting Sciences) degree
accredited by the SAICA
Classes: lectures and seminars Classes: lectures
Assessment: independent research coursework
and a written assessment
Assessment: four written assessments
Staff: three educators involved Staff: two educators involved
Population: 81 students Population: 442 students
Economic environment: developed Economic environment: developing
Course language: English Course language: English and Afrikaans
a
Notes:
a
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa; with approximately
six million native speakers in South Africa, or 13.3 per cent of the population, it is the third most
spoken mother tongue in the country (de Swaan, 2001)
Table I.
Comparison of the context
of this study to that of
Paisey and Paisey (2004)
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2. Background
The UP is one of the 13 residential universities in South Africa accredited by the
SAICA to educate chartered accountants. The route to qualifying as a chartered
accountant in South Africa is shown in Figure 1. Essentially, this route involves
completing four years of academic study at an accredited university. Following this
education programme, a period of three years of training is undertaken. During this
time spent in training, the professional qualifying examinations that are set and
administered by the professional body are written.
Financial accounting is one of the major subjects for which students must enroll when
studying towards professional accounting quali?cation (SAICA, 2005). Following a
bookkeeping course presented in the ?rst year, second-year students are introduced to
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). IFRS forms the focus of the
students’ remaining years of study. As the UPis a full-time study facility, lectures are the
primary mediumof instruction, supported by a textbook. The style of pedagogy adopted
in lectures is very teacher centred. The IFRS rules are presented in class and their
practical application are illustrated in typical rule based, written assessment questions.
Additional examples and self-study questions and solutions are handed out during
class. Students who miss a class can obtain these handouts fromthe lecturer. In addition,
assessments written in previous years are made available to the students for additional
practice. In accordance with departmental policy, copies of the lecturers’ notes for the
lectures are not made available to the students (UP, 2009).
The course is presentedto two groups of approximately 200 students each. One group
represents the English students and the other the Afrikaans students and each group
has its own lecturer. The Afrikaans group consists primarily (99.5 per cent) of Caucasian
students, while the English group has a signi?cant majority (62 per cent) of African
students. Although the material presented and available to the students is in English
and Afrikaans, the lecturers pay speci?c attention to ensuring that the content of the
lectures delivered to both groups is as near identical as possible. The lecturers both
follow a prescribed syllabus, use the same examples in class, and compare their lecture
notes prior to each lecture to ensure the greatest measure of uniformity possible
Figure 1.
Route to quali?cation
as a chartered accountant
in South Africa
Three year full-time B Com accounting degree, or
equivalent, at a tertiary education institution
Enter into a three year training contract during which
time the final professional qualifying examinations are
written
One year Certificate in the Theory of Accounting
(CTA), or equivalent, on a full-time basis at an
accredited tertiary education institution
Register as CA (SA)
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in the presentations made to both language groups. However, it must be conceded that
each lecturer does have an individual style, which could have an in?uence on the
students.
3. Method
Reasons for non-attendance of lectures
In determining the reasons for lecture non-attendance, this study replicated the
questionnaire developed by Paisey and Paisey (2004). The questionnaire incorporated
some open-ended questions (as highlighted in the discussion below). These were
analysed using inductive logic. The remainder of data collected from the questionnaire
are of a quantitative nature. The questionnaire was issued at the completion of the
module to all students who were enrolled for this accounting course, and not only to
those students who were enrolled for the ?rst time. Those students who had not passed
the module on a previous attempt could possibly provide insightful reasons for their
non-attendance, which could differ from that of the ?rst-time students. The ?nal
number of students included in the population for the distribution of the questionnaire
was 442. A total of 415 usable anonymous responses were received. This response rate
is high, but it has to be taken into account that some students did not complete the
questionnaire and that these students could have been regular absentees and could
possibly have had additional comments and/or responses to the questionnaire.
The demographic pro?le of the respondent group is presented in Table II. The
majority of students (84.3 per cent) were between 19 and 21 years of age. The gender
split for the respondent group is even, with 50.1 per cent of the students being male.
Most of the students (63.3 per cent) indicated that their parents ?nance their studies,
while a further 17.2 per cent have student loans. Many of the students (48.7 per cent)
Male Female Total
Afrikaans 109 88 197
English 99 119 218
Total 208 207 415
% 50.1 49.9 100
Age
18 19 20 21 22 Other No response Total
Afrikaans – 20 97 45 22 13 – 197
English 3 47 94 46 21 6 1 218
Number 3 67 191 91 43 19 1 415
% 0.7 16.2 46.1 22.0 10.4 4.6 – 100
Accommodation
Parents Hostel Commune Own Other No response Total
Afrikaans 104 40 13 36 4 – 197
English 98 55 17 46 2 – 218
Number 202 95 30 82 6 – 415
% 48.7 22.9 7.2 19.8 1.4 – 100
Finance
Parents Bursary Loan Self Other No response Total
Afrikaans 133 10 39 9 5 1 197
English 128 47 32 4 5 2 218
Number 261 57 71 13 10 3 415
% 63.3 13.8 17.2 3.2 2.5 – 100
Table II.
Student demographics
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live with their parents while a further 22.9 per cent indicated that they lived in a
student hostel and 19.8 per cent lived in their own accommodation (for example, a ?at).
Correlation between class attendance and academic performance
During their second academic year, these students are introduced to the topic
Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements (IAS 27) (IASB, 2006). They therefore
have no prior education or experience of the topic which could in?uence their
performance in the assessments. As such, this analysis was restricted to attendance
and performance in this topic. This topic is presented in 22 lecturers over a period of
seven weeks and is assessed by means of four written assessments.
To further control for the effect of prior exposure to the topic, when determining the
impact of absenteeism on academic performance, only students who were enrolled for
the module for the ?rst time were included in the population for statistical analysis.
Students with prior knowledge of the topic (n ¼ 177) could score higher marks as they
may be able to fall back on their existing knowledge and could have more experience in
answering questions on the topic[2]. Students who were enrolled for the module for the
?rst time and who missed one of the predetermined assessments (n ¼ 18) were also
excluded as they wrote a different supplementary test or examination, which may
introduce an additional variable into the study. The ?nal number of students included
in the population for statistical analysis was 247.
Actual attendance was determined with reference to attendance registers[3]. These
attendance registers were administered by class representatives and veri?ed by head
counts performed by the representatives. The students were aware of these head
counts and that a randomized sample of individual attendance records were veri?ed by
the lecturer in class. Further, the lecturers veri?ed the total head count on a random
basis. The students’ marks obtained in the four written assessments were used as a
proxy for academic performance. No marks were awarded for attendance and the
students were made aware of this.
4. Results and discussion
Attendance patterns and bene?ts
The average attendance recorded for the module was 90 per cent, withthe lowest average
attendance recorded of 80 per cent and the highest attendance recorded of 98 per cent.
Paisey and Paisey (2004) reported an average lecture attendance of 80 per cent. The
difference in average attendance may be attributable to the fact that more of the Scottish
students were required to work part-time to fund their studies than is the case in this
study. Several studies in the USA have con?rmed that part-time work has a negative
effect on rates of college attendance (Carr et al., 1996; McNeal, 1997; Warren et al., 2000).
Despite this difference, the average attendance reported by Paisey and Paisey (2004) and
in this study appears fairly high. This observation is not surprising as both modules
formed part of a full-time degree course. In addition, accounting has an underlying
mathematical nature and it has been suggested that absenteeism is generally lower in
courses that have a signi?cant mathematical component (Romer, 1993, p. 168). Given the
high attendance levels reported, it is unsurprising that, as was the case in Paisey
and Paisey (2004), the majority of the respondent students either “strongly agreed”
(62.2 per cent) or “agreed” (27.4 per cent) that regular attendance of the lectures would
improve their academic performance (Table III).
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To elicit further detail as to what students’ perceptions of the apparent bene?ts of
class attendance were, the following open-ended question was posed to them:
What do you believe are the main bene?ts of regular attendance of the lectures?
The responses to this question are summarized in Table IV. The vast majority of
students expressed the viewthat class attendance would enhance their awareness of the
relevant “concepts” and improve their understandings thereof. Further, the students
valued the opportunity for interaction in the classroom, the overall improvement in their
study ef?ciency and the additional “coaching” they would receive in exam-type
questions. These views largely support those of the Scottish university students who
indicated that attendance increased their knowledge and understanding of the subject
and helped with examination preparation (Paisey and Paisey, 2004).
n %
Strongly agree 257 62.2
Agree 113 27.4
Slightly agree 27 6.5
Neither agree nor disagree 12 2.9
Slightly disagree 0 –
Disagree 2 0.5
Strongly disagree 2 0.5
No response 2 –
Total 415 100
Table III.
In your opinion, do you
believe that regularly
attending lectures would
improve a student’s
academic performance?
Frequency
(n ¼ 415)
Response n %
To gain awareness and a greater understanding of the topic
To gain a better understanding of the concepts and principles contained in the material 146 35.1
Obtain clarity on the dif?cult sections; lecturers explain the complex topics in class;
work is explained 58 14.0
Additional explanations are provided and knowledge is gained that is not in the
textbook 22 5.3
Comprehension of the “bigger picture” and the reason why consolidated ?nancial
statements are compiled 25 6.0
Lectures make students aware of the most important concepts 21 5.1
To bene?t from the interaction in class
Opportunity to ask questions and learn from other students’ questions, interactions and
discussions 37 8.9
To improve overall study ef?ciency
Keeping up to date with the work 23 5.5
Reduction of on own study time 51 12.3
Obtain better marks 2 –
To be “coached” in answering of exam-type question
Obtaining the lecturer’s opinion on how to answer questions and guidance on how
questions might be asked 12 2.9
Practical examples 12 2.9
Table IV.
What do you believe
are the main bene?ts
of regular attendance
of the lectures?
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Despite highlighting these bene?ts, when the students were asked, “what, if anything,
could the department/lecturers do to help improve attendance in this module?”, the most
common response was “make it more interesting and give more practical examples”
(n ¼ 15). This response may be indicative of the “boring” nature of the teacher-centred
lectures in which the students are primarily passive recipients of information imparted
upon them by the lecturer. The request for more “practical” examples may be a further
indication that students wish to be challenged by more real-life scenarios, rather than
?ctitious one correct answer exam type questions. However, it is submitted that it may
alternatively be indicative of the students demanding additional “coaching” for the
professional qualifying examination. Other interventions suggested by the students to
improve class attendance are:
.
take in homework (n ¼ 7);
.
introduce unannounced tests in class time (n ¼ 7);
.
give “tips” (n ¼ 4); and
.
give bonus marks for attendance (n ¼ 4).
Some students even cheekily commented that lecturers should give the students sweets
in class to improve class attendance (n ¼ 3).
Reasons for non-attendance
Despite the apparent support for class attendance, some students continued to be
absent from lectures to varying degrees. The main reason given by students for not
attending lectures was illness (n ¼ 60). The following reasons were also given for
absence from lectures:
.
timetable clashes (this is a valid reason for students who are repeating the
second-year modules and who are registered for certain third-year modules)
(n ¼ 26);
.
studying for another subject (n ¼ 21);
.
traf?c or other transport problems (n ¼ 24); or
.
oversleeping (n ¼ 6).
In contrast, Paisey and Paisey (2004) reported the following principle reasons
for absence from lecturers:
.
part-time work (n ¼ 23);
.
working on course work (n ¼ 18);
.
illness (n ¼ 15); and
.
personal reasons (including hangover) (n ¼ 4).
Although there is some commonality in these ?ndings (for example, illness, working on
course work or other subjects and personal reasons) there are some important
differences. Part-time work was not a challenge for the current respondent group as
their parents primarily fund their studies (Table II). In contrast, many of the Scottish
students were required to work part-time to fund their studies (Paisey and Paisey, 2004).
As anticipated, the lack of public transport in South Africa appears to be a challenge not
experienced by the Scottish students. Therefore, while there may be some
Class
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generalizability in the reasons for non-attendance of accounting lectures, there may be
reasons which are particular to a given country or economic environment.
Correlation of attendance and performance
Despite the students’ perception that class attendance does improve academic
performance, statistical evidence of this correlation was sought. APearson’s correlation
coef?cient was calculated for the attendance prior to each assessment and the average
mark obtained in that assessment. All assessment activities exhibited a positive
correlation, which is signi?cant on the 5 per cent level, but the correlation coef?cient is
relatively low (Table V). Paisey and Paisey (2004) reported a higher overall correlation,
signi?cant at the 0.1 per cent level (r ¼ 0.54). Furthermore, the strength of the
correlations identi?ed in this study show a declining trend from the ?rst and second
assessments (r ¼ 0.29 and 0.23, respectively) through to the third assessment
and examination (r ¼ 0.18 and 0.13, respectively). Class attendance prior to the ?rst and
second assessments may have a higher correlation with the marks, as these assessments
primarily consider the new work dealt with immediately preceding each assessment.
The third assessment and examination consider work dealt with over the entire duration
of the topic. No new information is added following the second assessment. Further,
these ?nal assessments are administered sometime after completion of the topic and it is
therefore possible that other intervening variables (such additional consultation with
lecturers) may lessen the contribution of attendance inthe performance of the students in
these ?nal assessments. On average, students who failed the ?nal assessment had a total
attendance rate of 89 per cent, whilst students who passed the ?nal assessment had a
total attendance rate of 93 per cent. Interestingly, the student who obtained the highest
mark in the examination (88 per cent) had an overall attendance rate of 100 per cent
throughout the module. The student who obtained the lowest mark in the examination
(8 per cent) had an overall attendance rate of 76 per cent throughout the module.
However, the student who obtained the second lowest mark in the examination
(14 per cent) had an attendance rate of 100 per cent. Paisey and Paisey (2004) also noted
that there was little difference between the attendance of Scottish university students
gaining the highest and lowest overall marks.
As the level of correlation at the individual level is reasonably low, the average
attendance for the total group was subdivided into four categories, namely:
attendance levels of 0-79, 80-89, 90-99, and 100 per cent to determine whether a stronger
correlation could be identi?ed for a particular group of students. As a very high
percentage of attendance for the group was achieved, it was not possible to subdivide
Attendance
Marks
First assessment
(r)
Second assessment
(r)
Third assessment
(r)
Examination
(r)
First assessment 0.29
*
Second assessment 0.23
*
Third assessment 0.18
*
Examination 0.13
*
Note: Signi?cant at the
*
5 per cent level
Table V.
Pearson’s correlation
coef?cient (r) calculated
for the marks and the
attendance of the group
in total
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the 0-79 per cent group any further, as statistically insigni?cant n-values would have
resulted from such a subdivision.
The Kruskal-Wallis test was performed to compare the categories of attendance
with the average mark obtained by students who fall within each of the four categories
(Table VI). Kruskal-Wallis is a non-parametric technique, which is suitable for use in
cases in which a normal distribution is not present. For the ?rst, second and third
assessment a signi?cant difference was identi?ed between the average marks obtained
by the group of students who attended less than 79 per cent of lectures and the group of
students who attended 100 per cent of the lectures. There was, however, no such
signi?cant difference in respect of the marks obtained in the examination.
Despite the overall high attendance rate for the module in this study, there were still
students who did not perform well and even some who failed. The statistical analysis
suggests only a slight positive correlation between attendance and performance.
Correlation of attendance and performance by gender group
Paisey and Paisey (2004) reported some gender differences within their cohort of
students with the male and female students exhibiting differing levels of correlation for
differing assessments. Further, the average attendance reported for the female Scottish
university students was higher than the average attendance of the male Scottish
university students. These ?ndings are repeated in the South African context for each
assessment analysed. The average lecture attendance and performance of the
female students was higher than the average attendance and performance of the
male students. The Pearson’s correlation coef?cient, calculated for the female and
male group (Table VII), revealed a low, positive correlation, signi?cant on the 5 per cent
Attendance M SD Median mark
First assessment (p ¼ 0.0044)
0-79 75.5
a
16.3 75.0
80-89 77.3
a,b
14.3 77.0
90-99 81.1
a,b
10.7 82.5
100 84.3
b
11.5 87.5
Second assessment (p ¼ 0.0021)
0-79 58.3
a
17.6 54.0
80-89 63.3
a,b
19.7 66.5
90-99
c
100 68.0
b
15.3 68
Third assessment (p ¼ 0.0126)
0-79 51.7
a
15.5 53.7
80-89 55.2
a,b
16.6 54.9
90-99 57.8
a,b
12.0 58.5
100 61.1
b
13.6 64.6
Examination (p ¼ 0.0287)
0-79 45.7
a
15.2 47.2
80-89 51.8
a
11.8 52.8
90-99 49.0
a
11.9 49.1
100 54.3
a
14.2 56.7
Notes: Means with a different superscript “a” or “b” differ signi?cantly at the 5 per cent level;
c
no students fell into this grouping for second assessment
Table VI.
Kruskal-Wallis test:
average attendance and
marks for the total group,
split into category
attendances
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level for the female group (panel A) in the ?rst assessment only and a low, positive
correlation, signi?cant on the 5 per cent level for the male group in the ?rst, second and
third assessments. The male group (panel B) followed the declining trend of positive
correlation from the ?rst assessment (r ¼ 0.33) to the examination (r ¼ 0.16) evident in
the student group as a whole.
A Kruskal-Wallis test was again performed by gender groups to identify any
correlation between the four categories of attendance with the average mark obtained by
students that fall within each of these categories. The female group revealed no
signi?cant differences at the 5 per cent level between the four categories of attendance
and the average marks obtained in each of the four assessments. Within the male group
(Table VIII), a statistically signi?cant difference was found in the marks between the
students attending less that 79 per cent of lectures and those that attended 100 per cent of
lectures in both the ?rst and the second assessment. No such difference was found
between any categories of attendance for the third assessment or the examination. These
?ndings again largely re?ect those of the student group as a whole.
Correlation of attendance and performance by language group
In contrast to the study of Paisey and Paisey (2004), where the lectures are only
presented in English, the course considered in this study is presented in English and
Afrikaans. A Pearsons correlation coef?cient for each assessment was therefore
calculated for each language group to investigate any possible differences based on
language of presentation. The results are presented in Table IX. The Afrikaans group
(panel A) displays a slightly higher level of positive correlation than the English group,
although still no more than a casual relationship between attendance and performance
is found. In line with the ?ndings of the group as a whole, the Afrikaans group exhibits
a declining trend of positive correlation between the ?rst assessment (r ¼ 0.49) and the
examination (r ¼ 0.20). This trend is however not evident for the English students
(panel B).
A Kruskal-Wallis test was performed for each of the language groups to compare
the four categories of attendance with the average mark obtained by students that fall
within each of the categories (Tables X and XI).
Attendance
Marks
First assessment
(r)
Second assessment
(r)
Third assessment
(r)
Examination
(r)
Panel A: female group
First assessment 0.22
*
Second assessment 0.11
Third assessment 20.02
Examination 0.07
Panel B: male group
First assessment 0.33
*
Second assessment 0.29
*
Third assessment 0.26
*
Examination 0.16
Note: Signi?cant at the
*
5 per cent level
Table VII.
Pearson’s correlation
coef?cient (r) calculated
for the marks
and the attendance by
gender group
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In respect of the ?rst assessment, signi?cant differences were found between
Afrikaans students who attended less than 79 per cent of the lectures and students
who attended 100 per cent of the lectures as well as between students who attended
80-89 per cent of the lectures and students who attended all the lectures (Table X).
In the second assessment, a signi?cant difference was only found between students
who attended 0-79 per cent of the lectures and students who attended 100 per cent of
the lectures. No signi?cant differences were found in respect of the third assessment or
Attendance M SD Median mark
First assessment (p ¼ 0.0146)
0-79 75.3
a
16.9 75.0
80-89 75.3
a,b
9.7 77.0
90-99 79.7
a,b
11.0 80.0
100 84.2
b
11.5 88.0
Second assessment (p ¼ 0.0123)
0-79 56.9
a
18.5 52.5
80-89 62.9
a,b
16.5 62.0
90-99
c
100 67.3
b
15.9 67.0
Third assessment (p ¼ 0.0769)
0-79 49.6 15.8 51.0
80-89 52.2 16.1 52.0
90-99 58.9 13.3 60.0
100 59.4 15.5 60.0
Examination (p ¼ 0.1600)
0-79 45.5 16.3 48.0
80-89 50.2 10.6 51.1
90-99 47.5 11.9 47.0
100 53.0 12.7 55.0
Notes: Means with a different superscript “a” or “b” differ signi?cantly at the 10 per cent level (?rst
assessment) and differ signi?cantly at the 5 per cent level (second assessment);
c
no students fell into
this grouping for second assessment
Table VIII.
Kruskal-Wallis test:
average attendance and
marks for the male group,
split into categories of
attendance
Attendance
Marks
First assessment
(r)
Second assessment
(r)
Third assessment
(r)
Examination
(r)
Panel A: Afrikaans group
First assessment 0.49
*
Second assessment 0.29
*
Third assessment 0.11
Examination 0.20
*
Panel B: English group
First assessment 0.13
Second assessment 0.16
Third assessment 0.25
*
Examination 0.07
Note: Signi?cant at the
*
5 per cent level
Table IX.
Pearson’s correlation
coef?cient (r) calculated
for the marks and the
attendance by language
group
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Attendance M SD Median mark
First assessment (p ¼ 0.0000)
0-79 66.8
a,b
15.5 70.0
80-89 70.4
a,b
4.15 68.0
90-99 81.2
a,b,c
11.6 83.0
100 86.5
c
10.3 88.0
Second assessment (p ¼ 0.0053)
0-79 55.8
a
18.5 52.0
80-89 57.2
a,b
20.5 59.5
90-99
d
100 67.2
b
15.7 68.0
Third assessment (p ¼ 0.6247)
0-79 53.6
a
17.1 55.5
80-89 54.5
a
19.9 56.1
90-99 59.5
a
12.1 59.8
100 60.1
a
14.5 62.2
Examination (p ¼ 0.0434)
0-79 39.2
a
14.3 42.0
80-89 46.6
a
13.2 48.1
90-99 51.8
a
11.9 50.5
100 54.5
a
15.1 53.8
Notes: Means with a different superscript “a” or “b” or “c” differ signi?cantly at the 5 per cent level;
d
no students fell into this grouping for second assessment
Table X.
Kruskal-Wallis test:
average attendance
and marks for the
Afrikaans group, split
into categories of
attendance
Attendance M SD Median mark
First assessment (p ¼ 0.9799)
0-79 79.2
a
15.3 81.0
80-89 79.7
a
15.9 85.0
90-99 81.0
a
10.1 80.0
100 81.3
a
12.3 82.5
Second assessment (p ¼ 0.2810)
0-79 62.3
a
15.6 59.0
80-89 66.3
a
18.9 70.0
90-99
c
100 68.7
a
14.9 70.0
Third assessment (p ¼ 0.0341)
0-79 50.2
a
14.5 47.6
80-89 55.7
a
13.9 54.9
90-99 56.7
a
11.9 57.3
100 62.5
a
12.1 64.6
Examination (p ¼ 0.0290)
0-79 49.7
a,b
14.8 52.8
80-89 55.4
a,b
9.5 53.8
90-99 47.1
a
11.7 48.1
100 54.1
b
13.3 56.6
Notes: Means with a different superscript “a” or “b” differ signi?cantly at the 5 per cent level;
c
no students fell into this grouping for second assessment
Table XI.
Kruskal-Wallis test:
average attendance and
marks for the English
group, split into category
attendances
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the examination (Table XI). This result may indicate that the in?uence of lectures on
academic performance in the Afrikaans group decreases with the increasing length of
the period between the presentation of these lectures and the assessment date.
In contrast with the Afrikaans group, no signi?cant difference was found for the
English students in any assessment other than the examination. In the examination,
there is an inexplicable, signi?cant difference between the students who attended
90-99 per cent of the lectures in comparison with the students who attended 100 per cent
of the lectures (Table XI). However, the remainder of the results for the English group
indicate that there is no signi?cant difference between the marks of students, regardless
of whether they attended all the lectures or less than 79 per cent of the lectures.
Although further investigation will be required in future studies, the results based
on the analysis by language group raises the question, given the dominance of White
students in the Afrikaans group and African students in the English group, as to the
effect of different ethnic and cultural environments on class attendance and the
correlation with academic performance of students from different backgrounds.
5. Conclusion
Paisey and Paisey (2004) provided preliminary con?rmation in an accounting education
context, of the generalizability of theories developed in the broader ?eld of business
education literature of the reasons for non-attendance of lectures and the positive
correlationbetweenclass attendance andacademic performance ina small accountingclass
in Scotland. The objective of this study was therefore to determine the generalizability of
these theories to a larger accounting class in South Africa. This study was a differentiated
replication of the study of Paisey and Paisey (2004) to determine, in the context of larger
accountingclasses inSouthAfrica, the reasons for non-attendance of class andto determine
whether class attendance has a signi?cant in?uence on academic performance.
The spectrum of reasons given by the respondents for non-attendance of lectures
generally corresponds with those reported by Paisey and Paisey (2004). Certain
differences as a result of speci?c country or economic factors were however identi?ed,
limiting the generalizability of any theories developed on the reasons for
non-attendance of accounting classes across international and economic boundaries.
Although this study found a signi?cant positive correlation between class
attendance and academic performance, the correlation was low and not very
meaningful. These ?ndings suggest that the large class environment, its situation in
South Africa’s cultural and economic environment, or a combination of the two, may
reduce the effect of class attendance on academic performance. Further differentiated
replication studies isolating the effect of these variables in an accounting education
context may assist in clarifying the matter.
Given that literature outside an accounting context has previously con?rmed a
positive correlation between class attendance and academic performance in larger
classes (Romer, 1993; Gump, 2005; Halpern, 2007) the nature of accounting pedagogy in
South African accounting education may need to be questioned. Perhaps, the students’
request to “make it more interesting and give more practical examples” needs to be
taken seriously by accounting educators. The current teacher-centred teaching
environment, relying on ?ctitious single answer textbook scenarios, may need to be
reconsidered. Accounting education literature provides a wealth of alternative
student-orientated approaches which may be “more interesting”.
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Given the low correlation for the group as a whole the analysis was repeated by
language group. Some differences between the English and Afrikaans students were
identi?ed. These ?ndings raise questions as to the possible effects of culture and
ethnicity difference in the bene?ts of class attendance. Differing learning styles
between cultural and ethnicity groups may therefore provide interesting avenues of
exploration for future studies into the effects of non-attendance of lectures and
academic performance; particularly in non-western cultural environments. Further
investigation into cultural and ethnic differences between the lecturer and the students
may also present interesting opportunities for future research.
Finally, this study made no attempt at determining a causal relationship between
class attendance and academic performance, instead focusing on any possible
correlation between these two variables. Identifying such a relationship in an
accounting education context may provide further opportunity for future investigation.
Notes
1. Lindsay and Ehrenberg (1993) de?ne a differentiated replication as deliberate or known
variation on a major aspect of a study with the aim of extending the known range of
conditions for which the result may hold true.
2. Separate analysis of the attendance patterns of those students repeating the module is
precluded by the fact that these students’ attendance patterns are arti?cially reduced as they
have timetable clashes with other courses from the next academic level.
3. Attendance registers were not kept for other modules in the course. However, an
unannounced lecturer evaluation (which are routinely conducted) completed, by the speci?c
second-year students under review, during their second year, but outside the study period,
revealed a 90 per cent attendance, providing some support for the reasonability of the
attendance rates over the study period.
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cgi?article¼1175&context¼commpapers (accessed 25 July 2008).
Romer, D. (1993), “Do students go to class? Should they?”, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 7
No. 3, pp. 167-74.
SAICA (2005), “Education requirements for entry into part 1 of the qualifying examination”,
South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, available at: www.saica.co.za
(accessed 1 December 2007).
Sauers, D.A., McVay, G.J. and Deppa, B.D. (2005), “Absenteeism and academic performance in an
introduction to business course”, Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, Vol. 9 No. 2,
pp. 19-27.
Sleigh, M.J. and Ritzer, D.R. (2001), “Encouraging student attendance”, available at: www.
psychologicalscience.org/observer/1101/tips.html (accessed 13 July 2008).
St Clair, K.L. (1999), “A case against compulsory class attendance policies in higher education”,
Innovative Higher Education, Vol. 23 No. 2, pp. 171-80.
Sugahara, S. and Boland, G. (2010), “The role of cultural factors in the learning style preferences
of accounting students: a comparative study between Japan and Australia”,
Accounting Education: An International Journal, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 235-55.
UP (2009), Learner’s Guide: Financial Accounting 201, UP Printers, University of Pretoria,
Pretoria.
van der Schyf, D.B. (2008), “The essence of a university and scholarly activity in accounting, with
reference to a department of accounting at a South African university”, Meditari:
Research Journal of the School of Accounting Sciences, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 1-26.
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for students’ grades in academic courses”, American Educational Research Journal, Vol. 37,
pp. 943-69.
Wolk, C. and Nikolai, L.A. (1997), “Personality types of accounting students and faculty:
comparisons and Implications”, Journal of Accounting Education, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 1-17.
Wood?eld, R., Jessop, D. and McMillan, L. (2006), “Gender differences in undergraduate
attendance rates”, Studies in Higher Education, Vol. 31 No. 1, pp. 1-22.
Ylijoki, O. (2000), “Disciplinary cultures and the moral order of studying – a case of four Finnish
university departments”, Higher Education, Vol. 39 No. 3, pp. 339-62.
Corresponding author
Astrid Schmulian can be contacted at: [email protected]
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This article has been cited by:
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doc_238817711.pdf
Other business education literature, particularly in the field of economics, has developed
theories in respect of the reasons for non-attendance of lectures and the positive correlation between
class attendance and academic performance. The aim of this paper is to determine the generalizability
of these theories to a large accounting class in South Africa.
Accounting Research Journal
Class absenteeism: reasons for non-attendance and the effect on academic
performance
Astrid Schmulian Stephen Coetzee
Article information:
To cite this document:
Astrid Schmulian Stephen Coetzee, (2011),"Class absenteeism: reasons for non-attendance and the effect
on academic performance", Accounting Research J ournal, Vol. 24 Iss 2 pp. 178 - 194
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Kamran Ahmed, J ohn Hillier, Elisabeth Tanusasmita, (2011),"R&D profitability, intensity and market-
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Class absenteeism: reasons
for non-attendance and the effect
on academic performance
Astrid Schmulian and Stephen Coetzee
Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences,
University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Abstract
Purpose – Other business education literature, particularly in the ?eld of economics, has developed
theories in respect of the reasons for non-attendance of lectures and the positive correlation between
class attendance and academic performance. The aim of this paper is to determine the generalizability
of these theories to a large accounting class in South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper is a differentiated replication of the study by Paisey
and Paisey, who provided initial evidence of the generalizability of these theories to a small accounting
class in Scotland, employing a research questionnaire and the analysis of quantitative and qualitative
data.
Findings – The reasons given for the non-attendance of lectures generally correspond with those
previously reported. Certain differences that are identi?ed are likely a result of speci?c country or
economic factors. This study found a signi?cant positive correlation between class attendance and
academic performance; however, the correlation is low and not very meaningful. Further analysis
reveals some difference between language groups suggesting that culture and ethnicity may have an
effect on the relationship between class attendance and academic performance.
Originality/value – This paper raises questions as to the generalizability of prior research on class
attendance and academic performance. The ?ndings of this study suggest other factors, including
students’ economic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, are likely to affect associations between class
attendance and academic performance.
Keywords Accountingeducation, Class attendance, Academic performance, SouthAfrica, Absenteeism,
Students
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Accounting lectures at the tertiary level in South Africa tend to focus on the application
of accounting rules in various ?ctitious single-answer scenarios (Botha, 2001; University
of Pretoria, UP, 2009) This focus is largely driven by the nature of the South African
professional qualifying examinations which assess students’ competence based on such
scenarios (Botha, 2001; South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, SAICA, 2005;
van der Schyf, 2008). Students who miss lectures lose the bene?t of having this
application explained and demonstrated to them. In addition, these absentee students
forfeit the bene?t of the auditory and visual supplementation of the textbook (Sleigh and
Ritzer, 2001); the opportunity to learn from questions asked by other students during
lectures and the resultant explanation provided by the lecturer (Sleigh and Ritzer, 2001);
the guidance provided in the critical thought process through the line of questioning
followed by a lecturer; and the ability to generate class notes as an additional source of
information (Marburger, 2001).
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1030-9616.htm
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Accounting Research Journal
Vol. 24 No. 2, 2011
pp. 178-194
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1030-9616
DOI 10.1108/10309611111163718
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The bene?ts associatedwithclass attendance have ledresearchers to hypothesise that
class attendance should positively correlate with academic performance (Durden and
Ellis, 1995; Devadoss and Foltz, 1996; Rodgers, 2001; Marburger, 2001; Rodgers and
Rodgers, 2003; Paisey and Paisey, 2004; Gump, 2005; Sauers et al., 2005; Wood?eld et al.,
2006; Massingham and Herrington, 2006; Halpern, 2007; Chen and Lin, 2008;
Newman-Ford et al., 2008; Horn and Jansen, 2009; Crede´ et al., 2010). These researchers
have generally con?rmed this correlation – although cautioning that the link could be no
more thana casual one as students who attend lectures may already be more predisposed
to academic achievement (Romer, 1993; Devadoss and Foltz, 1996; Marburger, 2001;
Rodgers, 2001; Paisey and Paisey, 2004; Gendron and Pieper, 2005; Halpern, 2007) and
may exhibit greater levels of motivation (Longhurst, 1999; Massinghamand Herrington,
2006; Moore et al., 2008).
Despite the evidence that there may be a positive relationship between attendance
and academic performance, some students continue to be absent from lectures.
Researchers have identi?ed several possible reasons for this absence. These reasons
vary from the more “valid” reasons, such as illness and part-time work (Longhurst,
1999; Paisey and Paisey, 2004; Wood?eld et al., 2006; Massingham and Herrington,
2006) to less “valid” reasons, such as sleeping late and engaging in various forms of
merrymaking (Longhurst, 1999; Paisey and Paisey, 2004; Moore et al., 2008).
Much of the research at the university level investigating the reasons for
non-attendance and the possible correlation between student attendance and academic
performance has been performed in various business and economics subjects other
than accounting. Researchers applying the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator have
concluded that accounting students’ personality types and learning styles differ from
students in other disciplines (Booth and Winzar, 1993; Wolk and Nikolai, 1997;
Briggs et al., 2007). Further, it has been suggested that accounting students differ from
other students in terms of achievement, attitude, goal orientation, independence and
self-discipline (Giacomino and Akers, 1998; Ridener, 1999). Accordingly, given these
differing characteristics, the generalizability, to an accounting context, of the theories
developed outside of accounting may be limited (Ylijoki, 2000). Little research
considering class attendance has been conducted in an accounting context. Paisey
and Paisey (2004) conducted an exploratory study in this regard and their results
provided initial con?rmation of the generalizability of the theories developed in the
broader body of literature to an accounting context (see Table I for a description of
this context).
The results reported by Paisey and Paisey (2004) are limited to a small accounting
class of 81 students in Scotland. The generalizability of the theories has therefore yet to
be established in a larger accounting class in another country. It is submitted that the
background of the students who study at a South African university may differ from
that of students who study at a Scottish university. Non-attendance at a South African
university could potentially be in?uenced by factors which may not be present in
Scotland, such as a non-existent or very poor public transport system, language barriers
and vastly different levels of quality and pedagogical styles within school education
systems as result of previous historical and political in?uences. Further preliminary
research by McChlery and Visser (2009) has hinted at possible learning style differences
between accounting students in the UKand South Africa. The broader body of literature
on learning style differences has identi?ed a latent association between students’ levels
Class
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of individualism and their preference to learn by doing or watching (Sugahara and
Boland, 2010). Accordingly, any difference between the Scottish and South African
students’ learningstyle preferences mayimpact ontheir preference to “watch” (i.e. attend
lectures or not). Finally, the Scottish study considered lecture and seminar attendance
separately and concluded that lectures had a higher average attendance level and that
lecture attendance was a better indicator of performance than seminar attendance
(Paisey and Paisey, 2004, p. 46). Given that the nature of classes in this study is limited to
lectures, comparisons drawn between results of this study and that of Paisey and Paisey
(2004) are restricted to lectures.
The purpose of this study is to expand on that of Paisey and Paisey (2004) through
performing a differentiated replication[1] of their study to determine the
generalizability of the theories established in the literature to a larger accounting
class in South Africa. In particular, this study aims to determine, within the context of
a larger accounting class in South Africa:
.
the reasons for non-attendance of lectures; and
.
whether there is any correlation between class attendance and academic
performance.
In light of the declining attendance rates that have been observed in a variety of
disciplines across several universities, the ?ndings of this paper hold importance for
both lecturers and students in accounting education programmes (Rodgers and
Rodgers, 2003; St Clair, 1999). Lecturers may consider the appropriateness of their style
of pedagogy given the outcomes of the study and whether they are adding value in the
classroom. Students, and other parties with a vested interest in a student’s academic
performance, namely parents; grantors of ?nancial support; the university and the
accounting profession, may also be interested in indicators demonstrating the possible
value being added by a student’s class attendance.
The following section of the paper provides the background to the study after which
the research design and method is documented and, ?nally the results and conclusions
of this study are presented.
Paisey and Paisey (2004) This study
Cohort of students: third-year students for a BA or
BA (Hons) Accounting degree accredited by the
main UK accounting bodies
Cohort of students: second-year students studying
for a BCom (Accounting Sciences) degree
accredited by the SAICA
Classes: lectures and seminars Classes: lectures
Assessment: independent research coursework
and a written assessment
Assessment: four written assessments
Staff: three educators involved Staff: two educators involved
Population: 81 students Population: 442 students
Economic environment: developed Economic environment: developing
Course language: English Course language: English and Afrikaans
a
Notes:
a
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa; with approximately
six million native speakers in South Africa, or 13.3 per cent of the population, it is the third most
spoken mother tongue in the country (de Swaan, 2001)
Table I.
Comparison of the context
of this study to that of
Paisey and Paisey (2004)
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2. Background
The UP is one of the 13 residential universities in South Africa accredited by the
SAICA to educate chartered accountants. The route to qualifying as a chartered
accountant in South Africa is shown in Figure 1. Essentially, this route involves
completing four years of academic study at an accredited university. Following this
education programme, a period of three years of training is undertaken. During this
time spent in training, the professional qualifying examinations that are set and
administered by the professional body are written.
Financial accounting is one of the major subjects for which students must enroll when
studying towards professional accounting quali?cation (SAICA, 2005). Following a
bookkeeping course presented in the ?rst year, second-year students are introduced to
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). IFRS forms the focus of the
students’ remaining years of study. As the UPis a full-time study facility, lectures are the
primary mediumof instruction, supported by a textbook. The style of pedagogy adopted
in lectures is very teacher centred. The IFRS rules are presented in class and their
practical application are illustrated in typical rule based, written assessment questions.
Additional examples and self-study questions and solutions are handed out during
class. Students who miss a class can obtain these handouts fromthe lecturer. In addition,
assessments written in previous years are made available to the students for additional
practice. In accordance with departmental policy, copies of the lecturers’ notes for the
lectures are not made available to the students (UP, 2009).
The course is presentedto two groups of approximately 200 students each. One group
represents the English students and the other the Afrikaans students and each group
has its own lecturer. The Afrikaans group consists primarily (99.5 per cent) of Caucasian
students, while the English group has a signi?cant majority (62 per cent) of African
students. Although the material presented and available to the students is in English
and Afrikaans, the lecturers pay speci?c attention to ensuring that the content of the
lectures delivered to both groups is as near identical as possible. The lecturers both
follow a prescribed syllabus, use the same examples in class, and compare their lecture
notes prior to each lecture to ensure the greatest measure of uniformity possible
Figure 1.
Route to quali?cation
as a chartered accountant
in South Africa
Three year full-time B Com accounting degree, or
equivalent, at a tertiary education institution
Enter into a three year training contract during which
time the final professional qualifying examinations are
written
One year Certificate in the Theory of Accounting
(CTA), or equivalent, on a full-time basis at an
accredited tertiary education institution
Register as CA (SA)
Class
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in the presentations made to both language groups. However, it must be conceded that
each lecturer does have an individual style, which could have an in?uence on the
students.
3. Method
Reasons for non-attendance of lectures
In determining the reasons for lecture non-attendance, this study replicated the
questionnaire developed by Paisey and Paisey (2004). The questionnaire incorporated
some open-ended questions (as highlighted in the discussion below). These were
analysed using inductive logic. The remainder of data collected from the questionnaire
are of a quantitative nature. The questionnaire was issued at the completion of the
module to all students who were enrolled for this accounting course, and not only to
those students who were enrolled for the ?rst time. Those students who had not passed
the module on a previous attempt could possibly provide insightful reasons for their
non-attendance, which could differ from that of the ?rst-time students. The ?nal
number of students included in the population for the distribution of the questionnaire
was 442. A total of 415 usable anonymous responses were received. This response rate
is high, but it has to be taken into account that some students did not complete the
questionnaire and that these students could have been regular absentees and could
possibly have had additional comments and/or responses to the questionnaire.
The demographic pro?le of the respondent group is presented in Table II. The
majority of students (84.3 per cent) were between 19 and 21 years of age. The gender
split for the respondent group is even, with 50.1 per cent of the students being male.
Most of the students (63.3 per cent) indicated that their parents ?nance their studies,
while a further 17.2 per cent have student loans. Many of the students (48.7 per cent)
Male Female Total
Afrikaans 109 88 197
English 99 119 218
Total 208 207 415
% 50.1 49.9 100
Age
18 19 20 21 22 Other No response Total
Afrikaans – 20 97 45 22 13 – 197
English 3 47 94 46 21 6 1 218
Number 3 67 191 91 43 19 1 415
% 0.7 16.2 46.1 22.0 10.4 4.6 – 100
Accommodation
Parents Hostel Commune Own Other No response Total
Afrikaans 104 40 13 36 4 – 197
English 98 55 17 46 2 – 218
Number 202 95 30 82 6 – 415
% 48.7 22.9 7.2 19.8 1.4 – 100
Finance
Parents Bursary Loan Self Other No response Total
Afrikaans 133 10 39 9 5 1 197
English 128 47 32 4 5 2 218
Number 261 57 71 13 10 3 415
% 63.3 13.8 17.2 3.2 2.5 – 100
Table II.
Student demographics
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live with their parents while a further 22.9 per cent indicated that they lived in a
student hostel and 19.8 per cent lived in their own accommodation (for example, a ?at).
Correlation between class attendance and academic performance
During their second academic year, these students are introduced to the topic
Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements (IAS 27) (IASB, 2006). They therefore
have no prior education or experience of the topic which could in?uence their
performance in the assessments. As such, this analysis was restricted to attendance
and performance in this topic. This topic is presented in 22 lecturers over a period of
seven weeks and is assessed by means of four written assessments.
To further control for the effect of prior exposure to the topic, when determining the
impact of absenteeism on academic performance, only students who were enrolled for
the module for the ?rst time were included in the population for statistical analysis.
Students with prior knowledge of the topic (n ¼ 177) could score higher marks as they
may be able to fall back on their existing knowledge and could have more experience in
answering questions on the topic[2]. Students who were enrolled for the module for the
?rst time and who missed one of the predetermined assessments (n ¼ 18) were also
excluded as they wrote a different supplementary test or examination, which may
introduce an additional variable into the study. The ?nal number of students included
in the population for statistical analysis was 247.
Actual attendance was determined with reference to attendance registers[3]. These
attendance registers were administered by class representatives and veri?ed by head
counts performed by the representatives. The students were aware of these head
counts and that a randomized sample of individual attendance records were veri?ed by
the lecturer in class. Further, the lecturers veri?ed the total head count on a random
basis. The students’ marks obtained in the four written assessments were used as a
proxy for academic performance. No marks were awarded for attendance and the
students were made aware of this.
4. Results and discussion
Attendance patterns and bene?ts
The average attendance recorded for the module was 90 per cent, withthe lowest average
attendance recorded of 80 per cent and the highest attendance recorded of 98 per cent.
Paisey and Paisey (2004) reported an average lecture attendance of 80 per cent. The
difference in average attendance may be attributable to the fact that more of the Scottish
students were required to work part-time to fund their studies than is the case in this
study. Several studies in the USA have con?rmed that part-time work has a negative
effect on rates of college attendance (Carr et al., 1996; McNeal, 1997; Warren et al., 2000).
Despite this difference, the average attendance reported by Paisey and Paisey (2004) and
in this study appears fairly high. This observation is not surprising as both modules
formed part of a full-time degree course. In addition, accounting has an underlying
mathematical nature and it has been suggested that absenteeism is generally lower in
courses that have a signi?cant mathematical component (Romer, 1993, p. 168). Given the
high attendance levels reported, it is unsurprising that, as was the case in Paisey
and Paisey (2004), the majority of the respondent students either “strongly agreed”
(62.2 per cent) or “agreed” (27.4 per cent) that regular attendance of the lectures would
improve their academic performance (Table III).
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To elicit further detail as to what students’ perceptions of the apparent bene?ts of
class attendance were, the following open-ended question was posed to them:
What do you believe are the main bene?ts of regular attendance of the lectures?
The responses to this question are summarized in Table IV. The vast majority of
students expressed the viewthat class attendance would enhance their awareness of the
relevant “concepts” and improve their understandings thereof. Further, the students
valued the opportunity for interaction in the classroom, the overall improvement in their
study ef?ciency and the additional “coaching” they would receive in exam-type
questions. These views largely support those of the Scottish university students who
indicated that attendance increased their knowledge and understanding of the subject
and helped with examination preparation (Paisey and Paisey, 2004).
n %
Strongly agree 257 62.2
Agree 113 27.4
Slightly agree 27 6.5
Neither agree nor disagree 12 2.9
Slightly disagree 0 –
Disagree 2 0.5
Strongly disagree 2 0.5
No response 2 –
Total 415 100
Table III.
In your opinion, do you
believe that regularly
attending lectures would
improve a student’s
academic performance?
Frequency
(n ¼ 415)
Response n %
To gain awareness and a greater understanding of the topic
To gain a better understanding of the concepts and principles contained in the material 146 35.1
Obtain clarity on the dif?cult sections; lecturers explain the complex topics in class;
work is explained 58 14.0
Additional explanations are provided and knowledge is gained that is not in the
textbook 22 5.3
Comprehension of the “bigger picture” and the reason why consolidated ?nancial
statements are compiled 25 6.0
Lectures make students aware of the most important concepts 21 5.1
To bene?t from the interaction in class
Opportunity to ask questions and learn from other students’ questions, interactions and
discussions 37 8.9
To improve overall study ef?ciency
Keeping up to date with the work 23 5.5
Reduction of on own study time 51 12.3
Obtain better marks 2 –
To be “coached” in answering of exam-type question
Obtaining the lecturer’s opinion on how to answer questions and guidance on how
questions might be asked 12 2.9
Practical examples 12 2.9
Table IV.
What do you believe
are the main bene?ts
of regular attendance
of the lectures?
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Despite highlighting these bene?ts, when the students were asked, “what, if anything,
could the department/lecturers do to help improve attendance in this module?”, the most
common response was “make it more interesting and give more practical examples”
(n ¼ 15). This response may be indicative of the “boring” nature of the teacher-centred
lectures in which the students are primarily passive recipients of information imparted
upon them by the lecturer. The request for more “practical” examples may be a further
indication that students wish to be challenged by more real-life scenarios, rather than
?ctitious one correct answer exam type questions. However, it is submitted that it may
alternatively be indicative of the students demanding additional “coaching” for the
professional qualifying examination. Other interventions suggested by the students to
improve class attendance are:
.
take in homework (n ¼ 7);
.
introduce unannounced tests in class time (n ¼ 7);
.
give “tips” (n ¼ 4); and
.
give bonus marks for attendance (n ¼ 4).
Some students even cheekily commented that lecturers should give the students sweets
in class to improve class attendance (n ¼ 3).
Reasons for non-attendance
Despite the apparent support for class attendance, some students continued to be
absent from lectures to varying degrees. The main reason given by students for not
attending lectures was illness (n ¼ 60). The following reasons were also given for
absence from lectures:
.
timetable clashes (this is a valid reason for students who are repeating the
second-year modules and who are registered for certain third-year modules)
(n ¼ 26);
.
studying for another subject (n ¼ 21);
.
traf?c or other transport problems (n ¼ 24); or
.
oversleeping (n ¼ 6).
In contrast, Paisey and Paisey (2004) reported the following principle reasons
for absence from lecturers:
.
part-time work (n ¼ 23);
.
working on course work (n ¼ 18);
.
illness (n ¼ 15); and
.
personal reasons (including hangover) (n ¼ 4).
Although there is some commonality in these ?ndings (for example, illness, working on
course work or other subjects and personal reasons) there are some important
differences. Part-time work was not a challenge for the current respondent group as
their parents primarily fund their studies (Table II). In contrast, many of the Scottish
students were required to work part-time to fund their studies (Paisey and Paisey, 2004).
As anticipated, the lack of public transport in South Africa appears to be a challenge not
experienced by the Scottish students. Therefore, while there may be some
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generalizability in the reasons for non-attendance of accounting lectures, there may be
reasons which are particular to a given country or economic environment.
Correlation of attendance and performance
Despite the students’ perception that class attendance does improve academic
performance, statistical evidence of this correlation was sought. APearson’s correlation
coef?cient was calculated for the attendance prior to each assessment and the average
mark obtained in that assessment. All assessment activities exhibited a positive
correlation, which is signi?cant on the 5 per cent level, but the correlation coef?cient is
relatively low (Table V). Paisey and Paisey (2004) reported a higher overall correlation,
signi?cant at the 0.1 per cent level (r ¼ 0.54). Furthermore, the strength of the
correlations identi?ed in this study show a declining trend from the ?rst and second
assessments (r ¼ 0.29 and 0.23, respectively) through to the third assessment
and examination (r ¼ 0.18 and 0.13, respectively). Class attendance prior to the ?rst and
second assessments may have a higher correlation with the marks, as these assessments
primarily consider the new work dealt with immediately preceding each assessment.
The third assessment and examination consider work dealt with over the entire duration
of the topic. No new information is added following the second assessment. Further,
these ?nal assessments are administered sometime after completion of the topic and it is
therefore possible that other intervening variables (such additional consultation with
lecturers) may lessen the contribution of attendance inthe performance of the students in
these ?nal assessments. On average, students who failed the ?nal assessment had a total
attendance rate of 89 per cent, whilst students who passed the ?nal assessment had a
total attendance rate of 93 per cent. Interestingly, the student who obtained the highest
mark in the examination (88 per cent) had an overall attendance rate of 100 per cent
throughout the module. The student who obtained the lowest mark in the examination
(8 per cent) had an overall attendance rate of 76 per cent throughout the module.
However, the student who obtained the second lowest mark in the examination
(14 per cent) had an attendance rate of 100 per cent. Paisey and Paisey (2004) also noted
that there was little difference between the attendance of Scottish university students
gaining the highest and lowest overall marks.
As the level of correlation at the individual level is reasonably low, the average
attendance for the total group was subdivided into four categories, namely:
attendance levels of 0-79, 80-89, 90-99, and 100 per cent to determine whether a stronger
correlation could be identi?ed for a particular group of students. As a very high
percentage of attendance for the group was achieved, it was not possible to subdivide
Attendance
Marks
First assessment
(r)
Second assessment
(r)
Third assessment
(r)
Examination
(r)
First assessment 0.29
*
Second assessment 0.23
*
Third assessment 0.18
*
Examination 0.13
*
Note: Signi?cant at the
*
5 per cent level
Table V.
Pearson’s correlation
coef?cient (r) calculated
for the marks and the
attendance of the group
in total
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the 0-79 per cent group any further, as statistically insigni?cant n-values would have
resulted from such a subdivision.
The Kruskal-Wallis test was performed to compare the categories of attendance
with the average mark obtained by students who fall within each of the four categories
(Table VI). Kruskal-Wallis is a non-parametric technique, which is suitable for use in
cases in which a normal distribution is not present. For the ?rst, second and third
assessment a signi?cant difference was identi?ed between the average marks obtained
by the group of students who attended less than 79 per cent of lectures and the group of
students who attended 100 per cent of the lectures. There was, however, no such
signi?cant difference in respect of the marks obtained in the examination.
Despite the overall high attendance rate for the module in this study, there were still
students who did not perform well and even some who failed. The statistical analysis
suggests only a slight positive correlation between attendance and performance.
Correlation of attendance and performance by gender group
Paisey and Paisey (2004) reported some gender differences within their cohort of
students with the male and female students exhibiting differing levels of correlation for
differing assessments. Further, the average attendance reported for the female Scottish
university students was higher than the average attendance of the male Scottish
university students. These ?ndings are repeated in the South African context for each
assessment analysed. The average lecture attendance and performance of the
female students was higher than the average attendance and performance of the
male students. The Pearson’s correlation coef?cient, calculated for the female and
male group (Table VII), revealed a low, positive correlation, signi?cant on the 5 per cent
Attendance M SD Median mark
First assessment (p ¼ 0.0044)
0-79 75.5
a
16.3 75.0
80-89 77.3
a,b
14.3 77.0
90-99 81.1
a,b
10.7 82.5
100 84.3
b
11.5 87.5
Second assessment (p ¼ 0.0021)
0-79 58.3
a
17.6 54.0
80-89 63.3
a,b
19.7 66.5
90-99
c
100 68.0
b
15.3 68
Third assessment (p ¼ 0.0126)
0-79 51.7
a
15.5 53.7
80-89 55.2
a,b
16.6 54.9
90-99 57.8
a,b
12.0 58.5
100 61.1
b
13.6 64.6
Examination (p ¼ 0.0287)
0-79 45.7
a
15.2 47.2
80-89 51.8
a
11.8 52.8
90-99 49.0
a
11.9 49.1
100 54.3
a
14.2 56.7
Notes: Means with a different superscript “a” or “b” differ signi?cantly at the 5 per cent level;
c
no students fell into this grouping for second assessment
Table VI.
Kruskal-Wallis test:
average attendance and
marks for the total group,
split into category
attendances
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level for the female group (panel A) in the ?rst assessment only and a low, positive
correlation, signi?cant on the 5 per cent level for the male group in the ?rst, second and
third assessments. The male group (panel B) followed the declining trend of positive
correlation from the ?rst assessment (r ¼ 0.33) to the examination (r ¼ 0.16) evident in
the student group as a whole.
A Kruskal-Wallis test was again performed by gender groups to identify any
correlation between the four categories of attendance with the average mark obtained by
students that fall within each of these categories. The female group revealed no
signi?cant differences at the 5 per cent level between the four categories of attendance
and the average marks obtained in each of the four assessments. Within the male group
(Table VIII), a statistically signi?cant difference was found in the marks between the
students attending less that 79 per cent of lectures and those that attended 100 per cent of
lectures in both the ?rst and the second assessment. No such difference was found
between any categories of attendance for the third assessment or the examination. These
?ndings again largely re?ect those of the student group as a whole.
Correlation of attendance and performance by language group
In contrast to the study of Paisey and Paisey (2004), where the lectures are only
presented in English, the course considered in this study is presented in English and
Afrikaans. A Pearsons correlation coef?cient for each assessment was therefore
calculated for each language group to investigate any possible differences based on
language of presentation. The results are presented in Table IX. The Afrikaans group
(panel A) displays a slightly higher level of positive correlation than the English group,
although still no more than a casual relationship between attendance and performance
is found. In line with the ?ndings of the group as a whole, the Afrikaans group exhibits
a declining trend of positive correlation between the ?rst assessment (r ¼ 0.49) and the
examination (r ¼ 0.20). This trend is however not evident for the English students
(panel B).
A Kruskal-Wallis test was performed for each of the language groups to compare
the four categories of attendance with the average mark obtained by students that fall
within each of the categories (Tables X and XI).
Attendance
Marks
First assessment
(r)
Second assessment
(r)
Third assessment
(r)
Examination
(r)
Panel A: female group
First assessment 0.22
*
Second assessment 0.11
Third assessment 20.02
Examination 0.07
Panel B: male group
First assessment 0.33
*
Second assessment 0.29
*
Third assessment 0.26
*
Examination 0.16
Note: Signi?cant at the
*
5 per cent level
Table VII.
Pearson’s correlation
coef?cient (r) calculated
for the marks
and the attendance by
gender group
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In respect of the ?rst assessment, signi?cant differences were found between
Afrikaans students who attended less than 79 per cent of the lectures and students
who attended 100 per cent of the lectures as well as between students who attended
80-89 per cent of the lectures and students who attended all the lectures (Table X).
In the second assessment, a signi?cant difference was only found between students
who attended 0-79 per cent of the lectures and students who attended 100 per cent of
the lectures. No signi?cant differences were found in respect of the third assessment or
Attendance M SD Median mark
First assessment (p ¼ 0.0146)
0-79 75.3
a
16.9 75.0
80-89 75.3
a,b
9.7 77.0
90-99 79.7
a,b
11.0 80.0
100 84.2
b
11.5 88.0
Second assessment (p ¼ 0.0123)
0-79 56.9
a
18.5 52.5
80-89 62.9
a,b
16.5 62.0
90-99
c
100 67.3
b
15.9 67.0
Third assessment (p ¼ 0.0769)
0-79 49.6 15.8 51.0
80-89 52.2 16.1 52.0
90-99 58.9 13.3 60.0
100 59.4 15.5 60.0
Examination (p ¼ 0.1600)
0-79 45.5 16.3 48.0
80-89 50.2 10.6 51.1
90-99 47.5 11.9 47.0
100 53.0 12.7 55.0
Notes: Means with a different superscript “a” or “b” differ signi?cantly at the 10 per cent level (?rst
assessment) and differ signi?cantly at the 5 per cent level (second assessment);
c
no students fell into
this grouping for second assessment
Table VIII.
Kruskal-Wallis test:
average attendance and
marks for the male group,
split into categories of
attendance
Attendance
Marks
First assessment
(r)
Second assessment
(r)
Third assessment
(r)
Examination
(r)
Panel A: Afrikaans group
First assessment 0.49
*
Second assessment 0.29
*
Third assessment 0.11
Examination 0.20
*
Panel B: English group
First assessment 0.13
Second assessment 0.16
Third assessment 0.25
*
Examination 0.07
Note: Signi?cant at the
*
5 per cent level
Table IX.
Pearson’s correlation
coef?cient (r) calculated
for the marks and the
attendance by language
group
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Attendance M SD Median mark
First assessment (p ¼ 0.0000)
0-79 66.8
a,b
15.5 70.0
80-89 70.4
a,b
4.15 68.0
90-99 81.2
a,b,c
11.6 83.0
100 86.5
c
10.3 88.0
Second assessment (p ¼ 0.0053)
0-79 55.8
a
18.5 52.0
80-89 57.2
a,b
20.5 59.5
90-99
d
100 67.2
b
15.7 68.0
Third assessment (p ¼ 0.6247)
0-79 53.6
a
17.1 55.5
80-89 54.5
a
19.9 56.1
90-99 59.5
a
12.1 59.8
100 60.1
a
14.5 62.2
Examination (p ¼ 0.0434)
0-79 39.2
a
14.3 42.0
80-89 46.6
a
13.2 48.1
90-99 51.8
a
11.9 50.5
100 54.5
a
15.1 53.8
Notes: Means with a different superscript “a” or “b” or “c” differ signi?cantly at the 5 per cent level;
d
no students fell into this grouping for second assessment
Table X.
Kruskal-Wallis test:
average attendance
and marks for the
Afrikaans group, split
into categories of
attendance
Attendance M SD Median mark
First assessment (p ¼ 0.9799)
0-79 79.2
a
15.3 81.0
80-89 79.7
a
15.9 85.0
90-99 81.0
a
10.1 80.0
100 81.3
a
12.3 82.5
Second assessment (p ¼ 0.2810)
0-79 62.3
a
15.6 59.0
80-89 66.3
a
18.9 70.0
90-99
c
100 68.7
a
14.9 70.0
Third assessment (p ¼ 0.0341)
0-79 50.2
a
14.5 47.6
80-89 55.7
a
13.9 54.9
90-99 56.7
a
11.9 57.3
100 62.5
a
12.1 64.6
Examination (p ¼ 0.0290)
0-79 49.7
a,b
14.8 52.8
80-89 55.4
a,b
9.5 53.8
90-99 47.1
a
11.7 48.1
100 54.1
b
13.3 56.6
Notes: Means with a different superscript “a” or “b” differ signi?cantly at the 5 per cent level;
c
no students fell into this grouping for second assessment
Table XI.
Kruskal-Wallis test:
average attendance and
marks for the English
group, split into category
attendances
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the examination (Table XI). This result may indicate that the in?uence of lectures on
academic performance in the Afrikaans group decreases with the increasing length of
the period between the presentation of these lectures and the assessment date.
In contrast with the Afrikaans group, no signi?cant difference was found for the
English students in any assessment other than the examination. In the examination,
there is an inexplicable, signi?cant difference between the students who attended
90-99 per cent of the lectures in comparison with the students who attended 100 per cent
of the lectures (Table XI). However, the remainder of the results for the English group
indicate that there is no signi?cant difference between the marks of students, regardless
of whether they attended all the lectures or less than 79 per cent of the lectures.
Although further investigation will be required in future studies, the results based
on the analysis by language group raises the question, given the dominance of White
students in the Afrikaans group and African students in the English group, as to the
effect of different ethnic and cultural environments on class attendance and the
correlation with academic performance of students from different backgrounds.
5. Conclusion
Paisey and Paisey (2004) provided preliminary con?rmation in an accounting education
context, of the generalizability of theories developed in the broader ?eld of business
education literature of the reasons for non-attendance of lectures and the positive
correlationbetweenclass attendance andacademic performance ina small accountingclass
in Scotland. The objective of this study was therefore to determine the generalizability of
these theories to a larger accounting class in South Africa. This study was a differentiated
replication of the study of Paisey and Paisey (2004) to determine, in the context of larger
accountingclasses inSouthAfrica, the reasons for non-attendance of class andto determine
whether class attendance has a signi?cant in?uence on academic performance.
The spectrum of reasons given by the respondents for non-attendance of lectures
generally corresponds with those reported by Paisey and Paisey (2004). Certain
differences as a result of speci?c country or economic factors were however identi?ed,
limiting the generalizability of any theories developed on the reasons for
non-attendance of accounting classes across international and economic boundaries.
Although this study found a signi?cant positive correlation between class
attendance and academic performance, the correlation was low and not very
meaningful. These ?ndings suggest that the large class environment, its situation in
South Africa’s cultural and economic environment, or a combination of the two, may
reduce the effect of class attendance on academic performance. Further differentiated
replication studies isolating the effect of these variables in an accounting education
context may assist in clarifying the matter.
Given that literature outside an accounting context has previously con?rmed a
positive correlation between class attendance and academic performance in larger
classes (Romer, 1993; Gump, 2005; Halpern, 2007) the nature of accounting pedagogy in
South African accounting education may need to be questioned. Perhaps, the students’
request to “make it more interesting and give more practical examples” needs to be
taken seriously by accounting educators. The current teacher-centred teaching
environment, relying on ?ctitious single answer textbook scenarios, may need to be
reconsidered. Accounting education literature provides a wealth of alternative
student-orientated approaches which may be “more interesting”.
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Given the low correlation for the group as a whole the analysis was repeated by
language group. Some differences between the English and Afrikaans students were
identi?ed. These ?ndings raise questions as to the possible effects of culture and
ethnicity difference in the bene?ts of class attendance. Differing learning styles
between cultural and ethnicity groups may therefore provide interesting avenues of
exploration for future studies into the effects of non-attendance of lectures and
academic performance; particularly in non-western cultural environments. Further
investigation into cultural and ethnic differences between the lecturer and the students
may also present interesting opportunities for future research.
Finally, this study made no attempt at determining a causal relationship between
class attendance and academic performance, instead focusing on any possible
correlation between these two variables. Identifying such a relationship in an
accounting education context may provide further opportunity for future investigation.
Notes
1. Lindsay and Ehrenberg (1993) de?ne a differentiated replication as deliberate or known
variation on a major aspect of a study with the aim of extending the known range of
conditions for which the result may hold true.
2. Separate analysis of the attendance patterns of those students repeating the module is
precluded by the fact that these students’ attendance patterns are arti?cially reduced as they
have timetable clashes with other courses from the next academic level.
3. Attendance registers were not kept for other modules in the course. However, an
unannounced lecturer evaluation (which are routinely conducted) completed, by the speci?c
second-year students under review, during their second year, but outside the study period,
revealed a 90 per cent attendance, providing some support for the reasonability of the
attendance rates over the study period.
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Corresponding author
Astrid Schmulian can be contacted at: [email protected]
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