The impact of demographic variables on accounting students’ performance in blended learning

This paper examines the impact of some demographic variables (e.g. gender, age, ownership of a computer and connection to the Internet), on student performance and some factors that influence student performance in blended instruction courses (e.g. student participation in online activities, perception of the use of technology, perception of the interaction of instructors, student attitude towards blended learning, computer experience, self efficacy, motivation, prior performance and current performance). The study surveyed 473 undergraduate students enrolled in two blended instruction accounting courses (i.e. Managerial Accounting and Intermediate Accounting) at the Hashemite University in Jordan.

The results indicated significant gender differences for student perception of the interaction of the instructor. Significant age differences were found for motivation. Significant computer ownership differences were found for student participation, current performance and prior performance. Moreover, significant differences were found for student participation, motivation, current performance and prior performance in regard to the availability of Internet connection. In light of these findings this paper concludes by providing some potential implications and recommendations that may help in improving student performance and teaching practices in blended instruction courses.