MyLab Accounting positively impacts student performance in a financial accounting introductory course
Pearson | October 29, 2021 in Meaningful Outcomes
by Pearson
MyLab Accounting contributes to increased student performance
In Spring 2018, Professor Lawrence Chui from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, partnered with Pearson to investigate the impact of MyLab™ Accounting for Financial Accounting by Harrison, Horngren, and Thomas on student performance in his Introduction to Financial Accounting course.
Researchers found that:
- Students completing most MyLab assignments earned exam scores 14 percentage points higher than students who skipped more than one assignment.
- 71% of students scoring above average on MyLab assignments earned an A or B for their final course grade, while just 11% of students scoring below average earned an A or B.
- 86% of student survey respondents agreed that MyLab Accounting provided additional resources that helped them learn more than they would have from traditional pencil-and-paper homework.
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Why does Professor Lawrence Chui utilize MyLab Accounting?
Having used another digital homework program in the past, Chui was again looking to hold his students accountable for their own learning outside of the classroom so around 2012, Chui adopted MyLab Accounting. He appreciates the homework with support and feedback, as well as the autograde feature.
How was MyLab Accounting implemented?
Introduction to Financial Accounting is a one-semester, four-credit, entry-level course required of all business majors. Chui views the MyLab assignments as formative — an opportunity for students to experiment and learn. Students have unlimited attempts at completion with firm due dates. MyLab assignments are completed weekly (13 total), but the lowest three scores are dropped.
Using the reporting dashboard in the MyLab gradebook, Chui reviews student performance on homework at the class level to identify areas students found challenging and intervenes before moving on to new material. In addition to MyLab assignments, course assessments include four exams, a Solid Footing Accounting Cycle project, and Red Company annual report project. MyLab homework accounts for 12% of the total course grade.
Were students successful in the course?
Students were grouped based on completion of MyLab homework which identifies the following:
- Students completing most MyLab assignments earned average exam scores more than one full letter grade, or 14 percentage points, higher than students who skipped more than one assignment.
Similarly, the average MyLab assignment score is used to examine final course grades:
- 95% of students scoring above average on MyLab assignments earned an A, B, or C as their final grade and 33% of students scoring above average on MyLab assignments earned an A as their final course grade.
Did students like using MyLab Accounting?
Responses from the Spring 2018, end-of-semester survey of Chui’s students indicate that the majority of responding students recognize the value of MyLab Accounting.
- 95% of respondents agreed that their understanding of the course material increased as a result of using MyLab.
- 86% of respondents agreed that use of MyLab positively impacted their exam scores.
One student said:
“I learned a lot from completing the homework as well as I learned a lot from the practice tests, section quizzes and the MC practice tests.”
Learn more about how MyLab Accounting could benefit your course
