| This study was designed to compare the economic achievement of introductory economics students enrolled in the terminal degree program with that of students enrolled in the transfer degree program. The instrument that was used in facilitating measurement of economic achievement as was the Test of Understanding in College Economics, the TUCE. Factors that were analyzed for students taking Principles of Macroeconomics were enrollment in terminal or transfer degree program, age, Scholastic Aptitude Test, (SAT) math score, SAT verbal score, previous economic course work, and previous math course work.; The subjects for this study consisted of 201 students enrolled in Principles of Macroeconomics during the Fall Quarter 1980. The students were given Part I, Form A, of the TUCE as a pretest. During the quarter students in the sample completed a student questionnaire. The last day of class during the quarter the students were given Part I, Form B, of the TUCE as a posttest. Other student information was retrieved from school records.; Data were submitted to t-tests, correlations, and regression analysis for hypothesis testing.; Significant relationship was found between the degree program and economic achievement. The career program students achieved less after a one-quarter course of economics than did those in the transfer program. The entry-level economic knowledge and the economic achievement of students at Macon Junior College as measured by the TUCE was below that of the norming group. The economic achievement of students with a previous course in economics was above that of students with no previous course in economics. When testing for significant effect of variables on economic achievement at the .05 level, age was revealed as quite important (t = 3.45).; The results indicate that if junior colleges are to meet the needs of the varied student population, attention must be directed toward the career students. Recommendations for further research include the need to investigate the low economic achievement of career students and of junior college economics students. There is a need to study the content of economics and the content approach to determine its relevance in a career oriented degree. Further investigation of variables is needed to indicate causality rather than relationship. |
