Student performance in Introductory microeconomics at an African open and distance learning institution

A number of exceptional institutional rules and regulations impact on the teaching of Introductory Microeconomics at UNISA, as an open and distance learning (ODL) institution. Unlike many residential institutions, Unisa does not require Mathematics at school level for registration for Introductory Microeconomics. This article reports on research done at Unisa to determine how student success in Introductory Microeconomics is influenced by variables such as race, home language, whether the students passed mathematics at matriculation level, matriculation exemption , gender and the passing of assignments. Although this research confirms previous research that home language and age do impact on student success, it finds that the successful passing of assignments has the greatest impact on student success.