Department of Applied Management, Durban University of Technology, Scottsville, South Africa
van Der Merwe, A., Department of Applied Management, Durban University of Technology, Scottsville, South Africa
This paper explores the potential of online learning, in a local context, to provide academic economics with much of the context it currently lacks and which may be implicated in students' lack of motivation to engage with the discipline. Since weak motivation can be expected to play out in poor performance, the study set out to establish, firstly, whether the online intervention was a motivational experience for students. Secondly, various tests were performed to determine whether - and how strongly - motivation and performance are related. The study concludes that even the weak statistical promise of online learning, as in this particular case, should be embraced given the interest displayed by students in online economics teaching and learning. © 2007 The Author. Journal compilation © 2007 Economic Society of South Africa 2007.