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The Role of Learning Context in High School Students’ Financial Knowledge and Behavior Acquisition

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Abstract

Using social construction theory, associations between student and classroom characteristics and high school students’ financial knowledge and behavior acquisition after studying a financial planning curriculum were examined. Prior to curriculum study, Whites, those growing up in a farm family business, and those who were working had higher financial knowledge; male and female knowledge differed by content. After curriculum study, females, those not growing up in a farm family business, and those who were not working gained most from curriculum study. While Whites, those who were working, and males exhibited more positive behaviors prior to curriculum study, after curriculum study, students living in states having financial mandates and those who did not grow up in a farm family business increased their positive behaviors most.

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Acknowledgments

Supported, in part, through a grant from the National Endowment for Financial Education and the University of Minnesota Agricultural Experiment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota, 1985 Buford Avenue, 275F McNeal Hall, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA

    Sharon M. Danes

  2. Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota, 1985 Buford Avenue, 290 McNeal Hall, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA

    Katherine E. Brewton

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  1. Sharon M. Danes
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  2. Katherine E. Brewton
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Correspondence to Sharon M. Danes.

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Danes, S.M., Brewton, K.E. The Role of Learning Context in High School Students’ Financial Knowledge and Behavior Acquisition. J Fam Econ Iss 35, 81–94 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-013-9351-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-013-9351-6

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