Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on the role of students’ cultural background in explaining their academic performance. Design/methodology/approach The paper aims at achieving the research objective with the use of questionnaires and structural equation modelling (SEM). Findings This paper shows that students’ code of conduct, which is grounded in their cultural background, affects their level of engagement in learning process. The paper supports, on one hand, the idea of extensive use of formative assessment techniques as a way of improving students’ engagement; it argues, on the other hand, that their effectiveness could be limited because of the bad impact of the students’ norms. Originality/value The paper aims at achieving the objective of the research using an interdisciplinary approach borrowing from the field of economics while discussing a research gap that covers a region that require more attention in the field of education.

中文翻译：

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非正式机构在解释学生的学术参与中的作用。艾恩科技大学的案例

目的本文的目的是着重于学生文化背景在解释他们的学业成绩中的作用。设计/方法/方法本文旨在通过使用问卷和结构方程模型（SEM）来达到研究目的。调查结果本文表明，基于其文化背景的学生行为守则会影响他们对学习过程的参与程度。一方面，本文支持广泛使用形成性评估技术作为提高学生参与度的想法；另一方面，它认为由于学生规范的不利影响，其有效性可能受到限制。