FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE AND INNOVATION PREFERENCE: EVIDENCE FROM A COHORT-BASED STUDY IN FINANCE EDUCATION

Innovation in finance education has gained increasing attention through the integration of FinTech, artificial intelligence, gamification, and simulation-based learning. Despite this growth, existing literature often assumes that students with higher financial knowledge are naturally more receptive to innovative pedagogical approaches, yet empirical evidence testing this assumption remains limited. This study examines the effect of financial knowledge on students’ preference for innovation in financial education using a cohort-based quantitative design. Data were collected from 42 undergraduate finance students and analysed using regression analysis. The findings reveal that financial knowledge exhibits a positive but weak and statistically non-significant relationship with students’ preference for innovative learning approaches. This suggests that financial knowledge alone is insufficient to explain innovation readiness in educational contexts. The study contributes to teaching and learning (T&L) literature by empirically challenging knowledge-centric assumptions in pedagogical innovation and highlighting the importance of affective and experiential factors in shaping students’ learning preferences. The findings offer practical implications for educators and curriculum designers seeking to implement innovative finance education in a manner that is pedagogically effective and learner-centred.