Antecedents and consequences of accounting students' approaches to learning: A cluster analytic approach (original) (raw)
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This paper provides a comparative analysis of the learning approaches of students taking their first course in accounting at a United States or an Irish university. The data for this study was gathered from 204 students in the U.S. and 309 in Ireland, using the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST, 1997) which measures learning approaches on three dimensions: deep, strategic, and surface. The analysis reveals that while both samples favor a strategic approach over the other approaches, the U.S. students have a significantly higher score on the deep and strategic scales compared to the Irish students. Differences between the samples at the subscale level -such as students' intrinsic interest, time management, and fear of failure -are also reported. Finally, the study contextualizes the findings by analyzing variations in the learning environment of the two universities.
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Students' conceptions of learning (CoL) play an important role in the learning process leading to the development of generic skills. This paper investigates whether CoL of accounting students can be developed by incorporating high-level cognitive skills progressively within the accounting curriculum. First, the study explored, using phenomenography, the variation in accounting students' CoL. The findings highlighted some nuances in accountings students' CoL and that lower-order CoL were prevalent among accounting students. However, more (less) thirdyear students than second-year students adopted higher-(lower-) order CoL. Upon examining the learning objectives, teaching methods and assessment of all units comprising the accounting major of the host university, evidence was found that CoL are progressively developed and shaped, albeit in a limited way, based on the levels of cognitive domain emphasised within the curriculum. The findings highlight the need for accounting educators to take a whole of the programme approach to developing higher-order CoL.
The British Accounting Review, 2005
This paper is concerned with a strand of educational research that seeks to support students in developing a better awareness and understanding of themselves as learners. Since it is difficult to 'know' our students individually there is value in knowing more about the dimensionality of variation within cohorts of students and the impact that this variation has upon their learning (i.e. how they vary in their engagement of accumulative (surface) or transformative (deep) learning processes). The paper identifies a means of identifying variation within a subject discipline: the linkage of a generic model of student learning (operationalised through the Reflections on Learning Inventory (RoLI q ) [Meyer, J.H.F., 2000. An overview of the development and application of the Reflections on Learning Inventory (RoLI). Paper presented at the First RoLI Symposium, Imperial College, University of London, September; Meyer, J.H.F., 2004. The domain of the RoLI and recent extensions to it. Paper presented at the Second RoLI Symposium, Imperial College, University of London, 17th February] with a subject-specific Expectations of Learning Accounting (ELAcc) Inventory. The power of this approach lies in its ability to identify those discipline-specific conceptions and motivations that may be related to accumulative or transformative learning processes. The linked RoLI and ELAcc inventory was administered to 1211 students of introductory accounting across five UK universities. The findings show that there are variations in conception and approach to learning between students who specialise in accounting and those who do not, and between male and female accounting students. They also show the ways in which different 0890-8389/$ -see front matter q conceptions of the subject of accounting are linked with transformative, accumulative and pathological learning processes. The main contribution of this paper is, firstly, to demonstrate that the linked RoLI and ELAcc inventory provides a means of identifying variation within cohorts of students and, secondly, to show that the linked inventory is effective in identifying educationally and statistically significant variation in a student cohort. The findings identify aspects of the linked inventory that require further development and raise important questions to be addressed by further research. However, in its current form the linked inventory also provides an initial diagnostic instrument that may be used to support students in their learning and as a basis for teaching interventions. q
Accounting and business students’ approaches to learning: A longitudinal study
Journal of Accounting Education, 2008
This study reports the results of an investigation into the learning approaches of undergraduate accounting and business students from three universities in Ireland who were exposed to a learning environment, namely the case study method, which aimed to encourage a deep approach to learning. In order to assess the effectiveness of the intervention, the ASSIST research instrument was used to investigate changes in students' approaches to learning over time. Consistent with previous research, this study considers whether gender is related to students' approaches to learning over time and if there are differences between students majoring in accounting or business in their approaches to learning. The results of the study indicate that the case study intervention was successful in some respects. However, contrary to expectations, an overall statistically significant increase in students' surface approach to learning was found. Additionally, it is reported that changes in students' approaches to learning over time are not associated with gender or degree program. The results of this study offer insights to accounting educators developing educational interventions to encourage deep approaches to learning. Crown
The approaches to learning of European accounting students
EuroMed Journal of Business, 2010
PurposeThe purpose of this article is to identify the impact of differing teaching contexts on the approaches to learning of accounting undergraduates in different European countries by the use of a study process questionnaire.Design/methodology/approachThe questionnaire used was Biggs’ R‐SPQ‐2F (Biggs et al.). This is a 20‐item questionnaire that identifies the learning styles of individual students in terms of deep and surface approaches.FindingsSignificant differences were found in the approaches to learning of the students in the countries concerned. The differences were rooted in two subcomponents: motive and strategy. Gender differences were also identified.Originality/valueA major factor in the development process of future accountants is the education process that they undertake. This study identifies a methodology that is capable of comparing accounting students in different countries and potentially identifying the underlying reasons why the quality of the learning outcome...
An exploration of tertiary accounting students’ prior approaches to learning accounting
The International Journal of Management Education, 2009
Endnotes 1 Second level education in Ireland refers to full time studies generally undertaken between the ages of 12 and 18 2 Kruskal-Wallis tests showed no differences on the mean scores on the deep ( = 3.44, p = .179), strategic ( = 4.95, p = .084) and surface ( = .98, p =.613) scales or the subscales by year of intake into the programme, therefore all three cohorts were combined for the purpose of the analysis. 3 As tests revealed that the distribution of the variables were not normal non-parametric tests were used throughout the study. 4 The inconsistency in the direction of the students' answers to these two pairs of questions may explain why this subscale has the lowest alpha value.
2021
Understanding of accounting is important for undergraduate students who wish to graduate and become accounting professionals. Students learn on their own. This study investigates the influence of prior accounting learning, class attendance, learning behavior, and interest in reading towards accounting understanding. The population of this study is accounting students from the class of 2014 in Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta, Indonesia represented by UII, UGM, and UMY students, and a purposive sampling method was employed. The data collection method used was a survey by distributing online questionnaires. The data collected were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. The results of this study show that prior accounting learning, class attendance, learning behavior, interest in reading have a significant and positive influence on accounting understanding among undergraduate accounting students in Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta.