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Teaching basic accounting with restructured information: Student achievement and attitudes
Abstract
Considerable research has addressed the problem of poor student achievement in basic accounting courses as evidenced by low grades and high drop out rates. Much of this research focused on (1) changing the environment of instruction from the traditional classroom lecture setting to an individualized setting, or by (2) manipulating the elements of instruction within the lecture setting, for example, test frequency. The results of this research were largely inconclusive. Believing that the way the information is structured in traditional courses and texts contributes to its difficulty of learning, this research focused on a teaching approach which relied on a restructured form of this information to teach basic accounting. A two dimensional model of the whole accounting cycle process was created from the information found in traditional courses and texts. An approach was developed which used this model or "big picture" to teach the accounting cycle material. A test was conducted comparing the Restructured Information (RI) Approach with the Traditional Structure Approach to determine its effect on students' achievement and attitudes. Two groups of community college students were involved in the test, one taught using the (RI) Approach (experimental) and the other taught using the Traditional Structure Approach (control). Achievement was measured by test scores and course grades. Attitudes were compared for the experience of learning, how students felt about the accounting learned, and the value put on learning it. The experimental students scored significantly higher on the test most related to the accounting cycle. The remaining test scores were equivalent between the two groups. The experimental students achieved higher course grades than the control students but not significantly. There were no significant differences between the two groups on the attitudinal questions. Overall, the experimental students were quite positive about the (RI) Approach. Several groups were more positive than others. Students with no previous accounting instruction achieved significantly higher grades and were significantly more positive than students with previous accounting. It appeared this latter group experienced frustration when being required to relearn the accounting cycle material in a different way. Older students were significantly more positive about the (RI) Approach than younger students.
Subject Area
Business education|Curriculum development|Community college education
Recommended Citation
Pedersen, Charles Edwin, "Teaching basic accounting with restructured information: Student achievement and attitudes" (1992). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9233130.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9233130