Abstract
Accounting students need to develop personal capabilities such as critical thinking, creative thinking, problem-solving, communication and teamwork, rather than simply reproduce technical accounting rules. To do this, they need to first experience deep learning. There is evidence a large proportion of students experience surface learning when studying accounting at university. This study examines how to support accounting students to experience deep learning. A sample of 81 students in a third year undergraduate accounting course was studied employing a phenomenographic research approach, using ten assessed learning tasks for each student (as well as a focus group and student surveys) to measure their experience of how they learn. A key finding is that it is possible to support a large proportion of students to experience deep learning through use of Assessment involving individualised, authentic learning tasks with regular formative feedback as part of an integrated set of interventions (Teamwork, Teacher-Student Relationship and Instruction). An implication of this study is the need to support accounting students to experience deep learning in first year courses to enable them to develop personal capabilities in their later university studies.
Highlights
The ‘approach to learning’ conceptualisation sees human learning as taking place not within an individual but in relationship to a learning context
This study examined the experience of learning of 81 students in a third-year undergraduate accounting course in financial statement analysis in New Zealand in July-October 2008: 51% had English as a second language, 52% were female, 95% were majoring in accounting in a business degree and 45% expected to complete their university studies upon completion of this course
A key finding of this study was that a large proportion of students were able to experience deep learning in an accounting course; and that they were able to begin to experience deep learning at an early stage in the course
Summary
The ‘approach to learning’ conceptualisation sees human learning as taking place not within an individual but in relationship to a learning context. Two qualitatively distinct and different ways students can relate to their learning context are surface and deep learning. A student’s response to their learning context, that is their approach to learning, will lead to qualitatively different and distinct types of learning outcomes. There is evidence a large proportion of students in accounting courses experience surface learning (Eley, 1992; Booth et al, 1999; Byrne et al, 2009; Andon et al, 2010); as well as students in many disciplines (Baeten et al, 2010). This study examines how an integrated set of interventions can support students to experience deep learning when studying accounting in a third-year undergraduate course
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