The quality of learning in accounting education: the impact of approaches to learning on academic performance

Abstract

While accounting educators have been increasingly concerned with the quality of accounting education, the accounting education literature has not proposed a coherent framework for addressing this issue. The Approaches to Learning paradigm in the education literature offers such a framework for analysing the ways in which students learn and how the learning context interacts with learning choices. Here we use this paradigm to investigate the learning approaches of accounting students from two Australian universities as compared to previously reported data for Australian arts, education and science students. In addition, we consider the impact of accounting students' approaches to learning on their academic performance. Data about learning approaches, using the Study Process Questionnaire and various attitudinal and performance variables, were collected from accounting students at two Australian universities. The comparison of the learning approach scores of accounting students with previously reported norms for Australian arts, education and science students, indicated that the former had relatively higher surface and lower deep learning approaches. In addition, higher surface approach scores were found to be associated with less successful academic performance, but no association was found for deep approach scores. The implications of these results for accounting educators are discussed and suggestions for future research into students' approaches to learning are considered.