The Accounting Education Change Commission (AECC) is a consortium of concerned accounting professionals and accounting educators that advocates the redesigning of accounting curriculums in higher education. Traditionally accounting programs have focused on the technical aspects of the profession. Although technical competence is necessary for the profession, the AECC urges accounting curricula to provide students with experiences that will foster decision-making skills, communication skills and interpersonal skills. This study was an attempt to respond to the recommendations of the Accounting Education Change Commission through cooperative learning pedagogy. Related research suggests that employing particular elements of cooperative learning can improve intellectual skills, communication skills, interpersonal skills, learning to learn, active learning, achievement, attitudes and student evaluations of teachers. The data from this study indicate that while imposing the AECC's recommendations through the use of cooperative learning pedagogy most students attained high levels of achievement on unstructured problems requiring high levels of cognitive applications. However, student achievement was not as high as expected on structured problems requiring lower levels of cognitive applications. In addition, students' reactions to cooperative learning and implementation of the AECC's recommendations were mixed. Team work was not perceived by many students to be important in introductory accounting. However, learning to learn and active participation in the learning process were deemed important to students in introductory accounting. Furthermore, students evaluated the professor's teaching effectiveness significantly lower than did previous students taking introductory accounting from the same professor using traditional lecture-recitation methods. Imposing the AECC recommendations through cooperative learning techniques in introductory accounting in higher education clearly calls for further research and longer-term exposure to the changes in classroom pedagogy. / Graduation date: 1995

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Ph.D. / As technology has changed over the past few decades, the roles and job descriptions of finance specialists have evolved to place greater reliance on it. However, accounting education appears not to have kept pace with these changes, creating a deficit in the skills that accounting graduates require in the workplace, particularly in information and communication technology (ICT). The development of both ICT skills and knowledge is imperative and their integration into accounting education has been identified as adding value to both graduate and employer. The processes followed to address this deficit are key features of this study

The main problem of this investigation is to study certain aspects of accounting education in the senior and junior colleges of Oklahoma during the school year 1957-1958 for the purpose of making proposals for its advancement.

The mind and character of an individual can be fostered by the subjects which have proved themselves to be of value in improving the education of man, not only from scientific, but also from moral and aesthetic stand points. The question is whether or not geography as a subject fulfils this requirement. For this it must have a distinctiveness of aim and a limitation of content. Civilization today is passing through great crises. Wars, rumours of wars, cold wars, economic crises, exhaustion of natural resources etc. are reported daily in the newspapers. Education of a certain type is needed - an education which will develop in man a deep concern for the freedom and good life of his fellows, and some understarding of the major problems of the world and possible solutions. Man is no longer a unit of a small self-contained community, but has his responsibilities as a citizen, firstly of his own country and secondly of a world community. Upon his solutions to the problems of the world depend to some degree the progress and development of his town, country, of the world generally. Education therefore ought to train the child to take his place in the world, not only as a man, but as a citizen. Children must be taught to think and reason for themselves. Geography as a subject lends itself magnificently to the general education of men and the development of good citizens. Geography can help to teach pupils to understand and experience the adult world. South Africans are fortunate in that geography is a compulsory subject up to standard seven. In high school beyond this level it is not offered by all schools.

This thesis examines the opinions of a sample of accounting students and a sample of accounting lecturers regarding the effect of prior study of accounting on performance in the first year university financial accounting course. A comparison is also made of actual performance in the first year course of two groups of students, those who have studied accounting at secondary school and those who have not. For the comparison of actual performance data were collected over a three year period (1985-1987). Two separate research designs were used to test for differences in performance. Both research designs indicated that students with secondary school accounting scored higher on early tests and examinations but that the two groups of students scored equally on the final examination. The survey of students' opinions included students from two universities. The major findings showed that students, regardless of whether or not they had studied accounting at secondary level, believed those who had to be advantaged in the first year financial accounting course. The majority of respondents indicated that high school accounting was, in their opinion, a desirable preparation for the university course. The survey of lecturers' opinions included lecturers from 15 South African universities. The findings of primary concern showed that lecturers believed students with prior exposure to accounting to be at an advantage in the first year financial accounting course.

The overall purpose of this study was to examine how Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) perceive the potential use of assurance services to assess quality in accounting education programs. Survey questionnaires were mailed to a random sample of 250 CPAs in the north central Texas area. The questionnaire was designed to obtain demographic information and information relating to the respondents' perceptions of quality assessment of accounting education programs. An analysis of the results of this study suggest the following: CPAs consider (1) certain established criteria, such as SAT scores and faculty-to-student ratios, as effective measures for assessing quality attributes in accounting education programs and (2) traditional measures currently used for quality assessment in accounting education programs as only moderately effective by CPAs. CPAs are apparently seeking increased involvement with accounting education quality assessment and formulation of educational standards. They view the potential application of assurance services to accounting education quality as a way to offer a wider range of services to the public. CPAs perceive assurance services as a type of quality assessment that can be used to complement, but not replace, some of the more effective traditional methods, and as a way of enhancing the quality assessment process for accounting education.

This study contributes to the debate on accounting pedagogy in the basic financial accounting course by examining the pedagogical tool of fluency training as a way to improve student performance. Fluency training has been shown to improve performance of students in other academic disciplines.

This research project focuses on Accounting education at tertiary level. There is limited understanding of students' experiences of learning Accounting in higher education institutions. Furthermore, Accounting is generally perceived as a difficult discipline, especially for novice first-year, non-major Accounting students. In this research study the purpose and focus were to explore first-year, non-major Accounting students' experiences when learning Accounting. The study attempts to answer two key research questions pertaining to first-year, non-major Accounting students' experiences when learning Accounting, and to show how their experiences influence their learning of Accounting. The study was conducted at a private higher education institution in South Africa where first-year Accounting is a compulsory element of an undergraduate commerce degree. The research participants sampled for this study were six first-year, non-major Accounting students, some of whom were novice Accounting students while others had studied Accounting in high school up to Grade 12. A qualitative research methodology was adopted to generate data using an interpretive case study approach. Research methods included semi-structured interviews and participant reflective journals. Data were analysed using open coding, and the findings categorised according to themes. Some of the key findings of this study revealed that students' experiences were influenced by teacher/lecturer qualities, students' perceptions and preconceptions of Accounting as a discipline, and the abstract nature of the Accounting discipline and its discourse. Other factors influencing students' learning experiences included their agency, resilience and determination, the effect of Accounting assessments, and ability streaming. This study concludes with a discussion of recommendations based on the findings. These point to the need for staff development workshops for Accounting lecturers, with an emphasis on students' emotions and perceptions when learning Accounting, so that lecturers are more aware of the extent of students' anxieties, insecurities and negative perceptions. Other recommendations include more post-plenary workshops for first-year Accounting students and development of different programmes for novice, non-major and Accounting major students, since these cohorts of students have differing career Accounting competence expectations. / Thesis (M. Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

This research seeks to explain how students construct knowledge in introductory accounting. It was prompted by concerns over low pass rates for first-year Introductory Accounting students at Rhodes University and particularly low pass rates amongst novice (first-time) Accounting Students. In trying to get a better understanding of reasons behind these pass rates, this research focuses on the structure of knowledge in the discipline and what this means for how students should construct knowledge in the course. Bernstein’s Pedagogic Device and the dimensions of Semantics and Specialisation in Maton’s Legitimation Code Theory are used as theoretical and analytical frameworks to help understand the structure of knowledge in this course, how knowledge is recontextualised and finally how it is acquired by students. A group of students from the 2011 class were interviewed to gain a better understanding of how each of these students constructed knowledge during the semester. The analysis of these interviews reveals how students construct knowledge in the course and the implications this has for their success over the semester. Analysing this interview data, and comparing it with the levels of success for each student, permitted me to develop an improved understanding of how successful and unsuccessful students construct knowledge. As a teacher of Accounting, understanding and being explicit about the structure of knowledge in the discipline, and how this impacts on the construction of knowledge, will allow me to advise future students on how to most effectively construct knowledge in this course and to advise and guide colleagues on how best to present this course.