Student performance in tertiary-level accounting: an international student focus

The present paper provides empirical evidence regarding the academic performance of university students studying accounting. In particular, the effect of student origin is investigated by comparing the accounting performance of resident and international students. The present study controls for a number of other key variables, including ability, anxiety, work experience in accounting, accounting study prior to university and enrolment status. The question of whether international student performance improves over time through an acculturation effect is also investigated. Bivariate analyses revealed higher anxiety and lower general ability for international vis‐à‐vis resident students yet no significant difference in accounting performance between the two groups. After controlling for key variables, an association was observed between student origin and accounting performance with superior performance reported for the international student cohort. Statistically significant relationships were also observed between accounting performance and ability, anxiety, employment experience in accounting, enrolment status and accounting study prior to university. An acculturation effect was not clearly evidenced.     

Student Performance in First Year Tertiary Accounting Courses and Its Relationship to Secondary Accounting Education

Prior research into this issue in the U.S. and U.K. has utilized a variety of research designs and methods of testing and has produced conflicting empirical results. This Australian study develops a model of student performance which incorporates variables for academic ability, previous accounting knowledge, and mathematics background. The model allows for interactions between some of these variables. Results are tested using a multiple regression form of extended ANCOVA. The findings indicate that the hypothesis that performance in first year accounting is independent of secondary accounting education can be rejected at high levels of significance for all four years studied, both for student marks and rankings and also for aggregate marks as well as course components. The results are contrasted with previous research and the potential implications of these findings are discussed.     

Why are first‐year accounting studies inclusive?

This study is motivated by the increasing diversity among first‐year accounting students and the increasing number of first‐year accounting students whose majors are not in accounting related areas in UK universities. The main contribution of this study is that it uses student data over four consecutive academic years from a first‐year accounting course at a UK university to provide empirical evidence in support of the theoretical framework proposed by Rankin et al. (2003). Our results show the effects of metacognitive knowledge and content knowledge on academic performance as well as highlighting the inclusiveness of the first‐year accounting course. For instance, regardless of the choices of secondary subjects, students who have good prior academic achievement are the best performers on the first‐year accounting course. The influence of content knowledge on academic performance is strongly felt when the assessments of the course changed from a 100 per cent final exam to a combination of mid‐term coursework and a final exam. The results suggest that well‐designed mid‐term coursework is academically beneficial to accounting students, especially non‐native English‐speaking students.     

Validation of factors relevant to the exemption of accounting courses in MBA programs

Most MBA programs allow students to exempt required core courses like accounting. The exemption decision usually depends on prior accounting course work taken. This study analyzes the performance of students with prior accounting backgrounds in a MBA core course in accounting in order to identify and validate factors that could be used in an exemption policy. Fourteen factors related to aptitude, prior academic performance, prior accounting experience, and work experience were correlated with academic performance. A reduced set of five variables was then included in a step-wise regression. Prior accounting course work, quantitative GMAT score, and grade point average in undergraduate accounting courses emerged as factors that significantly impact grade performance. A set of logit models containing these three factors classified each student by course grade. The three-factor model significantly improved the classification accuracy of students when compared to simplistic models using solely undergraduate accounting course work.     

Formative Feedback through Summative Tutorial-based Assessments: The Relationship to Student Performance

Abstract

This paper investigates the effectiveness (measured using assignment and examination performance) of an assessment design incorporating formative feedback through summative tutorial-based assessments to improve student performance, in a second-year Finance course at an Australian university. Data was collected for students who were enrolled in an undergraduate Finance course and analyzed to ascertain performance improvements. The results indicate that there is a relationship between formative feedback through the use of summative tutorial-based assessments and student performance. Our empirical evidence enriches the extant literature surrounding the effectiveness of formative feedback through summative tutorial-based assessments and fosters an interest in assessment designs that provide formative feedback.     

The first course in accounting: students’ perceptions and their effect on the decision to major in accounting

Little empirical evidence exists regarding students’ perceptions of the first course in accounting and the effect of these perceptions on deciding whether or not to major in accounting. The purpose of this study is to begin examining student perceptions regarding the first accounting course and how those perceptions relate to selection of accounting as a major. The study separately examines initial perceptions and changes in perceptions over the semester for intended accounting and non-accounting majors, and assesses the association of individual accounting instructors with changed student perceptions. We then examine the relationship between perceptual changes, final grades, and individual instructors on decisions to major in accounting. Responses from 331 introductory financial accounting students from two universities indicate that while intended accounting majors perceived the course more favorably than non-accounting majors at the beginning and end of the semester, both groups exhibited relatively positive attitudes toward the course. However, these attitudes were similarly less favorable by the end of the course for both groups. We also found evidence of the important role individual instructors play regarding changing student perceptions and selection of accounting as a major. The analyses for selection of accounting as a major indicate that the decision depended on initially intending to major in accounting, performance in the first course, and individual instructors, but not on changes in perception regarding the first course.     

Early Birds versus Just-in-Timers: The effect of procrastination on academic performance of accounting students

This study investigates the effect of procrastination on academic performance. Prior research has often relied upon self-reported measures of procrastination, which are only weakly correlated with actual procrastination. We use the start and submission of a set of online homework problems as two objective, direct measures of student procrastination and the grade on the assignments as a measure of performance. In our study, there were a number of potential benefits to submitting online assignments ‘just-in-time’. Thus, there was a direct benefit to procrastination, which students had to weigh against potential drawbacks. With a sample size larger than those previously reported in the literature, we find that for both procrastination measures, task procrastination is associated with lower task performance. To ensure that our results are not just an association between performance and student quality, we test for the association between task procrastination and task performance, while controlling for student quality. We find that even after controlling for student quality, task procrastination is associated with lower task performance.     

A quasi-experimental assessment of interactive student response systems on student confidence,effort, and course performance

The interactive student response system (SRS), commonly referred to as ‘clickers,’ is an alternative learning method that has the potential to improve student course (i.e., quiz/examination) performance. Prior SRS studies both within accounting and other academic disciplines have found conflicting results as to its influence on student course performance. This quasi-experimental study re-examines the relationship between the use of an SRS and course performance. We also investigate how using SRS influences student confidence and time spent studying outside of class. Unlike prior SRS related studies, we tested both our SRS class and our control class (with no SRS) in the same academic semester with the same instructor to provide a higher degree of experimental control. Through doing so, we compared the benefit of immediate feedback achieved by SRS to the delayed feedback of traditional assessment formats. Higher in-class performance on multiple-choice quiz items was found for students using SRS versus those who did not use SRS; however, no significant differences in examination performance or overall course performance were noted between the two groups. Students using SRS reported being more confident in their abilities and spent less time preparing for the course outside of class, while maintaining similar overall course performance when compared to those who did not use the SRS. We conclude our study by providing areas of meaningful future research related to the use of SRS.     

The Effective Delivery of a Streaming Video Course Lecture

Abstract

This study compares the effects of a faculty-read non-interactive streaming video lecture to the same lecture read by paid actors on student performance and perceptions. The scope of the study is limited to one learning objective of the first accounting course. No significant differences were found in student performance (n = 46), as measured by quiz grades, or student perceptions, as measured by a survey instrument, between the lectures read by faculty members and the lectures read by actors. These findings have implications for authors of online course content because the results suggest that the effectiveness of a non-interactive video presentation might not be dependent on the presenter. Faculty time might best be spent developing content with paid student actors going on-camera for recording the actual presentation.     

Guest Editorial

This paper reports the results of a longitudinal study of the determinants of student performance on undergraduate accounting degree examinations. The educational background, demographic characteristics and financial/investment characteristics of a group of undergraduate students were determined in an attempt to explain differences in student performance in both first year and third year examinations. The results indicate that few of these background variables had a significant impact on examination performance and that the best predictor of third year performance was in fact performance in the first year examinations.     

Editorial

Technological change is altering the way educators deliver subject content. The phenomenal growth and widespread acceptance of the Internet has seen the creation of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) in higher education. For the ease of integration of VLEs in higher education, software companies have provided products such as WebCT and Blackboard. From a pedagogical perspective, new technologies must be evaluated in an effort to establish whether their introduction has had a beneficial impact on learning outcomes. To this end, this investigation examines the attitudes of undergraduate accounting students in relation to a number of design features and attributes of WebCT (e.g. bulletin boards, on-line assessment and chat room) as a VLE. Responses from 292 on-campus undergraduate students provided data which associates four factors with improved student motivation. This study found that student satisfaction with the use of a VLE is significantly associated with the provision of: lecture notes, bulletin board, on-line assessment and other tools (chat and video summaries). The diagrammatic representation of the variables identified in this study provides a useful reference point for those educators contemplating the implementation of a VLE.     

Voluntary Carbon Reporting Prediction: A Machine Learning Approach

In this paper we address the impact of the introduction of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting scheme on corporate carbon reporting, and subsequently identify factors that influence the level of voluntary carbon reporting. A review of the literature demonstrates a large number of potential factors have been previously deployed to explain voluntary reporting practices; however, the analytical and empirical methods widely used in the literature have limiting statistical assumptions and confine analysis to a small number of explanatory factors. To address this limitation in prior research we apply advanced machine learning methods, such as gradient boosting machines and random forests, to identify predictive variables through analytical means. We compare the performance of machine learning methods with traditional methods such as logistic regression. We find that machine learning methods significantly outperform logistic regression and provide fundamentally different interpretations of the role and influence of different predictive variables on voluntary carbon reporting. While most variables were not statistically significant in the logit results, a number of key proxies for financial performance, corporate governance, and corporate social responsibility have out-of-sample predictive power of the level of voluntary carbon reporting in the machine learning analysis.     

Modelling Performance Improvement and Switching Behaviour in Team Learning

Accounting educators and agencies have sought to incorporate team learning activities into conventional learning methods. The readiness-assurance process (RAP) of team learning, in which students take quizzes first as individuals and second as members of student teams, has been shown to be effective in this regard. We analyse the RAP with a fixed-effects regression model to identify the factors that contribute to performance improvement and we use ordered logit regression to estimate, probabilistically, switching behaviour within student teams. A longitudinal study was conducted over the course of a semester in which 101 undergraduate accounting students, comprising 22 teams, completed six quizzes. Within-team knowledge disparity was shown to be a significant indicator of performance improvement, and individuals appeared more likely to switch their answers after the first quiz. There were no significant effects for either performance or switching associated with demographic measures of sex and English fluency. Implications for accounting educators are discussed.     

The context-specific conceptions of learning in case-based accounting assignments,students’ characteristics and performance

The present study contributes to accounting education literature by describing context-specific conceptions of learning related to case assignments, and by exploring the associations between the conceptions of learning, students’ characteristics and performance. The data analysed consist of 1320 learning diaries of 336 students, connected with students’ characteristics and course grades. The results are in line with earlier studies in that most students in accounting describe reproductive conceptions of learning. However, instead of only increasing knowledge, case assignments seem to emphasise the application of knowledge to real life. Furthermore, the conception of learning seems to be associated with performance in the course and the age of the student. Since no positive development of the conceptions of learning is visible during the course, using case assignments as such does not seem to solve the problem of reproductive conceptions. Therefore, how case assignments are used in teaching needs to be carefully considered.     

Student satisfaction and commitment towards a blended learning finance course: A new evidence from using the investment model

The present study uses an amended version of a well-known investment model to investigate the levels of satisfaction and commitment of finance students enrolled on a blended e-learning programme. First, it presents new empirical evidence for the validity of each construct and validates the proposed investment model. Second, it examines whether students’ grade point average (GPA) scores influence their levels of satisfaction and commitment the course. A random sample of 100 undergraduate students enrolled at King Khalid University in Saudi Arabia was surveyed using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The proposed investment model was suitable for predicting the levels of student satisfaction and commitment in a blended learning environment, especially finance courses. However, the levels of satisfaction and commitment among students did not reach the proposed cut-off point for high commitment/satisfaction, which implied that levels of student satisfaction and commitment were only in the middle of the range. Specifically, the results showed a significant negative correlation between the level of satisfaction and GPA score, but a significant positive correlation between student commitment and GPA score. The study also highlights areas in which further research and analysis is recommended.     

The Effects of Different Teaching Approaches in Introductory Financial Accounting

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to examine the effect of the two different teaching approaches in the first accounting course on student performance in a subsequent finance course. The study compares 128 accounting and finance students who took introductory financial accounting by either a user approach or a traditional preparer approach to examine their academic performance on a subsequent finance course. The results indicate that there is no significant difference in the finance course grade between students who took the traditional introductory accounting course and students who were taught under the user approach. These findings support the argument that the user approach has no impact on subsequent finance course grade and either method can be used to teach introductory financial accounting. Three factors were found to affect subsequent performance in an introductory finance course: GPA prior to taking the finance course, grades in macroeconomics, and statistics.     

Predicting Private Company Failures in Italy Using Financial and Non‐financial Information

The study assesses the use of non‐financial information in predicting financial distress in private companies by developing credit risk models tailored to Italian private companies. The in‐sample and out‐of‐sample prediction test results are indicative of the incremental predictive ability of the two new non‐financial variables, that is, number of shareholders and number of subsidiaries, over accounting ratios and other widely used non‐financial information, including firm age and industry dummies. To be more specific, number of shareholders and number of subsidiaries are negatively associated with private company failures, and the models augmented by the two non‐financial variables improve forecasting performance from acceptable discrimination to excellent discrimination over one‐ to three‐year time horizons.     

An empirical analysis of some factors affecting student performance

Many colleges and universities use instructor and course evaluation forms. Overall, however, contradictory evidence exists concerning the usefulness of these forms as measures of teacher performance. Among the business school disciplines, few studies on the effects or usefulness of the forms have been undertaken. Responses to a 34-item questionnaire (instructor evaluation form) were factor analyzed to identify salient dimensions of the classroom/ learning environment and then the factors were correlated with student performance. The results indicate that responses related to teacher factors in the principles area may not be related to student performance. However, in the taxation and cost accounting areas the responses might be somewhat useful in gaging instructor performance.