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The ACCY 111 Experience

The ACCY 111 Experience. Dr Philip Colquhoun Professor Kevin Holmes Professor Kevin Simpkins School of Accounting and Commercial Law. A presentation to AKO Victoria 2011 Research funded by VUW teaching and learning grant 2010. The problem.

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The ACCY 111 Experience

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  1. The ACCY 111 Experience Dr Philip Colquhoun Professor Kevin Holmes Professor Kevin Simpkins School of Accounting and Commercial Law A presentation to AKO Victoria 2011 Research funded by VUW teaching and learning grant 2010

  2. The problem • Pass rate consistently remained relatively low over number of years • Despite number of recent interventions • More tutorials • Specialised tutorials • Introduction of on-line tests • Variety of teaching staff • Variety of assessment schemes • Looking to make changes to increase pass rate – but need to be informed by what is the problem.

  3. The problem – pass rate 1996 to 2010 • People – students in ACCY 111 • Enrolled 18,799 • Failed 33.2% (6,249) • In dollars (we are accountants!) • Approximately $33 million in revenue from ACCY 111 • Approximately $11 million relate to students that failed ACCY 111 • (based on a 15 point course at 2011 rates)

  4. The problem - Societal waste • Funding • Student funded • Student debt • Government expenditure • Personal cost • Time • Self esteem

  5. The project Two parts • Statistical study of 2009 ACCY 111 cohort • What are the factors that impact on student performance. • Structured interviews of ACCY 111 students in second trimester 2010. • Students’ perceptions and self reporting of behaviour related to ACCY 111. • …. a selection of the insights …

  6. From statistical study • Almost ¾ of the variability in pass grades can be explained by • NCEA results • Mid-trimester test • Tutorial attendance • Use of online test and revision package

  7. From statistical study NCEA – level three • NECA performance is reflected in better performance in ACCY 111 if NECA performance includes: • 21 excellence credits, or • 34 merit credits, or • 28 achieved credits in accounting • But… below these levels … those that had some NCEA credits performed worse than those without any credits. • Implications • Have we got the university (or degree) entry level right? • Are there skills that some students fail to obtain via school and we don’t seek to remedy this – rather continue to support performance below ability and/or failure. • NCEA – unit specification and “achieve is enough” versus less specified requirements at ACCY 111.

  8. From statistical study Internal course work • All important • Tutorial attendance • Online work • especially shorter and more frequent use was better • Implications • Opportunities provided, but not taken up by students • Something wrong with how we provide them or • Students are lazy/busy

  9. From statistical study Choice of major • Accounting and economic majors do better • Implications • Accounting and economic students are brighter therefore this is self-evident, or • ACCY 111 has a strong focus on economic worldview/thinking patterns and therefore bias to those inclined to that worldview.

  10. From statistical study Ethnicity • Compared to NZ European/Pakeha all other groups performed worse, • African, Chinese and Other Pacific Peoples groups being statistically significant • Implications • Preparation and/or institutional factors. • Accepting that business and accounting are cultural artifacts are we assuming too much in our teaching.

  11. From interviews Reported time spent per week • Expected at start of course = 6 hours • Reported = 7.7 hours • Reported for other courses = 7.9 hours Expected grade • At start B+ • At end B

  12. From interviews Usefulness • 4 out of 5 • Very useful • (1-5 Likert scale) Perceived difficulty • Week 1 = 2.8 • Week 6 = 3.6 • Got more difficult • (Liket scale 1 easy – 5 difficult)

  13. From interviews • Summary • They think it very useful, • Perceived difficultly increases during course, • Grade expectation drops • And they work longer on other courses • Implications • Being difficult or useful may not help with student motivation!

  14. Where we are heading • New course proposed for 2012 • 2011 • On-line assessment • More and worth significant part of final grade • Tutorials • More student discussion – less content focus(?) • Tutor selection/management

  15. Still unclear • What can we do about students coming in with poor NCEA results? • What is the(ir) problem? • How much understanding of commerce do students entering the BCA degree come with ? • How to increase participation in course components (e.g. online and tutorials)? • At moment providing more but perhaps only used by those that don’t need it. • Measuring cost/ benefits of further interventions. • How university wide are these issues?

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