Faculty of Education - Theses

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Author: Dolan, Walter × End date: 2009 × Start date: 2000 × Type: Masters Research thesis × Subject: Training of ×

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    The learning of fundamental accounting concepts
    Dolan, Walter ( 2001)
    In this thesis, as a teacher-researcher, I explored the difficulties many students, who were non accounting majors, experienced in learning accountancy. I chose as main research questions: � What are the specific difficulties encountered by students in learning accounting? � How do I teach accounting differently so that students may learn and understand more effectively? The outcome I was seeking was the development of a method of teaching and learning that would improve student understanding of the subject. I could not identify any problems peculiar to accounting as a subject, although I established by experience that some accounting concepts were `complex' as seen by students. I came to the realisation that if the subject - accountancy - was not the cause of the problem (difficulties in learning) then the problem must reside in me as teacher and / or students as learners. My research was both quantitative and qualitative and involved The University of Melbourne, RMIT University and, to a lesser extent, Goulburn Ovens Institute of Technical and Further Education. My method of data collection involved questionnaires, interviews, an assignment, informal tests and formal examinations. My review of the literature suggested several areas where I could strengthen my teaching for more effective learning and three of these: � Spend additional time on known complex issues � Set appropriate tasks to test understanding (using formative tests) � Seek to increase students' metacognitive skills I incorporated in my subsequent qualitative research when I set about attempting to improve student learning through a metalearning approach involving exploration of poor learning tendencies. Using summative examinations as a test of more effective learning, I concluded that setting frequent informal tests - not forming part of assessment - improved students' learning. However, the attempt to improve student learning through minimising poor learning tendencies was not successful or was at best inconclusive. It appeared that success here would take a much greater lead time than was available to me.