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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
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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.
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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)
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The problem - Societal waste Funding ◦ Student funded ◦ Student debt ◦ Government expenditure Personal cost ◦ Time ◦ Self esteem
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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 …
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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)
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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!
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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
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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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