Trends

What Motivates Our Students?: Part II?

By Belverd E. Needles, Jr., Ph.D., CPA

Editor

In the last issue of AIR, I presented five characteristics of our students that are important sources of the dissatisfaction many for accounting faculty feel toward their teaching situation. Our students are

· bBecoming more numerous and will become more so,.

· iIncreasingly from diverse cultures,.

· nNot as smart as they were in 1967 but scores have increased since 1981 or 1991,.

· uUsing oral and visual skills more so than reading skills to gain information and knowledge,.

· and Ddealing with very complex lives.

The question fFacing us now is the question of how to address these gaps in a way that improves the accounting learning experience for both students and teachers. In this Trends article, I address some characteristics that will help us understand what motivates our students today, how we canto meet students on their own ground, and how we caton improve the accounting learning process.

One factor that must be considered is the diversity ofrange of cognitive ability among our students. Research in cognitive abilities has shown that students do not reach intellectual maturity until about 25 years of age. Approximately 50 percent of students in the 17-19 age groupaged 17 - 19 display these characteristics:

· Quotinge inappropriately from the textbook

· Providinge illogical arguments

· Unable to Not reading carefully

· Looking only for the answer for the only answer

· Equatinge personal opinion with evidence

· Are Ignoringunaware of underlying assumptions

· Do Nnot adequately defending a solution (adapted from WolcottLynch.com, 2003)

Fewer than 20 percent of 25-year and older + students display these characteristics. Most instructors, I believe, will be surprised to learn that the distribution of age groups among undergraduate groups is similar among two-year and four-year schools. As can be seen in Figure 1, students aged 17-19-age students predominate among full-time undergraduate students at both two-year and four-year schools. In contrast, Figure 2 shows that students in the 25+ age group students predominate among part-time students at both types of schools. Nevertheless, the figures show a diverseity of age groups - from younger, immature students to older, more mature students in both both the full-time and part-time groups. Furthermore, most of us face classes with a mixture of full-time and part-time students. (Chronicle of Higher Education)

It is fair from the data in Figures 1 and 2 to say that most beginning accounting instructors face difficult challenges in their classes due to the diversity of intellectual maturity of students in their classes. The range of students’ cognitive ability in any class makes it highly unlikely that one syllabus will be appropriate for all students.This diversity of cognitive ability that will exist in any class makes if highly unlikely that syllabi that are appropriate for all students in our classes. Some students require a disciplined step-by-step approach with frequent checks of progress;. oOther students can live with more ambiguity, are self-starters, and can address more complex use-oriented issues that require higher levels of learning.

As accounting teachers, we also face issues of motivation in students’ choice of classeswe must also consider what motivates a student to choose a course. Research Research has shown that students bases their choice of majors on three criteria:

· What subjects interest me?

· What subjects am I good at?

· What are the economic incentives?

In the first case, we are at a disadvantage as teachers of beginning accounting because most students do not choose this course . T rather, they are required to take it. They know little about accounting and what they’ve heard is probably negative. They want to be anywhere but in our class. In the second case, only a fraction of our students excels at the analytical skills necessary to be a good accountant. Some are pleasantly surprised how much they like the course and how good they are at it, but many students just don’t get it.

In the third case, we finally have an advantage. Accounting is a key to financial success, both as a business major and as an accounting major. Figure 3 shows that financial success as a motivator in choice of major has grown steadily since the Vietnam era with. a Approximately 70 percent of students listing this as an important objective. This conclusion is borne out by another major study of freshman students in the U.S. listing The topthe top four reasons answers given by students when asked what motivated them in deciding to go to college were as follows (Chronicle of Higher Education, August 25, 2006):

· To learn more about things that interest me 77.7%

· To be able to get a better job 71.0

· To be able to make more money 70.1

· To get training in a specific career 69.4

What do the above observations mean for the teacher of beginning accounting? It is clear that, first, we must work hard at persuading the students that the course is interesting, and, second, we need to show that a knowledge of accounting will help any student, regardless of major, to prepare for a career, to get a better job, and to make more money. Year’s ago, when I was going to college, I asked my father what I should major in. He, aAs a small businessperson, he urged me to major in accounting because, “aAccountants have to know everything about a business and you have to know finances to be success.” His advice was among the best I everhave ever received.

When I registered the next day, I indicated accounting as my major, even though I didn’t know exactly what it was. I have never regretted that decision. As a result, when I teach beginning accounting, I do not hesitate to say have no hesitation in saying that accounting will isbe one of the most valuable courses the studentsa student takes to achieve success in business. will have because they must have this knowledge to be successful in business. Furthermore, it is an extremely an interesting topic that deals with because it deals with important questions such as: what makes a successful company and why do businesses fail?.

In the next issue of Trends, I will deal more specifically with motivating students in the first accounting course.