The Approaches to Studying of Portuguese Students of Introductory Accounting

Abstract

The focus of this paper is an investigation into the approaches to studying of Portuguese students of introductory accounting using the short version of the ASSIST instrument. In doing so, it also examined the impact upon the strategy adopted of the discipline area of students and gender. The results validate the use of the inventory with students of accounting in Portuguese higher education and add weight to the use of translated versions of this instrument elsewhere. The findings indicate that Portuguese students of introductory accounting favour a strategic approach over either a deep or a surface approach and suggest that both the individual student's discipline area and gender have an impact upon the adopted approaches to studying.

Conceptions of Accounting and Expectations of Learning Accounting

“…Lucas, 1998Lucas, , 2001Lucas, 2002Byrne and Flood, 2004;Byrne et al, 1999Byrne et al, , 2002Byrne et al, , 2009Lucas, 2000;Mladenovic, 2000;Meyer, 2004, 2005;Teixeira et al, 2013aTeixeira et al, , 2015. Similarly, the importance of the learning environment/context has been acknowledged by several authors (e.g.…”

Establishing the reliability and validity of the ASSIST questionnaire: a South African sample perspective

“…These study learning inventories contribute to the measurement of students' study methods and approaches by offering persuading empirical evidence important to inform policy decisions in higher education (Teixeira, et al, 2013). Various approaches to learning and studying measuring instrument have been developed and implement in higher education institutions (Mogashana, et al, 2012).…”

“…Several studies continuously provide evidence that individual differences in how students approach learning exist, such as deep, strategic and surface learning (Simelane, Mji, & Mwambakana, 2011;Teixeira, et al, 2013;Venkatesh, et al, 2014).…”

“…In this regard, it is opined that these differences in turn have a powerful influence on many features of daily learning and teaching (Gadelrab, 2011). For lecturers to promote more conceptual, deeper forms of learning, they need to understand how students approach learning (Teixeira, et al, 2013).…”

“…Researchers such as (Biggs, 1987;Entwistle, McCune & Trait, 2006;Entwistle, 1996;Martin & Säljö 1976) are amongst the first researchers to strategise the students approach to learning, the quality of their learning outcomes and their prior experiences. Several studies (Abedina, Jaafarb, Husainc, & Abdullahd, 2013) continuously provide constant evidence that individual differences in how students approach learning exist such as deep, strategic and surface (Gadelrab, 2011;Teixeira, Gomes, & Borges, 2013;Venkatesh, Croteau, & Rabah, 2014). It is pointed out that in order to obtain high-quality learning outcome (Buckley, Pitt, Norton & Owens, 2010), lecturers require to understand student learning, specifically how students adjust their learning tasks, their aims and strategies, and how these influence the quality of their learning outcomes (Martin & Säljö, 1976).…”