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Class length and student performance: an extended study.

Article Excerpt
Many accounting educators believe that the student learning of accounting is better facilitated over a longer period of time, rather than a shorter period of time. This study examined the results of student performance in two introductory accounting courses, comparing student performance results of four-week summer classes with the results of traditional 16-week courses. In this research, the same professor taught the spring and summer ACC 201 courses, and two other professors taught both the spring and summer ACC 211 courses. Also held constant were the lecture material, course assignment, and test content. The results of the study indicate that in general, students taking introductory accounting over four weeks fare about as well as students who take introductory accounting over a traditional 16-week period. These results have potential importance beyond accounting education and provide support to universities offering more block courses to better serve individual student needs. (JEL 121)

Introduction and Background

Accounting education is experiencing tremendous pressure to change and adapt to a dynamic business environment. The commonly recognized forces for change include (but are not limited to) the 150-hour requirement for eligibility to sit for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam, discontent from the public accounting profession and corporate accounting recruiters with recent accounting graduates, the explosion of accounting-related knowledge, advances in technology, fluctuating enrollments in accounting programs, increasing levels of competition and globalization, and expanded legal liability for the accounting profession [Mueller and Simmons, 1989; Frederickson and Pratt, 1995]. Responding to these forces for change is especially challenging in view of the fact that many of the forces for change are in conflict with each other. For example, at a time when the quantity of information required to be technically competent is growing exponentially, there is pressure to reduce the influence of the CPA examinati on on accounting curricula, focusing on broader, big-picture issues [Patten and Williams, 1990]. The needs of corporate accounting employers differ from the needs of public accounting employers [Siegel and Kulesza, 1996]. Conspicuously absent from the list of forces for change is the student. The student is often viewed as the product or as a constraint [Frederickson and Pratt, 1995].

At Southwest Missouri State University, where this study was conducted, the student has been added to the list of forces for change. Students have often requested that the introductory level accounting courses, Introduction to Financial Accounting (ACC 201) and Introduction to Managerial Accounting (ACC 211), be offered in a format that would allow them to complete both courses in the summer term. Prior to the summer of 1996, this was not possible at the university, as ACC 201 is a prerequisite for ACC 211, and both courses were offered in the eight-week session. The normal fall and spring semesters are 16 weeks in duration. The administration decided to offer ACC 201 in the first four-week session, and ACC 211 in the following four-week session, thus allowing students the opportunity to complete both courses in the summer term and move on to other courses for which ACC 211 is a prerequisite. Not wanting to compromise the quality of the educational experience and recognizing the importance of the introductory accounting courses to the overall success of the accounting program [Saudagaran, 1996], an attempt was made to measure the difference, if any, between performance of students taking the full 16-week version of the course and the compressed four-week version.

Prior Research

Although no previous research specifically addressing the impact of compressed or block courses on student learning of accountancy was found, the literature contains a number of studies regarding student performance in introductory accounting courses. Some of these studies focus on the determinants of student performance in first level accounting courses, while others investigate the impact of large section size versus small section size on student performance. Other studies have been conducted...

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