圖書館

ABSTRACT

THIS THESIS AIMS TO EXPLORE HOW LEARNING ACCOUNTING FOR NON-ACCOUNTING MAJOR STUDENTS COULD BE ENHANCED THROUGH A COMPREHENSIVE FRAMEWORK CONNECTING INDIVIDUAL ATTRIBUTES AND LEARNING APPROACHES. WHILE ACCOUNTING IS CONSIDERED AN IMPORTANT AND MANDATORY DISCIPLINE FOR BUSINESS STUDENTS, IT IS ALSO CONSIDERED A DIFFICULT SUBJECT WHICH DETERS STUDENTS’ ENGAGEMENT IN THE SUBJECT. ALTHOUGH THE ISSUE HAS BEEN WIDELY RECOGNIZED, THERE ARE RELATIVELY LESS DISCUSSIONS ON POSSIBLE REMEDIES. LEARNING ACCOUNTING IS A DYNAMIC PROCESS THAT GO BEYOND THE TRADITIONAL ONE-TO-MANY LEARNING AND TEACHING SETTINGS, ALL FACTORS REVOLVING THE STUDENTS’ LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AND PROCESS, ALTOGETHER DETERMINE AND AFFECT THE LEARNING EFFICIENCIES. A META-ANALYSIS WAS FIRST PERFORMED TO UNDERSTAND THE STANDINGS OF ACCOUNTING EDUCATION AND TO IDENTIFY GAPS WITHIN EXISTING LITERATURES IN THE FIELD OF MANAGEMENT, ACCOUNTING, TOURISM AND GENERAL EDUCATION RESEARCHES. A DOCUMENTARY REVIEW ON THE CURRICULA OF ALL MACAU HEI PROGRAMS INVOLVING COMPULSORY ACCOUNTING COURSES WAS ALSO CONDUCTED TO UNDERSTAND THE ROLE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ACCOUNTING COURSES FOR NON-ACCOUNTING COLLEGE STUDENTS IN MACAU. BASED ON THE LITERATURE REVIEW, THIS STUDY BORROWS CONSTRUCTS FROM THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR (TPB) MODELS IN ITS RESEARCH FRAMEWORK. IT ATTEMPTS TO PROVIDE A COMPREHENSIVE FRAMEWORK TO UNDERSTAND HOW STUDENTS LEARN ACCOUNTING EFFICIENTLY BY DELVING INTO INDIVIDUAL LEARNING STYLES OF THE STUDENTS AND THEIR PERCEIVED HELPFULNESS AND SELF-EFFICACY, IN RESPECTIVE TO DIFFERENT LEARNING TECHNIQUES. DUE TO ITS EXPLORATORY NATURE, A MIXED METHOD OF QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE METHODOLOGY IS ADOPTED, WHERE BOTH FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS AND IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS ARE PERFORMED WITH NON-ACCOUNTING STUDENTS TO ELICIT UNDERSTANDINGS ON STUDENT’S DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING ACCOUNTING AND THEIR PREFERENCES FOR DIFFERENT LEARNING STYLES. THEN, A FULL-SCALE QUANTITATIVE SURVEY IS CONDUCTED IN A MACAU HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTE TO ASSESS THE LEARNING EFFICIENCIES OF ACCOUNTING IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS. A TRIANGULATION WITH FEEDBACK FROM FACULTIES AND ADMINISTRATORS ARE ALSO ELICITED TO PROVIDE ALTERNATE DIMENSIONS ON THE ISSUES. WITH NO SURPRISE, THERE IS NO ONE BEST 3 TEACHING STYLE OR METHOD FOR ALL STUDENTS, THIS THESIS CONTRIBUTES TO ACCOUNTING EDUCATION RESEARCH BY PROVIDE A COMPREHENSIVE DIAGNOSIS ON THE ALL-ROUND LEARNING STIMULUS AND HINDRANCE IN LEARNING ACCOUNTING. AT THE END, RECOMMENDATIONS ARE PROVIDED FOR ACCOUNTING EDUCATORS TO EMPHASIZE ON THE UNIQUENESS OF STUDENTS AND TO ENCOURAGE A MORE DYNAMIC AND OPEN ENVIRONMENT FOR LEARNING. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDIES ARE ALSO DISCUSSED