Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Deep and surface approaches to learning within introductory accounting: A phenomenographic study

Lucas, Ursula

Authors

Ursula Lucas



Abstract

This paper reports the findings of a phenomenographic research study which sought to identify students' approaches to learning introductory accounting and their conceptions of accounting. The findings reveal that, in common with other disciplines, deep and surface approaches to learning can be identified. However, the main contribution of this study lies in two areas. First, it distinguishes those features that are characteristic of the deep and surface approaches within the discipline of accounting. Secondly, it identifies contextual features surrounding these approaches to learning and which are central to an understanding of them. The paper suggests how these findings can be used immediately to make changes within teaching and assessment practice through a phenomenographic pedagogy which: seeks to make students' conceptions of the subject matter explicit; provides diagnostic tools for the identification of distinctively different conceptions of the subject and approaches to learning; and addresses issues of preconceptions and relevance within teaching and assessment. The findings can also be used as the basis for further research into the identification of statistical variation in approaches to learning between students. © 2001, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Citation

Lucas, U. (2001). Deep and surface approaches to learning within introductory accounting: A phenomenographic study. Accounting Education, 10(2), 161-184. https://doi.org/10.1080/09639280110073443

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jan 1, 2001
Journal Accounting Education
Print ISSN 0963-9284
Electronic ISSN 1468-4489
Publisher Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
Peer Reviewed Not Peer Reviewed
Volume 10
Issue 2
Pages 161-184
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/09639280110073443
Keywords phenomenography, approaches to learning, introductory accounting, perceptions of accounting
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1086707
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09639280110073443


Downloadable Citations