Christoph Helm,
"Determinants of competence development in accounting in upper secondary education."
, in ERVET, in Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training, Springer, 2016, ISSN: 1877-6345
Original Titel:
Determinants of competence development in accounting in upper secondary education.
Sprache des Titels:
Englisch
Original Kurzfassung:
Given the lack of research on predictors of students? learning success in vocational
domains, the present study aims to identify determinants of student competence
growth in the subject Accounting. Based on theoretical models (e.g., basic deep structure
dimensions of instructional quality, self-enhancement theory, self-determination
theory) and related published research, we hypothesized that students? improvement
could be best predicted by their prior knowledge and cognitive abilities, followed by
self-concept, cognitive learning strategies, motivational regulations and perceptions
of learning environment characteristics. In particular, we aimed to ascertain whether
aspects of the learning environment determine student competency development in
Accounting, controlling for effects of key student characteristics. By means of threelevel
models involving repeated measurements, we analysed data from 487 students
(74 % female; aget0: M = 14.40 years, SD = 0.74) from Austrian commercial upper
secondary schools in grades 9 through 11. Most of our hypotheses are supported by
this data, and thus we could answer our research question as follows: The students?
proficiency in mathematics, their grades from the previous school year, perceived
cognitive activation and support from teachers of their basic psychological needs most
strongly predicted student initial status and growth in accounting competence. However,
against all expectations, cognitive learning strategies and class mean of perceived
student-centred instruction were not, or were negatively, related to their competence,
which indicates that the latter was perceived more often in low-performing classes. As
expected, student intrinsic motivation and academic self-concept were related to competence
in accounting.
Sprache der Kurzfassung:
Englisch
Journal:
Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training
Forschungs-