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51. [Article] An empirical study of the problem of attrition of students of first-year accounting in Oregon community colleges
The study was conducted in order to learn of the extent to which attrition exists among students enrolled in the first-year accounting course in Oregon community colleges, the factors tending to contribute to ...Citation Citation
- Title:
- An empirical study of the problem of attrition of students of first-year accounting in Oregon community colleges
- Author:
- Schultz, Alan R.
The study was conducted in order to learn of the extent to which attrition exists among students enrolled in the first-year accounting course in Oregon community colleges, the factors tending to contribute to the problem, and the approaches which might be used to help alleviate the problem. The design of the study consisted of two parts. The first part of the study was to gather information about the teaching philosophies and practices of the accounting faculties, and the number of students enrolled in and completing the three-terms of first-year accounting during the college years 1970-1972 at the eleven community colleges offering the course throughout the state. These same students were also analyzed by age, sex, marital status, high school background, major, military background, class (freshman/sophomore), and courseload. The second part of the investigation consisted of a two-year controlled study of the students at Linn-Benton Community College in Albany, Oregon, who had enrolled in the first term of the three-term sequence of first-year accounting in the fall of 1970 (the control year) and those who had enrolled in the first term of the three-term sequence in the fall of 1971 (the experimental group). In this study the day classes of the control year were compared to the day classes of the experimental year, while the evening classes of the control year were compared to the evening classes of the experimental year. The purpose of this latter study was to determine if two types of personalized attention (mandatory individual counseling and voluntary accounting "help" sessions) given to all classes in the experimental year would (1) allow more of these students to complete the three-term accounting sequence, and (2) allow more of these students to score significantly higher on the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' (AICPA) Achievement Test, Level I, Form E-S. To insure that all students of both years entering the first-term of accounting were equal in accounting aptitude, the AICPA Orientation Test, Form B, Revised, was given. The results of the findings indicate that the accounting instructors (1) did not have adequate background information about (a) the student's reading and comprehension level, (b) how the student viewed himself as a scholar, and (c) the student's level of interest in accounting at the time he entered; (2) agreed on (a) informing the students early in the course of the value of accounting, (b) building the student's self-confidence, (c) building their own self-confidence, (d) reviewing solutions to homework in class, (e) providing the students with the best text available, and (f) using all input available to improve their instruction; (3) tended to prefer grouping accounting students (although this was not the case at the time); (4) continued to use the lecture method of instruction exclusively; (5) offered a wide variety of informal opportunities to personalize the learning of accounting by the availability of office hours, individual counseling, and one-to-one and group "help" sessions; (6) have avoided offering more formal opportunities for personalizing the subject matter by seldom using programmed texts and filmstrips, and workbooks and/or practice sets with keys, and audio and video tapes; (7) felt that personalizing the subject matter (a) helped to enhance student interest, (b) helped to enhance student learning, (c) helped encourage more students to complete each term (as well as the three-term sequence), (d) helped the instructor to better understand why some students have certain learning difficulties, (e) encouraged more instructors to more carefully organize their materials, and (f) encouraged more instructors to evaluate their methods of instruction. Additional findings of the study indicate that the average community college in Oregon had only 30% of all students enrolled in the first-year accounting course complete the three-term sequence. In addition, only 32% of all students required to have at least three terms of first-year accounting completed the sequence, and likewise only 24% of all students required to have at least one term of accounting completed all three terms of the sequence. In the metropolitan Portland area only 23% of all students, regardless of major, completed the three-term sequence. An analysis of the personal characteristics of these same students indicates, that a larger percentage of the students completing the sequence tended to be (a) male, (b) age 31 or older, (c) married, (d) high school graduates, (e) veterans, (f) sophomores, (g) part-time students, and (h) accounting majors. Students tending to be less successful were (a) female, (b) age 19-21, (c) divorced, separated, or widowed, (d) without either a high school diploma or GED certificate, (e) non-veterans, (f) freshmen, (g) full-time students, and (h) college transfer secretarial science majors. The results of the controlled study at Linn-Benton Community College indicate that even when students enrolled in the first-year accounting course are required to counsel individually with their instructor at the beginning of each term of the three-term sequence and are given the opportunity to attend voluntary accounting "help" sessions, they will probably (a) seldom attend the "help" sessions, (b) not score significantly higher on the AICPA Achievement Test, or (c) be more likely to complete the three-term sequence than those students not having had these two types of personalized attention provided to them. These observations led to the conclusion that a communication gap seems to exist between the instructor and the students. To help correct the problem a battery of tests was recommended, including the AICPA Orientation Test, the Minnesota Multiphasic Inventory Test, and the Strong Vocational Interest Blank, in order to better understand the background of incoming students. These tests could then be used in conjunction with the recommended mandatory individual counseling sessions at the beginning of each term along with mandatory laboratory sessions throughout the term. In addition, it was also recommended that pre-tests be given at the beginning of each term to help the instructor better plan his presentations for those areas where students indicated the most need. The AICPA Orientation Test, Form B, Revised, was concluded to be a valid test by which to measure the degree of success the student could expect upon completion of the three-term accounting sequence. The results of the study at Linn-Benton Community College also indicate that the students who had enrolled in the evening classes had a wide range of abilities and aptitudes from one year to the next. In conclusion it appears that personalized attention in its present form at Linn-Benton Community College is not effective in guaranteeing the successful completion of the three-term sequence of first-year accounting. Additional research may still have to be made into the motivational makeup of individual students.