Accounting students' learning conceptions, approaches to learning, and the influence of the learning–teaching context on approaches to learning

Previous accounting education studies have not investigated the reasons why accounting students lack the qualities desired by accounting educators and employers. Moreover, prior research has not adequately capitalized on the rich resources of the higher education literature. Therefore, as an initial attempt to remedy this deficiency, this paper reports the results of two studies grounded in well established higher education concepts. The paper commences with a discussion of relevant higher education concepts followed by a phenomenographic examination of second–year accounting students' conceptions of learning. The paper then reports the findings of a survey of second–year accounting students' approaches to learning and the influence of the learning–teaching context on their learning approaches. The research findings suggest that accounting students' learning conceptions and approaches to learning may explain why they do not possess adequate analytical and critical conceptual skills. The results also indicate that students' perceptions of the learning context influence their learning approaches. Two major implications arise from the studies reported in this paper. Firstly, consideration must be given to the impact of proposed curriculum changes on students' learning behaviour prior to implementing such changes. Secondly, for accounting education research to progress effectively, researchers must draw upon the established richness of the higher education literature.