An Analysis of Student Perceptions of Introductory Accounting Classes

Abstract

We identified whether relationships exist between the initial and final perceptions ofintroductory accounting classes for students inAccounting, Business Administration, and Economics majors. Studies in education and psychology show howtheself-efficacy andself-determination theoriescan explain student perceptions, motivation and performance. These studies also assertthat success at the beginning of a course can condition performance throughout the remainder of the course.Our sample consisted of 145 students in Accounting, Business Administration and Economics majors at a public Brazilian university. Data was analyzed by Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney tests and canonical and multiple regression. We found that students in all three majors had positive initial perceptions of introductory classes and that students in accounting majors were the most optimistic. Accounting students also saw introductory accounting classes as more relevant to their academic and professional performance than did Business Administrationand Economics students. Additionally, our findings suggest that expected grades, perceived difficulty, and motivation affectacademic performance in introductory accounting classes. Based on the results of our study and the situation in Brazil where students must choose majors at the time of enrollment, we inferred that institutions of higher education can improve student performance by using strategies that reduce the difficulty of the teaching/learning process, improve student motivation, and increase student awareness of the relevance of introductory accounting classes for their education and profession.

Keywords: Academic performance, Introductory accounting, Motivation, Student perceptions.