Retaining remote teaching and assessment methods in accounting education: Drivers and challenges in the post-pandemic era

Despite the availability of studies on teaching and assessment during the pandemic, little is known about the factors that contribute to their retention in the post-pandemic era. This study aims to address this gap by examining the reasons for retaining remote methods and the challenges of maintaining them. Using a case study approach, data were collected through eleven interviews and document analysis of the first and leading academic accounting degree program in Sri Lanka. Isomorphic pressures and PEST factors were used to analyze the drivers for retention and the challenges, respectively. The study finds that coercive pressures dominate in Sri Lanka for the retention of remote teaching and assessment methods, driven by government policies and the country's economic crisis. However, mimetic and normative forces also reinforce these methods, driven by peer pressure and the desire to keep up with global trends. Conversely, political, economic, social, and technological factors impede the retention of remote learning and assessment methods, acting as a powerful force that drives back these remote methods to pre-pandemic practices. Hence, educational policymakers must allocate adequate funds and enhance infrastructure for remote education. We urge educators to gain more knowledge and skills in remote teaching and assessment methods, and learners to demonstrate responsibility, organization, and commitment towards the benefits of remote education.

Rethinking accounting assessment in a COVID-19 world: application of a dialogical approach

While the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the higher education sector, it also provided opportunities for accounting academics to rethink their assessment strategy. This paper adds to the limited literature which has reported on how accounting academics responded to such an opportunity. Drawing on Freire's dialogical education theory as the theoretical underpinning, we provide an autoethnographic account of an academic's experience of championing a dialogical informed assessment. Focusing on assessment, this autoethnographic study contributes to the growing dialogic pedagogy accounting education literature and challenges accounting academics to consider engaging in an open-book portfolio assessment informed by the dialogical education approach. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Distance Learning of Financial Accounting: Mature Undergraduate Students' Perceptions

This research sought to explore self-reported satisfaction levels of mature students enrolled in the virtual financial accounting course of the first online-only bachelor's degree in Portugal. While doing so, it attempted to generate understanding of which factors may affect undergraduate mature students' engagement—herein measured in terms of overall satisfaction—with online learning, particularly, of financial accounting. Thereby, this research addresses several research gaps. First, unlike most recent empirical research, it provides evidence from a post-pandemic period, in 2022. Second, responding to calls for further education research in different contexts, Portugal poses a highly relevant, unexplored research setting since it was only in 2019 that the Portuguese government approved a legal regime to frame distance education at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Third, this research focuses on the overlooked, and yet growing, population of adult mature students. The research evidence emerges from 32 valid responses to a structured electronic questionnaire circulated to students at the end of a financial accounting module (in July 2022). Satisfaction rates from students' own perspectives were derived in terms of (i) overall satisfaction, (ii) learning outcomes, (iii) e-learning process, and (iv) pedagogical practices adopted. The assessment of satisfaction levels was determined through Likert-type items with responses ranging from a minimum score of 1 to the highest score of 5. Data gathered were subject to quantitative analysis: descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, statistical tests, principal component analysis, and linear regression. High levels of satisfaction with distance education were uncovered. We found that pedagogical practices constitute the dimension that contributed the least (though, still importantly) to overall satisfaction as compared with learning outcomes and e-learning process. The results of this research offer the potential to contribute to the implementation of training offerings of online courses at other Portuguese HEIs as well as abroad.

COVID-19 and Digitizing Accounting Education: Theory and Literature Review

This article critically analyzes previously published literature and discusses the lessons learned in detail. Learning gleaned from the theories has been used to create a conceptual framework. Using data from the published sources, a null hypothesis is developed to suit the current case. The results highlight the importance of digitalization in education in general and the accounting field in particular. This paper also reveals the impact of COVID-19 on education and addresses the main challenges faced by education and the accounting sector after the pandemic. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Online Managerial Accounting education during the COVID-19 pandemic: A case study from Poland.

The COVID-19 pandemic made the higher education providers give up traditional face-to-face education and change completely into distance learning. The primary objective of the study was to learn the opinions of the students majoring in Finance and Accounting at the Faculty of Management, UTP University of Science and Technology in Bydgoszcz on the Managerial Accounting (MA) course in computer laboratory taught in a form of e-learning with the use of spreadsheet. The study questions covered the effectiveness of online learning, its disadvantages and advantages, the evaluation of the skills acquired, the tutors' preparation and engagement, education quality enhancement in the second e-learning semester and suggestions in terms of the use of e-learning in post-pandemic time. The survey study involved 85 students out of all the 113 third-year B.A. students. The study results point to a very positive rating of the tutorials. More than 90% of the people consider the education method effectiveness very good or good. The results of the study are show that e-learning does not necessarily have to be less effective than traditional learning. This is yet another evidence of the advantage of an active learning over a passive learning approach.

Acceptance of e-learning applications by accounting students in an online learning environment at residential universities

Technology acceptance models have been used in the higher education context to understand students' acceptance of various learning technologies. Not only was the use of e-learning technologies heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the shift to predominantly online teaching and learning was abrupt. It has become clear that acceptance of e-learning technology will be crucial for higher education in a post-COVID-19 world. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the acceptance of e-learning applications by accounting students at residential universities in South Africa. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) was adapted for this study to examine the relevance of its constructs in understanding students' intent to use e-learning applications. Accounting students registered at four South African universities completed an electronic questionnaire (n = 1 864). Structural Equation Modelling using the Partial Least Squares method was used to test the hypothesised relationships. The findings indicate that performance expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, and habit have a significant relationship with behavioural intention to use e-learning applications. However, gender, academic performance, and level of study do not have a significant moderating effect on these relationships. The study reported in this paper contributes to technology acceptance research by testing the UTAUT2 model in a cross-institutional context with a larger sample size than used in similar studies. Furthermore, it has practical value for higher education policymakers, institutions, and lecturers in their attempts to adapt to blended and online learning models. © 2022 South African Journal of Accounting Research.

How accountants responded to the financial fallout owing to the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose: Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the last time a crisis affected businesses worldwide by putting economies into hibernation was in 1918 – the Great Influenza Pandemic. Environmental, social and governance frameworks require businesses to respond to such crises as it significantly changes the business environment. With approximately 2.84 million accountants existing across 130 countries, this study aims to determine whether the accounting profession responded to this crisis. As these responses can provide insights into the type of activities accountants performed during the lockdown, the authors analysed them for emerging themes and identified changes in the way that accountants performed tasks. Design/methodology/approach: Using search engines, the authors examined publicly available secondary sources such as websites of professional bodies, the Big Four and mid-tier accounting firms and government organisations using the keyword "COVID-19” to identify responses on issues faced by accountants during the 2020 lockdown period in New Zealand. The authors used interpretive text analysis to examine the responses for emerging themes. Findings: The accountants' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic emphasised information technology and soft skills but most importantly the interaction, integration and immersion of technical skills with information technology and soft skills. The findings also highlight changes in the way accountants performed their tasks. Originality/value: The study insights enable accounting academics to better understand the interconnection between hard and soft skills for incorporating it in syllabi, thereby preparing students for future roles. In addition, the study findings will assist both practitioners and researchers to explore the emerging changes in the way accountants perform their tasks. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Does students' commuting influence their academic performance?

Purpose: This study aimed to empirically assess the influence of commuting distance (duration) on accounting students' academic performance at one of the business colleges in Kuwait. Design/methodology/approach: A linear regression model (OLS), correlation and t-test analysis using a sample of 237 accounting students enrolled before and during the COVID-19 pandemic were used to test the study's hypotheses. Findings: The results indicate that there was a statistically significant association between accounting students' commuting distance and their academic performance before the pandemic, but not during the pandemic, which explains the significant influence of commuting distance on traditional classroom learning but not on remote learning. The study concludes by considering the implications of these findings and suggesting avenues for future academic research. Practical implications: This study makes a significant contribution to the existing knowledge in the area of students' performance by providing empirical evidence to the theoretical expectation of the influence of students' commuting distance on the academic performance of accounting students. Originality/value: The value of this study is that it significantly contributes to the existing accounting education literature by empirically supporting the theoretical expectation of the influence of commuting distance on accounting students' academic performance. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Teaching the concept of decision-usefulness, and accounting as a technical, social and moral practice: the case of COVID-19 "case number” reporting

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how teaching broader accounting concepts through real life non-financial case study information (such as COVID-19 case reporting) can assist students understanding accounting's technical, social and moral perspectives. Accounting education and practice has traditionally focussed on the technical aspects of accounting and has situated accounting within a financial context.Design/methodology/approachThis exploratory study uses content analysis of COVID-19 case and death numbers reported by several international health reporting agencies. This study does not set out to provide a detailed technical or comparative jurisdictional analysis of the decision-usefulness of COVID-19 information. Rather, this study looks at the "decision-usefulness” of the COVID-19 case and death number information, and provides examples that educators can draw upon for inspiration when showing how the qualitative characteristics of decision-useful information can be applied to non-financial information. This study also highlights, by use of a "novel data set”, the technical, social and moral aspects of accounting.FindingsThis study finds that the COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity for accounting education by positioning the qualitative characteristics of decision-useful information beyond a financial context. The exploration of accounting within this setting effectively demonstrates that accounting has "technical”, "social” and "moral” dimensions.Originality/valueThis paper fulfils an identified need to include teaching of decision-usefulness of non-financial information in the accounting curriculum to ensure that future professional accountants possess technical and professional competency skills.

Responding to crises: rewilding accounting education for the Anthropocene

PurposeResponding to COVID-19, this conceptual paper uses rewilding to interrupt anthropocentric and human/nature dualist properties of accounting education. Through rewilding accounting education, informed by posthumanist and ecofeminist thought, this paper aims to develop an accounting pedagogy that shapes greater ecocentric narratives. Accounting educators can contribute to addressing crises by evolving new pedagogies that radically transform the education of future accounting professionals.Design/methodology/approachThe authors take a critical stance in analysing the human-centred accounting education model. They explore how this model can be reimagined through rewilding accounting education, resulting in learning interventions that foster an understanding of intrinsic value, complexity of systems and collective disposition with all species and the natural world.FindingsRewilding learning interventions embed an ecocentric approach in accounting curricula design to extend beyond a human focus. Rewilding learning interventions practically explored with application to accounting include learning with and from nature, Indigenous knowledge perspectives, play as a common language and empathy as a dialogical bridge.Social implicationsThe authors present an accounting pedagogy that fosters among accounting students and educators a relational orientation and ecological consciousness that encompasses compassion and openness to others, including non-human species and nature. This will ensure that accounting graduates are better prepared for addressing future crises that stem from our disconnect with nature.Originality/valueThis paper adds to limited research investigating accounting and the Anthropocene. Investigations into the Anthropocene's human-centred discourse in accounting education are vital to respond adequately to crises. This paper extends social and environmental accounting education literature to encompass less anthropocentric discourse and greater relational learning.

Uzaktan Eğitimde Öğrencilere Sunulan Olanakların, Uzaktan Muhasebe Eğitiminde Zorluk ve Fayda Algılamasına Etkisi

Bu araştırmada, Covid-19 döneminde öğrencilerin uzaktan eğitimde derslerin işlenme yöntemlerine yönelik bakış açıları ve uzaktan eğitim olanaklarının, uzaktan muhasebe eğitimine yönelik zorluk algılamasına ve fayda algılamasına olan etkisi araştırılmıştır. Ayrıca uzaktan eğitimin zorluk ile fayda algılaması arasındaki iki yönlü ilişkiler ve öğrencilerin demografik özelliklerine göre uzaktan eğitime yönelik algılamalarındaki farklılıklar araştırılmıştır. Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi'nde 2020-2021 eğitim- öğretim yılı güz dönemi sonu itibariyle uzaktan eğitim sürecinde en az bir muhasebe dersi almış öğrencilere anket uygulanmıştır. 459 öğrenciden geri dönüş alınmıştır. Elde edilen veriler, keşfedici faktör analizi ve yapısal eşitlik modeli ile analiz edilmiştir. Sonuçlara göre, öğrencilerin uzaktan eğitime yönelik olanak algılamaları artarken, muhasebe eğitiminde uzaktan eğitimin zorluğuna yönelik algılamaları azalmakta, muhasebe eğitiminde uzaktan eğitimin faydalarına yönelik algılamaları artmaktadır. Öğrencilerde uzaktan eğitime yönelik olanak algılamaları;muhasebe eğitiminde uzaktan eğitimin zorluk algılamaları üzerinden fayda algısında ve muhasebe eğitiminde uzaktan eğitimin fayda algılamaları üzerinden zorluk algısında dolaylı etkiye sahiptir. Erkek öğrencilerin muhasebe eğitiminde uzaktan eğitimin fayda algılaması kadın öğrencilere göre daha yüksektir.Alternate :This study aimed to investigate students' attitudes on the teaching methods of distance education courses and the effect of distance education opportunities on perception of distance accounting education difficulty and benefit during the pandemic (Covid-19) process. Furthermore, the two-way relations between the perception of difficulty and benefit of distance education and the differences in students' perceptions of distance education according to their demographic characteristics were investigated. A survey was applied to students who have taken at least one accounting course in the distance education process in the various departments in Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University in 2020-2021 Academic Year Fall Semester. Feedback of 459 students was received. The obtained data were analyzed with exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The results showed that students' perceptions of the difficulty of distance education in accounting education decreased, and their perceptions of the benefits of distance education in accounting education increased with their increase of perceptions of distance education. Students' perceptions of opportunity for distance education;in accounting education, it has an indirect effect between the perception of benefit through the perception of difficulty and the perception of difficulty through the perception of benefit of distance education in accounting education. Male students' perception of the benefits of distance education in accounting education is higher than female students.

Assessing the factors that affected the development of cloud-based accounting education and students' academic performance in Oman

Purpose: This study aims to assesses the factors that affected the development of cloud-based accounting education (DCBAE) and students' academic performance at Oman Universities. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper a questionnaire was used to collect data for a sample of students. Partial least squares (PLS) were used to assess the hypotheses and model. Findings: Results indicate that human factors and cultural and social factors have a direct positive effect on the DCBAE and students' academic performance. Practical implications: This study is carried out after five semesters since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, it can help universities (accounting education in particular) in the Sultanate of Oman know the factors that affect the development of accounting education and adopt policies and strategies that depend on cloud computing in education operations, even after the COVID-19 pandemic. Originality/value: The main contribution of this study is to evaluate the factors that affected the DCBAE and the academic performance of students in the Sultanate of Oman from March 15, 2020 to June 2022, a period that witnessed the application of cloud-based education, either in whole or in part using a questionnaire about the opinions of students. © 2022, Omar Ikbal Tawfik and Hamada Elsaid Elmaasrawy.

Digitizing accounting education trends during COVID-19: empirical evidence from Vietnamese universities

Purpose: The study mainly aims to evaluate factors that impact online accounting education in Vietnamese universities during COVID-19. Design/methodology/approach: The study is exploratively conducted with a quantitative sample using purposive data-collecting techniques. The sample focused on teaching staff and students at public and private universities in Vietnam during COVID-19. Findings: The study shows that infrastructure, working/living conditions during COVID-19 and lecturing time are the top three factors impacting online digitizing accounting education. Research limitations/implications: This research is not without limitations. The limitations are limited time and resources, which did not allow for examining other factors that impact digitizing education in accounting. The forthcoming study should examine extended factors (not mentioned in the study) such as government sponsorship, lecturers’ soft skills, national culture, qualifications and so on. Originality/value: This study identifies and states significant factors that impact online digitizing accounting education in Vietnamese higher education during COVID-19. © 2022, Hung Ngoc Tran.

Acceptance of e-learning applications by accounting students in an online learning environment at residential universities

Technology acceptance models have been used in the higher education context to understand students’ acceptance of various learning technologies. Not only was the use of e-learning technologies heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the shift to predominantly online teaching and learning was abrupt. It has become clear that acceptance of e-learning technology will be crucial for higher education in a post-COVID-19 world. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the acceptance of e-learning applications by accounting students at residential universities in South Africa. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) was adapted for this study to examine the relevance of its constructs in understanding students’ intent to use e-learning applications. Accounting students registered at four South African universities completed an electronic questionnaire (n = 1 864). Structural Equation Modelling using the Partial Least Squares method was used to test the hypothesised relationships. The findings indicate that performance expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, and habit have a significant relationship with behavioural intention to use e-learning applications. However, gender, academic performance, and level of study do not have a significant moderating effect on these relationships. The study reported in this paper contributes to technology acceptance research by testing the UTAUT2 model in a cross-institutional context with a larger sample size than used in similar studies. Furthermore, it has practical value for higher education policymakers, institutions, and lecturers in their attempts to adapt to blended and online learning models. © 2022 South African Journal of Accounting Research.

Zoom Application Acceptance in Online Learning: An Analysis with the Technology Acceptance Model

This research aims to investigate the effect of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness online learning using Zoom Cloud Meetings on student satisfaction and acceptance intention in the lecture process of accounting core courses as the impact of Covid-19 pandemic. Based on Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), there are two main constructs as independent variables which are perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. An online questionnaire was utilised to gather data from accounting students of one of the private universities in Jakarta, Indonesia. Data from 171 accounting students were analysed using the SEM-PLS method. The findings reveal that as follows: First, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness effect significantly on student satisfaction. Second, student satisfaction effect significantly on acceptance intention. Third, perceived ease and perceived usefulness effect significantly on acceptance intention with student satisfaction as the mediation variable in the relationship. However, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness do not affect significantly on acceptance intention. © 2022 by the authors.

How accountants responded to the financial fallout owing to the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the last time a crisis affected businesses worldwide by putting economies into hibernation was in 1918 - the Great Influenza Pandemic. Environmental, social and governance frameworks require businesses to respond to such crises as it significantly changes the business environment. With approximately 2.84 million accountants existing across 130 countries, this study aims to determine whether the accounting profession responded to this crisis. As these responses can provide insights into the type of activities accountants performed during the lockdown, the authors analysed them for emerging themes and identified changes in the way that accountants performed tasks. Design/methodology/approach Using search engines, the authors examined publicly available secondary sources such as websites of professional bodies, the Big Four and mid-tier accounting firms and government organisations using the keyword "COVID-19" to identify responses on issues faced by accountants during the 2020 lockdown period in New Zealand. The authors used interpretive text analysis to examine the responses for emerging themes. Findings The accountants' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic emphasised information technology and soft skills but most importantly the interaction, integration and immersion of technical skills with information technology and soft skills. The findings also highlight changes in the way accountants performed their tasks. Originality/value The study insights enable accounting academics to better understand the interconnection between hard and soft skills for incorporating it in syllabi, thereby preparing students for future roles. In addition, the study findings will assist both practitioners and researchers to explore the emerging changes in the way accountants perform their tasks.

Teaching the concept of decision-usefulness, and accounting as a technical, social and moral practice: the case of COVID-19 "case number" reporting

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how teaching broader accounting concepts through real life non-financial case study information (such as COVID-19 case reporting) can assist students understanding accounting's technical, social and moral perspectives. Accounting education and practice has traditionally focussed on the technical aspects of accounting and has situated accounting within a financial context. Design/methodology/approach This exploratory study uses content analysis of COVID-19 case and death numbers reported by several international health reporting agencies. This study does not set out to provide a detailed technical or comparative jurisdictional analysis of the decision-usefulness of COVID-19 information. Rather, this study looks at the "decision-usefulness" of the COVID-19 case and death number information, and provides examples that educators can draw upon for inspiration when showing how the qualitative characteristics of decision-useful information can be applied to non-financial information. This study also highlights, by use of a "novel data set", the technical, social and moral aspects of accounting. Findings This study finds that the COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity for accounting education by positioning the qualitative characteristics of decision-useful information beyond a financial context. The exploration of accounting within this setting effectively demonstrates that accounting has "technical", "social" and "moral" dimensions. Originality/value This paper fulfils an identified need to include teaching of decision-usefulness of non-financial information in the accounting curriculum to ensure that future professional accountants possess technical and professional competency skills.

PACE-IT: designing blended learning for accounting education in the challenging context of a global pandemic

This paper describes the design of a blended learning intervention to enhance the student learning experience, incorporating innovative technologies and pedagogies within introductory accounting. The design-based research (DBR) methodology involved 68 learners in the participatory design of the intervention across three design iterations. Emerging from the design process, a framework informed by the key themes of Pedagogy, Autonomy, Collaboration, Engagement, Interaction and Technology (PACE-IT) was conceptualised, tested and developed. This study presents the PACE-IT model which offers guidelines to practitioners who seek to design blended learning to provide students with a rich and meaningful learning experience. The emergence of COVID-19 underscores the relevance of these findings. PACE-IT provides direction to accounting educators working within an unfamiliar educational context, today and in the future, where there is an imperative to develop new approaches to accounting education that combine face-to-face with online interaction and learning. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

COVID-19 and education: insights into the impact of E-learning on accounting education: evidence from Jordan

Purpose This study aims to reveal the impact of e-learning on accounting education amid COVID-19 in Jordanian universities from the viewpoint of faculty members. Design/methodology/approach The questionnaire is used as a study instrument distributed to faculty members at the Accounting Departments of the Jordanian public and private universities. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Google Forms has been used to distribute 117 questionnaires that have been analyzed via the partial least squares-smart program. Findings The results show a negative impact of learning difficulties on accounting education, a negative impact on the personal skills of faculty members on the digitization of accounting education, no impact on the personal skills of faculty members, a positive impact on training courses, the use of technology on accounting education and the digitization of accounting education, as well as a positive impact on the skills of faculty members on the digitization of accounting education. Research limitations/implications These results are significant in determining the adequacy of online learning for accounting education at the Accounting Departments of Jordanian public and private universities from the viewpoint of faculty members amid COVID-19. Originality/value This study highlights the impact of the e-learning system imposed amid COVID-19 on accounting education, teaching efficiency and the future of accounting education.

From unrequited love to sleeping with the enemy: COVID-19 and the future relationship between UK universities and professional accounting bodies

Purpose>This paper aims to examine the effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the relationship between UK universities and professional accounting bodies (PABs) in the context of the accreditation system and how well prepared this relationship was to observe and respond to the pandemic.Design/methodology/approach>The research draws on 10 semi-structured interviews and correspondence, with six English universities in the context of their relationship with three PABs to build an extended analytical structure to understand the nature and extent of the accreditation system in light of COVID-19.Findings>The study shows that COVID-19 has highlighted pedagogical and ideological conflicts within the PAB–university relationship. The analysis shows that, in an attempt to resolve these conflicts, universities demonstrate “unrequited love” for PABs by limiting changes to assessments to meet the PABs’ criteria. Indeed, PABs face very little resistance from universities. This further constrains academics by suppressing innovation and limiting their scope to learn and adopt new skills, habits and teaching styles.Originality/value>The paper highlights the weakness of the PAB–university relationship. Moreover, it shows that rather than using the pandemic crisis to question this relationship, PABs may seek to promote their accounting pedagogy and retain greater control of the accounting curriculum. This can entail the transformation of academics into translators of PABs’ accounting pedagogy rather than exercising academic freedom and promoting critical thinking.