A Conceptual Framework for Accounting Education Research

There has been substantial research into different aspects of teaching accounting at the undergraduate level. However, a substantial part of the research has focussed on only one part of the process, the understanding of students. The findings of the research have improved our knowledge of the student’s learning issues but have done little to illuminate the connections in the entire educational process, including such factors as lecturing styles and the quality of printed materials. This paper explains communication theory and reviews the research that has been conducted into various aspects of that theory. A conceptual framework is constructed that identifies and incorporates all the different aspects and identifies the importance of their relationships. The paper is completed with a proposal for further research based on the conceptual framework . course in a New Zealand University. The results show that three factors (personal, referents, and control) are determinants of students‟ intention to major in accounting or other business disciplines. Further analysis revealed that the students‟ major intentions are influenced by important referents‟ perceptions. In particular, parents appear to have a strong influence on students‟ intentions to major in accounting. Comparisons of differential personal perceptions by accounting and non-accounting majors revealed that accounting majors hold positive perceptions of some of the qualities of the study of accounting and the accounting profession.