Quality in senior high school accounting education in Ghana

The issue of quality in the educational enterprise is of paramount interest to all stakeholders in education. Stakeholders in accounting education expend money, effort, time and other scarce resources that have alternative uses. However, once they have chosen accounting education over other competitive choices, there is need for them to get the satisfaction desired. This is the essence of assessing the quality in senior high school accounting education in Ghana to enable the stakeholders evaluate the investments they have made to guide future decisions and actions. The study was a descriptive survey that drew from both quantitative and qualitative methods of research. This involved the use of questionnaire, observation, vignette and documentary analysis. Only 159 accounting teachers and 2242 accounting students in public senior high schools offering accounting education in Ghana were involved in the study. These participants were drawn from Brong Ahafo, Northern, and Western Regions which were randomly selected from each of the three zones as in Southern (Central, Greater Accra, Volta and Western Regions), Middle (Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Eastern Regions) and Northern (Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions). Descriptive and inferential statistics, content analysis, narratives and themes were used to analyse the resulting data. The study found among other things that the quality in senior high school accounting education was poor. It was accordingly recommended that accounting teachers inspire enthusiasm in the delivery of cost accounting lessons. On their part, accounting students should disabuse their minds and erase the erroneous mentality that cost accounting is not interesting. School authorities should acknowledge and make provisions for continuous professional development to capacitate accounting teachers to holistically implement the entire curriculum to avoid the selective implementation. They should as well strengthen instructional monitoring and supervisions should be encouraged and strengthened. Other research should focus attention on extensive studies on the teaching and learning resources for accounting lessons delivery.Curriculum and Instructional StudiesD. Ed. (Curriculum Studies

CONCERNS OF ACCOUNTING TEACHERS IN IMPLEMENTING GHANA’S 2007 EDUCATION REFORM: REVISITED

The purpose of the study was to find out whether time has improved the concerns of accounting teachers in the implementation of the senior high school accounting curriculum since the works of Ankomah and Author (2010a) and Author (2009) some 6 years ago. It was a replication of these two studies which drew from the recommendations made by the authors to follow up on their earlier studies. The study drew 159 senior high school accounting teachers from 3 of the 10 administrative regions in Ghana. The 159 participating accounting teachers were surveyed with the Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ). Only practicing senior high school accounting teachers were recruited to respond to the SoCQ. The study found that the senior high school accounting teachers were mainly non-users of the accounting curriculum. They had both the primary and secondary concerns at the awareness and informational stages respectively. For that matter, they were not very much involved in the delivery of the curriculum

Accounting Teachers’ Quality of Use of Pre-Tertiary Accounting Curriculum in Ghana’s Secondary Schools

The purpose of this study was to gauge the quality of use of pre-tertiary Accounting curriculum in Ghana’s secondary schools using Concerns-Based Adoption Model Level of Use as a proxy. Using an equivalent status sequential mixed methods design, 155 out of a population of 402 senior high school accounting teachers were selected at random to participate in the study. Both Levels of Use Questionnaire and Interview Guides were used to collect data. All the teachers responded to the questionnaire. Out of the 155, only 30 of them were selected on purpose to participate in the interview. Data was analysed with help of frequencies, percentages, and themes. The study found that even though most teachers implemented the accounting curriculum sustainably, others’ use of the curriculum was mediocre. The quality of use of the curriculum was shaped by teachers’ perceived relevance of the curriculum, level of difficulty of topics, availability of teaching aids, interest of the teacher, availability of curriculum materials, and freedom offered teachers to implement the curriculum

Benchmarking accounting curricula of selected universities in Africa with global standards

AbstractThis study employed a concurrent embedded design to compare the accounting curricula of selected universities in Africa, America, Asia, and Europe, guided by International Education Standards (IES) 2, 3, 4, and 5. Fourteen universities from different continents were conveniently selected, and a descriptive content analysis was conducted to analyse the undergraduate accounting program contents. The findings reveal that the accounting education in selected African universities aligns with IES 2, 3, 4 and other universities, countering claims of inferiority. However, the universities’ curricula in Africa lack practical job-related competencies (IES 5) due to limited opportunities for experiential learning. Disparities exist in the emphasis on IES competencies, potentially leading to imbalanced development among graduates. African universities prioritise employment-oriented education, while those in America, Asia, and Europe emphasise professional progression. Recommendations include enhancing ethics and professional values, allocating more curriculum space for ethical behaviour promotion, and creating room for practical skills acquisition to facilitate students’ application of learned concepts and facilitate potential remediation

Students’ Evaluation of the B.Ed. Accounting Programme in the University of Cape Coast: Students’ Evaluation of the B.Ed. Accounting Programme in the University of Cape Coast

The thrust of this study was to assess students’ perceptions of the Bachelor of Education (Accounting) programme at the University of Cape Coast. The study adopted the descriptive survey design in which data were collected within the overarching framework of the Context Input Process Product evaluation model. A sample size of 349 Bachelor of Education (Accounting) students participated in the study. Multi-stage sampling, employing stratified sampling, proportionate random sampling and simple random techniques, was used in selecting the respondents for the study. Descriptive statistics (means and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Mann-Whitney U-test and Kruskal-Wallis test) were used to analyse the research questions / hypotheses. The study found that students perceived the Bachelor of Education (Accounting) programme to be satisfactory to the context rubric of the CIPP model. However, it was found that the programme was not satisfactory with respect to the input rubric of the CIPP model. It was also revealed that students were satisfied with the process rubric of the programme. The study recommended that the programme designers should include courses that will expose students to the use of current accounting software used in Ghana such as Tally Accounting, and the Head of the Department should ensure that departmental library resources and facilities, current journals in Accounting for the use of both students and lecturers, and teaching and learning materials are adequately available and in right conditions

Adaptation of the Wound Healing Questionnaire universal-reporter outcome measure for use in global surgery trials (TALON-1 study): mixed-methods study and Rasch analysis

BackgroundThe Bluebelle Wound Healing Questionnaire (WHQ) is a universal-reporter outcome measure developed in the UK for remote detection of surgical-site infection after abdominal surgery. This study aimed to explore cross-cultural equivalence, acceptability, and content validity of the WHQ for use across low- and middle-income countries, and to make recommendations for its adaptation.MethodsThis was a mixed-methods study within a trial (SWAT) embedded in an international randomized trial, conducted according to best practice guidelines, and co-produced with community and patient partners (TALON-1). Structured interviews and focus groups were used to gather data regarding cross-cultural, cross-contextual equivalence of the individual items and scale, and conduct a translatability assessment. Translation was completed into five languages in accordance with Mapi recommendations. Next, data from a prospective cohort (SWAT) were interpreted using Rasch analysis to explore scaling and measurement properties of the WHQ. Finally, qualitative and quantitative data were triangulated using a modified, exploratory, instrumental design model.ResultsIn the qualitative phase, 10 structured interviews and six focus groups took place with a total of 47 investigators across six countries. Themes related to comprehension, response mapping, retrieval, and judgement were identified with rich cross-cultural insights. In the quantitative phase, an exploratory Rasch model was fitted to data from 537 patients (369 excluding extremes). Owing to the number of extreme (floor) values, the overall level of power was low. The single WHQ scale satisfied tests of unidimensionality, indicating validity of the ordinal total WHQ score. There was significant overall model misfit of five items (5, 9, 14, 15, 16) and local dependency in 11 item pairs. The person separation index was estimated as 0.48 suggesting weak discrimination between classes, whereas Cronbach's α was high at 0.86. Triangulation of qualitative data with the Rasch analysis supported recommendations for cross-cultural adaptation of the WHQ items 1 (redness), 3 (clear fluid), 7 (deep wound opening), 10 (pain), 11 (fever), 15 (antibiotics), 16 (debridement), 18 (drainage), and 19 (reoperation). Changes to three item response categories (1, not at all; 2, a little; 3, a lot) were adopted for symptom items 1 to 10, and two categories (0, no; 1, yes) for item 11 (fever).ConclusionThis study made recommendations for cross-cultural adaptation of the WHQ for use in global surgical research and practice, using co-produced mixed-methods data from three continents. Translations are now available for implementation into remote wound assessment pathways