Encouraging better learning through better teaching: a study of approaches to teaching in accounting

The study reported in this paper investigates aspects of the teaching experience of academics teaching accounting at Australian universities. Twenty-four academics were interviewed about their conceptions of teaching, their students' learning and their teaching approach in relation to the accounting classes they were currently teaching. Four qualitatively different ways of conceptualising teaching and five for learning and teaching approach were identified within the data. Broadly, these are interpreted as falling under one of two orientations—teacher-centred/content and a student-centred/learning orientation. The key differences identified between them relate to whether teaching in the discipline is viewed primarily as a matter of transmitting facts and procedures or of encouraging students to develop their own accounting concepts and perhaps to even change their world view in the process. The results are discussed in relation to some of the practical realities of day-to-day teaching and to possible future avenues for research.