An analysis of the elements of difficulty in an introductory accounting course.

摘要

Many students, both accounting and non-accounting majors, find accounting courses difficult. The aim of this exploratory research is to identify reasons for difficulty in an introductory accounting course by analyzing student responses to multiple-choice summative exam questions.;This study contains regression analysis of the association between the percent of students who answered a summative item correctly and the three categories of item difficulty. Item difficulty can be determined by the assessment of the cognitive demand of the test item, the format of the test item, and an evaluation of the subject matter knowledge required by the test item. While prior research has identified determinants of difficulty associated with the cognitive demand and format of the test item, presently there are no determinants of difficulty identified in relationship to subject matter content in an introductory accounting course.;Difficult introductory accounting content is assessed by analyzing student responses to summative exam questions, comparison of student responses to summative exam questions clustered both by subject matter, and verbal protocol analysis of two students solving introductory accounting summative exam questions. This study develops and tests a comprehensive model that incorporates factors proposed by previous researchers to affect multiple-choice item difficulty in an introductory accounting course.;The results of this research study identify four variables which negatively affect introductory accounting test item difficulty. The need to memorize new terms specific to introductory accounting, whether a diagram can be used to solve the problem, whether the student is required to identify a portion of an adjusting journal entry, and whether the student is required to translate accounting information from accrual to cash basis are significant predictors of test item difficulty.;Methodological contributions include use of a content difficulty score in data analysis. Conceptual contributions include a better understanding of difficulty in an introductory accounting course. This understanding may lead to more effective ways in which accounting professors identify and develop methods which will both increase student understanding and possibly decrease information absorption time of these more difficult areas. Methods could include increased attention to and/or subsequent pedagogical adjustments to the content areas identified as difficult.