08832323.2014.915206
Journal of Education for Business
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
Does Participation in a Computer-Based Learning
Program in Introductory Financial Accounting
Course Lead to Choosing Accounting as a Major?
Vincent Owhoso, Charles A. Malgwi & Margaret Akpomi
To cite this article: Vincent Owhoso, Charles A. Malgwi & Margaret Akpomi (2014) Does
Participation in a Computer-Based Learning Program in Introductory Financial Accounting
Course Lead to Choosing Accounting as a Major?, Journal of Education for Business, 89:7,
367-372, DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2014.915206
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08832323.2014.915206
Published online: 29 Sep 2014.
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Date: 11 January 2016, At: 20:46
JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR BUSINESS, 89: 367–372, 2014
Copyright Ó Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 0883-2323 print / 1940-3356 online
DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2014.915206
Does Participation in a Computer-Based Learning
Program in Introductory Financial Accounting
Course Lead to Choosing Accounting as a Major?
Vincent Owhoso
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 20:46 11 January 2016
Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, Kentucky, USA
Charles A. Malgwi
Bentley University, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA
Margaret Akpomi
River State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
The authors examine whether students who completed a computer-based intervention
program, designed to help them develop abilities and skills in introductory accounting, later
declared accounting as a major. A sample of 1,341 students participated in the study, of
which 74 completed the intervention program (computer-based assisted learning [CBAL]) and
the rest did not (no computer-based assisted learning [NoCBAL]). The proportion of students
who enrolled in an intermediate course and their mean grade point average, and the
proportion that declared accounting as a major, were compared. The results show that a larger
proportion of CBAL students declared accounting as a major compared to NoCBAL students.
Keywords: accounting major, computer assisted learning, minority accountants, supplemental
instruction, teaching delivery method
Accounting enrollments at universities and four-year colleges are increasing in the United States (American Institute
of Certified Public Accountants [AICPA], 2011). However,
the same cannot be said of minority enrollment in accounting programs at these institutions. This is because minority
enrollment in accounting programs has been declining, in
spite of the substantial effort by the AICPA and other professional bodies to diversify the accounting profession
(AICPA, 2011). The overall enrollment in accounting programs at universities and four-year colleges in the United
States increased 6% between 2007 and 2010; however,
minorities’ enrollment in accounting programs has declined
over the past decade.
The decline in minority enrollment in accounting programs appears to have also translated into low minority
representation in the accounting profession. Minorities
Correspondence should be addressed to Vincent Owhoso, Northern
Kentucky University, Department of Accounting, Finance, and Business
Law, BC 389 Nunn Dr., Highland Heights, KY 41099, USA. E-mail:
owhosov1@nku.edu
make up only 17% of CPAs at professional accounting firms
(Green & Khanna, 2011). As a result, the workforce of
tomorrow may not be representative of the marketplace
(Hammond & Paige, 1999). The clients in the marketplace
consist of members from different ethnicities and backgrounds, and they are demanding a diverse workforce to
cater for their needs. With minorities making up 25% of the
U.S. population, the workforce in public accounting might
not be diversified enough to meet the needs of the multiracial and multiethnic client base (Hammond & Paige 1999).1
As public accounting firms are looking to enhance staff
diversity in their organizations and ways to respond to clients’ expectations, any educational efforts designed to assist
students to become accounting major should be of interest
to educators, college business deans, and practitioners.
The AICPA has been responding to the decline in minority enrollment in accounting programs for decades by setting
aside funds to encourage minority enrollment in accounting.
For example, the AICPA recently granted multimillion dollar endowment funds to universities to use as scholarships to
eligible minority accounting students. Similarly, the National
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 20:46 11 January 2016
368
V. OWHOSO ET AL.
Association of Black Accountants (NABA) has designed a
career development program, known as Accounting Career
Awareness Program (ACAP), which allows minority students in high schools to participate in an all expense-paid
summer residency program and explore careers in accounting and business.2 Together, these efforts by the AICPA and
NABA have not translated into higher minority enrollment
in accounting programs. Could it be that additional educational learning programs are needed to encourage minority
students to consider accounting as a major?
Given that introductory accounting courses are part of
the core requirements in business schools and they serve as
prerequisites to core business courses, students planning to
major in accounting must first successfully complete these
courses. Introductory accounting courses are also regarded
as high-risk courses characterized by a high failure and
withdrawal rates (Etter, Burmeister, & Elder, 2000; Widmar, 1994).3 The good news is that educational learning
models such as tutoring (Merrill, Reiser, and Ranney,
1992), supplemental instruction (Jones & Fields, 2001), and
computer-based assisted learning (Malgwi, Owhoso, Brown,
& Avery, 2010) exist as pedagogical vehicles through
which students can obtain help and complete introductory
accounting courses successfully.4 Overall, the evidence suggests that these learning models are effective in improving
students’ performance and in reducing attrition rates (Geiger
& Ogilby, 2000; Jones & Fields, 2001; Malgwi et al.,
2010). However, these learning models may not be widely
available to students at many colleges of business.
The purpose of this study is to examine whether
students’ participation in a computer-based assisted learning program (CBAL) in introductory accounting course
was a catalyst for students seeking a major in accounting.
The second purpose of this study is to examine whether students who participated in the assisted-learning program and
who completed intermediate accounting course had equal
or better grade point averages (GPAs) than their counterparts who did not participate in the program. There was no
additional help offered to the students taking the intermediate course beyond the intervention program in the first
introductory course. The next section presents the background literature and the development of hypotheses. This
is followed by the methods and the results sections. The
final section then presents the summary and implications.
BACKGROUND LITERATURE
AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT
The success in providing additional tutorials or out of class
instructions to students to help them master the course content has been well documented in the literature (see Etter
et al., 2001; Jones & Fields, 2001; Malgwi et al., 2010).
The underlying theme across these studies is that participating students are able to relate one cue to another, integrate
information that coheres with the learner’s prior knowledge
and experiences, comprehend, retrieve, and recall what was
learned more effectively (Gensbacher, 1997; Gick & Holyoak, 1980). In the present study we examined the CBAL
model and its participants who later enrolled in intermediate accounting course.
CBAL Model
The CBAL program was an integrated hands-on, online computer-based tutoring program in which students learned basic
accounting concepts while receiving help from professional
accountants from the NABA and other accounting firms. The
program, selection of students, and implementation are fully
described in Malgwi et al. (2010). The CBAL program was
conducted in an accounting lab that was supervised by a fulltime accounting professor at a university in the northeast
region of the United States. The lab was a state-of-the-art
classroom that could hold 35 students. A typical CBAL session consisted of a dyad group of students having hands-on
and one-on-one problem solving exercises using a preselected accounting software package and textbook.
Linking CBAL Participation to Choosing
Accounting as a Major
The linkage between a successful completion of the introductory accounting courses with the help provided by the
CBAL program and declaring a major in accounting can be
made. Through the benefits of the CBAL program, a student can develop and build mental structure for the accounting concepts being presented.
If a student entered a transaction into the computer system during the CBAL session, the student would immediately see the outcome of the transaction displayed on the
terminal. This showed the students how the outcomes of
the transaction were distributed to the various parts of the
financial statements. If a student needed further explanations about any aspect of the transaction, a lab assistant
would provide the necessary assistance and feedback. As
the students’ understanding of the accounting concepts
increased, their midterm grades would also increase, and
this could persuade the students that they could succeed in
any accounting course. Further, the presence of the NABA
members as lab assistants could provide the students with
additional source of confidence and belief that they too can
become accountants.
Ultimately, a high semester course grade received in the
introductory accounting course can be a catalyst for students to enroll in an upper level accounting course or to
seek a major in accounting by those who might not ordinarily do so. Malgwi et al. (2010) reported that the mean GPA
in the first introductory accounting course for CBAL program participants was statistically higher than that of NoCBAL participants (2.79 vs. 2.54). As the CBAL participants
DOES PARTICIPATION IN A CBAL LEAD TO AN ACCOUNTING MAJOR?
saw greater improvements in their course GPA, they may
believe that they had mastered the accounting concepts to
succeed in other accounting courses. Whether motivated or
not, students aspiring to major in accounting would enroll
in intermediate accounting courses. Therefore, CBAL participants are not expected to enroll in intermediate accounting course at a greater number than the NoCBAL students.
Based on this expectation, the following alternate hypothesis was tested:
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Hypothesis 1 (H1): The proportion of CBAL participants
who enrolled in intermediate accounting course would
not be significantly different from that of NoCBAL
participants.
If the CBAL students master the accounting concepts
from the CBAL program, does the knowledge gained from
the program last long enough for them to successfully complete the intermediate accounting course at the same or better GPAs as the NoCBAL students? Although the
intermediate accounting course is a little more advanced
than the introductory accounting course, the content of the
two courses are similar in many respects. It is possible that
the CBAL participants would apply their knowledge of
accounting concepts to complete the intermediate accounting course successfully, as the NoCBAL participants, even
though no additional intervention program was offered during the intermediate course. Based on these expectations
the following hypothesis was tested:
H2: There would be no significant difference in the overall
GPA of CBAL and NoCBAL participants who enrolled
in the intermediate accounting course.
The students’ academic profile, prior to completing the
CBAL program, indicates that many of them were just
looking for ways to just pass the introductory accounting
course and move on. After successfully completing the first
introductory accounting course with a good grade through
the help of the intervention program, the CBAL students
may be more motivated to seek a major in accounting by
enrolling in the intermediate course. Given this expectation,
the following hypothesis was tested.
369
study. Out of this number, 74 students participated in the
CBAL program and 1,267 students did not (NoCBAL).
Both groups enrolled in the same sections of the introductory accounting course that participated in the CBAL program. Fifty-two (70%) of the 74 CBAL participants were
minority students while 22 (30%) were majority students.
A review of the students’ profile indicates that they were
at-risk students because they anticipated difficulty in completing the first introductory accounting course successfully, they perceived themselves to be weaker in
quantitative course materials, and they had lower scholastic
aptitude scores than the NoCBAL students as measured by
their performance in the SAT test scores. The institutional
research office at the participating university provided the
detailed enrollment and grade data used in this study.5
Dependent Variable
The dependent variables reported in this study are (a) the
proportion of CBAL and NoCBAL participants who
enrolled in intermediate accounting course, (b) the GPA
received in intermediate accounting course, and (c) the proportion of CBAL and NoCBAL participants who declared
accounting as a major.
Independent Variables
Three independent variables were examined: enrollment
status, program status, and major. Enrollment status
describes the participants’ enrollment in intermediate
accounting course, and it is manipulated at two levels: yes
(enrolled) and no (not enrolled). Program status describes
the participants’ prior participation in the intervention program, and it is manipulated at two levels: CBAL and NoCBAL. Major is manipulated at two levels: participants who
declared accounting as a major and those who did not.
Data Analyses
The analysis was conducted by constructing a 2 £ 2 factor
model of program status and major. The Pearson chi square
test of independence, the Mantel-Haenszel chi square, and
the generalized linear model tests were employed as the statistical tests of interest.
H3: The proportion of CBAL participants choosing
accounting as a major would be higher than that of
NoCBAL participants.
RESULTS
Descriptive Statistics
METHODOLOGY
Participants and Data
The present study shares some data with Malgwi et al.
(2010). A sample of 1,341 students participated in the
Table 1 presents the descriptive statistics for enrollment
status, program status, mean GPA, and major. The results
show that the proportion of CBAL participants who
enrolled in the intermediate accounting course is higher
than the proportion of NoCBAL participants. The mean
370
V. OWHOSO ET AL.
TABLE 1
Descriptive Statistics for CBAL Versus NoCBAL Groups: Means for
CBAL and NoCBAL Groups by Enrollment Status and Major
Intermediate enrollment
Yes
No
Status
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 20:46 11 January 2016
NoCBAL
CBAL
Major in accounting
Yes
No
Source
n
%
n
%
n
%
n
%
162
9
12.79
12.16
1,105
65
87.21
87.84
135
9
83.33
100.00
27
0
16.27
0.00
GPA of the CBAL participants in the intermediate course is
less than that of the NoCBAL participants. In addition, the
proportion of CBAL participants who declared accounting
as a major is larger than the proportion of NoCBAL
participants.
Enrollment Status in Intermediate Accounting
H1 predicts that the proportion of CBAL participants who
enrolled in intermediate accounting course would not be
significantly different from that of the NoCBAL participants. To test H1, a Chi square test was performed. The test
was not significant, x2 (1, N D 171) D 0.025, p > .878, consistent with expectation. As shown in Tables 1 and 2, the
proportions of the enrollment are 12.16% and 12.79% for
CBAL and NoCBAL, respectively. The enrollment rate for
CBAL and NoCBAL participants does not differ
significantly.
Mean GPA in Intermediate Accounting
H2 predicts that the mean overall GPA in the intermediate
accounting course for the CBAL and NOCBAL participants
would not differ. Although CBAL participants previously
outperformed NoCBAL participants in introductory
accounting, CBAL participants were expected to perform
as or outperform NoCBAL participants in the intermediate
accounting course. H2 was tested by using the generalized
linear models with GPA as the dependent variable and program status and major as the independent variables. The
results, presented in Table 3, show a significant main effect
of program status, F(1,168) D 7.85, p < .0057, and major,
F(1,168) D 16.11; p < .0001.6
An examination of the means in Table 2 shows that the
overall mean GPA of the CBAL participants is 2.03
TABLE 2
Descriptive Statistics for CBAL Versus NoCBAL Groups: Mean GPA
of CBAL Versus NoCBAL Groups for Intermediate Accounting
Majors’ GPA
NoCBAL
CBAL
Nonmajors’ GPA
TABLE 3
General Linear Model Test Results for Comparing CBAL
and NoCBAL Participants’ GPA in Intermediate Accounting
Overall GPA
n
M
SD
n
M
SD
n
M
SD
135
9
2.79
2.03
0.75
1.05
27
0
2.12
0.00
0.839
0.00
162
9
2.68
2.03
0.80
1.05
CBAL status
Major
Error
df
SS
MS
F
p
1
1
168
4.779
9.801
102.215
4.779
9.801
.608
7.85
16.11
.0057
.0001
Note: SS D sum of squares. MS D means of squares.
compared to 2.68, the mean GPA for the NoCBAL participants. The difference in the mean GPA is 0.65, suggesting
that the CBAL participants significantly underperformed
the NoCBAL participants in the intermediate accounting
course. The CBAL program may have motivated the CBAL
participants to enroll in the intermediate accounting course;
however, their performance in the course was much lower.
Declaration of Major in Accounting
H3 predicted that the proportion of CBAL students who
took intermediate accounting course and declared accounting as a major will be higher than that of NoCBAL participants. H3 was tested by using the Mantel-Haenszel chisquare test, controlling for previous participation in the
CBAL program. As indicated in Table 1, 100% of CBAL
participants who enrolled in the intermediate accounting
course also declared accounting as a major, whereas only
83 percent of the NoCBAL participants declared accounting as a major. The difference is significant x2 D 74.00, p
> .0001. The result demonstrates that the CBAL program
motivated students to choose accounting as a major.
SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS
There are a number of insights into these findings. First, the
CBAL program seems to be effective at improving and
advancing students’ learning, up to the point of passing the
introductory accounting courses. Second, the CBAL program was effective at motivating at-risk students to declare
accounting as their major.7 Third, the knowledge gained
through the CBAL program did not sustain the CBAL participants’ ability to independently learn and succeed in the
advanced intermediate accounting course, when the CBAL
program was not offered. Thus, the question is no longer
whether the number of at-risk students enrolling in accounting program at universities and four year colleges can be
increased. Rather, the question is whether at-risk students
completing the first introductory accounting course with
the help of the intervention program are mature enough to
succeed in advanced accounting courses required for
accounting majors.
The apparent failure of the CBAL program in introductory accounting courses to advance students to the level of
DOES PARTICIPATION IN A CBAL LEAD TO AN ACCOUNTING MAJOR?
independent learning in advanced courses also raises additional questions. First, since the CBAL participants underperformed the NoCBAL students in the intermediate
course, but outperformed the NoCBAL students in the
introductory accounting course, could this be attributed to
the method of delivery in the advanced accounting courses
or the manner in which students’ skills are being developed
to facilitate independent learning in advanced courses? Second, can the allocation of additional resources for intervention programs beyond the introductory accounting phase
mitigate the CBAL failure? Answers to these questions are
explored subsequently.
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 20:46 11 January 2016
Delivery Method
The CBAL program used interactive hands-on approach
with technology that allowed the students to see how the
numbers they entered into the system interacted with each
other, as well as the relationships in the financial statements
in real time. This hands-on approach might have helped the
CBAL students to learn better while taking the first introductory accounting course. On the contrary, intermediate
and other advanced courses often use lectures, textbooks,
and little or no interactive hands-on activities.
The absence of a hands-on approach and technology use
during the intermediate course may be one explanation why
the CBAL students underperformed the NoCBAL students
in the intermediate course. One remedy is to have a portion
of the classroom time in the advanced courses devoted to
interactive hands-on and team sessions, including the use of
technology. Some universities or colleges may be unable to
provide dedicated computer labs; however, university students are increasingly able to afford individual laptops they
could bring to class. Implementing this recommendation
may call for faculty development and the rethinking of
course delivery methods to serve a new generation of students who might process and use information differently.
Development of Student Skills Necessary to Succeed
in the Classroom and in the Profession
The new generation of students may require different skills
to succeed in the classroom and in the profession. For
example, in the CBAL program, the focus was on analyzing
and understanding accounting concepts presented interactively using technology. While working in dyad teams, the
students used technology and discussed the accounting
issues confronting them before arriving at solutions. These
aspects of CBAL might have assisted the students to
acquire critical skills that led to building confidence and
learning in the introductory accounting course. In contrast,
in many advanced courses, the emphasis is generally on lecture, and students rely on memorization of course contents
to get through the exams. This approach can make the
371
knowledge gained during the course not to last or be
transferable.
It is suggested that the faculty should use or develop
activities that will help the students to develop skills necessary to succeed in the classroom and in the profession.
Such activities may include in-class interactive group
assignments using technology, team case analysis, the presentation of present financial events in the classroom, and
so on.
Allocation of Additional Resources
to Intervention Programs
For more than four decades, the AICPA, NABA, and other
educational charity organizations have expended significant
amount of resources to increase minority enrollment in
accounting programs without success. Some of these efforts
have included scholarships and the pairing of faculty with
students as mentors. While these efforts are significant, the
evidence from the CBAL program suggests that more
efforts should be devoted to the development of intervention programs that would benefit students in the actual
learning process. This can be achieved in a number of
ways. First, accounting programs or faculty should be
encouraged to develop or implement helpful hands-on programs using technology along with the accounting courses
they teach. These programs could be interactive tutorials or
supplemental instructions. These programs could be staffed
by accounting professionals in the local community who
would volunteer to serve as moderators or role models in
the actual learning environment. For lower division
courses, graduate assistants or students with high GPAs
could be recruited to operate the hands-on programs. Second, some financial support should be provided to support
the faculty who develop and implement the helpful handson programs as incentives to continue to develop and
implement these programs.
There is significant merit to the argument that financial
support should be provided to encourage faculty to continue
to implement the intervention programs. From the findings
of the CBAL program, students who enrolled in an intervention program would likely be motivated to major in
accounting because they felt comfortable in learning and
understanding the accounting concepts through the intervention programs. When there was no intervention program, the students’ grades plummeted. Since the AICPA
and other professional bodies have allocated significant
resources for scholarships and faculty mentorship in the
past, without success in increasing minority enrollment, it
appears that no amount of scholarships or faculty mentorship incentives could replace the students’ experiences with
a hands-on intervention program because it can form their
decision to declare accounting as major. Therefore, some of
the resources should be allocated to the actual learning process. A by-product of the intervention programs is that as
372
V. OWHOSO ET AL.
the news of these helpful learning programs in accounting
programs spread to other minorities; the stigma of treating
accounting as a high-risk course would be slowly removed,
thereby giving rise to increased minority enrollment in
accounting courses and in declaring accounting as a major.
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Limitations
One possible limitation of the study is self-selection bias.
We did not control for other enrollment motives beside students being categorized into students’ perceived weakness
or strengths in accounting or quantitative courses. Also, we
did not specifically employ demographic questions that
asked the students their reasons for choosing accounting as
a major. We imputed that information from the data provided. As a result we do not know how the effect of those
questions would have had on the participants. These limitations could be of interest to future researchers to include
demographic variables. Additionally, a comparative study
in which an intervention program was provided to students
who enroll in the intermediate course and comparing their
GPA performance with those not receiving help would be
of significant interest in informing viable policy issues with
respect to funding levels for minority enrollment initiatives
and delivery methods in accounting.
NOTES
1. It is important to be cautious in interpreting the percentage of minorities, Hispanics, and Whites. For
example, it is possible that some or all Hispanics
may select non-White and be included as minorities
or as White and be excluded from minorities.
2. Participants in the ACAP are encouraged to attend a
variety of business and college preparatory workshops
on accounting, finance, economics, computer technology, and business management during the program.
3. High-risk courses are those courses in which the risk
of failing the course is generally high, that is, 30% of
the students enrolled usually receive a failing or withdrawal grade among academically weak students.
4. See Merrill (1992), Jones and Fields (2001), and
Malgwi et al. (2010) for a comprehensive description
of these models.
5. The data included students’ SAT scores, overall
pre-GPA before taking the first introductory
accounting, GPA in the first introductory accounting course in the semester they participated in the
CBAL program, GPA for the second introductory
accounting course, and GPA for the first intermediate accounting course, including pass, withdrawal, and failure scores.
6. There was no statistical difference between the
CBAL GPAs of minority and majority students in the
intermediate course. As a result, the data was combined as one unit in the analysis and in reporting the
results.
7. It should be noted that Malgwi et al. (2010) described
the profiles of the students who participated in the
CBAL program as those who would have otherwise
failed, withdrawn, or received lower grades in the
introductory accounting course.
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ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
Does Participation in a Computer-Based Learning
Program in Introductory Financial Accounting
Course Lead to Choosing Accounting as a Major?
Vincent Owhoso, Charles A. Malgwi & Margaret Akpomi
To cite this article: Vincent Owhoso, Charles A. Malgwi & Margaret Akpomi (2014) Does
Participation in a Computer-Based Learning Program in Introductory Financial Accounting
Course Lead to Choosing Accounting as a Major?, Journal of Education for Business, 89:7,
367-372, DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2014.915206
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08832323.2014.915206
Published online: 29 Sep 2014.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 55
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Download by: [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji]
Date: 11 January 2016, At: 20:46
JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR BUSINESS, 89: 367–372, 2014
Copyright Ó Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 0883-2323 print / 1940-3356 online
DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2014.915206
Does Participation in a Computer-Based Learning
Program in Introductory Financial Accounting
Course Lead to Choosing Accounting as a Major?
Vincent Owhoso
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 20:46 11 January 2016
Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, Kentucky, USA
Charles A. Malgwi
Bentley University, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA
Margaret Akpomi
River State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
The authors examine whether students who completed a computer-based intervention
program, designed to help them develop abilities and skills in introductory accounting, later
declared accounting as a major. A sample of 1,341 students participated in the study, of
which 74 completed the intervention program (computer-based assisted learning [CBAL]) and
the rest did not (no computer-based assisted learning [NoCBAL]). The proportion of students
who enrolled in an intermediate course and their mean grade point average, and the
proportion that declared accounting as a major, were compared. The results show that a larger
proportion of CBAL students declared accounting as a major compared to NoCBAL students.
Keywords: accounting major, computer assisted learning, minority accountants, supplemental
instruction, teaching delivery method
Accounting enrollments at universities and four-year colleges are increasing in the United States (American Institute
of Certified Public Accountants [AICPA], 2011). However,
the same cannot be said of minority enrollment in accounting programs at these institutions. This is because minority
enrollment in accounting programs has been declining, in
spite of the substantial effort by the AICPA and other professional bodies to diversify the accounting profession
(AICPA, 2011). The overall enrollment in accounting programs at universities and four-year colleges in the United
States increased 6% between 2007 and 2010; however,
minorities’ enrollment in accounting programs has declined
over the past decade.
The decline in minority enrollment in accounting programs appears to have also translated into low minority
representation in the accounting profession. Minorities
Correspondence should be addressed to Vincent Owhoso, Northern
Kentucky University, Department of Accounting, Finance, and Business
Law, BC 389 Nunn Dr., Highland Heights, KY 41099, USA. E-mail:
owhosov1@nku.edu
make up only 17% of CPAs at professional accounting firms
(Green & Khanna, 2011). As a result, the workforce of
tomorrow may not be representative of the marketplace
(Hammond & Paige, 1999). The clients in the marketplace
consist of members from different ethnicities and backgrounds, and they are demanding a diverse workforce to
cater for their needs. With minorities making up 25% of the
U.S. population, the workforce in public accounting might
not be diversified enough to meet the needs of the multiracial and multiethnic client base (Hammond & Paige 1999).1
As public accounting firms are looking to enhance staff
diversity in their organizations and ways to respond to clients’ expectations, any educational efforts designed to assist
students to become accounting major should be of interest
to educators, college business deans, and practitioners.
The AICPA has been responding to the decline in minority enrollment in accounting programs for decades by setting
aside funds to encourage minority enrollment in accounting.
For example, the AICPA recently granted multimillion dollar endowment funds to universities to use as scholarships to
eligible minority accounting students. Similarly, the National
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368
V. OWHOSO ET AL.
Association of Black Accountants (NABA) has designed a
career development program, known as Accounting Career
Awareness Program (ACAP), which allows minority students in high schools to participate in an all expense-paid
summer residency program and explore careers in accounting and business.2 Together, these efforts by the AICPA and
NABA have not translated into higher minority enrollment
in accounting programs. Could it be that additional educational learning programs are needed to encourage minority
students to consider accounting as a major?
Given that introductory accounting courses are part of
the core requirements in business schools and they serve as
prerequisites to core business courses, students planning to
major in accounting must first successfully complete these
courses. Introductory accounting courses are also regarded
as high-risk courses characterized by a high failure and
withdrawal rates (Etter, Burmeister, & Elder, 2000; Widmar, 1994).3 The good news is that educational learning
models such as tutoring (Merrill, Reiser, and Ranney,
1992), supplemental instruction (Jones & Fields, 2001), and
computer-based assisted learning (Malgwi, Owhoso, Brown,
& Avery, 2010) exist as pedagogical vehicles through
which students can obtain help and complete introductory
accounting courses successfully.4 Overall, the evidence suggests that these learning models are effective in improving
students’ performance and in reducing attrition rates (Geiger
& Ogilby, 2000; Jones & Fields, 2001; Malgwi et al.,
2010). However, these learning models may not be widely
available to students at many colleges of business.
The purpose of this study is to examine whether
students’ participation in a computer-based assisted learning program (CBAL) in introductory accounting course
was a catalyst for students seeking a major in accounting.
The second purpose of this study is to examine whether students who participated in the assisted-learning program and
who completed intermediate accounting course had equal
or better grade point averages (GPAs) than their counterparts who did not participate in the program. There was no
additional help offered to the students taking the intermediate course beyond the intervention program in the first
introductory course. The next section presents the background literature and the development of hypotheses. This
is followed by the methods and the results sections. The
final section then presents the summary and implications.
BACKGROUND LITERATURE
AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT
The success in providing additional tutorials or out of class
instructions to students to help them master the course content has been well documented in the literature (see Etter
et al., 2001; Jones & Fields, 2001; Malgwi et al., 2010).
The underlying theme across these studies is that participating students are able to relate one cue to another, integrate
information that coheres with the learner’s prior knowledge
and experiences, comprehend, retrieve, and recall what was
learned more effectively (Gensbacher, 1997; Gick & Holyoak, 1980). In the present study we examined the CBAL
model and its participants who later enrolled in intermediate accounting course.
CBAL Model
The CBAL program was an integrated hands-on, online computer-based tutoring program in which students learned basic
accounting concepts while receiving help from professional
accountants from the NABA and other accounting firms. The
program, selection of students, and implementation are fully
described in Malgwi et al. (2010). The CBAL program was
conducted in an accounting lab that was supervised by a fulltime accounting professor at a university in the northeast
region of the United States. The lab was a state-of-the-art
classroom that could hold 35 students. A typical CBAL session consisted of a dyad group of students having hands-on
and one-on-one problem solving exercises using a preselected accounting software package and textbook.
Linking CBAL Participation to Choosing
Accounting as a Major
The linkage between a successful completion of the introductory accounting courses with the help provided by the
CBAL program and declaring a major in accounting can be
made. Through the benefits of the CBAL program, a student can develop and build mental structure for the accounting concepts being presented.
If a student entered a transaction into the computer system during the CBAL session, the student would immediately see the outcome of the transaction displayed on the
terminal. This showed the students how the outcomes of
the transaction were distributed to the various parts of the
financial statements. If a student needed further explanations about any aspect of the transaction, a lab assistant
would provide the necessary assistance and feedback. As
the students’ understanding of the accounting concepts
increased, their midterm grades would also increase, and
this could persuade the students that they could succeed in
any accounting course. Further, the presence of the NABA
members as lab assistants could provide the students with
additional source of confidence and belief that they too can
become accountants.
Ultimately, a high semester course grade received in the
introductory accounting course can be a catalyst for students to enroll in an upper level accounting course or to
seek a major in accounting by those who might not ordinarily do so. Malgwi et al. (2010) reported that the mean GPA
in the first introductory accounting course for CBAL program participants was statistically higher than that of NoCBAL participants (2.79 vs. 2.54). As the CBAL participants
DOES PARTICIPATION IN A CBAL LEAD TO AN ACCOUNTING MAJOR?
saw greater improvements in their course GPA, they may
believe that they had mastered the accounting concepts to
succeed in other accounting courses. Whether motivated or
not, students aspiring to major in accounting would enroll
in intermediate accounting courses. Therefore, CBAL participants are not expected to enroll in intermediate accounting course at a greater number than the NoCBAL students.
Based on this expectation, the following alternate hypothesis was tested:
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Hypothesis 1 (H1): The proportion of CBAL participants
who enrolled in intermediate accounting course would
not be significantly different from that of NoCBAL
participants.
If the CBAL students master the accounting concepts
from the CBAL program, does the knowledge gained from
the program last long enough for them to successfully complete the intermediate accounting course at the same or better GPAs as the NoCBAL students? Although the
intermediate accounting course is a little more advanced
than the introductory accounting course, the content of the
two courses are similar in many respects. It is possible that
the CBAL participants would apply their knowledge of
accounting concepts to complete the intermediate accounting course successfully, as the NoCBAL participants, even
though no additional intervention program was offered during the intermediate course. Based on these expectations
the following hypothesis was tested:
H2: There would be no significant difference in the overall
GPA of CBAL and NoCBAL participants who enrolled
in the intermediate accounting course.
The students’ academic profile, prior to completing the
CBAL program, indicates that many of them were just
looking for ways to just pass the introductory accounting
course and move on. After successfully completing the first
introductory accounting course with a good grade through
the help of the intervention program, the CBAL students
may be more motivated to seek a major in accounting by
enrolling in the intermediate course. Given this expectation,
the following hypothesis was tested.
369
study. Out of this number, 74 students participated in the
CBAL program and 1,267 students did not (NoCBAL).
Both groups enrolled in the same sections of the introductory accounting course that participated in the CBAL program. Fifty-two (70%) of the 74 CBAL participants were
minority students while 22 (30%) were majority students.
A review of the students’ profile indicates that they were
at-risk students because they anticipated difficulty in completing the first introductory accounting course successfully, they perceived themselves to be weaker in
quantitative course materials, and they had lower scholastic
aptitude scores than the NoCBAL students as measured by
their performance in the SAT test scores. The institutional
research office at the participating university provided the
detailed enrollment and grade data used in this study.5
Dependent Variable
The dependent variables reported in this study are (a) the
proportion of CBAL and NoCBAL participants who
enrolled in intermediate accounting course, (b) the GPA
received in intermediate accounting course, and (c) the proportion of CBAL and NoCBAL participants who declared
accounting as a major.
Independent Variables
Three independent variables were examined: enrollment
status, program status, and major. Enrollment status
describes the participants’ enrollment in intermediate
accounting course, and it is manipulated at two levels: yes
(enrolled) and no (not enrolled). Program status describes
the participants’ prior participation in the intervention program, and it is manipulated at two levels: CBAL and NoCBAL. Major is manipulated at two levels: participants who
declared accounting as a major and those who did not.
Data Analyses
The analysis was conducted by constructing a 2 £ 2 factor
model of program status and major. The Pearson chi square
test of independence, the Mantel-Haenszel chi square, and
the generalized linear model tests were employed as the statistical tests of interest.
H3: The proportion of CBAL participants choosing
accounting as a major would be higher than that of
NoCBAL participants.
RESULTS
Descriptive Statistics
METHODOLOGY
Participants and Data
The present study shares some data with Malgwi et al.
(2010). A sample of 1,341 students participated in the
Table 1 presents the descriptive statistics for enrollment
status, program status, mean GPA, and major. The results
show that the proportion of CBAL participants who
enrolled in the intermediate accounting course is higher
than the proportion of NoCBAL participants. The mean
370
V. OWHOSO ET AL.
TABLE 1
Descriptive Statistics for CBAL Versus NoCBAL Groups: Means for
CBAL and NoCBAL Groups by Enrollment Status and Major
Intermediate enrollment
Yes
No
Status
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NoCBAL
CBAL
Major in accounting
Yes
No
Source
n
%
n
%
n
%
n
%
162
9
12.79
12.16
1,105
65
87.21
87.84
135
9
83.33
100.00
27
0
16.27
0.00
GPA of the CBAL participants in the intermediate course is
less than that of the NoCBAL participants. In addition, the
proportion of CBAL participants who declared accounting
as a major is larger than the proportion of NoCBAL
participants.
Enrollment Status in Intermediate Accounting
H1 predicts that the proportion of CBAL participants who
enrolled in intermediate accounting course would not be
significantly different from that of the NoCBAL participants. To test H1, a Chi square test was performed. The test
was not significant, x2 (1, N D 171) D 0.025, p > .878, consistent with expectation. As shown in Tables 1 and 2, the
proportions of the enrollment are 12.16% and 12.79% for
CBAL and NoCBAL, respectively. The enrollment rate for
CBAL and NoCBAL participants does not differ
significantly.
Mean GPA in Intermediate Accounting
H2 predicts that the mean overall GPA in the intermediate
accounting course for the CBAL and NOCBAL participants
would not differ. Although CBAL participants previously
outperformed NoCBAL participants in introductory
accounting, CBAL participants were expected to perform
as or outperform NoCBAL participants in the intermediate
accounting course. H2 was tested by using the generalized
linear models with GPA as the dependent variable and program status and major as the independent variables. The
results, presented in Table 3, show a significant main effect
of program status, F(1,168) D 7.85, p < .0057, and major,
F(1,168) D 16.11; p < .0001.6
An examination of the means in Table 2 shows that the
overall mean GPA of the CBAL participants is 2.03
TABLE 2
Descriptive Statistics for CBAL Versus NoCBAL Groups: Mean GPA
of CBAL Versus NoCBAL Groups for Intermediate Accounting
Majors’ GPA
NoCBAL
CBAL
Nonmajors’ GPA
TABLE 3
General Linear Model Test Results for Comparing CBAL
and NoCBAL Participants’ GPA in Intermediate Accounting
Overall GPA
n
M
SD
n
M
SD
n
M
SD
135
9
2.79
2.03
0.75
1.05
27
0
2.12
0.00
0.839
0.00
162
9
2.68
2.03
0.80
1.05
CBAL status
Major
Error
df
SS
MS
F
p
1
1
168
4.779
9.801
102.215
4.779
9.801
.608
7.85
16.11
.0057
.0001
Note: SS D sum of squares. MS D means of squares.
compared to 2.68, the mean GPA for the NoCBAL participants. The difference in the mean GPA is 0.65, suggesting
that the CBAL participants significantly underperformed
the NoCBAL participants in the intermediate accounting
course. The CBAL program may have motivated the CBAL
participants to enroll in the intermediate accounting course;
however, their performance in the course was much lower.
Declaration of Major in Accounting
H3 predicted that the proportion of CBAL students who
took intermediate accounting course and declared accounting as a major will be higher than that of NoCBAL participants. H3 was tested by using the Mantel-Haenszel chisquare test, controlling for previous participation in the
CBAL program. As indicated in Table 1, 100% of CBAL
participants who enrolled in the intermediate accounting
course also declared accounting as a major, whereas only
83 percent of the NoCBAL participants declared accounting as a major. The difference is significant x2 D 74.00, p
> .0001. The result demonstrates that the CBAL program
motivated students to choose accounting as a major.
SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS
There are a number of insights into these findings. First, the
CBAL program seems to be effective at improving and
advancing students’ learning, up to the point of passing the
introductory accounting courses. Second, the CBAL program was effective at motivating at-risk students to declare
accounting as their major.7 Third, the knowledge gained
through the CBAL program did not sustain the CBAL participants’ ability to independently learn and succeed in the
advanced intermediate accounting course, when the CBAL
program was not offered. Thus, the question is no longer
whether the number of at-risk students enrolling in accounting program at universities and four year colleges can be
increased. Rather, the question is whether at-risk students
completing the first introductory accounting course with
the help of the intervention program are mature enough to
succeed in advanced accounting courses required for
accounting majors.
The apparent failure of the CBAL program in introductory accounting courses to advance students to the level of
DOES PARTICIPATION IN A CBAL LEAD TO AN ACCOUNTING MAJOR?
independent learning in advanced courses also raises additional questions. First, since the CBAL participants underperformed the NoCBAL students in the intermediate
course, but outperformed the NoCBAL students in the
introductory accounting course, could this be attributed to
the method of delivery in the advanced accounting courses
or the manner in which students’ skills are being developed
to facilitate independent learning in advanced courses? Second, can the allocation of additional resources for intervention programs beyond the introductory accounting phase
mitigate the CBAL failure? Answers to these questions are
explored subsequently.
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Delivery Method
The CBAL program used interactive hands-on approach
with technology that allowed the students to see how the
numbers they entered into the system interacted with each
other, as well as the relationships in the financial statements
in real time. This hands-on approach might have helped the
CBAL students to learn better while taking the first introductory accounting course. On the contrary, intermediate
and other advanced courses often use lectures, textbooks,
and little or no interactive hands-on activities.
The absence of a hands-on approach and technology use
during the intermediate course may be one explanation why
the CBAL students underperformed the NoCBAL students
in the intermediate course. One remedy is to have a portion
of the classroom time in the advanced courses devoted to
interactive hands-on and team sessions, including the use of
technology. Some universities or colleges may be unable to
provide dedicated computer labs; however, university students are increasingly able to afford individual laptops they
could bring to class. Implementing this recommendation
may call for faculty development and the rethinking of
course delivery methods to serve a new generation of students who might process and use information differently.
Development of Student Skills Necessary to Succeed
in the Classroom and in the Profession
The new generation of students may require different skills
to succeed in the classroom and in the profession. For
example, in the CBAL program, the focus was on analyzing
and understanding accounting concepts presented interactively using technology. While working in dyad teams, the
students used technology and discussed the accounting
issues confronting them before arriving at solutions. These
aspects of CBAL might have assisted the students to
acquire critical skills that led to building confidence and
learning in the introductory accounting course. In contrast,
in many advanced courses, the emphasis is generally on lecture, and students rely on memorization of course contents
to get through the exams. This approach can make the
371
knowledge gained during the course not to last or be
transferable.
It is suggested that the faculty should use or develop
activities that will help the students to develop skills necessary to succeed in the classroom and in the profession.
Such activities may include in-class interactive group
assignments using technology, team case analysis, the presentation of present financial events in the classroom, and
so on.
Allocation of Additional Resources
to Intervention Programs
For more than four decades, the AICPA, NABA, and other
educational charity organizations have expended significant
amount of resources to increase minority enrollment in
accounting programs without success. Some of these efforts
have included scholarships and the pairing of faculty with
students as mentors. While these efforts are significant, the
evidence from the CBAL program suggests that more
efforts should be devoted to the development of intervention programs that would benefit students in the actual
learning process. This can be achieved in a number of
ways. First, accounting programs or faculty should be
encouraged to develop or implement helpful hands-on programs using technology along with the accounting courses
they teach. These programs could be interactive tutorials or
supplemental instructions. These programs could be staffed
by accounting professionals in the local community who
would volunteer to serve as moderators or role models in
the actual learning environment. For lower division
courses, graduate assistants or students with high GPAs
could be recruited to operate the hands-on programs. Second, some financial support should be provided to support
the faculty who develop and implement the helpful handson programs as incentives to continue to develop and
implement these programs.
There is significant merit to the argument that financial
support should be provided to encourage faculty to continue
to implement the intervention programs. From the findings
of the CBAL program, students who enrolled in an intervention program would likely be motivated to major in
accounting because they felt comfortable in learning and
understanding the accounting concepts through the intervention programs. When there was no intervention program, the students’ grades plummeted. Since the AICPA
and other professional bodies have allocated significant
resources for scholarships and faculty mentorship in the
past, without success in increasing minority enrollment, it
appears that no amount of scholarships or faculty mentorship incentives could replace the students’ experiences with
a hands-on intervention program because it can form their
decision to declare accounting as major. Therefore, some of
the resources should be allocated to the actual learning process. A by-product of the intervention programs is that as
372
V. OWHOSO ET AL.
the news of these helpful learning programs in accounting
programs spread to other minorities; the stigma of treating
accounting as a high-risk course would be slowly removed,
thereby giving rise to increased minority enrollment in
accounting courses and in declaring accounting as a major.
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Limitations
One possible limitation of the study is self-selection bias.
We did not control for other enrollment motives beside students being categorized into students’ perceived weakness
or strengths in accounting or quantitative courses. Also, we
did not specifically employ demographic questions that
asked the students their reasons for choosing accounting as
a major. We imputed that information from the data provided. As a result we do not know how the effect of those
questions would have had on the participants. These limitations could be of interest to future researchers to include
demographic variables. Additionally, a comparative study
in which an intervention program was provided to students
who enroll in the intermediate course and comparing their
GPA performance with those not receiving help would be
of significant interest in informing viable policy issues with
respect to funding levels for minority enrollment initiatives
and delivery methods in accounting.
NOTES
1. It is important to be cautious in interpreting the percentage of minorities, Hispanics, and Whites. For
example, it is possible that some or all Hispanics
may select non-White and be included as minorities
or as White and be excluded from minorities.
2. Participants in the ACAP are encouraged to attend a
variety of business and college preparatory workshops
on accounting, finance, economics, computer technology, and business management during the program.
3. High-risk courses are those courses in which the risk
of failing the course is generally high, that is, 30% of
the students enrolled usually receive a failing or withdrawal grade among academically weak students.
4. See Merrill (1992), Jones and Fields (2001), and
Malgwi et al. (2010) for a comprehensive description
of these models.
5. The data included students’ SAT scores, overall
pre-GPA before taking the first introductory
accounting, GPA in the first introductory accounting course in the semester they participated in the
CBAL program, GPA for the second introductory
accounting course, and GPA for the first intermediate accounting course, including pass, withdrawal, and failure scores.
6. There was no statistical difference between the
CBAL GPAs of minority and majority students in the
intermediate course. As a result, the data was combined as one unit in the analysis and in reporting the
results.
7. It should be noted that Malgwi et al. (2010) described
the profiles of the students who participated in the
CBAL program as those who would have otherwise
failed, withdrawn, or received lower grades in the
introductory accounting course.
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