I often teach introductory Accounting at the college level. So many times at the beginning of the semester, students will inform me that they’ve taken Accounting in high school and “did really well in it.” For the most part, these students do no better than anyone else, and often times are actually more confused because they are remembering bits and pieces from their prior course(s) and trying to apply them incorrectly in my course.
There is an occasional exception, but from what I can gather (even though I did not take Accounting in high school) it seems what high school students are “learning” about Accounting is some rote exercise of where to put certain transactions in certain places on certain forms (or software.) They seem to have little understanding of why they are doing this, and also no real understanding of what the numbers are telling them about the company’s performance. So can someone please tell me why Accounting is being taught in high school, because I cannot figure it out myself?
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Great posting. Accounting is taught in most high school business programs. AP Accounting will begin to be offered in the fall. I know of other schools who offer honors accounting. I believe the problem for proper accounting preparation may be two-fold: (1)lack of preparation of the business teachers in teaching accounting and feeling comfortable about teaching accounting. (2)enrollment of students in many accounting courses are students who have difficulty in math and the course needs to be dropped to a slower pace.
ReplyDeleteNext week in class one of the teachers at State College High School has a degree in accounting and you can see the difference in her teaching style as well as the accounting courses she offers.
I think that if accounting is taught properly in high school it can be very beneficial for the students. I understand that some students come in not fully understanding why they do what they do in accounting but for the most part I feel that it is the teacher's fault. As Dr. Moore mentioned alot of teachers lack the preparation to successfully teach accounting. I took accounting in high school and had a truly wonderful and effective teacher. Once I entered college I was a lot farther ahead than my classmates simply because of taking her course in high school. So in my opinion it is very beneficial for students who plan to enter business to take accounting in high school, if they have an effective teacher.
ReplyDeleteI think it is valuable to teach students accounting in high school because if they do not seek post-secondary educations, they would still understand simple accounting concepts. Concepts that could be utilized in their adult lives. Now keeping it as simple as possible is the method. Students shouldnt be given the hardest accounting scenarios,but the simple concepts are Assets in adulthood...
ReplyDeleteFirst, I am going to take this into a different area and just state that the same is true of students in college IT classes. They ‘think’ they know, but when they are in class most do not possess functional levels of understanding. On the accounting issue – accounting is math. Yes, it is business related but it still involves math conceptual understanding. There are some students that just will never be good at math. Unfortunately, as Dr. Moore stated, these students can end up in accounting. Will they do any better there? - for most probably not. In my own experience it is imperative to have a good instructor to obtain a solid math background. I think this applies to accounting as well. If the basic concepts have not been presented in a way that students can rationalize them (relevance), then accounting will just be rote memorization of the process to attempt to pass the test. We all know what happens to that knowledge the minute the test is over. Like Alisha I had a wonderful accounting instructor in college, but I also have literally a lifetime of accounting experience. I helped with payroll and taxes when I was in ninth grade, maybe younger? I am good at accounting but am not fond of it, which could present a different issue. I have tutored accounting effectively, but noticed that even at a college level many BCIT students are not comfortable with accounting, so how will they be able to teach it? It is enlightening for me to read this post, since I was not aware of this issue existing in the area of collegiate accounting.
ReplyDeleteAccounting is taught in the high school level because some instructors may feel that accounting is a subject that is used in the business world. It is important to know how to balance a checkbook, know debits and credits, do an effective proforma statement, know how to effectively do taxes. These are some of the things that are very important in life when it comes to running your business's finances and accounting is key. It should be taught at the high school level because I feel the high school level is that pivotal turn between college which is the next step and elementary school in which they are out of.
ReplyDeleteMany highs chool students may find it difficult though especially if it's taught in the 9th or 10th grade. I feel it should be taught in the 12th grade because this is the time that students should know how to effectively budget their money and to effectively do a balance statement.
Teaching an accounting class is high school can be very beneficial to students who are going into college with a business concentration. It will help prepare them and gain a little knowledge before diving right in. I wish my high school offered an Intro to Accounting course when I was a student. I remember being to terrified in my first accounting course in college. I was very overwhelmed and thought to myself that my high school should have a class to prepare us for accounting.
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