Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Modern Research in Education, Teaching and Learning, 2024
Year: 2024
DOI:
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Using Board Games to Enhance Accounting Teaching Education: A Word Association Approach
Dr. Shelley Beryl Beck, Dr. Tracy Geraldine Beck
ABSTRACT:
South African graduate unemployment remains significantly high even though there are skill shortages, particularly in the field of accounting. This highlights a key issue that tertiary education institutions may not be producing graduates with the necessary skills and competencies required by the accounting industry. Students struggle to grasp basic concepts of accounting largely due to a lack of engagement inside the classroom. Accountancy taught at first year level is critically important as these modules are seen as high risk, with high failure rates, especially with regards to non-accounting major students. It is thus imperative for accounting lecturers to develop skills and techniques that are necessary for effective teaching so as to positively impact the perceptions of their first-year students. Therefore, the focus of this study was to determine the student’s perception of board games in promoting accounting learning. Students were exposed to playing an adapted board game for the purposes of learning vital accounting terminology, rules and procedures. In order to determine the first-year accounting student’s perceptions, word association tests were administered to 128 students. The results of the word association tests provided insight into students understanding of accounting, board games, adoption of board games as part of accounting teaching as well as student’s overall level of engagement and commitment to tertiary education accounting classes. This study provides valuable practical and theoretical contributions for educators, industry professionals and policy makers in developing ways to improve the necessary skills and competencies of future graduates in the accounting industry.
keywords: Accounting terminology; competencies; first-year students; skills; tertiary education