Trends

How Can We Motivate Our Students?

By Belverd E. Needles, Jr., Ph.D., CPA

Editor

In previous issues of AIR, I first addressed the issue: “Who are our students?” by identifying the characteristics of our students that are important sources of the dissatisfaction many faculty feel toward their teaching situation (Winter 2006). I then addressed the issue: “What motivates our students?” by identifying some characteristics that will help us understand what motivates students today, how we can meet students on their own ground, and how we can improve the accounting learning process (Fall 2006). In this issue of Trends, I continue the discussion of how we, as accounting instructors, can deal with the challenges of today’s students by addressing the issue: “How can we motivate our students?” I will do this by first citing some research relevant to this issue and then describing the approach I take in my classes.

Research that my coauthors and I have done with beginning accounting teachers identifies two closely related challenges as the most important challenges facing them today:

·  To build confidence to deal with change

·  To motivate students to achieve their potential

Although accounting instructors, of course, face many changes--technology, business complexity, standards that must be addressed; we can all agree that motivation is also important to success in accounting. For instance, one of the most common complaints I hear is that students do not prepare for class in advance. They expect to come to class unprepared and to be taught what they need to know. This has certainly been my experience. My previous Trends article cited above showed how difficult and complex the typical student’s life is today and how that affects their ability to prepare in advance. Nevertheless, it is important to motivate students to prepare for class because research has shown that

·  Students who read chapters in advance and prepare assignments are 80 percent more likely to make an A or B.

·  Students who do not read chapters in advance and prepare assignments are 60 percent more likely to make a C or worse (Issues in Accounting Education, 8/05).

So, what’s involved in motivating students? The word “motivate,” means to provide with an incentive; move to action; impel stems from the word “motive.” A motive is an emotion, desire, or similar impulse that acts as an incitement to action. Thus, when we say that we want “to motivate” our students, we mean that we want to incite our students to study hard and do well in our classes. We want them to have the emotion or desire to succeed in learning accounting. Students who are motivated have the intention of succeeding. Understanding this point is fundamental to good teaching because research has shown that “…behavioral intentions rated at time one were still significant predicators of achievement behavior rated four months later …” (Issues in Accounting Education, 8/05)

Since four months is the approximate length of a term, it is clear that if the proper behavioral intentions or motivations are established from the beginning, prospects are good that there will be a positive effect on the whole course. I believe the instructor has control over the environment of the course; It is a matter of providing the right “stimulation” or “incentives.” Some research that bears on this issue studied the job satisfaction of young managers, a group not too far removed from students. This study, conducted by Herzberg and published in Harvard Business Review, 2006, focused on factors that affect job satisfaction. These factors relate well to the environment one creates in teaching beginning accounting course.

For example the factors leading to extreme dissatisfaction are as follows:

·  Policies and bureaucracy

·  Supervision

·  Relation with supervisors

·  Work conditions

Unfortunately, too many accounting instructors overemphasize these areas. Policies and bureaucracy conjures up images of the syllabus, due dates, and exams, while supervision conjures up images of the instructor constantly harping on what needs to be done by enforcing the policies. The instructors-student relationship is by nature a superior/interior situation and finally, the work conditions—classrooms, media, lighting, boards, etc—are not always ideal. These four factors often cannot be avoided but in my classes I do everything I can to overcome them. My syllabus states clearly and firmly what is required, but without the strong language that I see in many syllabi. I try to state the requirements in a way that shows why they are necessary for success in the course. As a “supervisor,” I have not gone the, “call me Bill—let’s be friends” route, since I am not on the same level or age as my students and my position requires the address of “Dr.” or “Professor,” but this does not mean that I cannot be supportive and encouraging as well as corrective when required. Finally, I work hard to make the classroom environment, even in the worst classes at our school, a good instruction and study environment.

In the end, it is very hard to overcome the negative connotations of the above four factors. What about the positive factors? Herzberg shows the following factors to lead to extreme satisfaction in young people’s jobs:

·  Achievement

·  Recognition

·  Work itself

·  Responsibilities

·  Advancement

·  Growth

These are factors around which you can build a great motivating course. Everyone approaches their course differently, but I think there are some principles that can be derived from these factors:

·  Provide ways for students to achieve (I probably devote more of the grade to homework and cases than most, but it is due before each class).

·  Recognize them for achievement (I constantly congratulate and reward success--not only effort).

·  Emphasize the fun of doing accounting. (Do you remember the satisfaction of getting your first adjusted trial balance to balance?)

·  Ask students to take responsibility for their work and report on how they are doing.

·  Provide feedback to individuals and to the class on growth and progresses throughout the semester.

I will describe an approach that has been very successful for me.

I start with the first principle, which is to stimulate or motivate the behavioral intention to succeed in the course from the very beginning. Instead of the traditional “going over the syllabus,” I have a formal PowerPoint presentation in which I focus on the benefits of accounting and the importance of advance preparation using the research I cited above. During the lecture I incorporate aspects of the syllabus that support my approach. Finally, I emphasize the application of total quality management (TQM) to the course based on the following principles:

·  The class is actually a team that strives to get “better-better-better” as the course proceeds (Figure 1). As the leader of the team, I will do everything I can to improve to class as we go forward and I expect every student, as team members, to do the same.

·  TQM assigns every individual on the team with a responsibility to present quality work. If even one student is not prepared, then the quality of the class is less than it could be. If you sit on the back row and do nothing, you are letting your classmates down.

·  TQM requires the goal of zero defects. This does not mean that everyone gets an A, because we are all starting at different places, but it does mean that we strive for 100 percent preparation for class and 100 percent completion of assignments.

This approach emphasizes how seriously I take the course and my hope that that the class will exceed expectations and produce high quality work..

The principal tool I use to constantly reinforce these principles as the class progresses is the Fast Feedback Form (Figure 2). This form, which is anonymous, is handed out approximately once per week. It takes only one or two minuets to complete and is turned in with the homework. It has four components:

·  Self-assessment of the students preparation with a goal of zero-defects

·  Assessment of the class and instructor

·  Topics that need more explanation

·  Other suggestions

I have found the students are quite honest in their self-assessment. I make a point of tabulating the results and posting them to my online course management system within 24 hours. At the next class, I discuss the trends of the assessments of both the students and the instructor. I always spend time on the topics that need more explanation even if mentioned by only one student and, if necessary, work another exercise on the topic, proving that I take seriously my commitment to TQM and that I expect them to as well. Overall, the grade distribution in my courses is higher than before I started using these principles. More importantly, as the following selected comments from the student evaluation forms show, the students appreciate this approach:

·  “He sincerely cares about constantly improving the class and his teaching.”

·  “Very accessible and helpful to students; He’s very student-oriented and works to engage everyone.”

·  “One of the best teachers at De Paul. Truly cares about his students.”

·  “Had the students best interest/success in mind.”

·  “The professor truly wants to see his students succeed.”

As a subjective test of attitude and commitment to quality, I performed the following experiment last quarter. At the end of the course, I had an ethics case on WorldCom that was due during finals week after the final exam. On the evening it was due, I have an optional one and a half hour class that does not count in any way toward their grade. The purpose of the class is to discuss the ethics case and bring closure to the course. To me, this is a true test of the TQM concept - will the students, in the spirit of TQM, voluntarily attend a class that does not count toward their final grade? Approximately 75 percent of the students came to the optional class; when the class was over several students commented, “This was the best class we’ve had!” Since these students were motivated to enjoy the coursework itself, they followed through on their intention of completing the course in a satisfactory manner.

Figure 1


Figure 2

FAST FEEDBACK FORM

Chapter (s) Covered Class

Circle each question with 1 being lowest and 5 highest.

How prepared were you for the

Text reading 1 2 3 4 5

Problems/cases 1 2 3 4 5

How was the instructor’s presentation for the class?

Relevant 1 2 3 4 5

Clear 1 2 3 4 5

Kept my interest 1 2 3 4 5

How were the problems/cases for this session?

Relevant 1 2 3 4 5

Appropriate level 1 2 3 4 5

Adequately explained 1 2 3 4 5

Overall evaluation of this class? 1 2 3 4 5

What topic (s) would you like more explanation on?

Any other comments/suggestions?

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