PERCEPTIONS OF ACCOUNTING EDUCATORS AND ACCOUNTING SUPERVISORS CONCERNING TEACHING ACCOUNTING THEORY OR ACCOUNTING PRACTICE IN CAREER ACCOUNTING PROGRAMS

摘要

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine if a difference exists between the perceptions of career accounting educators and practicing accounting supervisors concerning the teaching of accounting theory or accounting practice in career accounting programs. The specific problem was to determine if a difference exists between perceptions of career accounting educators and accounting supervisors concerning the instructional balance of accounting theory and accounting practice and the importance of selected content in career accounting programs in the states of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida.;Procedures. The study was conducted in community/junior colleges and technical institutes in the states of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida; and in businesses in the aforementioned states that had actually employed graduates of career accounting programs. Subjects consisted of active teaching personnel in community/junior colleges and technical institutes; and practicing accounting supervisors/department heads in businesses that had employed graduates of career accounting programs. A random selection of 90 was made in both groups.;Results and Conclusions. Accounting educators and accounting supervisors generally share the same perceptions concerning teaching accounting theory and accounting practice in career accounting programs. ANOVA routines showed that neither educational level nor amount of experience in the accounting field had a significant influence on perceptions concerning the instructional balance of accounting theory and accounting practice, or whether accounting theory or accounting practice should be introduced first, in career accounting programs.;Chi-square analysis indicated that there was a significant difference in the perceptions of accounting educators and accounting supervisors concerning the importance of inventory costing techniques in the career accounting curriculum. Accounting educators felt inventory costing techniques to be more important than accounting supervisors. Chi-square analysis showed no significant difference in the perceptions of accounting educators and accounting supervisors concerning the importance of manual payroll records, subsidiary ledger accounting, depreciation accounting, adjusting and closing entries, financial statement preparation, financial statement analysis, and managerial control.