Accounting for student diversity

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1 Vicki Feast 1, Bev Kokkinn 2, John Medlin¹ and Rita Frangiosa² University of South Australia The student profile at the University of South Australia has changed in recent years with increasing enrolments of students from diverse backgrounds. This diversity is reflected in the range of tertiary literacy skills among students who require support to facilitate their transition to university study. These transition needs, together with resource constraints and institutional expectations, obligated a new approach to supporting students in large first year core subjects in the Division of Business and Enterprise. The modification of one of these core subjects, Accounting, Decisions and Accountability, to a more learning process oriented approach led to a shift in the teaching culture and learning arrangements. The changes support students in making the transition to becoming literate in accounting. One key element in the process of change is the framework provided by the institutional graduate qualities initiative; the other interrelated element is the integration of explicit guidelines on the expected tertiary literacy and numeracy levels required in the subject. The new approach to teaching provides learning support for all students by clarifying, developing and practising the required tertiary literacy skills. It is hypothesised that improved levels of academic success will be achieved once students know more precisely what is expected of them in terms of learning behaviours and assessment products. Introduction The University of South Australia (UniSA) is distinct in the state as being the largest of the three universities and having the most diverse student population. The latter distinction is a clear reflection of the University s vision in its Mission Statement which demonstrates a strong commitment to providing high quality tertiary education for students from a wide range of backgrounds. The student profile shows that there are relatively large numbers of students from rural and isolated areas, from non-englishspeaking backgrounds, from low socio-economic backgrounds and students who have disabilities. Increasing numbers of students from these diverse backgrounds have been identified as experiencing significant difficulties in making a successful transition to university studies. Meeting the needs of a diverse student population remains one of the biggest challenges for teaching and support staff. Among the needs usually associated with large first year core subjects are the issues relating to transition to tertiary study. They are central to identifying ways in which students need to be supported to meet the academic expectations of each subject. This paper outlines the curriculum changes introduced in a core Accounting subject in the Division of Business and Enterprise involving 1600 students. Based on similar changes in the first year core subject Economic Environment (Feast, Barrett, Head & Kokkinn 1998) the academic expectations in Accounting, Decisions and Accountability (ADA) have been made explicit to enable students to develop the tertiary literacy and numeracy skills appropriate to the discourse of the discipline of accounting. The explicit signals embedded in the subject clearly specify the ways of making meaning in accounting. 1 Division of Business and Enterprise, University of South Australia 2 Flexible Learning Centre, University of South Australia HERDSA Annual International Conference, Melbourne, July

2 Feast, Kokkinn, Medlin & Frangiosa Graduate qualities and diversity A well-defined policy of the Graduate Qualities developed at the UniSA is designed to provide a teaching and learning framework within which the challenges of teaching students from diverse backgrounds can be addressed. The graduate quality framework focuses on the development of key competencies that help distinguish graduates of the UniSA from graduates of other universities. At the UniSA seven graduate qualities have been identified as follows. A graduate of the UniSA: 1. operates effectively with and upon a body of knowledge of sufficient depth to begin professional practice; 2. is prepared for life-long learning in pursuit of personal development and excellence in professional practice; 3. is an effective problem solver, capable of applying logical, critical and creative thinking to a range of problems; 4. can work both autonomously and collaboratively as a professional; 5. is committed to ethical action and social responsibility as a professional and citizen; 6. communicates effectively in professional practice and as a member of the community; and 7. demonstrates an international perspective as a professional and as a citizen These qualities are developed in students over the duration of their course with individual subjects focussing, to a greater or lesser degree, on specific qualities. These seven graduate qualities are based upon two main principles. The first is that the desired outcomes of university education are much broader than control over an area of content. The second is that university education inculcates values and develops skills to be applied in professional, social and international contexts. One of the goals to be achieved through the adoption of a graduate qualities framework is to move the student to centre stage of the university s teaching and learning activities and to change the focus from teacher-centred to student-centred learning. This approach allows for the development of a range of teaching and learning arrangements to meet the disparate needs of the diverse student population. Within the framework Graduate Qualities, and the student centred learning approach, university students are encouraged to be independent, life-long learners who are motivated to learn and take responsibility for their learning. For the diverse group of students in ADA, the graduate qualities espoused by the UniSA link closely to a set of skills demanded by the accounting profession. These include good technical skills, good generic skills and good general knowledge (Henderson 1996:18). These skills include what is described by the accounting profession as Adaption, Routine, Analytical/Design, Appreciative, Communication and Intellectual, Professional, Personal and Interpersonal Skills. Generic skills also link closely to the University of South Australia s graduate qualities as they include problem solving skills as well as written and oral communication skills whereby graduates are able to write and deliver reports within the conventions of the business world (Henderson 1996:18). Further, Allen & Roschecouste (1997:9) report that businesses rank communication skills as the number one characteristic they were seeking in graduates and that excellent skills in communication continues to be listed in almost all newspaper advertisements as an important criterion for professional appointments. HERDSA Annual International Conference, Melbourne, July

3 Within these frameworks and with the goal of improving the learning environment, the team at the UniSA proceeded to introduce changes to the delivery of ADA. The first step in the redevelopment process of the subject was for the subject coordinator to frame the subject within the Graduate qualities using a grid as shown in Figure 1. Each of the seven graduate qualities was assigned a value out of a total of 4.5 credit points for the subject, to reflect their emphasis in the teaching and learning environment of the subject. Each of the subject objectives, assessment practices and learning activities were linked to the graduate qualities in the grid shown in Figure 1. For example, the objective Appreciate the role of accounting in society is linked to Graduate Qualities 1 (1.0 GQ weight) and 5 (0.25 GQ weight) and has up to eleven percent weighting toward the final assessment. Figure 1 below illustrates the essential role of graduate qualities in both the assessment and teaching of the subject. This grid directed many of the decisions about appropriate changes to meet the needs of the diverse student body in the subject ADA. It helped determine the emphasis in assessment and in teaching and learning priorities, as well as assisting in setting these activities to match subject aims. Subject objective Appreciate the role of accounting in society Be able to communicate findings from accounting information Graduate Quality (GQ) and related weighting GQ:1 (1.0) GQ:5 (0.25) GQ:2 (1.0) GQ:3 (1.0) GQ:4 (0.5) GQ:6 (0.5) Assessment activities related to subject objective and GQ In the multiple choice section of the mid semester test and Question 2 of final examination 2/3 of major assignment s marks are for presentation and written content During workshops and tutorials Weight -ing Summary of teaching and learning activities to develop objectives 1% Lecture 1 includes: - the Accounting Standard development process and the main areas of accountant employment. - a section on accounting ethics and how they impact on practice. These themes are developed further in Week 2 tutorial. 13.3% The major assignment is a report to a client that is expected to be presented in a professional manner. Detailed 10% guidelines are provided to assist students in the preparation of the report. Workshops and tutorials involve communicating results to a group of people. Figure 1: Excerpts from the Graduate Quality grid developed for Accounting, Decisions and Accountability HERDSA Annual International Conference, Melbourne, July

4 Feast, Kokkinn, Medlin & Frangiosa The grid also assisted the team in developing appropriate tertiary literacy skills. For example, one of the changes required students to pass up written work each week in their tutorial classes for assessment. This requirement provides students with the opportunity to develop and improve the literacy skills pertinent to accounting by giving them practice in writing like an accountant. Tertiary literacy and numeracy To be recognised as having the Graduate Qualities of the UniSA graduates need to display the tertiary literacy skills peculiar to their discipline so that they operate as members of their discourse community (Swales 1990). They need to be familiar with the social uses and practices of academic writing peculiar to that discipline. They also need to have adopted the values and meanings attached to tertiary literacy and to understand how the uses and practices operate to maintain power bases (Freebody and Luke 1990; Barton 1994; Baynham 1995; Burns & Joyce 1993; Liddicoat 1996). Being literate further needs to be examined in the context of the university or other higher education institutions and the sub-contexts of the learning environments that operate within that institution (Tickoo 1994). To be literate in the discipline of Accounting will be different from Economics or Education and may in some ways differ between different Schools of Accounting in different universities. A clear understanding of the specific literacy requirements needs to be developed among students as part of their learning experience (Burns & Joyce 1993). In particular, students from historically marginalised groups need explicit teaching more than students who seem destined for a comfortable ride into the genres and cultures of power (Cope & Kalantzis 1993:8). Given the diverse student population at the UniSA in ADA, explicit teaching and development of literacies through practice is essential for students to enter the discourse community and to leave the University as graduates with the expected qualities and competencies. The question is what are the valued texts for Accounting? A framework for analysing literacy needs of students enrolled in ADA was developed using two theoretical bases. Firstly, Barton's (1994) definition of literacy as literacy practices drawn on in literacy events provided a useful way of analysing the language of Accounting and through analysis to develop an understanding of how specific language is being used in a specific context for a specific purpose. Secondly the theoretical framework of analysis provided by Freebody and Luke s (1990) model of literacy enabled analysis through four aspects: codebreaker, text participant, text user and text analyst. The analysis indicated that the learning environment in ADA was clearly composed of a series of literacy practices and literacy events. Analysis of balance sheets as a literacy event, for example, helped to explore practices within unfamiliar contexts and to explain the social practices surrounding written texts and focus on specific lexico-grammatical aspects of the language used (Burns & Joyce 1993). What it meant to be a successful codebreaker, text participant, text user and text analyst in ADA also needed to be examined in the social, cultural and ideological context of the particular subject. What was found was that ADA as a first year core subject has its individual culture and discipline-specific academic expectations. Further, the expectations of the subject are determined by the ideological context provided by the particular academic school in the particular university (Tickoo 1996) and by the particular lecturers who designed, delivered and assessed the subject. The fundamental question underpinning the analysis was to identify the level of literacy to be reached in ADA. HERDSA Annual International Conference, Melbourne, July

5 Like literacy, numeracy involves theoretical, social, cultural and ideological issues. Being numerate is being able to situate, interpret, critique and use numbers in context. It is a view that is not objective or value-free (Johnston 1994). Numeracy, like literacy, operates to maintain institutions and power bases, and it is important to know about the ways that the discourse and ideologies of numeracy operate through the language. In ADA, for example, students are required to situate, interpret, critique and use the data in context to meet the specific purposes for which they have been socially constructed. In practice, the way data is used in research findings is specific to the discipline and is often implicit. Johnston (1994:32) provides a five-strand approach to numeracy which has close parallels to literacy approaches: meaning through ritual (code-breaker), meaning through conceptual engagement where the connections are deeper and a pattern is recognised (text participant), meaning through use (text user), meaning through historical and cultural understanding with the view that maths is a social practice and people are active participants in its construction (text user); and meaning through critical engagement when meaning is generated by asking such in whose interest type questions (text analyst). To achieve this critical level of numeracy involves seeking answers to questions like What do we count and not count? Why do we count? Who benefits? (Johnston 1994:34). In an Accounting context, these questions might be "what do we include in the financial accounts and what do we exclude? How do we make these choices? Should we consider social responsibility as well?" Although many students at tertiary level are able to access the norms of their particular discipline through a process of socialisation with very little explicit teaching, many are not, particularly in first year. They, like many non-native speakers learning to produce academic texts for the first time, may need explicit teaching focusing on the forms of the texts they are required to write. Embedded support of this kind has been found to be the most effective model of student learning support because the learning processes are contextualised within the discourse of the discipline (Hicks and George, 1998). This teaching focuses on the relationship between the communicative demands of the discourse community and the language used in composing specialist texts (Liddicoat 1996). Explicit teaching of the assumed literacies when creating balance sheets, for example, might be suitable for these students. Accounting literacy In determining tertiary literacy skills particular to a first year accounting subject, the academic staff involved with coordinating and teaching the subject needed to define what this means in terms of accounting literacy. This partly relied on how the literature defined accounting literacy, however such definitions were neither plentiful nor relevant. In redeveloping their approach to teaching a first year accounting subject the California State University (California State University 1999:1) defined what they believed it meant for a student to be accounting literate: students should be introduced to the role of accounting in a global market economy and to fundamental accounting concepts that underlie the development and communication of information that supports economic decision making. This definition with its emphasis on the decision making role of accounting and the market economy, was seen as too limited. The focus of ADA was much broader than HERDSA Annual International Conference, Melbourne, July

6 Feast, Kokkinn, Medlin & Frangiosa this and so an attempt was made to define accounting literacy. As a starting point, the California State University (1999:1) definition was refined as: students should be introduced to the role of accounting in a variety of economies and to fundamental accounting concepts that underlie the development and communication of information that supports economic decision making and accountability. (Medlin 1999) However, even this definition does not adequately define what the lecturers in ADA perceive accounting literacy to mean. Therefore a more general definition of literacy was applied to the accounting discipline and interpreted according to the academics personal beliefs about this concept. It was these that largely determined the content of the subject and the choice of changes that were implemented. The lecturers coordinating ADA see accounting as the language of business and this view is supported by the choice of textbook used for the subject title (Hoggett and Edwards 1996). Hoggett and Edwards (1996:5) talk about accounting as language that uses word and symbols to communicate financial information that is intended to be useful for decision making. Again the focus is on decision making, but the important point here is that words and symbols are used in a particular way and they are used to communicate financial information. The subject coordinators developed a working definition of accountancy literacy for ADA. They claimed that for a student to be considered literate in accounting they need to be able to participate in the discourse community of business. They need to understand how the accounting conceptual framework and the professionalisation of accounting are used to ensure a method and standard of financial communication. Accounting literacy should therefore empower the student in a business situation to question intelligently, critically analyse and appropriately use the information that accountants prepare. The student should be able to follow and contribute to discussions involving business language and to be aware that, whether by default or by design, this structure also establishes and maintains power. This definition of accounting literacy is reflected in the objectives developed for the subject ADA: 1. Appreciate the role of accounting in society. 2. Understand how individuals and organisations use accounting information. 3. Be able to record accounting data in a systematic manner. 4. Understand, apply and be able to critically analyse, the concepts that underlie the major accounting reports. 5. Be able to prepare and use common financial and management accounting reports. 6. Be able to communicate findings from accounting information. 7. Be able to work together collaboratively to solve accounting problems. As the language of business, accounting enables students to participate in the business discourse community but, as Liddicoat (1996) suggests, some students of ADA may not comprehend the accounting conceptual framework. For example, some students, particularly those who already have experience in the business field will readily grasp that if an element of the financial statements cannot be measured reliably then according to the accounting conceptual framework (AARF 1990) it can not be included in the accounts. Other students will fail to make these links in concepts and the implications for practice and will need explicit guidance. For instance, some students might not grasp, without explicit guidance, that the success of firms is usually judged on their profitability and the accounting conceptual framework encourages behaviour which is not always in the best interests of society. HERDSA Annual International Conference, Melbourne, July

7 Also called to question in ADA are the social uses made of numeracy. The use of budgets is a good example of how those who are accounting literate benefit at the expense of those who are not, and this is reinforced in the budgeting topics. Often when a budget is presented, it is seen by those who are not accounting literate as a fait accompli. Lacking an understanding of accounting language and techniques people accept the budget as presented without question. By teaching students the process by which the budget is developed, the final figures arrived at and the language used to describe the elements within the budget, students are empowered to question the basis of the budgeted figures and their reasonableness. This is one of the many steps made explicit to develop students accounting literacy. Changes in the learning environment arrangements of ADA Given the Graduate Quality frameworks and the identified accounting and tertiary literacies, a number of structural and pedagogical changes were made to embed explicit instruction and practice of skills to meet the academic expectations of this subject. Based on similar changes in the subject Economic Environment (Kokkinn, Head, Feast and Barrett 1998) expectations in ADA have been made explicit to enable students to develop the tertiary literacy and numeracy skills appropriate to the discourse of the discipline of accounting. Explicit signals are situated in the development of the subject, clearly specifying expectations, which provide insights into the ways of making meaning in accounting and enable students to produce the kinds of texts that are valued by the discourse community. These changes and their justifications are detailed below. Structural changes A number of structural changes in the subject were made and included: four clearly identified learning environments: lectures, workshops (held independently of a tutor), tutorials (facilitated by a tutor), and learning activities (including Web-site and Help Desk) a weekly program consisting of two hours of lectures, a one hour of tutor-facilitated Tutorial, a one hour of structured unsupervised Workshop, and Learning Activities where students were expected to work independently. The weekly workload expectations for each learning environment were made clear to students (see Figure 2). Lectures introduced key concepts and principles of accounting and set the learning context. The Workshops and Tutorials were based on concepts presented in the previous lecture and completed work in Workshops and Tutorials was assessed. These provided students with opportunities to talk accounting and to develop their problem solving literacy skills and understanding of concepts. On-line materials, the Help Desk support program and independent materials provided further practice. The sequencing of learning materials was a significant factor in the new structure. This pattern of study differed to the Economics program in that the supervised Workshops and unsupervised Study Groups were held every week following the Workshops. Interestingly, this change (along with other structural and pedagogical changes) has led to improved levels of discussion in tutorials and more in-depth questioning by students. HERDSA Annual International Conference, Melbourne, July

8 Feast, Kokkinn, Medlin & Frangiosa LEARNING WEEK 1 WEEK 2 WEEK 3 WEEK 4 ACTIVITY LECTURE Lecture Topic 1 Lecture Topic 2 Lecture Topic 3 READING & LEARNING ACTIVITIES Activities Topic 1 Activities Topic 2 Activities Topic 3 WORKSHOP Case Study Topic 1 Case Study Topic 2 TUTORIAL Tutorial Topic 1 Tutorial Topic 2 WEB SITE Answers Topic 1 HELP DESK Any Topic Figure 2: Links between learning environments in Accounting, Decisions and Accountability Detailed changes to structure Workshop An unsupervised workshop one hour prior to tutorials was introduced for students to work in groups of five on a case study question. This served the purposes of increasing student s time on task and encouraging them to work collaboratively in groups (as per the Graduate Qualities framework) which also strengthened relationships among group members. Tutorials In the past, tutors have been given little direction or clarification of the expectations of how to conduct tutorials. Tutor induction in Orientation Week was a way to clarify the aims and nature of the tutorials: these being to encourage more student group work and use fewer teacher-centred techniques. This induction also provided an opportunity to outline subject changes. HERDSA Annual International Conference, Melbourne, July

9 A Week One tutorial was also introduced thus bringing this subject in line with the other Division Core subjects. Tutors were able to organise students into groups of five for Workshops and to explain the UniSA Graduate Qualities and how they benefit the students. It also provided an opportunity for students to get to know other members, thus improving interaction in subsequent tutorials. Emphasis in tutorials has shifted to assist students to understand the processes leading to solutions rather than the tutorial answers themselves which can easily be located on the subject web site. Tutorial answers are available on the web for a week. This encourages students to be more active and reinforce time on task on a regular basis. This may encourage students to reflect on their tutorial answers from the previous week. Partial answers have been given for tutorial questions in Hint Boxes. By providing numbers such as trial balance figures, students will know if they are correct before attending the tutorial. This could encourage more independent learning as they can reflect and review their work as well as attempting to identify errors themselves. In the past students were assessed at three randomly selected weeks on tutorial exercises. Weekly workshop and tutorial answers are now marked for completeness rather than accuracy. Each group within the tutorial submits a folder with their case study answer and a copy of each member s tutorial preparation. Where students were not able to answer a question an explanation is expected. Again this is seen as a way to encourage time on task and independent learning. Help desk A parallel support program had not been offered alongside ADA prior to the subject s redevelopment. Initially an adjunct program was offered through the Student Support Centre as a means of developing learning skills for students who were experiencing difficulties with the subject. However, it soon became evident that students wanted additional content based information from these sessions. In response to this, Help Desk sessions were introduced on a bi-weekly basis. The advantage of these sessions was that students saw them as a less threatening alternative to seeing a lecturer on a one-to-one basis. Additional benefits were that students realised they were not the only ones experiencing difficulties in the subject and these sessions provided a chance to learn through other s questioning. The Help Desk sessions also gave staff the additional opportunity to clarify expectations. Examination Some modifications were made to the timing and content of assessment. Modifications to the overall learning environment have meant that the focus has changed from teaching accounting topics to one of providing opportunities for making explicit the learning processes for developing accounting literacy. Students learned through explicit guidance and practice to speak, read and write accounting. Changes to materials and strategies Specific changes to materials and strategies included specific guidelines about learning in the Study Guide, a case study, assignment details and the subject information booklet. HERDSA Annual International Conference, Melbourne, July

10 Feast, Kokkinn, Medlin & Frangiosa Study guide The initial entry to ADA was clearly marked with the expectations of the subject which the lecturers made explicit. The way the subject was structured was clearly identified clearly for students who were provided with details as in Figure 3 below. LEARNING ACTIVITIES FOR WEEK 2 Read Subject Information Booklet, note important contents and dates 1.0 hour Read Subject Guide and familiarise yourself with its layout 1.0 hour Visit the web site and familiarise yourself with its contents and copy the case study 1.0 hour Required reading for week hours Attend lecture 2.0 hours Review your lecture notes 1.0 hour Attend Tutorial (no preparation required) 1.0 hour Prepare the week 2 tutorial answers to be covered during tutorials in week hours (make a copy to be handed up at the start of week 3 tutorial) Prepare the week 2 case study to be covered during workshops in week hour 13.5 hours Figure 3: Excerpt from study guide Other explicit guidelines were provided for students to indicate ways in which to develop literacy skills in Accounting as guided questions and suggestions provided in Hint Boxes for the work in Tutorials. The Hint Boxes (see Figure 4) provided suggestions for approaching the questions and places to seek help with answers. These were aimed at providing guidelines and hints which would remove the possible learning barriers that often occur when students are focused on tasks. They also provided the support necessary for independent study prior to the tutorial. Hint Box 1 Questions for Review - 1, 2, 4, 6, 11 and 12 When answering Questions for Review attempt to put the answers in your own words instead of just copying out the text. This helps to test your understanding of the concepts and makes them easier to remember. Discussion Questions - 1 In answering Discussion Question 1 attempt to frame your answer in terms of figure 1.1 on page 5 of Reading 1. Exercises 1.4 and 1.7 If you have difficulty with Exercise 1.4 begin by jotting down random points and then try and sort them into logical order. Frame your answer to Exercise 1.7 using figure 1.1. Use store brochures (often found in your letter box or inserted in the Sunday Mail) or newspaper advertisements for information on available models and their features. Figure 4: Hint Box HERDSA Annual International Conference, Melbourne, July

11 Case study A newly developed continuing case study forms the basis of the work undertaken in workshops. The Case Study provides a common thread for students to follow through out the subject. It not only demonstrates how each topic impacts on the story of someone setting up a business, but also illustrates the topics practical nature and how it could apply to all students studying ADA, not just those majoring in accounting. Assignment Previously the completed major assignment was due after the mid semester break. It is now submitted in two parts and on two different dates. Part 1, which is an appendix on the assignment and includes a horizontal, vertical and ratio analysis and is due in Week 9 and Part 2, a completed report, interpreting the results is due in Week 11. The correct answer to Part 1 is available on the web at the end of Week 9. This change occurred in response to a Student Focus Group who stated that although assessed in weeks 5 and 10, students tended to ignore the subject in between due to the pressure of other subjects. Dividing the assignment into two parts encourages more appropriate timing and effort. Providing the analysis section on the web allows students to interpret the same results which assists their understanding and reduces the effect of an accumulation of mark losses. Being a group assignment (of up to three people) encourages collaborative work and also reduces the marking load for tutors. The choice of group size avoids disadvantaging external or part time students who may not have the same opportunities to meet with groups. A copy of the marking outline for the assignment is included in the Subject Information Booklet further clarifying expectations. Subject Information Booklet The University s Graduate Qualities have been linked to subject objectives in Subject Information Booklet. This has provided an opportunity to reflect on the objectives of the subject and how the teaching and assessment methods encourage the achievement of these objectives as well as developing the Graduate Qualities of the UniSA. The Subject Study Guide now provides an outline of the work for each week of the semester, thus encouraging time on task and clarifying expectations. Feedback in 1998 suggested that many students were only doing 2-3 hours of independent study whereas the expected time commitment is from 8 to 12.5 hours per week. Preliminary findings The preliminary evaluation of the changes to ADA are based on feedback from the nineteen tutors involved in teaching the subject, student focus groups and general student comments to the academic staff. The formal feedback will include the Student Evaluation Questionnaires and final results for all pieces of assessment. A questionnaire to students repeating ADA will also be completed. Informal reports from the tutors indicate that they are able to spend more time to go into more detail and provide theoretical depth in answering questions. An initial look of the Student Evaluation Questionnaires suggests that students may have increased their time on task outside of class time from an average of 2 to 3 hours in prior years to 3 to 4 HERDSA Annual International Conference, Melbourne, July

12 Feast, Kokkinn, Medlin & Frangiosa hours per week this year. Together with the introduction of the unsupervised workshops, this suggests that students have increased their time on the subject by approximately 2 hours per week or about thirty percent. Although the average time spent on the subject is still much less than the suggested 12 hours per week, including class time, the change represents a significant improvement. The results of the evaluation will be published at a later date. References Allen, R. & Rochecouste, J. 1997, Intervention in Tertiary Writing TESOL in Context, Vol.7, no.2 pp Australian Accounting Research Foundation (AARF) 1990 Statement of Accounting Concepts 2. Barton, D. 1994, The social impact of literacy. In L. Verhoeven (ed.) Functional literacy. Theoretical issues and educational implications. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Baynham, M. 1995, Literacy Practices: Investigating literacy in social contexts. London: Longman pp1-37. Burns, A. & Joyce H. 1993, Spoken language: Its relationship to literacyin S. McConnell and A. Treloar (eds). Voices of experience: A professional development package for adult literacy and workplace literacy teachers. Volume 2: Positions on literacy theories and practices. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. California State University, Chicos FIPSE Homepage, [Online, last accessed 31 May 1999]. URL: Cope, B. & Kalantzis M. (eds.) 1993, The Powers of Literacy. London: The Falmer Press:1-21. Feast, V., Barrett, S., Head, M. & Kokkinn, B. 1998, The Janus Approach: Gateways, Beacons and Learning Loops. The Third Pacific Rim Conference, 5-8 th July, Auckland. Freebody, P. & Luke, A. 1990, Literacies Programs: Debates and demands in cultural context. Prospect, 5,3:7-16. Henderson, S. 1997, Tertiary Education: What to teach? How to teach it? Australian Accountant, 1996, pp 16-18, October. Hicks, M. & George, R. 1998, A Strategic Perspective on Approaches to Students Learning Support at the University of South Australia paper presented at the HERDSA Conference: Transformation in Higher Education, Auckland, New Zealand, 7 10 July. Hoggett, J. & Edwards, L.1996, Accounting in Australia, 3rd edition. Jacaranda Wiley, Milton. Johnston B. 1994, Critical numeracy? Fine Print, Summer:32-35 HERDSA Annual International Conference, Melbourne, July

13 Kokkinn, B., Head, M., Feast, V. & Barrett, S. 1998, Transforming the teaching of Economics: embedding tertiary literacy paper presented at the HERDSA Conference: Transformation in Higher Education, Auckland, New Zealand, 7 10 July. Liddicoat, A. 1996, Communicating with Cultures, Communicating across Cultures, Communicating between Cultures. Academic Communication across Disciplines and Cultures. (Selected proceedings of the First National Conference on Tertiary Literacy: Research and Practice. Melbourne: Victoria University of Technology. Vol.2: Swales, J. 1990, Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. Tickoo M.L. 1994, Approaches to ESP: Arguing a Paradigm Shift in LSP: Problems and Prospects. In Rosemary Khoo (Ed.) LSP: Problems and Prospects, SEAMO Regional Language Centre, Singapore: HERDSA Annual International Conference, Melbourne, July