Article Type : Review Article
Authors : Gasva D
Keywords : Factors; Academic performance; Learners; Accounts; Ordinary level
The
purpose of this study was to explore factors that affect the academic
performance of learners in Accounts at Ordinary Level, using the case of
selected secondary schools in Lupane District, Zimbabwe. The study adopted the
qualitative approach and case study design which utilised a sample of
thirty-two (n=32) participants to accomplish the study. Interviews and Document
analysis were used to gather data that were analysed through thematic content
analysis. The major findings of the study were that O-level Accounts students’
academic performance in the area under study was affected by a constellation of
factors. Accordingly, the study concluded that high learner academic
performance was influenced by educators’ high teaching experience in the
subject area, learners’ positive attitudes towards the subject, high level of
parental involvement in children’s learning and students having career
aspirations in relation to the study discipline. Some recommendations were made
for the future and the major one was that O-level Accounts teachers should
regularly participate in staff development programmes as they boost their
pedagogic skills, experience, and confidence in teaching the subject which no
doubt serves to improve learners’ academic performance and success in the
subject area.
Introduction
Low academic achievement in numerical and commercial
subjects such as Accounts, Mathematics and Economics is an issue of great
concern to the public, policy makers, educators, and other interested parties
[1]. This is largely because society believes that knowledge of these subjects is
directly linked to the nation’s competitive economic growth and development.
Accordingly, teachers and students are expected to perform effectively in the
teaching and learning of Accounts so that learners succeed in their study of
the subject and as well make useful contribution to the economy of their
communities and nations. The Republic of Zimbabwe (RoZ) is in a state of
economic recovery and requires young people with basic skills in the numerical
and commercial subjects so as to promote socio-economic transformation in line
with the country’s National Development Strategy (NDS) 2021-2025 and Vision
2030. This means that the nation should have schools and students who perform
well in such subject areas as a necessary grounding for take-off to economic
growth and sustainability. Before the attainment of independence in Zimbabwe in
1980, African education was mainly dominated by a watered-down curriculum,
where subjects like communication skills, gardening, cookery, home-craft, among
others, were the mainstay of African curriculum. With the attainment of
independence, the curriculum was revamped to meet the socio-economic and
political needs of society and the nation at large [2]. From that perspective,
Accounts became one of the secondary school subjects on which emphasis was put
in order to develop a strong commercial base within the country. This is in
line with the thrust of the Zimbabwe School Curriculum Policy of 2002 which is
geared towards the establishment of a strong scientific, numerical, and commercial
base for socio-economic growth and development (Secretary’s Circular No 3 of
2002). In order to meet this target, school subjects that promote this national
agenda are now recommended as subjects of choice at O-level and A-level in
Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, developments in education in Zimbabwe have been
fraught with challenges such as low pass rates which are commonly high in the
scientific, numerical, and commercial subjects, yet such subjects are
considered as key drivers of industrial growth and development. In a number of
studies cited by the Zimbabwe MoPSE, such subjects have been noted as the
bedrock and an indispensable tool for scientific, technological, and economic
advancement of any nation. The poor performance in such subjects by most students
at O-level in particular implies that the country still has a long way to go
before meeting the country’s economic target. There is a lot of national debate
going on, on how to foster improved knowledge and performance in these said
subjects particularly so for students in rural secondary schools that are
generally under-resourced, and communities impoverished. Educators and
researchers have long been interested in exploring variables contributing to
the performance of secondary school learners in different subjects. Notably,
such variables are generally inside and outside the school and classroom; and
affect students’ academic achievement either directly or indirectly. It is
against this backdrop that the current study sought to interrogate the major
factors that affect the academic performance of learners in Accounts at O-level
within the area under study.
Accounts in one of the most important school subjects
for daily economic routines and occupational success, especially in a country
like Zimbabwe that targets to be an industrialized middle-income economy
through its Vision 2030. Unfortunately, many O-level products are failing to
take up their career choices in accounting because they have not passed
Accounts at this level. Colleges and universities demand that one has passed
Accounts in addition to Mathematics at O-level in order to qualify to study for
an accounting programme, such as a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting. The
problem at stake is that the general performance of O-level secondary school
students in Accounts in Lower Gweru district in Zimbabwe is very low compared
to most subject areas; a scenario which may be similar in a number of secondary
schools in rural Zimbabwe. This is a cause of concern for many stakeholders,
with many parents having gone to the extent of engaging part-time teachers to
provide their children with extra lessons in O-level Accounts as a way of
mitigating the continued failure and lack of interest in the subject.
This study was guided by the following specific
objectives:
§ To
assess the effect of teachers’ teaching experience on learner performance in O-
level Accounts.
§ To
assess the effect teacher-learner attitudes towards students’ academic
performance in O-level Accounts.
§ To
determine how parental involvement has an effect on learner performance in O
level Accounts.
§ To
ascertain if learners’ career aspirations have any influence on their
performance in O level Accounts.
It is considered that the study will have significance
to a number of stakeholders and institutions. Firstly, the study will help the
school management and Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education’s Quality
Assurance Unit to take appropriate and corrective action towards the teaching
and learning of O-level Accounts as a way of fostering improvement in learner
performance in the subject area. Secondly, it is likely to help secondary
schools to better understand teacher and learner perceptions on the importance
of Accounts which may encourage the school to motivate the learners to
appreciate the significance of passing Accounts at O-level. Thirdly, it is
expected that students will do a self-introspection and consider the factors
affecting their own performance in Accounts so that they may be guided on how
to overcome the negative factors and utilise the positive ones. Fourthly, since
industries are generally worried about profit and loss issues and would want to
recruit the most productive employees with appropriate O-level subjects
including Accounts, this study could shed light on how schools and employers
may network and work hand in glove so as to produce the best would-be
employees. Fifthly, the study will be of benefit to educational researchers as it
will open more research gaps for the future or opportunities for improving
learner performance in Accounts at O-level.
The effect of teaching experience on learners’ academic performance in Accounts at O-level
From an educational perspective, it is generally
assumed that teachers’ teaching experience has an important effect on learners’
academic performance. Teachers’ experience which is largely determined by the
training that teachers go through, and the duration of their teaching,
significantly determines their effectiveness in teaching. The same source says
that teaching experience is frequently included as a variable in educational
research, with its impact on academic performance being noted. Teachers with
few years of teaching experience are generally considered less likely to teach
effectively while those with a reasonable number of years in the teaching
profession to those with high teaching experience are considered more likely to
teach effectively resulting in better academic performance by learners. Is of
the view that a successful teaching experience is an important variable within
the teaching and learning process, particularly in relation to learner
performance [3]. Thus, teaching experience will enable the Accounts teacher to
acquire certain commendable characteristics such as improved knowledge of
subject matter and its pedagogics. In addition, an experienced teacher is
capable of promptness, adaptability, efficiency, utilising appropriate
techniques of arousing and maintaining learner interest, ensuring adequacy and
appropriateness of instructional materials and the ability to face the class
with confidence, which all result in better academic performance in the subject
area. Most experienced teachers having interacted with the subject matter for a
while and having had classroom experiences for a longer time are likely to have
a positive impact on student performance and achievement. As noted by several
related studies in the USA found a positive relationship between years of
teacher experience and student performance, particularly test scores [4]. They
concluded that teaching experience was a crucial factor in determining
learners’ academic performance, as the experienced teacher, unlike the
inexperienced, knew the ‘tricks of the job’ which make learners perform better,
including those learners with special learning needs. Similarly, the UTD Texas
schools project data showed that students of experienced teachers attained
significantly higher levels of scores than did students of new teachers. In an
analysis of school academic performance, achievement and drop out in a sample
of California high schools, the same source also found out that schools whose
pass rate was high were taught by well experienced teachers particularly in
scientific subjects. On the other hand, those with poor pass rate and high
dropout rates, had newer and inexperienced teachers.
Views attitudes as positive or negative feelings or
thoughts that an individual holds about objects, persons, or ideas. Attitudes
are generally acquired through experiences in the environment and learned in
much the same way as skills and habits [5]. Many educators agree that attitudes
play an important role in the teaching and learning of a subject and Accounts
is not an exception. This implies that the success or failure by learners in
any school subject is somehow affected by attitudes, directly or indirectly
[6]. As learners develop through the different phases of schooling, they become
increasingly aware of different subject matter and this awareness clearly
affects the growth of their attitude towards a subject area. These attitudes are, however, not just
learner-centred, as teachers also have to deal with their own attitude as they
are faced with a number of problems that frustrate their efforts to teach a
subject effectively and efficiently. Accounts teachers for example, put in
extra effort to improve Accounts instruction and thus learner performance, but
when national examination results are released, performance may be poor. This
obviously discourages such teachers, resulting in some developing negative
attitudes towards the subject. Unemployment has also forced some people into
the teaching profession. Consequently, teachers, who are not in the profession
by choice, are not committed hence, easily develop negative attitudes towards a
subject especially if its teaching is beset with some challenges. This
unfortunately negatively affects learner performance in the subject, and
Accounts is not an exception. study also suggested that the student’s attitude
towards a subject is dependent on his or her level of understanding and
confidence in that subject, which is also influenced by the teacher’s level of
self-confidence when teaching the subject. Thus, students’ level of confidence
and performance in Accounts will largely depend on how confident and effective
the teacher delivers Accounts lessons. Concur with that students taught by
teachers with positive attitudes towards their work particularly the subjects
they teach, who are friendly to students and approachable by the students
concerning subject matters, are more likely to develop positive attitudes
themselves, which also tends to enhance their performance and achievement. It
is important that teachers understand the attitudes of their students towards
Accounts because by so doing, they will help them develop a positive attitude
towards the subject. This is a very important ingredient in desirable
performance in any subject including Accounts at O-level or any other level. On
the other hand, students who develop a negative attitude towards a subject such
as Accounts may also cause the teacher to be discouraged as the learners show
no commitment to learning the subject. Thus, students’ negative attitude
towards Accounts lessons will make them perceive it as either a useless or
difficult subject that also wastes lots of their study time. Apart from these
opinions, other action tendencies that reflect negative learner attitudes
towards Accounts include absenteeism, coming to class late, sleeping during the
lesson, not participating during lessons and so on. Students like any other
person, can develop positive attitudes towards a subject through approval,
being made to feel capable and important, secure, and independent. When these
needs are met, a student is likely to develop an interest in any activity,
including the learning of Accounts. Thus, teachers are the most important
agents that can influence students’ attitude towards Accounts or any other
subject for that matter. Negative verbal comments by the teacher towards
students during lessons can discourage them, hence leading to students
developing negative attitudes towards the subject. Utilising practical
activities in the teaching and learning of Accounts often motivates students,
thereby helping them to develop positive attitudes towards the subject.
Assert that parental involvement has long been
identified as a contributory factor in enhancing student success at school.
Various types of parental participation in schools include, among others,
communication with child’s teachers and by attendance at parent-teacher
meetings, attending school presentations by pupils, attending school events or
activities related to other altruistic activities in the school and
volunteering at school. Parent involvement can also be by way of reading activities
at home, assisting a child with homework, or communicating with a child about
learning experiences at school. Based on the researcher’s long experience as an
educationist, it is a given fact that learner performance and achievement
largely depend on the nature of communication between the school and the
parents, especially as it fosters parental involvement in their children’s
studies. Parents feel involved in the activities of the school particularly
their children’s progress and involve themselves more because they are aware
that the progress of the school constitutes their children’s achievement.
Educationists generally believe that primary and secondary schools in Zimbabwe
and elsewhere will function well and effectively due to the relationship that
the school has forged with the parents. In that regard, parental involvement
plays an important role in the learners’ academic performance because the
school and parents share the responsibility for learners’ learning and success.
Parents are encouraged to take an active role in their children’s learning in
order to support the work of teachers. For example, the South African School
Act 84 of 1996 emphasises parental involvement in the education of their
children. According to the same Act, the school governing body of a public
school must promote the best interests of the school and strive to ensure its
development through the provision of quality education for all learners at
school. The School-Parent Compact (SPC), is a legislation that was introduced through
the same Act to encourage schools to reach out to parents by implementing
practices that support strong parent participation such as flexible scheduling
of home-school programmes including conferences. The compact recognizes that
families and schools need to work together towards mutual goals and that they
share responsibilities for every student’s academic performance. Thus, the
South African Schools Act 1996 emphasizes that an educator recognizes that an
educational institution serves the community. Section 20 of SASA No. 84 of
1996, lists a number of duties to be performed by the governing bodies of
schools in collaboration with parents. However, it must be noted that, even
under these circumstances, there are a number of factors affecting learner academic
performance; with the level of involvement by parents being one of the major
factors. Some of the factors affecting the extent to which participation in
school governance takes place, particularly in rural areas; are financial
backgrounds of the parents, the literacy level of parents and the distance that
parents travel to school . All things being equal, parents have an obligation
to carry out their responsibilities successfully in order to support their
children’s education without any excuses. Failure by the parents to carry out
this obligation would have a negative impact on the child’s learning, success,
and future life in industry. Postulates that the parental illiteracy is one of
the key negative factors contributing to lack of parental involvement in school
matters, particularly parental involvement in learner activities. At secondary
school level, such non-involvement of parents in their children’s schoolwork
including homework, has a negative impact on learner performance and success as
the affected child will go about his or her learning business without any
support from home, which is detrimental if the learner is facing challenges in
studying a subject, such as Accounts.
Several studies indicate that learners’ career
aspiration to some extent influence their scholastic performance. This is easy
to understand when one recognises that education is thought as a preparation
for the future. On this basis, it implies that students' present learning is
influenced by their future plans and aspirations. A student whose aspiration is
to become an Accountant will work hard to achieve in the accounting subject
areas while one who aspires to be an architect or engineer will work hard in
sciences in order to achieve his or her career goal. Therefore, learners’
future aspirations to take up an accounting-related job will have a big bearing
on their performance in Accounts. It is considered that students who plan for
higher education and aspire for it perform better than students who do not have
such plans but find themselves studying at that level. In fact, many studies
suggest that young people with higher educational ambitions have greater
motivation and higher educational attainment levels than their peers.
Undeniably, the relationship between educational outcomes and academic
ambitions seems to be a complex but a realistic one. Ambition thus, can both be
a predictor of educational performance and achievement and an outcome of it,
and might be influenced by self-efficacy, personal traits, experiences, and
mediating family factors [7]. Individual learners’ aspirations and ambitions
are considered important because they generally influence key choices and
indicators as well as outcomes such as educational performance and achievement
as well as future career success.
Research approach and design
This study employed the qualitative research approach
which enabled the researcher to collect information from the respondents in
their natural settings as the researcher was physically in the study area and
collected data directly from the respondents [8,9]. The approach sought to
describe and analyse the cultural and behaviour of participants from the point
of view of those being studied. In this approach, flexibility was experienced
which allowed the discovery of unexpected and in-depth information relating to
the research problem. For example, in finding out the effect of learner
attitudes on academic performance, the researcher interviewed O-level students
who had dropped the subject of Accounts who were willing to share information
on the basis for their attitudes towards the subject. This study adopted a case
study research design which is also referred to as a “naturalistic” design
[10-12] describes a case study as a detailed, intensive analysis of a
particular event, situation, organisation, or social unit bounded by space and
time. It is an in-depth investigation of contemporary phenomenon within its
real-life context, with a defined space and time frame. There were several
benefits of adopting a case study design in terms of research processes and
outcomes. For this study, the case study design helped the researcher to focus
within the confines of the defined space, which were secondary schools. The
boundaries set made it possible to identify essential factors, processes, and
relationships relating to factors that affect the academic performance of
learners in Accounts at O -level within the study area. In harmony with Patton
(2012) and [13], the researcher’s choice of the case study design gave him an
opportunity to have an in-depth look and to collect different kinds of data
from the schools did not separate the researcher from the participants of the
study, hence, the researcher got first-hand and rich data regarding the
research problem.
The population of the study comprised of O-level
Accounts learners (and former students of the subjects), teachers and parents
as these were the targeted groups. Purposive sampling, which involved selecting
a particular or targeted sample aimed at giving specific and purposive
information was utilised [14, 15]. The researcher used this sampling strategy
to help him to reach out to the targeted participants. This was done to select
key informants with in-depth knowledge of the research problem. The key
informants were selected to get the most informed viewpoints on factors
affecting learner academic performance in the subject area. The reason for
using purposive sampling was that these participants were the only ones with
the specific information needed to accomplish the study. Accordingly, a sample
size of 32 (n=32), which comprised of 20 O-level Accounts learners, 5 teachers,
5 parents, and 2 school heads was preferred. In addition to being the primary
medium of data generation through the ‘researcher as a research instrument
concept’, the study employed face-to-face interviews and document analysis to
generate data from the field. Use of more than one research instrument was
meant to have them complement each other in terms of their strengths and
weaknesses [16]. For interviews, both closed and open-ended questions were
employed in order to allow participants to express their opinions fully and
flexibly. The major advantage of the interviews is that the researcher was able
to explain further the research questions that the interviewees did not
understand, and participants were able to elaborate in depth in areas of
interest while their body language meant to emphasize certain issues were also
easily captured. In addition, face-to-face interviews also enabled the
capturing of verbal and non-verbal cues; including body language of
participants and also indicated a level of enthusiasm on the part of specific
participants for the topics which were being discussed in the interview.
Document analysis involved deriving information by carefully studying school
written documents or visual information from reputable sources in this case
attendance registers, school files and individual progress record books for
O-level Accounts [17,18]. Document analysis was, therefore, used to obtain some
information on learners’ previous academic performance in the subject area.
The following were the major findings of the study:
§ All
educator participants, namely the Accounts teachers and school heads (100%)
were of the view that teaching experience greatly affects leaners’ academic
performance and achievement, and O level Accounts is not an exception. By
acknowledging this, the educators gave the impression that an Accounts teacher
with high teaching experience was the best in as much as promoting high
academic performance among learners was concerned, which agrees with the
assertion that ‘experience is the best teacher’. On the other hand, it also
meant that an Accounts teacher with low or without any teaching experience is
most likely not capable of promoting high learner performance in the subject
area. This, therefore, illustrates that teachers’ experience is an important
educational factor that should be seriously taken into consideration when
implementing strategies to enhance learner performance in any subject area
including O-level Accounts.
§ It
is unfortunate to note that most of the O-level Accounts students (55%) had
negative attitudes towards the subject while only 35% had positive attitudes.
The possible reason for the positive attitude by some learners is that the
subject was interesting, and they were also capable in the subject. On the
other hand, the negative attitude could be the assumption by learners that
Accounts is a difficult and not interesting subject compared to other subjects,
which agrees with reviewed literature that says that students generally enjoy
and succeed in learning subjects that are interesting and in which they are
capable. The findings of this study are a cause for concern considering that
negative attitudes towards O-level Accounts by learners were noted to outweigh
the positive attitudes towards the subject. This means that most O level
Accounts students in the study area are most likely to perform badly in the
subject which has a negative bearing on the school pass rate of the subject in
the Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council (ZIMSEC).
§ It
is shocking to note that as many as 65% of the parent participants were not
involved at all in their children’s learning of Accounts at O level. A total of
25% of the parents were partly involved while only 10% was fully involved. This
agrees with reviewed literature that reveals that parental involvement has long
been identified as an important contributory factor in enhancing learner
participation and success at both primary and secondary school level. Various
types of parental involvement included communication with the child’s teachers,
attendance at parent-teacher meetings, attending school presentations by
pupils, attending school events or activities related to other altruistic
activities in the school. Thus, parents can help and inspire their children in
their education which can also improve their performance in O-level Accounts.
§ From
the study, the majority of O-level Accounts students (75%) indicated that they
would opt for other subjects other than Accounts at university or college while
only 25% would prefer pursuing the subject further at tertiary level. The
researcher noted that this isn’t an encouraging situation since one would have
expected that O-level Accounts students have developed interest in the subject
such that they would like to pursue it further and even take accounting as
their career of choice. Findings also indicate that the majority of the
learners (65%) were not willing to become secondary school Accounts teachers
while only 35% were willing. This is quite a sad scenario since it simply shows
that most of the students were not motivated to be like their Accounts teacher.
Related literature revealed that secondary school students who had plans for
higher education and related occupational plans performed better than students
who did not have such plans, hence, students who had no aspirations in the
field of Accounts in the studied area were a cause for concern as this had
negative implications for their academic performance.
It was interesting to note that O-level Accounts
students’ academic performance in the area under study was affected by a
constellation of factors. These factors included teacher’s level of experience
in teaching the subject, learners’ attitudes towards the subject, level of
parental involvement in their children’s learning and whether or not students
had career aspirations in relation to Accounts as a discipline. Accordingly,
the study concluded that high learner academic performance was influenced by
educators’ high teaching experience in Accounts, learners’ positive attitudes
towards Accounts, high level of parental involvement in children’s learning and
students having career aspirations in relation to Accounts as a discipline.
Based on the findings, the following recommendations
were made for the future:
§ O-level
Accounts teachers should regularly participate in staff development programmes
which can be in the form of short courses, workshops, and seminars. This would
possibly boost teachers’ pedagogic skills, experience, and confidence in teaching
the subject as they would acquire better teaching methods, approaches and
strategies for effective teaching and learning of Accounts. This will no doubt
improve learners’ academic performance and achievement in the subject area.
§ To
improve learners’ attitude towards Accounts, it is recommended that proper
guidance and counselling on the subject should be given to them. Role models
and speakers should be invited to schools to talk to the students on the
importance and significance of Accounts in the real world of work (industry)
and people’s daily lives.
§ School
Development Committees (SDC) should come up with ways for positive
reinforcement such as provision of prizes and other incentives for students who
show interest, commitment, and improved performance in Accounts at O-level.
§ O-level
Accounts teachers should motivate their students by providing quality education
through making their teaching interesting and effective [19]. Teachers should
always give positive and encouraging feedback to learners during Accounts
lessons as a way of encouraging learners including slow learners to perform
better [20-22].
§ In
order to encourage parents to be involved in school matters concerning the
teaching and learning of Accounts, it is recommended that schools arrange
regular parents’ meetings and involve them as much as possible in school
activities such as consultation days, sporting days, funny-fare days and so on.
§ Parents
should be regularly informed about their children’s progress in O-level
Accounts based on continuous learner assessment in line with the Zimbabwean
Updated Curriculum. Individual parents may also be consulted where their
child’s performance in the subject becomes a cause for concern.