Teaching and Learning Accounting

1
Teaching and Learning Accounting Finance
Comparison between UK and China

• Mingzhu Wang
• March 2009

2
Background

• The UK is the second largest host of Chinese
  students studying abroad after the US.
• Each year, around 5000 Chinese students are
  studying in the UK universities.
• Accounting and finance seems to be one of Chinese
  students favourite choices in the UK.
• Differences in learning and teaching accounting
  and finance between the UK and China.

3
Professional Education in the UK

• Professional education in accounting has a long
  history in the UK, which could be traced back to
  the initially in-house training in 18th century.
• The Institute of Chartered Accountants of
  Scotland ( ICAS ) established in 1854, is the
  world's first professional body of accountants.
• The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England
  and Wales (ICAEW) is a world-class professional
  accountancy body.
• The Association of Chartered Certified
  Accountants (ACCA) is now a global body for
  professional accountants.
• Chartered Institute of Management Accountant
  (CIMA) established in 1919 has grown to become
  one of the largest international accountancy
  bodies.
• Universities provide accounting and finance
  programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate
  levels, which give accreditation towards ACCA or
  CIMA.

4
Professional Education in China

• Education in accounting and finance only
  progressed significantly in 1990s after the
  economic reform in China.
• Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountant
  (CICPA) established in 1988 is the accounting
  professional body in China. CICPA is using US
  GAAP.
• Universities in China started to provide
  accounting and finance programs in 1990s. A few
  of them provide accreditation to ACCA.
• There has been a shortage of accounting and
  finance teachers with professional qualification
  or doctorates degree.

5
Comparison in Degree Structure (1 year)
6
Comparison in Degree Structure (2 year)
7
Comparison in Degree Structure (3 year)
8
Comparison in Degree Structure (4 year)
9
Differences in the Degree Structure

• UK
• Combined degree
• (accounting and finance,
• accounting and business, etc.)
• Flexible structure with more elective modules
• Practical Orientated
• Elective dissertation

• China
• Separate degree
• (accounting, finance, etc.)
• Fixed structure (students can get the degree if
  they passed all the compulsory modules)
• Theoretic Orientated
• Compulsory dissertation

10
Comparison in the Teaching Approach

• UK
• Combined (Lecture, seminar, workshop, etc.)
• Detailed module guide
• Broad reading list
• Used to praise students
• Questioning during lectures

• China
• Lecture dominated
• Brief outline of topics
• Focus on a particular text book
• (Proverb A good text book is enough to
  learn a subject)
• Use to criticise students
• (Proverb Praise will spoil students while
  criticism will improve them)
• Questioning after lectures

11
Comparison in the Assessment

• UK
• Combined assessment
• (exam, project, presentation, etc.)
• Teamwork
• Critical thinking
• Plagiarism

• China
• Exam dominated
• Individual work
• Memorizing and reciting
• (Proverb youll become a poet if you can
  recite 300 poems)
• Plagiarism is less strict in student essays,
  although it rules the same as in the UK for
  published papers or books.

12
Comparison in the Student Learning

• UK
• Independent (modules choice)
• A variety of learning approaches
• Presenting
• International learning environment
• International students
• International staffs

• China
• Dependent (learning community)
• Strategic learning
• Silent reflecting
• (Proverb half bottle of water makes louder
  noise)
• National learning environment
• Few international students
• Visiting international staffs only available for
  postgraduates.

13
Major Problems Encountered by Chinese Students

• Independence
• Incompetence in English
• The problems Chinese students encounter in
  English speaking in the UK higher education
  settings have been studied by Chan and Drover
  (1997) and Valimaa (1998)
• Cultural conflict
• Relationship with teachers
• Way of thinking

14
What we can do as teachers?

• Be aware of the cultural difference
• Be aware of international students incompetence
  in English. Do not take it for granted that
  international students understand some basic
  terminologies used in our teaching.
• Differentiate deliberate plagiarism and the
  plagiarism caused by lack of confidence in
  English.
• Give international students some transition
  period to get used to the UK teaching.
• Encourage group discussions among international
  students who are used to reflect silently or shy
  to express their opinions.