Determinants of competence development in accounting in upper secondary education

Given the lack of research on predictors of students’ learning success in vocational domains, the present study aims to identify determinants of student competence growth in the subject Accounting. Based on theoretical models (e.g., basic deep structure dimensions of instructional quality, self-enhancement theory, self-determination theory) and related published research, we hypothesized that students’ improvement could be best predicted by their prior knowledge and cognitive abilities, followed by self-concept, cognitive learning strategies, motivational regulations and perceptions of learning environment characteristics. In particular, we aimed to ascertain whether aspects of the learning environment determine student competency development in Accounting, controlling for effects of key student characteristics. By means of threelevel models involving repeated measurements, we analysed data from 487 students (74 % female; aget0: M = 14.40 years, SD = 0.74) from Austrian commercial upper secondary schools in grades 9 through 11. Most of our hypotheses are supported by this data, and thus we could answer our research question as follows: The students’ proficiency in mathematics, their grades from the previous school year, perceived cognitive activation and support from teachers of their basic psychological needs most strongly predicted student initial status and growth in accounting competence. However, against all expectations, cognitive learning strategies and class mean of perceived student-centred instruction were not, or were negatively, related to their competence, which indicates that the latter was perceived more often in low-performing classes. As expected, student intrinsic motivation and academic self-concept were related to competence in accounting. Contradictory to correlation analysis, time spent on learning in class was not significantly related to competence development at any hierarchical level of the multilevel analysis. We discuss our results within the limitations of this present study, and their consequences for teaching practice.