Coping with COVID-19: a reflection on learning challenges and coping strategies – the case of an accounting conversion masters degree in New Zealand

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to document both, the challenges faced by a cohort of postgraduate students undertaking capstone research projects in an Accounting Conversion Master Degree Programme (ACMP), and the strategies used by teachers in response to those challenges during the COVID-19 lockdown period. Design/methodology/approach Written communications originating from students were analysed to identify areas of difficulties faced by them. These communications were thematically grouped and reflected upon through the lens of constructivist and behaviourist perspectives of learning. Findings The study found that students were severely challenged in sense-making with conceptual, application and judgement-related issues and understanding of the administrative requirements of the module. Innovative strategies used by teachers to resolve each of these issues were documented. While some strategies can be replicated in future periods, some are not sustainable as they have ramifications on other aspects of teaching and learning. Originality/value There are no known studies in this genre, conducted especially during a pandemic period.

Accounting education in a Latin American country during COVID-19: proximity at a distance

“…One is that instructors are one of the avenues of research identified in the emergent literature (Sangster et al, 2020, p. 446). The second is that instructors are less studied than student experiences (Ali et al, 2020;Bowyer, 2021;Dyki et al, 2021;Malan, 2020;Pasion et al, 2021;Ramachandra and Wells, 2021). Furthermore, the Sangster et al ( 2020) study looks at 45 countries but greatly compressed the space available for lessons learned (Fogarty, 2020, p. 563).…”

“…The COVID-19 pandemic shook the entire world and forced educators worldwide to adopt online teaching-learning systems (Dhawan, 2020). In accounting education, this has been perceived as a "lockdown" (Othman, 2021;Powell and McGuigan, 2020;Ramachandra and Wells, 2021;Stewart and Khan, 2021), as a "deadly outbreak" (Aji et al, 2020), with different transition cycles of accounting academics (Ackermann, 2021). The generalised response in accounting programmes has been to move from face-to-face training to online training (Reyneke et al, 2020), also called "distance learning" or "remote teaching" (Masoud and Bohra, 2020).…”

“…The group of articles on faculty describes recent teaching experiences (Ackerman, 2021;Beatson et al, 2021;G omez and Alba, 2021;Haynes, 2020;Mai, 2020;Powell and McGuigan, 2020;Stewart and Khan, 2021;Wong and Zhang, 2020) whilst the other group highlights student responses and challenges (Ali et al, 2020;Bowyer, 2021;Dyki et al, 2021;Malan, 2020;Pasion et al, 2021;Reyneke et al, 2020). There is also a paper on graduate students (Ramachandra and Wells, 2021) and another one on the training of instructors for online education (Sadiq, 2020).…”

“…Initially, the literature of accounting education in the COVID-19 context was geographically concentrated in Australia (Beatson et al, 2021;Dyki et al, 2021;Mai, 2020;Powell and McGuigan, 2020;Sadiq, 2020;Stewart and Khan, 2021;Wong and Zhang, 2020) and New Zealand (Ackermann, 2021;Ali et al, 2020;Beatson et al, 2021;Othman, 2021;Ramachandra and Wells, 2021). Authors wrote some works with institutional affiliation in Indonesia (Aji et al, 2020), Portugal (Pasion et al, 2021), South Africa (Malan, 2020;Reyneke et al, 2020), UAE (Masoud and Bohra, 2020), UK (Haynes, 2020) and USA (Bowyer, 2021;Fogarty, 2020).…”

From unrequited love to sleeping with the enemy: COVID-19 and the future relationship between UK universities and professional accounting bodies

“…When assessed within a limited timeframe, students are challenged by the conceptual application of ideas (Ramachandra and Wells, 2020) that is differentiated by their ability to "accurately" recall frequently taught "real-life" concepts and applications when making calculations and analysing their impact. Students encounter several sense-making issues, including concepts, applications and judgements, which require new solutions that do not compromise the integrity of the course and that are practicable online (Ramachandra and Wells, 2020).…”