Chair UGent - Samen Impact
Young people need better financial competencies. Unfortunately, accounting is not a popular profession, while accountants and finance directors are in high demand from the business world. They can assist company managers strategically in making the right decisions. To get more youth interested in this field, Prof. Patricia Everaert, Prof. Evelien Opdecam and Laura Claeys of the Accounting Education Research Group at Ghent University developed NABO, a new teaching method in teaching accounting. The NABO method is based on 5 pillars. (1) NABO aims to give students a broad view of accounting and emphasize the usefulness of accounting. (2) NABO puts the focus on entrepreneurship. (3) Gaining insight is central, much more than memorizing the material. (4) The method is based on innovative teaching techniques and (5) always starts from the living world of young people. This method was extensively studied in secondary education, all over Flanders, during the period 2018-2022. A first analysis of the results (carried out by the promoters in combination with thesis students) indicates that NABO leads to a greater learning gain in accounting, a greater interest to become more proficient in accounting (3rd grade), greater motivation and a better perception about the teacher.
Objectives
The aim of the research within the chair is to further investigate the effects of this new didactic method in education. It is also the intention to pay sufficient attention to the spread of the research to the wider education and practice community (e.g. through dissemination events). As with any doctoral research, the follow-up of the studies will be adapted in function of the results and new insights obtained.
The uniqueness of this chair lies in the close connection between education, practice and research. In an empirical way, it is investigated whether the perception and knowledge of the accounting profession can be brought more in line with the changed context of the accounting profession through a "train-the-trainer" approach in secondary education. In this way, the chair offers the opportunity to make a valuable contribution to the public debate on the changing role of the accountant, based on scientific research. If the correct perception of the profession is introduced in secondary education and if interest in accounting is further stimulated, this will lead to an increased intake in higher education courses. This is vital for the SME sector, which is in urgent need of more accountants, as the accounting profession is recognized as a bottleneck profession. In addition, the chair offers the opportunity to retrain (reskill) a new cohort of secondary school economics teachers every year for four years through a two-day training course. In this way, these teachers and their students can immediately benefit from the research results and the collaborative impact story can be spread more quickly. Finally, the chair creates a unique environment where education, practice and research come together, enrich each other and have mutual benefits.
Donor
Vzw Samen Impact
Period
2023-2027
Supervisor
Patricia Everaert holds a Master of Science and PhD in Business Economics (Ghent University) and has the special license in Accountancy (master after master) from Vlerick Business School.
During her PhD period, she studied at Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tennessee, USA), among others.
She is a professor in the fields of accounting and cost accounting. She is co-author of several Dutch language textbooks on general accounting, analytical accounting and cost accounting.
She has published in many international journals, such as Small Business Economics, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Issues in Accounting Education, Accounting Education, Journal of Accounting Education,...
One of her current lines of research is located within Accounting Education. Innovations to increase the motivation of students for the subject of accounting and thus increase the learning performance are therefore her passion.
Co-supervisor
Evelien Opdecam holds a master's degree in pedagogical sciences and a doctorate in applied economic sciences (Ghent University). She is an expert in both pedagogy and accounting, allowing her to revitalize the combination of both fields.
She currently coordinates the Economics teacher training program at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
She conducted research on team learning within higher education and already achieved many international publications with this research, in international journals such as Issues in Accounting Education, Research in Higher Education, Asian Review of Accounting.
Her passion is to get young people excited about the profession of teaching economics and business subjects. Innovations based on empirically supported material drive her research and teaching.