How a colour-based teaching method has lifted grades for first year accounting students

Improving grades for students in the lower quartile of introductory accounting courses has long baffled educators worldwide. Underperforming students often prefer to find other subject majors (or are encouraged by academic staff to find alternatives), struggle to pass advanced accounting papers or drop out of higher education study altogether. Yet students who underperform may do so as much due to a lack of affordance for their preferred learning style, as to any lack in capability. Toi Ohomai was no different. 

Accountants live in a very black and white world - right and wrong, and not much in-between. Accounting education reflects this. There are textbooks, articles, regulations and legislations to read, examples to complete. There are some charts and diagrams, but in general, it is a very mono-chromatic world. 

Extensive research proves that a multi modal delivery improves student outcomes, but the world of accounting is deftly silent on the use of visual stimuli, whilst being heavy on the reading, aural and kinesthetic prompts. Academics worldwide are challenging accounting educators to include visuals.

This research brought to life a colour-based system, created by me, to help accounting students understand the essentials of accounting. Results show that the students who were taught the Introductory Accounting paper using this colour-based technique improved their grades across all levels of the class, not just the lower quartiles as desired. By adding visual stimuli to the black and white academic world of accounting already strong in aural, reader and kinesthetic teaching methods offers all students a truly multi-modal learning experience.