Chapter I

INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Accountancy, or accounting, is the production of financial records about
an organization. Accountancy generally produces financial statements that show in
money terms the economic resources under the control of management; selecting
information
that
is
relevant
and
representing
it
faithfully
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accountancy).
It has officially taken roots in the country by virtue of Act No. 3105, passed on
March 17, 1928 by the Sixth Legislature. The law came to be known as 'An Act
Regulating the Practice of Public Accounting; Creating the Board of Accountancy;
Providing for Examination, for the Granting of Certificates, and the Registration of
Certified Public Accountants; for the Suspension or Revocation of Certificates; and for
Other Purposes.'
The passing of Act No. 3105 paved way for local accountants to do the work
which, up to that time was performed by foreign accountants in the country. Since then,
both the profession and the body that directly regulates it have grown rapidly
(http://www.prc.gov.ph/prb/default.aspx?id=1&content=4).
Accountancy in the Philippines is arguably one of the most difficult courses
offered. Notoriously known for its low national passing rate, sliding to 27.41 percent
from last years 37.54 percent (Lelay, 2013), it is popular consensus and conclusion that
accounting in itself is a hard subject to master.
While accountants comprise a relatively small percentage among professionals
in the country, its importance cannot be overlooked. Known as the language of
business, proficiency is key in business ventures and a simple mistake in the process
could spell disastrous results for business entities (Washington, 2009).
Moreover, according to Kyriacou (2007) accounting information serves many
important purposes, for example assisting users in making informed decisions, in
relation to the effective allocation of scarce resources.
Therefore accounting information can be seen to be a potent influence in society,
which affects everybody. This is illustrated by the National Coal Board case (UK)
(Cooper et al, 1985) where the measurement of accounting profit was used to justify the
closure of coal pits, causing an impact on electricity prices, jobs and taxes
(http://nrupalia.hubpages.com/hub/Accounting-and-its-role-in-society).
As speakers of the complex and complicated business language, Certified Public
Accountants (CPAs) are constantly sought by prospective employers. It is for this
reason, despite accountings infamy, that thousands of college freshmen take the

course yearly; majority of which will have shifted to other courses by the end of first
year.
The College of Business Administration and Accountancy (CBAA) of Central
Luzon State University (CLSU) annually welcomes 400 450 freshmen, most, eyeing
the BS Accountancy program. All freshmen are then required to take Accounting 100
(Basic Accounting) and Accounting 105 (Partnership and Corporate Accounting).
It is not uncommon to hear first year BSBA students complain, not only about the
subjects being hard per se, but also about the reasons that make it even more difficult.
A number of these reasons are: instructors, textbooks, family and peers, lodging and
their environment.
This study will be conducted to investigate and probe further the factors affecting
and exacerbating the difficulty of learning Basic Accounting by BSBA 1 students of
CBAA.

Objectives
This social research generally aims to create awareness in the CBAA community
of the problems that hinder students learning of Accounting.
This research specifically aims to ultimately lessen the difficulty of Basic
Accounting subjects for BSBA 1 students.
The study aims to specifically accomplish the following objectives:
1. To clearly define the factors adding difficulty to the subject
2. To identify and weigh the significance and effect of these factors

Significance of the Study

The main significance of this study is that it will identify and clearly define the
factors that mostly complicate the Basic Accounting subject. Once these factors are
defined and evaluated, the authorities could then address and do something about
these problems affecting the BSBA 1 students.
As stated earlier, the research is mostly important to the students taking up Basic
Accounting subjects in their curriculum. By having identified the major problems
affecting them, students could take measures to address these themselves.
Further, this social research shall benefit the instructors themselves. Since they
are part of the major factors commonly cited by students, they could then make
necessary adjustments on their teaching methods and strategies to really adapt to their
students needs.

Ultimately, the college shall also reap benefits from this study. Since these
problems are projected to be addressed by authorities in the near future, CBAA can
expect an increase in the BS Accounting Technology entrance examination passers
caliber and ideally an increase in the number of CPA board exam passers.

Scope and Limitations

There are many students taking Accounting 100 and 105 subjects all over the
country. However, this social research is only concerned about the students in CLSU
more specifically in CBAA.
As there are also many factors affecting the learning of Basic Accounting by
BSBA 1 students, this study is only concerned about the aforementioned factors:
instructors, textbooks, family and peers, lodging and their environment.
The study will include lodging as a general factor. However, it is no longer
concerned with the difference it makes whether the student lives at the comfort of their
home or in dormitories and boarding houses.
Further, since the study is concerned with the factors in general, its accuracy per
factor is limited only to the situations listed on the questionnaire. The study also does
not cover the effect to the learning once these barriers or problems are addressed in the
future.
The study has also been limited by the researchers to a sample size of 50
thereby increasing the margin of error in the statistical data gathered.

Definition of Terms
Basic Accounting is a subject comprising the fundamentals of accounting more
specifically service, merchandising, and manufacturing types of business.
Factors are benefits and hindrances that could affect the learning of Basic Accounting.
Authorities are officials of the College of Business Administration and Accountancy
specifically the college dean and the department chair.

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES
FOREIGN

Bangladesh e-Journal of Sociology. Volume 3. Number 1. January 2006.

FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS PERFORMANCE
A Case Of Private Colleges
Syed Tahir Hijazi1 and S.M.M. Raza Naqvi2
Measuring of academic performance of students is challenging since student
performance is product of socio-economic, psychological and environmental factors.
For the last 20 years, education in Pakistan is growing as a profitable industry with
prime objective of maximizing profit by delivering high quality education that produces
well-educated, skilled, mannered students according to needs and requirements of the
dynamically growing market.
It has been discovered that the factors affecting students career choice of
accounting are numerous but they can be grouped into personal, reference and job
factors. The findings indicate that personal and job factors such as students interest
and motivation in the subject, job prospects and high pay, performance in secondary
school are the most influencing factors of students choice of accounting. In particular,
male students were found to be more influenced by the reference factors than their
female
counterparts
in
the
choice
of
accounting.
(http://www.termpaperwarehouse.com/essay-on/Factors-Affecting-AcademicPerformance/26534)
The study in general says that there could be a number of factors that can affect
the performance of a student. Its main premise is: its more of a choice for the students
to set their minds on a certain subject. As a result of this, students could be more
productive.

Factors Affecting the Study of Accounting in Nigerian Universities

J.O. Odia, K.O. Ogiedu
The study finds significant difference between university and school levels
regarding performance of students. Drastic change in the perception of students about
the share of family, teachers, and self- efforts in performance is also observed.

Literature provides a number of reports, which have successfully developed an

association between performance of students and role of different factors. The most
common factors are family, teacher, school environment, and personal profile of the
students (Diaz, 2003; Gianzero, 1999; Hijaz and Naqvi, 2006). As put forward by Hijaz
and Naqvi, there are many ways to weigh up different factors, which can affect
performance of students. It is most likely, that there is no universally accepted method
to measure the performance of students.
Performance of a student depends upon many factors. Nevertheless, three
factors, family, teacher, and personal profile of students are most likely critical (Diaz,
2003). Significance of factors may vary depending upon the context, culture, level of
education etc. Family interaction and Socio-Economic Status (SES) of family can play
an important role in the performance of students. As said by Schulz (2005), "The socioeconomic status of families has been consistently found to be an important variable in
explaining variance in students achievement" (p. 3).
Another scenario argues that school and neighborhood environments influence
academic success, so low-SES schools are generally lower-performing "(p. 1).
Rothmans notice is significant since facilities have a strong influence on performance.
Access to resources is a factor, which is highly demanded for better performance;
particularly it becomes more of a prime nature, when students are in universities and
getting higher education. It has been observed during interaction with students, that
their performance partially depends upon the access resources, like, research journals,
data bases, availability of required software etc. Rothman believes that access to
resources depends upon the SES of family. Nevertheless, it is one factor,
which may partially affect the performance since there are many more factors, which
are also highly linked with performance.
The second crucial factor, which can alter the performance, is teacher. UNESCO
(2005) explains, "Teachers are a key enabling factor in improving the quality of
education. The evidence of this and many other reports is that teachers are critical to
any reform designed to improve quality (p. 154).
UNESCO has rightly reported that learning process completely depends upon
the teacher's ability and experience. Sweatt (2000) has quoted findings of a study
conducted by Goldenberg, which concludes that teachers expectations from students
do not matter a lot , whereas, teacher's actions matter a lot and play a dominating role
in the learning process. "A reciprocal relationship between students and teachers
showed that such a relationship influences students achievement to the extent that
teachers expectation may not have as much influence on achievement as do teachers
actions" (p. 26). Sweatt further states that "teachers with high standards and strong
beliefs about students work habits and classroom behavior promoted higher student
achievement and more individualized planning at the classroom level" (p. 27). It is worth
to note that all such studies are to develop a correlation between teacher's ability,
commitment, hard and smart work and the outcome in a shape of students
performance. (http://www.mcser.org/journal/index.php/jesr/article/view/546)

The premise Odias and Ogiedus study is that the biggest factors or influences
that could affect study of accounting are family and teachers since the motivation and
knowledge come directly from them respectively.
Since they are old enough and have more experience, students easily believes in
everything they say. For instance, when the teacher says that a students study habit is
wrong, the student will readily and voluntarily change it.

Moreover, relationship of the family or instructor with the student could either help
or hinder the latters learning. A good relationship could result to further productivity
while an estranged one could be a barrier.

Accounting
Accounting is the systematic and comprehensive recording of financial
transactions pertaining to a business. Accounting also refers to the process of
summarizing, analyzing and reporting these transactions. The financial statements that
summarize a large company's operations, financial position and cash flows over a
particular period are a concise summary of hundreds of thousands of financial
transactions it may have entered into over this period. Accounting is one of the key
functions for almost any business; it may be handled by a bookkeeper and accountant
at small firms or by sizable finance departments with dozens of employees at larger
companies. (http://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/accounting.asp)

LOCAL

Definition, Nature and Scope of Accounting

The Accounting Standards Council, now known as, Financial Reporting
Standards Council, defines accounting as follows: ACCOUNTING is a service activity.
Its function is to provide quantitative information, primarily financial in nature, about
economic entities, that is intended to be useful in making economic decisions. The
Committee on Accounting Terminology of the American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants defines accounting as follows: ACCOUNTING is the art of recording,
classifying, and summarizing in a significant manner and in terms of money,
transactions, and events which are in part at least of a financial character and
interpreting
the
results
thereof.
Valix,
Conrado
(2008).
(http://www.scribd.com/doc/41444287/Definition-of-Accounting)

Factors affecting learning

These include educational paradigms which are student, subject and societal
influences. Educational philosophies may be progressive, personal, public and other
types. (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/FAQ/3138)

Chapter III
METHODOLOGY
Respondents of the Study
The respondents of the study, which are the regular BSBA 1 students in CBAACLSU, are those concerned with the research. A sample of fifty (50) will be randomly
drawn from the said total population of the study.

Research Instruments
The researchers shall make use of a questionnaire to gather the consensus of
the respondents. The respondents will evaluate the factors identified on the research
instrument. The questionnaire is to contain the socio-demographic details of
respondents and their evaluation of the categorized factors.

Data Collection
The researchers will formulate a questionnaire that will clearly evaluate and
identify the concerns of students as regards the factors cited earlier. The main factors
will be categorized separately and will contain secondary details that will be scored from
1-5 by the respondents.
The researchers are then to take a random sample of size 50 from the defined
population of BSBA 1 students. The researchers will then administer the questionnaire
to the chosen samples.
After gathering the required data from the respondents, the researchers are to
analyze the information and from there, formulate a conclusion.

Chapter IV
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The table shown below represents the rating of every student/respondent that
answered the questionnaire given. These were obtained by dividing the sum of the students
ratings per category by the number of questions in each factor.
Respondent
s
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34

Family &
Peers
4.375
4.000
3.875
3.625
4.375
4.500
3.875
3.625
3.750
3.750
4.250
4.375
3.750
3.000
4.000
3.375
3.375
3.375
4.000
3.625
4.375
3.375
3.625
4.125
3.500
3.750
4.500
3.750
3.000
3.250
3.375
4.250
3.500
4.250

Professor/Instructo
r
4.125
3.625
4.750
3.375
3.750
3.750
3.750
3.875
3.500
3.875
4.000
4.000
4.125
3.625
3.625
2.750
3.250
2.500
3.500
4.125
4.625
3.375
3.375
4.875
3.750
3.625
4.250
4.500
4.571
3.750
4.625
3.750
4.250
4.750

Textbook

Environment

Lodging

4.625
4.500
4.125
3.750
3.000
3.750
3.875
3.500
3.875
4.625
3.875
3.750
2.750
3.500
3.500
4.625
3.500
3.375
3.750
4.000
4.625
3.875
4.125
4.125
4.250
3.500
3.375
3.875
4.000
3.000
3.125
4.375
4.000
4.750

4.000
4.125
5.000
3.500
3.500
3.625
3.250
2.125
3.000
3.625
3.250
3.750
2.250
2.875
3.375
4.250
3.375
3.625
2.875
3.375
2.875
1.625
3.625
3.625
3.750
3.625
2.500
3.125
4.125
3.250
3.750
3.375
3.625
3.000

4.600
2.800
2.250
2.600
4.000
3.800
2.800
3.200
3.400
4.000
4.600
3.400
3.600
2.125
4.400
2.500
3.800
3.400
3.800
2.600
3.400
2.400
2.800
4.200
3.800
3.600
4.800
3.000
1.600
4.600
3.200
4.000
2.600
2.800

35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
Average

2.750
3.875
4.250
3.500
3.625
3.000
3.625
3.875
4.625
4.000
3.625
3.500
3.625
3.250
4.250
4.250
3.783

4.750
4.875
4.500
4.125
3.750
3.000
3.625
4.000
4.250
3.750
4.750
4.375
3.250
3.250
4.875
4.000
3.941

3.625
4.000
4.375
3.875
4.250
3.000
3.750
4.000
3.500
4.500
4.750
4.125
3.325
3.375
4.500
5.000
3.904

2.500
3.750
3.750
3.000
3.500
3.000
2.875
3.250
2.875
3.750
3.875
3.875
3.125
3.250
3.500
4.000
3.370

2.800
3.400
3.800
3.000
3.200
2.600
4.400
3.000
3.000
2.200
2.800
2.200
3.000
2.800
4.600
4.400
3.314

Table 1. Average ratings of respondents per factor

The table shows average ratings of each respondent per factor. The higher the
rating, the more helpful is the factor. The lower the rating, the more disadvantageous is
the factor.
The results turned out surprising numbers based on the mean of the means.
Lodging was rated the lowest, 3.314. Environment came in a close second at 3.370.
However, the Instructor factor garnered the highest at 3.941 barely nosing out Textbook
at 3.904. Family and peers has been rated at an average of the average 3.783.
The percentage turnout of lowest ratings has given the following figures: Lodging
with 1.600 (2%), Environment with 1.625 (2%), Family and Peers with 2.750 (2%),
Textbooks with 2.750 (2%) and Professor/Instructor with 2.500 (2%).
Ratings and results are not normally distributed on a graphical curve, thus are
significantly dispersed on extreme sides, high and low. This provides the existence of a
dividing line between people who think the factors are immaterial and material. This
makes results harder to statistically evaluate.
On the other hand, the remarks of students sampled reveal a slightly different
result. It is revealed that the majority of students believe that the Environment is the
most pressing factor that needs to be addressed immediately. A sample of BSBA 1
wrote on the questionnaire, The classroom is not level 3 accredited quality. We need
more chairs and space. How can we study if we dont have a space? Similar remarks
could also be seen in majority of questionnaires.

A significant minority however believes that the greatest factor is still themselves.
A student also from BSBA 1-1 believes that Since we are the one studying, we
shouldnt blame it on any other things. It still depends on us.
Results also showed that whether the student lives in his/her own house or
places other than his/her own house, the lodging is still the factor that has greatest
disadvantageous impact in studying Accounting 100 of BSBA 1 students of CBAACLSU.
On the contrary to the results, the related studies in Nigeria showed that the most
pressing factors that affect the study of Accounting are the family and the teacher.
Performance of a student depends upon many factors. Nevertheless, three
factors, family, teacher, and personal profile of students are most likely critical (Diaz,
2003). Significance of factors may vary depending upon the context, culture, level of
education etc. Family interaction and Socio-Economic Status (SES) of family can play
an important role in the performance of students. As said by Schulz (2005), "The socioeconomic status of families has been consistently found to be an important variable in
explaining variance in students achievement" (p. 3).
The second crucial factor, which can alter the performance, is teacher. UNESCO
(2005) explains, "Teachers are a key enabling factor in improving the quality of
education. The evidence of this and many other reports is that teachers are critical to
any reform designed to improve quality (p. 154).

Chapter V
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Summary
The study was all about the factors affecting the learning of BSBA 1 students in
Accounting of CBAA-CLSU. This was conducted to identify what the most
disadvantageous factor and what factor or factors add or adds to the difficulty of
studying Accounting. The main objectives were to clearly define the factors adding
difficulty to the subject and to identify and weigh the significance and effect of these
factors. The researchers randomly took only 50 from more than 450 students of BSBA
in CBAA to be respondents. Each was given a questionnaire that has questions that can
be rated from 15. The research instruments were gathered and were analyzed.
The results showed that the lowest scored factor was Lodging. The most
pressing factor that should be addressed to authorities was Environment. It also showed
that the place of the lodging, whether at the students own house or not, will greatly
affect the learning in Accounting 100. Some of the students also included themselves as
most influential factor.
By the review of related studies, the researchers compared the results of the
study in terms of its most influential factors. The foreign studies showed that the most
pressing factors are the parents/family and the teacher. In this study conducted by the
researchers, it showed that Lodging and Environment add to the difficulty of the subject
Accounting.

Conclusion
The two most influential factors shown by the study were Lodging, whether the
students stay in their own houses or they stay in places other than their houses, and
Environment. These factors add difficulty to the subject more than the other factors
included in the study.
Since the study clearly identified the factors that add to the difficulty of the
subject, Lodging and Environment, these should be reported to the authorities. Through
this, both the college and the students will make more productive efforts and more
excellent works. If the factors will be resolved immediately, both parties will have
advantages and benefits. Although the number of sampled students were few, it clearly
represents the whole population.

Recommendation
The researchers recommend to further explore these areas:
1. Have more respondents or have a census to have results with less error
2. Add factors the can affect the learning of students
3. Widen the scope of the study up the whole country

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accountancy
http://www.prc.gov.ph/prb/default.aspx?id=1&content=4
http://nrupalia.hubpages.com/hub/Accounting-and-its-role-in-society
http://www.termpaperwarehouse.com/essay-on/Factors-Affecting-AcademicPerformance/26534
http://www.mcser.org/journal/index.php/jesr/article/view/546
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/accounting.asp
http://www.scribd.com/doc/41444287/Definition-of-Accounting
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/FAQ/3138

FACTORS AFFECTING THE LEARNING OF BSBA 1 STUDENTS IN ACCOUNTING

Barot, Justine Hiro D.

Maramag, Pauline A.
Trinidad, Paola Bianca A.
Corpuz, Chona S.
BSAT 2-1

Mr. Ken G. Calang

Instructor

OCTOBER 2013