Exploring the conceptions of learning of accounting students

This study examines the conceptions of learning of undergraduate and postgraduate accounting students at an Irish university. Students' written descriptions of what learning means to them are explored and evaluated relative to the six categories of description established by Saljo (1979) and Marton et al. (1993). The study provides evidence of the variation of accounting students' conceptions of learning from the simplest conception of learning involving knowledge acquisition to the most complex perspective of learning as embodying personal development. However, reproductive conceptions are more commonly expressed than those which centre on understanding. The implications of these findings for accounting students and accounting educators are considered and the need for further research and the design of intervention strategies is explicated.