Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies

Attitude, learning environment and current knowledge enhancement of

accounting students in Malaysia
Soon-Yau Foong Choo-Hong Khoo
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JAEE
5,2
Attitude, learning environment
and current knowledge
enhancement of accounting
202 students in Malaysia
Received 4 July 2012
Revised 1 February 2013 Soon-Yau Foong
Accepted 31 May 2013 PUTRA Business School, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang,
Malaysia, and
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Choo-Hong Khoo
LTC Public Accountants, ITC CPA Company, Singapore, Singapore

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of accounting students’ attitude on
their current knowledge enhancement intention and the moderating role of the learning environment
on the attitude-intention relationship. The relationship between current knowledge enhancement
intention and level of current knowledge acquired is also investigated.
Design/methodology/approach – Copies of a structured questionnaire were randomly distributed
to 400 final-year accounting students from three major public universities and 243 completed
questionnaires were analyzed.
Findings – Attitude is a significant predictor of students’ current knowledge enhancement intention,
which, in turn, positively impacts their level of current knowledge. The learning environment
significantly moderates the attitude-intention relationship. An inhibiting learning environment tends
to accentuate the differences in current knowledge enhancement intention between students with good
attitude and those with poor attitude toward current knowledge enhancement.
Research limitations/implications – The study has the limitations often associated with
self-administered questionnaire research. The findings also may not be generalizable to other student
and current knowledge settings.
Practical implications – There is a need to re-orientate the accounting curriculum design and the
accounting academics’ attitude from one that is overly technical focussed to one that emphasizes on
other competencies necessary for sustained professional success. Educators and teaching pedagogy
that promotes a culture of lifelong learning and current knowledge enhancement among students
should be encouraged.
Originality/value – This study fills the gap in the literature by examining the role of the learning
environment not as a direct determinant of students’ attitude and their intention, but rather as
a moderator of the attitude-intention relationship. The implication is that modifying the learning
environment could facilitate or promote development of the desired attitude and hence, intention.
The findings of this study support the moderating role of the learning environment in the relationship
between current knowledge enhancement attitude and intention of accounting students in Malaysia.
Keywords Accounting education, Attitude, Intention, Current knowledge, Learning environment,
Self-direct learning
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
Journal of Accounting in Emerging
Economies
The rapid advancements in technology and the increasing globalization of the
Vol. 5 No. 2, 2015
pp. 202-221
marketplace have escalated the pace and extent of change in the new millennium.
© Emerald Group Publishing Limited These major drivers of change have caused market competition to intensify and
2042-1168
DOI 10.1108/JAEE-07-2012-0030 business operations to become more complex, and these changes have remarkably
 impacted the nature of work of an accountant. Increased market competition has Accounting
exerted intense pressure on the accounting profession to provide broader and more students in
specialized services (Bui and Porter, 2010). The increasing adoption of technology by
businesses has notably diminished the proportion of fee income from the traditional
Malaysia
“compliance” type of services in public accounting firms and increased the proportion
of fee income from “business advisory services” (Howieson, 2003). Provision of these
“new” services, however, requires accountants to possess new competencies and skill 203
set for them to compete effectively with other existing and emerging professionals in
the highly challenging business advisory services segment (Baril et al., 1998). Jones
(1999) opines that accountants must re-invent themselves as being in the “ideas and
advocacy” business rather than in the “compliance” business. Elliott and Jacobson
(2002) also highlight the need for professional accountants to emerge as “knowledge
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professionals” through expanding and upgrading of their skills and competencies that
would enhance their abilities to anticipate, adapt and manage change in the new
millennium. However, research findings indicate that accounting educators still
largely consider accounting education as compliance driven (Watty, 2005), with great
emphasis on highly specialized technical topics (Armitage, 1991) and numerical skills
(Francis and Minchington, 1999) that are prescribed by the various professional
accounting bodies. Hence, a major challenge for the accounting educators is how to
transform their traditional teaching approach to one that would produce graduates
who are functional and relevant in an ever-changing professional environment (Wolk
and Schmidt, 1997).
The American Accounting Association, Committee of the Future Structure, Content,
and Scope of Accounting Education (The Bedford Committee) (1986) and the
Accounting Education Change Commission (AECC) (1990) had earlier highlighted the
need for significant changes in accounting education to rectify the perceived
deficiencies of the traditional accounting curriculum and to equip future accountants
with the necessary sophisticated skill set for them to succeed in the new business
environment. AECC (1990) had specifically recommended that accounting classes
should not only focus on accounting knowledge. The accounting profession similarly
has encouraged the accounting educators to establish a learning environment that
promotes development of lifelong learning skill, analytical thinking and the ability
to work in teams (Hall et al., 2004). Some academic accountants similarly opine
that accounting education should have a broad view where its “purpose” involved
transformation and empowering students instead of a narrow view that has a
commercial and private sector orientation (Watty, 2005).
As lifelong learning skill is crucial for ensuring currency and relevance of
knowledge and competencies of accountants to effectively serve the needs of those who
rely on their services and expertise (Frese and Fay, 2001). The Education Committee of
the International Federation of Accountants (superseded now by the International
Accounting Education Standards Board), had developed the International Educational
Standard 7 to foster a commitment to lifelong learning by all its members (Berg, 2007).
Research on student learning within the accounting discipline is gaining momentum
(Byrne et al., 2008) as many are expressing concerns of the inadequacy of the current
accounting curriculum in producing accountants who are capable to support and
sustain growth in the new dynamic economic environment (Arquero Montano et al., 2001;
Chau and Chan, 2001; Illeris, 2008; Parker, 2001). In particular, Gammie et al. (2002) view
that accounting graduates need to display far more than subject-specific knowledge
to enhance their prospect of employment as employers are typically emphasizing on
 JAEE non-technical skills that would enable graduates to be part of a flexible and adaptable
5,2 workforce. Similarly, Wells et al. (2009) also highlight the importance of non-technical
professional capabilities, such as personal, intellectual and interpersonal skills, crucial
for accounting graduates to be successful professionally.
In Malaysia, the increasing market competition and its vision of becoming a high-
income nation by 2020 have left the country with very little choice but to formulate a
204 strategic education transformation plan to produce intellectually engaging and
innovative graduates for generation of high-value-added products and services that
could enhance Malaysia’s position in the global value chain (Ministry of Higher
Education (MoHE), 2007). The democratization and massification of the higher
education sector in Malaysia in the past two decades have led to mushrooming of many
private universities and colleges with rising student enrollment in both the academic
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and professional accounting programs in Malaysia. To ensure quality of accounting

education in Malaysia, a committee called the Jawatankuasa Halatuju Program
Perakaunan was set up in 1999 by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with
the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) as an endeavor for self-assessment of the
relevancy of local accounting programs by periodically performing a comprehensive
review of the local accounting curricula and providing guidelines for design of the
desired course structure, curriculum and duration necessary to meet the needs of the
current rapidly changing business environment. Despite efforts by the Halatuju
Committee to periodically review and revamp the local accounting curriculum,
criticisms of the inadequacy of local accounting graduates in a diversity of non-
technical skills such as creative thinking and communication skills and exposure to a
broad-based education necessary to equip accounting graduates for their career
advancement up the corporate hierarchy still continue. The issues concerning the
declining quality of fresh accounting graduates were raised by the President of the
MIA, based on the feedback MIA received from the industry and accounting
professionals, with the Secretary General of the Ministry of Higher Education at a
recent meeting (Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA), 2012). The concerns from
the industry and the accounting professionals indicate that the local accounting
graduates are not meeting needs of the various sectors of the economy. According to
Choi (1993), accounting graduates are the products of the education system designed to
fulfill the needs of the marketplace. Hence, the education system should be blamed if
the accounting graduates fail to meet the expectations of their employers.
Among the critical skills emphasized in prior studies is “learning how to learn” or
self-directed learning skill with an orientation to continuously acquire new knowledge
and skills to replace knowledge and skills that have become obsolete. Self-directed
learning skill is critical for preparing graduates to face the dynamism and realities
of the business environment. One of the seven strategic thrusts of the education
transformation plan for the higher education sector in Malaysia is enculturation of
lifelong learning, and among the knowledge attributes identified as crucial for the new
generation of graduates include not only the mastery of core subject knowledge, but
also a continuing passion for knowledge through lifelong learning and possession of
excellent general knowledge and interest in current events (MoHE, 2007).
Self-directed learning to ensure currency of one’s professional knowledge and
competencies is a prerequisite for developing critical thinking capability. Self-directed
or lifelong learning skill enables one to quickly adapt and to continuously remain
relevant in the current rapidly changing work and task environments. In view of that,
a major concern among accounting fraternity is how to inculcate a culture of
 self-directed learning among graduates to ensure currency and relevance of their Accounting
knowledge after graduation. Promoting self-directed learning in the accounting students in
curriculum through adoption of innovative teaching approaches such as active
learning or problem-based learning and incorporating more critical thinking
Malaysia
components in course contents and assignments are new challenges needed to
achieve a more balanced intellectual development of accounting graduates (Geary and
Rooney, 1993) and to mitigate the concern of losing the bright and creative students to 205
other academic disciplines (Saemann and Crooker, 1999). The rule based and technical
orientation of most accounting curricula often bored students as evidenced in Marriott
and Marriott (2003) which reported a significant decline in the average students’
attitude score toward accounting over the period of their studies, with the male
students’ attitude score fell more significantly than that of the female students.
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Much of the extant academic and professional literature have been discussing the
need for accounting graduates to acquire the lifelong learning skill to stay relevant and
competitive in this new era. Except for those studies on pedagogy, there are very few
studies that specifically examine the individual and the environmental factors that may
affect the development of such skill among accounting students. As the learning
performance of students is often affected by both endogenous and exogenous factors
(Guney, 2009), this study attempts to fill the gap in the literature by examining
empirically how students’ attitude and the learning environment influence intention for
current knowledge enhancement intention, and their subsequent current knowledge
acquisition behavior in the Malaysian public university setting. Based on the theory of
reasoned action (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980), this study investigates how accounting
students’ attitude affects their current knowledge enhancement intention and it also
examines whether the learning environment moderates the attitude-intention
relationship. In addition, the relationship between current knowledge enhancement
intention and level of current knowledge acquired is investigated. This study views the
learning environment not as a direct determinant of students’ attitude and their
intention, but rather as a moderator of the attitude-intention relationship as proposed in
the framework by Srivastava and Frankwick (2011). The learning environment
represents the institutional setting that could facilitate (strengthen) or inhibit (weaken)
the relationship between attitude and intention for current knowledge enhancement.
Intellectual capital (IC) knowledge is used as a proxy for current knowledge in
this study because of the growing importance of IC (or intellectual resources) as
determinants of competitive advantages and successes of business enterprises in the
new era. As IC-related issues are not the typical technical topic that is found in
accounting curricula, the students’ attitude toward IC and their intention to enhance
their IC knowledge would be largely self-driven. A favorable student’s attitude and
intention to acquire IC knowledge, and his/her subsequent higher level of IC knowledge
suggest that the student has acquired the lifelong learning skill for enhancement of his/
her current knowledge. Hence, the level of current knowledge is used as a surrogate
measure of the student’s self-directed or lifelong learning skill in this study.
The findings of this study may provide support for more education reforms
to enhance learning environment and to bring about a paradigm shift from the
conventional teacher-centered to the student-centered approach in learning and
teaching. The teacher-centered approach typically focusses on instructional
methodologies that require rote-memorization of instructional materials by students.
The student-centered approach, on the other hand, is an interactive pedagogy that
involves more active and self-directed learning. The teacher-centered approach,
 JAEE therefore, often discourages self-directed learning and inhibits the development of
5,2 critical thinking skills (McGuire, 2007). The findings of this study may also be useful
for design of continuous professional education programs and training of future
professional accountants. The next section reviews the current literature, followed by
explanation of the research framework, the hypotheses and the research methodology.
The findings are then presented and discussed. The paper ends with the conclusion and
206 implications of findings of the study.

2. Literature review
2.1 Attitude, intention and behavior
According to the theory of reasoned action (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980), individual
behavior is determined by one’s intention to engage in that behavior. Intent is “a state
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of mind directing a person’s attention towards a specific object or path in order to

achieve something” (Vesalainen and Pihkala, 1999, p. 3). The stronger the intention, the
higher is the likelihood of one to engage in that behavior. Behavior intention, in turn, is
often affected by one’s attitude toward the behavior and the perception of the behavior
expected from people who are important to him/her (or subjective norm). Individual
attitude toward a behavior is defined as the individual’s general feelings or beliefs of
the extent of benefits or losses resulting from performing that behavior, and it is a
function of the product of one’s normative belief of expected behavior and his/her
motivation to conform to the expectation. Ajzen (1985, 1988) extended the theory of
reasoned action to the theory of planned behavior by including perceived behavioral
control or self-efficacy to deal with factors (uncertainty) that may hinder or impede the
achievement of the desired outcome (behavior). Perceived behavioral control or
self-efficacy refers to one’s perception of the ease or difficulty of engaging in the
behavior, and it is a function of one’s skills and ability.
Out of the three proposed antecedents to intention (attitude, social norm and
self-efficacy), Schwarz et al.(2009) view attitude as the construct that is most widely
used for prediction of behavior intention. Many empirical studies have indicated that
individual attitude is a construct that is highly influential on the individual intention
and subsequently, the individual’s behavior and performance. For example, research
studies pertaining to accounting education have shown that positive attitudes toward
certain perceptions of the accounting profession and the accounting study significantly
influenced students’ intention to major in accounting (Cohen and Hanno, 1993; Tan and
Laswad, 2006, 2009), and the subsequent choice of their major (Tan and Laswad, 2009).
Based on an attitude and career intention survey instrument, Felton et al. (1995) also
found that students, who intended to pursue a chartered accountancy career, had a
more positive attitude toward the chartered accountancy career than that of the other
students. The influential role of individual attitude on behavioral intention is similarly
evident in other education-related studies; Ahmad et al. (2011) reported that attitude
was a strong predictor of students’ intention to use social software, and Hassandoust
et al. (2011) found that students’ attitude toward knowledge sharing significantly
influenced their intention to share knowledge online. Research studies on
entrepreneurship intent have also increasingly emphasized on attitude since the 1990s
(Schwarz et al., 2009), and studies on entrepreneurial intent (Douglas, 1999; Krueger et al.,
2000; Schwarz et al., 2009) have consistently indicated that one’s attitude is an important
predictor of one’s intention to start his/her own business.
The emphasis on attitude in research is also largely due to the belief that as attitude
has a direct impact on one’s behavior via his/her behaviorial intention and it could be
 shaped by the learning environment, appropriate interventions through formulation of Accounting
appropriate reforms for education and training could be designed to align attitude to students in
achieve the desired impact on behavior, as reported in Wolcott et al. (2002).
Wolcott et al. view that aligning the educational environment to the intended critical
Malaysia
thinking outcomes and student characteristics is crucial in designing of the effective
educational interventions and the empirical measures to enhance student critical
thinking skills. 207
2.2 Learning environment and learning approaches
Ramsden (1992) defines learning environment to include assessment methods,
curriculum, learning methods and the atmosphere of the institution. According to
Entwistle (1989), the teaching or learning environment provides the context within
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which students are either encouraged to engage a deep approach or pushed toward a
surface approach to learning. A deep approach to learning is characterized by
a personal commitment to learning and an interest in the subject, while a surface
approach to learning is characterized by learning that is oriented to memorization
and reproduction merely for passing examination (Hall et al., 2004). In other words,
learning environment promotes or deters adoption of certain strategy for learning that
determines the “depth” of learning. A deep approach to learning is critical for acquiring
the essential competencies such as critical thinking and lifelong learning skill to
become a successful professional accountant (Sharma, 1997). Rama et al. (2000)
identified educational environment as one of the three factors that influences the
development of students’ critical thinking skills.
Certain features of the teaching-learning environment for tertiary education in the
accounting and finance disciplines such as excessive workloads, highly organized
course structure, and precise method of assessment tend to push students to a surface
approach to learning characterized by memorization and reproduction (Sharma, 1997).
Wolk and Schmidt (1997) found that a majority of accounting educators in their study
were adaptive problem-solvers, who preferred the textbook-based, rule-intensive and
lecture teaching style, and they might hinder introduction of innovative pedagogical
and curriculum changes necessary for development of the desired skill sets in students.
Other empirical studies on higher education also indicate that the learning-teaching
environment influences students’ approaches to learning (Entwistle and Tait, 1990;
Trigwell and Prosser, 1991).
As the features of the learning environment are changeable, Hall et al. (2004) opine
that accounting educators could modify the learning environment to encourage their
students to adopt deeper approaches to learning such as engaging in wider reading and
integrating prior knowledge to complete class assignments. Hall et al. introduced three
types of group activity in the course assessment of a group of first-year accounting
undergraduates, and they found the changes made to the course assessment, and
hence, the learning environment, had encouraged the students to adopt deeper
approaches to learning. This is consistent with the findings by Wooten (1998) that
positive classroom or learning environment significantly enhances accounting
students’ motivation and their academic performance. Based on a survey of the
second-year accounting students, Sharma (1997), who found the students were highly
syllabus-bound, similarly concluded that altering the learning environment could
alter the students’ learning approaches. Attitude can change across time and across
situations through interaction with the environment. In their framework for
organizational learning, Srivastava and Frankwick (2011) propose that the relationship
 JAEE between top management attitude toward learning and learning strategy intent is
5,2 contingent on the level of environmental turbulence. They argue that the environment
moderates the attitude-intent relationship rather than directly affects the attitude and
intent constructs. Similarly, findings in entrepreneurship research also indicate that
external environment moderates the attitude-intent relationship. For example, Lüthje and
Franke (2003) found that student’s entrepreneurship intent was contingent on the
208 presence of entrepreneurship-related barriers or support factors, and Schwarz et al. (2009)
also attributed some of the inconsistent findings on the attitude-intent relationship to
differences in the external conditions for entrepreneurship.

2.3 Self-directed or lifelong learning

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There is a growing interest in self-directed or lifelong learning in education research,

and many of studies have reported advantages of developing lifelong or self-directed
learning skills in students (Boekaerts, 1999; Kremer-Hayon and Tillema, 1999).
The ability to engage in lifelong learning is one of the key competencies needed to
become a successful professional accountant (Sharma, 1997). The importance of
lifelong or self-directed learning skill is widely recognized and evident in many past
studies. Landy and Conte (2004) and Zaccaro (2001) found positive attitude toward
lifelong learning was a critical cognitive characteristic associated with successful
leaders. Wielkiewicz et al. (2005) also report that lifelong learning attitudes and habits
are positively related to critical thinking and are significant predictors of academic
performance of college students.
As reported in Tillema and Kremer-Hayon (2001), implementing strategies to
develop lifelong or self-directed learning skills among students involves a behavioral
change and that requires a learning environment that favours self-direct learning to
facilitate an attitude change among students. Educators should similarly have an
attitude change by starting to play a facilitating role to promote self-directed learning
among their students. Theory of self-learning in a network human and IT environment
by Mok and Cheng (2001) also stresses the importance of the environment in initiating
and facilitating the development of attitudes that are consistent with the culture of
self-learning to mold students to become highly motivated and effective self-learners.

2.4 Current knowledge enhancement and IC knowledge

According to Baril et al. (1998), curiosity for new knowledge which is an innate desire to
learn is a prerequisite for self-directed learning for current knowledge enhancement
and an integral part of critical thinking. Good critical thinkers often look for
opportunities to learn new skills, expand their current knowledge and gain new
experiences. Development of new competencies is a function of current knowledge
enhancement.
In the current competitive landscape, intellectual resources or IC such as knowledge,
applied experiences, organizational technology and customer relationships are
critical advantage-creating resources and the key determinants of future success of
organizations in the new era (Bharadwaj, 2000; CIMA, 2001; Matusik and Hill, 1998).
Despite the current wealth creation process is increasingly a function of the
organization’s ability to develop and utilize its IC rather than its tangible assets, the
intellectual resources are not measured and reported in the financial statements due to
the limitations of the present financial reporting model. Therefore, the emerging issues
of current interest to the accountancy profession are those related to the assessment of
 the adequacy of the current financial reporting framework for reporting IC information Accounting
and those related to the identification, measurement and evaluation of IC development students in
for effective monitoring the value creation processes in organizations (Marr and
Chatzkel, 2004). These emerging IC-related issues are current issues of interest to the
Malaysia
accounting profession but often are not mandatory in most accounting curricula. As
IC-related issues are not the typical technical topic that is found in accounting curricula,
the students’ attitude toward IC and their intention to enhance their IC knowledge are 209
likely the consequences of their individual interests to acquire new knowledge.
A favorable attitude and intention to acquire new knowledge, such as IC knowledge,
voluntarily and the subsequent acquisition of the new knowledge are indications
of the student’s ability to engage in self-regulated learning to update and enhance
one’s current knowledge. In this study, IC knowledge is examined in the broader
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context of current knowledge enhancement, and is used as the operational

measurement of current knowledge enhancement.

3. Research framework and hypotheses

This study focusses on individual’s endeavor to enhance one’s current knowledge.
As the theoretical and empirical literature indicate both the endogenous (individual)
and the exogenous (environmental) factors could affect one’s current knowledge
enhancement intention, the research framework, which is primarily based on the theory
of reasoned action, examines how an individual’s attitude (mental or motive state)
affects his/her current knowledge enhancement intention and his/her subsequent
acquisition of current knowledge. Attitude is the independent variable that is expected
to directly affect the intention to engage in current knowledge enhancement behavior
and the relationship between attitude and intention is expected to be moderated by the
learning environment. In summary, the research framework posits that the self-directed
learning intent, which is triggered by a positive attitude that the learning activity
will lead to outcome beneficial to the learner, is antecedent to current knowledge
enhancement. A supportive learning environment can provide the necessary
inspiration to boost attitude and intensifies the learner’s intention to engage in
self-directed learning activity. A higher self-direct learning intention to enhance current
knowledge is expected to lead to a higher level of current knowledge.
Figure 1 presents the research framework for this study. As students with higher
cumulative grade point average (CGPA) and entry qualification are expected to possess
more positive attitude toward knowledge acquisition and female accounting students
are found to have a more positive attitude toward accounting than the male
students (Marriott and Marriott, 2003), the three variables, CGPA, gender and entry
qualification, are used as control variables in the analyses.

Learning
Environment

H2
Current H3 Level of Figure 1.
Attitude knowledge current The research
H1 seeking intention knowledge
framework
 JAEE Based on the theory of theory of reasoned action (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980) and
5,2 findings of empirical studies in accounting (Cohen and Hanno, 1993; Felton et al., 1995;
Tan and Laswad, 2006, 2009) and other disciplines (Ahmad et al., 2011; Hassandoust
et al., 2011), the first hypothesis postulates a positive relationship between the
individual attitude and current knowledge enhancement intention. Based on the
framework by Srivastava and Frankwick (2011) and the findings of entrepreneurship
210 research, the attitude-intent relationship is expected to be contingent upon the external
environment (Schwarz et al., 2009), the second hypothesis is formulated to examine the
moderating role of the learning environment on the attitude-intent relationship.
In accordance with the theory of reasoned action, the third hypothesis posits a positive
relationship between current knowledge enhancement intention and the subsequent
acquisition of current knowledge. The three hypotheses formulated for empirical
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testing in this study are as follows:

H1. Attitude is positively associated with current knowledge enhancement
intention.
H2. Learning environment moderates the relationship between attitude and current
knowledge enhancement intention.
H3. Current knowledge enhancement intention is positively associated with the
level of current knowledge acquired.

4. Research method
4.1 Sample and data collection
The respondents were the final-year accountancy undergraduates from three major
public universities in Malaysia. A structured questionnaire was prepared and 400
copies of the questionnaire were randomly distributed to the final-year accounting
students in the three universities during an inter-varsity accounting club event.
Participation in this study was voluntary. Totally, 243 duly completed questionnaires
were returned for analysis.

4.2 Research instrument

The questionnaire consisted mainly of closed-ended questions that required respondent
to rate on a five-point rating scale. There were four sections in the questionnaire:
Section A gathered the demographic information of the respondent; Section B dealt
with measurements of the respondent’s level of current knowledge and his/her current
knowledge enhancement intention; Section C focussed on respondent’s attitude toward
current knowledge enhancement; and in Section D, the respondent was required to rate
how several environmental factors facilitated or inhibited their acquisition of current
knowledge. The questionnaire was pre-tested on an academic and several final
accounting students for clarity of wording used and comprehension of the intended
meaning. A cover letter was attached with the questionnaire to explain the purpose of
the study and to provide assurance of complete confidentiality for the data collected.

4.3 Measurements of variables

The factors that are expected to influence one’s current knowledge enhancement
intention could be categorized into the endogenous factor and the exogenous factor.
The endogenous factor is the individual’s attitude toward current knowledge
enhancement. Attitude measures one’s perception of the importance and benefits of
 enhancing one’s current knowledge. The exogenous factor is the learning environment, Accounting
which reflects factors in the environment that facilitate or inhibit intention for students in
current knowledge enhancement. In this study, current knowledge refers to knowledge
of IC-related current issues. Current knowledge enhancement intention refers to the
Malaysia
respondent’s interest and readiness to seek for IC-related knowledge. Since entry
qualification and CGPA often represent a student’s intellectual capability for current
knowledge enhancement, the two variables were treated as control variables in the 211
analyses. Gender was also used as a control variable as differences arising from planned
career choices and learning commitments between the male and female students may
also influence the student’s intention to enhance his/her current knowledge.
The questionnaire items were adapted from prior literature (Ajzen, 1991; Schwarz
et al., 2009) with appropriate rephrasing of the wording to suit the current research
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setting. A total of 15 items pertaining to the variables of interest were asked in the
questionnaire. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation was used to
categorize the items into the underlying dimensions. Items with factor loading below
0.60 were omitted and three components with eigenvalues of above 1.00 were identified
with a total of 59.15 percent variance explained. Appendix shows the three factors
identified and they are “attitude toward current knowledge enhancement,” “intention to
enhance current knowledge” and “learning environment.” The constructs, attitude,
intention and learning environment were measured based on 6, 3 and 5 items,
respectively. The questionnaire items are presented in Table II. The Cronbach α
coefficients of the constructs, attitude, intention and learning environment, were
0.814, 0.67 and 0.76, respectively. All of the coefficients were within the acceptable
range (Hair et al., 1998).

5. Results and discussion

Table I summarizes the demographics of the 243 respondents. All of the respondents
were the final semester students of the Bachelor of Accountancy Programs from three
major public universities in Malaysia. About two-thirds of the respondents were female
and it fairly represented the gender distribution of accounting students enrolled in the
institutions of higher learning in Malaysia. A large majority of the respondents
(67.9 percent) gained entry into their Bachelor of Accountancy Programs based on their

Frequency %
a
Gender
Male 79 32.5
Female 164 67.5
243 100.0
Entry qualification
STPM (Form Six) 78 32.1
Diploma or matriculation 165 67.9
243 100.0
CGPA
3.00 and above 196 80.7
Below 3.00 47 19.3
243 100.0 Table I.
Note: aThe sample was consisted of predominantly female students because of the disproportionately Profile of
higher number of female students enrolled in the Bachelor of Accountancy Programs in Malaysia respondents
 JAEE diploma or matriculation qualifications, while 32.1 percent completed their form six
5,2 education before gaining admission into the bachelor program. More than 80 percent of
the respondents had CGPA W 3.0 (maximum 4.0), suggesting that the respondents
were “academically bright” students.
The descriptive statistics of the variables are shown in Table II. The mean score
for level of IC knowledge is 2.68 (on a five-point scale), which indicates the respondents’
212 level of IC knowledge is not high. The mean score for current knowledge enhancement
intention is 3.10, which is slightly higher than the mean score for level of IC knowledge.
This is consistent with the theory of reasoned action whereby the intention to enhance
current knowledge is antecedent to the current knowledge enhancement behavior.
For the intention construct, the item with the highest mean score of 3.43 is “I intend
to enhance my IC knowledge as it is important to me as an accountant or a business
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manager in the future,” while “I intend to do literature search or read more to enhance
my knowledge of IC” is the item with the lowest mean score of 2.72. On the other hand,
the mean scores of all the items for the attitude construct are above 3.0, which indicate
respondents generally have a favorable attitude toward acquisition of IC knowledge.
The learning environment construct[1] measures the extent of facilitation or
promotion of IC knowledge enhancement on a five-point scale, with 1 ¼ strongly
disagree (very inhibiting) and 5 ¼ strongly agree (very facilitating). The overall mean

Variable Mean SD Min. Max.

Level of IC knowledge 2.68 0.810 1.0 5.0

Intention to engage in IC knowledge seeking behavior (overall measure):
(scale: 1 ¼ strongly disagree; 5 ¼ strongly agree) 3.10 0.650 1.0 4.67
I intend to enhance my IC knowledge as it is important to me as an
accountant or a business manager in the future 3.43 0.866 1.0 5.0
I intend to gain more knowledge about IC 3.15 0.815 1.0 5.0
I intend to do literature search or read more to enhance my knowledge
of IC 2.72 0.837 1.0 5.0
Attitude (overall measure): (scale: 1 ¼ strongly disagree; 5 ¼ strongly
agree) 3.59 0.494 2.83 4.67
I feel all accounting students should be aware of development of IC 3.67 0.648 1.0 5.0
I feel IC is an important current issue for discussion 3.53 0.682 1.0 5.0
I feel knowledge of IC can aid students to appreciate the current
developments in the business environment 3.60 0.656 2.0 5.0
I feel knowledge of IC will help students to perform better in their
future career 3.56 0.704 1.0 5.0
I feel knowledge of IC makes students think “out-of-the-box” 3.63 0.705 2.0 5.0
I feel prospective employers view students with IC knowledge more
favorably 3.53 0.717 2.0 5.0
Learning environment (overall measure): (scale: 1 ¼ strongly disagree
(very inhibiting); 5 ¼ strongly agree (very facilitating)) 2.90 0.578 1.00 4.40
Topic on issues related to IC is part of my syllabus 2.88 0.839 1.0 5.0
Knowledge of IC is part of the accounting competency that is examined 2.93 0.747 1.0 5.0
Issues on IC are often discussed among students and friends 2.82 0.885 1.0 5.0
Lecturers do encourage students to read on current topics, such as IC
Table II. issues, that are outside the syllabus 2.93 0.802 1.0 5.0
Descriptive statistics Lecturers are familiar or do have extensive knowledge of IC 2.94 0.775 1.0 5.0
 score for this construct is 2.90, implying that the learning environment is generally not Accounting
facilitating IC knowledge enhancement among the accounting students in Malaysia. students in
The item “IC knowledge is widespread and often discussed among students and
friends” with the lowest mean score of 2.82 represents the most inhibiting factor in the
Malaysia
environment for IC knowledge enhancement. The education system in Malaysia is very
examination-oriented and topics for peer-group discussions are often confined only to
topics examinable in the students’ course syllabuses. Since current issues on IC are not 213
directly related to development of the technical competencies of accounting students,
the IC-related issues are not likely included in the syllabuses of accounting programs in
Malaysia. As a consequence, the issues are not expected to be widely discussed or
given much attention, as inferred from the earlier mentioned low mean score, as well as
the low mean score of 2.88 for another environment-related item “Topic on issues
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related to IC is part of my syllabus.” The mean scores for the other three environmental-
related items are also below 3.0.

5.1 Results of the regression models

As summarized in Table III, the results of the regression models 2 and 4 provide
empirical support for the H1 and H2, respectively.
Model 1 shows the regression of the three control variables, gender, entry
qualification and CGPA, on IC knowledge enhancement intention. CGPA is negatively
associated with IC knowledge enhancement intention. In Model 2, attitude is included in
the model as the independent variable in addition to the three control variables.
The results of Model 2 indicate a highly significant positive relationship between
attitude and IC knowledge enhancement intention (p ¼ 0.000). Therefore, H1 which
postulates that a positive attitude toward current knowledge enhancement is a
significant antecedent to current knowledge enhancement intention is strongly
supported. Model 3 includes the learning environment variable in the regression and
the results indicate a positive relationship between learning environment and
current knowledge enhancement. While the relationship between attitude and current
knowledge enhancement remains significantly positive, the relationship between
learning environment and current knowledge enhancement between learning

Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4

Dependent IC intention IC intention IC intention IC intention
variable t-statistic Sig. t-statistic Sig. t-statistic Sig. t-statistic Sig.

Constant 11.636 0.000 3.801 0.000 3.154 0.002 3.154 0.000

Gender −1.224 0.222 −1.084 0.279 −1.170 0.243 −1.170 0.243
Entry qualification 0.780 0.436 1.218 0.225 1.257 0.210 1.257 0.210
CGPA −1.996 0.047** −1.884 0.061* −1.884 0.061* −1.710 0.089*
Attitude 6.542 0.000*** 6.526 0.000*** −0.250 0.803
Learning
environment 0.138 0.891 −1.941 0.053*
Attitude x learning 1.991 0.048**
F-value 2.041 12.498 9.961 9.065 Table III.
R2 0.025 0.174 0.174 0.187 Results of the
2
Adj. R 0.013 0.160 0.156 0.167 regression models
p-value 0.109 0.000 0.000 0.000 for main and
Notes: *,**,***Significant at 0.10, 0.05 and 0.01, respectively interaction effects
 JAEE environment and current knowledge enhancement is not significant. Model 4 includes
5,2 attitude, learning environment and the interaction variable, and the results indicate
a significant interaction effect between the learning environment and attitude on
IC knowledge enhancement intention (p ¼ 0.048) and the results support H2 which
postulates that the learning environment moderates the attitude-IC intention
relationship. Table IV shows the result of the regression of IC knowledge enhancement
214 intention on the level of IC knowledge acquired and it indicates that high IC
knowledge enhancement intention is significantly associated with high level of
IC knowledge (p ¼ 0.000). Hence, H3, is also supported.
Sub-analyses by university indicate similar support for H1 and H3, but not for H2.
As the learning environment reflects the institutional setting that is not likely to vary
very much among students of the same institution, the moderating role of the learning
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environment is not expected to be significantly evident based on analysis of data from

only one institution, as compared to that based on the entire sample which consisted of
three different learning environments.
The moderating effect of the learning environment on the attitude-current
knowledge enhancement intention relationship is further analyzed by categorizing the
learning environment into inhibiting (environment mean score o 3.0) environment and
facilitating (environment mean score W 3.0) environment, as well as categorizing
attitude into unfavorable (attitude mean score o 3.0) attitude and favorable (attitude
mean score W 3.0) attitude. The one-way ANOVAs consistently indicate significant
differences in IC knowledge enhancement intention between respondents with
favorable attitude and those with unfavorable attitude under both the inhibiting
environment (F ¼ 15.103; p ¼ 0.000) and the facilitating environment (F ¼ 4.99;
p ¼ 0.028). Based on the F-statistic, the difference in IC knowledge enhancement
intention between students with favorable attitude and those with unfavorable attitude,
however, is more evident under the inhibiting environment. Figure 2 presents
graphically the interaction effect between attitude and environment on IC knowledge
enhancement intention.
Gender, entry qualification and CGPA are included in the regression models as
control variables. In Model 2, IC knowledge enhancement intention is not only
significantly related to the independent variable, attitude, but also to the control
variable, CGPA, except in a negative way. The result suggests that those accountancy

Model 4
Level of IC knowledge
Dependent variable t-statistic Sig.

Constant 2.873 0.004***

Gender −2.672 0.008***
Entry qualification −1.359 0.176
CGPA 1.763 0.079*
IC intention 8.936 0.000***
Table IV. F-value 24.359
Results of the R2 0.290
regression of IC Adj. R2 0.279
intention and IC p-value 0.000
knowledge Notes: *,***Significant at 0.10 and 0.01, respectively
 3.4 Accounting
3.3 3.26
Favorable Attitude
students in
3.2 3.16
Malaysia
3.1
IC Intention

3
2.9
2.81
215
Unfavorable attitude
2.8
2.72
2.7
2.6 Figure 2.
Interaction effect
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2.5
between attitude and
2.4 environment on IC
1 2 knowledge seeking
Inhibiting Facilitating
intention
Environment

students with high CGPA tend to have low current knowledge enhancement intention.
Earlier studies by Tho (1994) and Alfan and Md Nor Othman (2005) found that female
accounting students tended to perform academically better than the male accounting
students in the Malaysian public university setting. The study by Marriott and
Marriott (2003) also found that female accounting students had a more positive attitude
toward accounting than the male students. In this study, there is a moderately
significant negative relationship between CGPA and IC knowledge enhancement
intention and also a significant gender effect on the level of IC knowledge with the male
students reporting a higher level of IC knowledge than the female students. Both the
CGPA effect and the gender effect in this study suggest that the female accounting
students who tend to perform better academically are also more examination oriented
and as a consequence, they are likely to have less favorable attitude toward IC
knowledge enhancement because IC-related issues are often not part of the technical
skills or competencies examined in the syllabuses of most accounting programs in
Malaysia. The findings suggest that female students generally lack motivation to
engage in self-directed learning to enhance knowledge beyond those stipulated in their
syllabuses. The gender effect on the level of IC knowledge suggests that male students
are generally more positive to acquisition of non-technical and non-course-based
knowledge. Consequently, they acknowledged to being more knowledgeable about IC.
Despite the CGPA of more than 80 percent of the respondents was above 3.0,
the overall level of IC knowledge among the respondents was low. This does not augur
well for those accounting students who are planning to embark on the challenging
career as a business consultant or advisor. A successful business consultant or advisor
needs to continuously keep one’s professional and current knowledge up-to-date
through constant lifelong or self-directed learning. The generally low intention to
enhance one’s current knowledge and the subsequent low current knowledge level
among accounting students may be largely attributed to the highly examination-
oriented mindset among accounting students in Malaysia.
The education system in Malaysia is fairly similar to the Korean education
system that McGuire (2007) described as being characterized by teacher-centered
instructional methodologies and rote-memorization of instructional materials by
 JAEE students. The current accounting curriculum in Malaysia is still focussing on those
5,2 technical competencies emphasized by the local professional bodies. The rule
based and technical orientation of most accounting curricula in Malaysia favor the
teacher-centered instructional methodologies and encourage students adopt a surface
approach to learning by memorizing facts merely to pass examinations. Such features
in the education system are not consistent with those that promote a deep approach to
216 learning critical for development of liberal and critical thinking among students. Most
students still lack appreciation for the need for self-directed learning skill to stay
current and relevant.

6. Conclusions and implications

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This study examines how individual attitude and environment influence the intention
and level of current knowledge enhancement of the final-year accounting students in
three major public universities in Malaysia. This study provides strong empirical
evidence that individual attitude toward current knowledge enhancement is a
significant predictor of the individual’s intention to enhance one’s current knowledge,
which, in turn, is significantly related to his/her level of current knowledge. This study
also indicates that the learning environment plays the role of a moderator that
significantly moderates the attitude-intention relationship. This study is based on the
subjective ratings of the questionnaire items in the university setting and therefore,
has the limitations often associated with self-administered questionnaire survey type
research. The use of IC knowledge as a proxy measure of current knowledge means
that the findings may not be generalizable to settings based on other types of current
knowledge. In addition, the sample size is relatively small and confined to the final-year
accounting students of only three, albeit major, public universities in Malaysia.
Despite the limitations, the findings of this study may have some important
implications for academic and education reforms. As the motivation to learn is very
much influenced by the expected benefits from the learning effort, the technical
contents of the accounting syllabus may have to be less emphasized and the other
competencies necessary for sustained professional success have to be increasingly
more emphasized in future accounting curriculum development. When accounting
standards are frequently revised to cope with the rapidly changing needs of the
industry and the accounting profession, the relevancy of knowledge of the extant
accounting standards is expected to be short-lived. Accounting graduates must,
instead, be equipped with the ability to continually update themselves on the latest
developments not only in the technical accounting matters but also in other areas that
may be directly or indirectly relevant to the successful developments of their
organizations or practices.
The findings of this study could also have implications on how academic and
education reforms may be restructured to stress on active student learning for
developing attitudes consistent with the culture of self-directed or lifelong learning
critical for success in the increasingly challenging work environment. The reforms
should aim at developing multiple-competence workforce as businesses are looking for
employees, who are highly adaptable and could look beyond the numbers, to achieve
congruence in the workplace and the environment. Accounting education reforms
should not only emphasize on continuous updating and enhancing current knowledge
but also on improving the ability of graduates to apply new knowledge learned to real
world situations or professional practices (Wells et al., 2009). In this aspect, accounting
 curriculum development may consider exposing students to more business-related Accounting
topics through the use of more real-life business cases and to include more research- students in
based assignments to encourage more independent self-directed learning for resolution
of decision problems presented.
Malaysia
A high-quality learning environment facilitates effective self-directed learning
endeavor as it can significantly strengthen the student’s attitude-current knowledge
seeking intention relationship. In this respect, teachers play a key role in shaping the 217
learner’s attitude toward self-directed learning. Attitude of accounting academics have
to change from the compliance-driven attitude to one that appreciates the relevance of
non-technical course contents in the curriculum design to meet the “broader content
coverage” expectation of employers of accounting graduates. In designing CPD
programs for professionals, professional bodies could consider CPD activities such as
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self-directed or workplace learning that could keep members updated with current
developments in their work environments. Workplace learning is increasingly
becoming a necessity for success in larger organizations that have established formal
knowledge management systems to promote self-directed learning initiatives among
their employees.

Note
1. Sub-analyses indicate that the learning environment of one of the universities is significant
better than the other two universities. However, there are no significant differences in means
of the other variables among the three universities examined.

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Appendix 221

Learning
Items Attitude environment Intention
Downloaded by Florida International University GL810 At 01:04 13 May 2015 (PT)

I feel all accounting students should be aware of development

of IC 0.587
I feel IC is an important current issue for discussion 0.720
I feel knowledge of IC can aid students to appreciate the
current developments in the business environment 0.729
I feel knowledge of IC will help students to perform better in
their future career 0.741
I feel knowledge of IC makes students think “out-of-the-box” 0.717
I feel prospective employers view students with IC knowledge
more favorably 0.710
Topic on issues related to IC is part of my syllabus 0.688
Knowledge of IC is part of the accounting competency that is
examined 0.781
Issues on IC are often discussed among students and friends 0.695
Lecturers do encourage students to read on current topics,
such as IC issues, that are outside the syllabus 0.727
Lecturers are familiar or do have extensive knowledge of IC 0.667
I intend to enhance my IC knowledge as it is important to me Table AI.
as an accountant or a business manager in the future 0.677 Factor loadings for
I intend to gain more knowledge about IC 0.852 attitude, learning
I intend to do literature search or read more to enhance my environment and
knowledge of IC 0.720 intention

Corresponding author
Dr Soon-Yau Foong can be contacted at: syfoong@putrabs.edu.my

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