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Vol. 15 - Nº 2 Julio-Diciemb e Pág. 195-209
Dep. Legal: MA-1436/97
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En iado/Submi ed: 3/5/2012
P ime a Re isión/Fi s e ision: 26/6/2012
Acep ado/Accep ed: 2/7/2012
DISTANCE LEARNING AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN
ACCOUNTING: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF THE
USE OF VIDEOCONFERENCING*
EDUCACIÓN A DISTANCIA Y RESULTADOS ACADÉMICOS EN CONTABILIDAD: UN
ESTUDIO COMPARATIVO DEL USO DE VIDEOCONFERENCIA
DAVID PONS FLORIT, Uni e sidad da las Islas Balea es (España), [email p o ec ed]
JOSÉ LUIS ARQUERO MONTAÑO, Uni e sidad de Se illa (España)
JOSÉ ANTONIO DONOSO ANES, Uni e sidad de Se illa (España)
ABSTRACT
Backg ound. The speci ic needs o some uni e si ies (a ending se e al campuses), as well
as he demands o adap ing o he EHEA ( in o de o achie e be e coo dina ion among
uni e si ies in join p og ammes and p ojec s) could be e icien ly sol ed by using In o ma ion
and Communica ion Technologies and dis ance lea ning ools. In his con ex , he e iciency o
such solu ions is a ele an ques ion.
Aims. The e alua ion o he ela i e e icacy, in e ms o academic pe o mance, o
ideocon e encing in he eaching o accoun ing a uni e si y le el.
Me hod. A la ge da ase , including cu en academic pe o mance, p e ious academic
pe o mance and o he ele an ac o s, o s uden s in g oups using ideocon e encing and
adi ional me hods was buil . Mul i a ia e analyses we e pe o med in o de o es whe he
s uden s a ideocon e encing g oups p esen ed signi ican di e ences in pe o mance.
Resul s. The esul s indica ed ha ideocon e encing does no nega i ely a ec s uden s’
pe o mances.
KEYWORDS: dis ance lea ning, ideocon e encing, academic pe o mance, accoun ing
educa ion.
JEL Classi ica ion: M49, A22
* Acknowledgemen s: Pape inanced h ough he Excellence Resea ch P ojec s scheme. Jun a de Andalucía (Re-
gional Go e nmen o Andalusia) - FEDER (P07-SEJ-02670)
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196 Da id Pons Flo i , José Luis A que o Mon año y José An onio Donoso Anes
RESUMEN
Las necesidades de de e minadas uni e sidades (a endiendo docencia en a ios campus) así
como las demandas esul an es de la adap ación al EEES (coo dinación in e -uni e si a ia,
p omoción de p og amas y p oyec os conjun os, e c.) pueden esol e se de o ma e icien e
u ilizando he amien as de educación a dis ancia y ecnologías de comunicación. En es e
con ex o, la e iciencia de es as soluciones es un ac o ele an e.
El p incipal obje i o de es e abajo es e alua la e iciencia de la ideocon e encia, en é minos
de endimien o académico, en su uso en educación supe io en con abilidad.
Como mé odo, se compa an los esul ados ob enidos po g upos siguiendo un esquema
adicional con o os g upos que han u ilizado ideocon e encia.
Los esul ados indican que el uso de ideocon e encia no a ec a al endimien o de los alumnos
que han u ilizado es e mé odo.
PALABRAS CLAVE: o mación a dis ancia, ideocon e encia, endimien o académico,
o mación en con abilidad.
Clasi icación JEL: M49, A22
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INTRODUCTION
Moo e and Thompson (1997) desc ibed dis ance lea ning (DL, he eina e ) as any ins uc ional
a angemen in which he eache and lea ne a e geog aphically sepa a ed o an ex en
equi ing communica ion h ough media.
Keegan (1980) sugges ed he ollowing six de ining cha ac e is ics o DL:
1. Sepa a ion o he eache and he s uden .
2. The in luence o an educa ional o ganiza ion (e.g., depa men o college) in he
planning, p epa a ion, o deli e y o ma e ial ( s a s and-alone p o esso esponsible
o con en gene a ion and deli e y o cou se in o ma ion). This is a componen no
ypically ound in mos on-campus cou ses.
3. The use o echnical media.
4. The p o ision o wo-way communica ion.
5. The possibili y o an occasional semina .
6. The e idence o a di ision o labou .
La e , Keegan (1995) highligh ed one o he key aspec s o DL: he echnological sepa a ion o
eache and lea ne . This ees he ac o s om he necessi y o a elling o a ixed place, a a
ixed ime, o mee a ixed pe son.
Why is DL ele an in ou con ex ? As F eeman (1998) s a es, many uni e si ies now ace a
p oblem o deli e ing subjec s, p og ammes and cou ses ac oss mo e han one campus. This
ques ion is no new, bu he adap a ion p ocess o he EHEA b ings new challenges ha a e, in
na u e, simila o ha p oblem. Thus, in all o mal decla a ions ( om he So bonne in 1998 o
Leu en/Lou ain-la-Neu e de 2009) a se ies o objec i es could be ound:
– The ins i u ional mobili y, o bo h s uden s and eaching s a .
– Li e-long lea ning.
– The in ensi e use o ad anced echnologies.
– The os e ing o join p og ammes a unde g adua e and g adua e le els.
– The opening o uni e si ies o s uden s o any egion o he wo ld.
– Join esea ch p ojec s.
Join p og ammes and p ojec s, as well as he need o be p esen a se e al geog aphical
could lead o signi ican cos s due o eaching and adminis a i e duplica ion (F eeman, 1998)
and a elling cos s. Rele an DL al e na i es o e po en ial o achie e economies o scale,
educing cos s and making he e o mo e p oduc i e.
1
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198 Da id Pons Flo i , José Luis A que o Mon año y José An onio Donoso Anes
In a con ex in which Uni e si ies a e eeling he p essu e o con ol hei cos s, imp o e hei
quali y o ins uc ion, ocus on cus ome needs, and espond o he compe i i e p essu es (Basom
and She i , 1992; Ho gan, 1998), DL echnologies ha e he po en ial o assis in sol ing
hese p oblems (Valen ine, 2002). I allows educa ional ins i u ions o mul iply he numbe o
people se ed wi h he same esou ces and allows widesp ead access o he bes ins uc o s and
educa ional esou ces (Jaege , 1995; Spoone , Jo dan, Algozzine and Spoone , 1999).
Howe e , he main cons ain o DL is ela ed o he quali y o lea ning ( eal o pe cei ed).
Webs e and Hackley (1997) s a ed ha success ul implemen a ion and use o any echnology
depends on ac o s connec ed wi h use a i udes and opinions, and (Ch is ensen, Anakwe and
Kessle , 2001) belie ed s uden s will ha e a mo e nega i e han posi i e a i ude owa d DL
o se e al easons, including he ea o he unknown. Me iso is and Phipps (1999) also aised
his issue when indica ing ha , gene ally, s uden s a e inexpe ienced wi h using echnology,
pa icula ly educa ional echnology. In he same line, Allen, Bou his, Bu ell and Mab y (2002)
poin ou ha s uden s may esis he use o DL echnology o se e al easons: echnology
seems mo e likely o b eak down, s uden s may be unused o wo king wi h machines, and
s uden s may eel ha he media ed expe ience canno ully eplace he li e class oom.
Spoone e al. (1999) ocused on his las aspec : al hough educa ion ob ained ia DL is iewed
o be e ec i e by some, in he eyes o o he s i has been seen as some hing less han educa ion
ecei ed on a college o uni e si y campus. Allen e al. (2002) con i med his idea: hei me a-
analysis indica es a sligh s uden p e e ence o a adi ional educa ional o ma o e a DL
o ma and a decline in s uden sa is ac ion wi h he quali y o he educa ional p ocess.
Despi e his p e e ence, he c i ical ques ion o eache s is (Allen e al., 2004) whe he he
change in he o ma o communica ion will impac he le el o lea ning, o , in he wo ds o
Jaege (1995): Is echnology-assis ed pe sonnel p epa a ion as e ec i e as adi ional ace-
o- ace eaching? This is he main esea ch ques ion o his esea ch. The es o he pape is
s uc u ed as ollows. The nex sec ion deals wi h he concep , ad an ages and limi a ions o
ideocon e encing as he DL esou ce used. A e ha , he esea ch ques ion is o mally s a ed,
and he sample and me hodology used a e p esen ed. Finally we pu o wa d he esul s, and
he concluding ema ks, including he limi a ions, implica ions and p ospec i es.
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VIDEOCONFERENCING
Videocon e encing1 is a communica ion sys em he pe mi s he mee ing o people loca ed in
di e en places as i hey we e in he same oom (Oli e , 1995; Cabe o, 2000; Sánchez, 2001).
This communica ion is synch onous, in eal ime and bi-di ec ionally ansmi s images and
sound. I allows no only e bal communica ion, bu also non- e bal language.
As Ch is ensen e al. (2001) indica e, his is an in e ac i e o m o DL ha app oxima es
he ad an ages o ace- o- ace in e ac ion be e while p ese ing he con enience o DL.
Howe e , he e a e speci ic ci cums ances ha make a di e ence be ween p esence and VC.
Ou own expe ience in he use o VC shows us ha he pa icipa ion o emo e s uden s could
be cons ained ( hey a e alking by using a mic ophone and looking a a came a). I is mo e
di icul o he eache o con ol he emo e class oom o o mo i a e s uden s o pa icipa e.
The e is he impossibili y o he eache o mo e be ween he s uden s o con ol he p og ess
o an ac i i y o o inc ease he s uden s’ a en ion. F eeman (1998) indica ed a simila lis o
cons ain s, adding he inc eased po en ial o dis up i e beha iou and he ques ion o emo e
s uden s pe cei ing unequi y by.
Accoun ing classes necessa ily include examples and p oblem sol ing ha need in ensi e
calcula ions, ables, cha s, e c. Teaching accoun ing ia VC could add some cons ain s: he
blackboa d is eplaced by a came a ha is able o ansmi an image o books, p in ed shee s,
e c., bu he maximum a ea co e ed is a ound he size o an A4 shee , he e o e, he p oblems
mus be sol ed on pape shee s, o in an elec onic o ma ( ex p ocesso , e c.). Some o
hese sho comings seem o a ec he hy hm o he class, c ea ing a sensa ion o a lack o
dynamici y when quick s uden – eache in e ac ions a e needed.
Finally, a leas in ou expe ience, he eache needs o sol e he echnical issues, choosing which
images, came as, o de ices a e ansmi ed a each momen o he emo e ideocon e ence
ooms. The e o e, he eache mus be awa e o hese aspec s a e e y momen , and no only
concen a e on he explana ion o he con en s. Valen ine (2002) highligh s ha mal unc ion
can be o g ea de imen o he e ec i eness o dis ance lea ning.
The need o speci ic aining in his en i onmen is a key issue (Isla and O ega, 2001;
Valen ine, 2002), gi en ha amilia i y wi h he media (no only he echnical aspec s,
bu he way o alking, mo ing, non- e bally exp essing e c.) in luences he quali y o he
1 VC will be used he eina e o ideocon e encing o ideocon e ence.
2
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200 Da id Pons Flo i , José Luis A que o Mon año y José An onio Donoso Anes
communica ion p ocess. This aining is no only needed o he eaching s a , s uden s also
need o know how o beha e and o be awa e o he capabili ies and cons ain s o VC.
Fo ins ance, Fillion (1999) aises a ious issues. Among hem a e he inc eased i edness in
compa ison wi h o he media (much ime looking a a TV image ha , in many cases, is no o
he bes quali y) o he need o ge used o di e en empos and ways o speaking and beha ing
in in e ac i e si ua ions.
Howe e , despi e he limi a ions indica ed, VC is becoming mo e common and inexpensi e
and he e o e, is an a ailable mul imedia esou ce (Oli e , 1995) ha could be used o a ain
some o he EHEA objec i es poin ed ou abo e a a easonable cos . In his line, many
educa ional ins i u ions a e using his esou ce and a ele an inc ease in i s use could be
expec ed (Salinas, 2002).
OBJECTIVE
As a key poin in o de o assess he e icacy o VC is o ga he e idence abou he incidence
o he limi a ions on he quali y o lea ning, his pape has, as i s majo aim, he e alua ion o
he ela i e e icacy o VC in he eaching o accoun ing a uni e si y le el.
F om mo e han a decade, he Uni e si y o he Balea ic Islands, om i s cen al campus in
Mallo ca, has been o e ing se e al deg ees (Business, Teaching and Nu sing) o s uden s
li ing in o he islands o he a chipelago (Meno ca and Ibiza) by using VC. Wi hin his con ex ,
we compa e he academic pe o mance o s uden s augh by VC wi h s uden s en olled in
adi ional accoun ing cou ses.
In his amewo k, he esea ch ques ion could be s a ed as ollows: Is he academic pe o mance
o s uden s augh by VC a ec ed in compa ison wi h s uden s en olled in adi ional cou ses?
SAMPLE AND METHODOLOGY
The sample is composed o s uden s en olled in he subjec o Financial Accoun ing II –a
compulso y subjec in he Business Deg ee–. In o de o a oid dis o i e ac o s, compa ison
g oups we e en olled in he same subjec wi h he same eache . All s uden s en olled in he
selec ed g oups we e included in he sample.
3
4
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A da abase co e ing he academic yea s 1998-99 o 2005-06 was c ea ed o all s uden s
en olled in he selec ed g oups. A o al o 2,098 s uden s we e included in he da abase, 630
in g oups augh by VC.
The a iables included in he da abase we e:
a. Id: We used he o icial ID numbe o s uden s as a key ma ching a iable, gi en ha
his is he same in e e y da abase and does no change du ing he s uden ’s li e.
b. G oup: This a iable allows us o iden i y i he s uden is en olled in a ideocon e encing
o adi ional class, and he e o e pe mi s he de ini ion o he main independen
a iable VC a bina y a iable ha akes he alue 1 o VC g oups and 0 o adi ional
g oups.
c. G ades ob ained. As s uden s can si a wo exams e e y academic yea , wo di e en
a iables we e ini ially included, one o each exam. I he s uden did no si a any o
hese exams, he alue is ea ed as missing. In ou sys em, he g ades could luc ua e
om 0 o 10, 5 being he minimum g ade o pass.
d. Age. Age o he s uden s a he beginning o he cou se.
e. P e ious educa ional backg ound. S uden s can access he uni e si y om di e en
educa ional backg ounds. Seconda y educa ion (comp ising wo main speciali ies:
Sciences, and he A s & li e a u e), p o essional aining and special access exams
o ma u e s uden s. This classi ica ion leads o he de ini ion o o he bina y a iables:
– Seconda y educa ion (sec_educa ion): 1 o seconda y educa ion, 0 o echnical
aining.
– The A s & li e a u e backg ound (a s&li ): 1 o seconda y educa ion wi h he
backg ound desc ibed, 0 o he o he cases
– Ma u e s uden s access (ma _access: 1 o s uden s accessing h ough special
exams, 0 o he o he cases)
. Selec i i y exam g ade (selec i i y): S uden s accessing om seconda y educa ion
mus pass a selec i i y exam be o e en e ing he uni e si y. This a iable is he g ade
ob ained in his exam. As he e a e wo a emp s: he i s one in June, when s uden s
ha passed hei seconda y educa ion exams can si he exam, and a second a emp in
Sep embe , ano he a iable was included: June, aking alue 1 i he s uden passed
he selec i i y exam a he i s a emp , 0 o he wise.
i. Repea ing: This a iable indica es i he s uden s a e epea ing he subjec . S uden s
ha do no pass a subjec in an academic yea can en ol again in his subjec .
All he da a we e ob ained om he Uni e si y’s o icial da abases.
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202 Da id Pons Flo i , José Luis A que o Mon año y José An onio Donoso Anes
The esea ch ques ion is o know i he academic pe o mance o s uden s augh by
VC is a ec ed in compa ison wi h “ adi ional s uden s”.
In o de o es his ques ion h ee dependen a iables ela ed o academic pe o mance
we e de ined and ob ained om his da abase:
– PASS_COURSE. Bina y a iable ha akes alue=1 i he s uden s pass he
cou se in any o he wo exams and 0 i he s uden s did no si o ail. The e is no
a di e ence in his a iable i he s uden s, o ins ance, pass wi h he minimum
g ade in he second exam o wi h honou s in he i s a emp .
– PASS_EXAM. Bina y a iable ha akes alue=1 i he s uden s pass he exam
and 0 i he s uden ail. Each exam is ea ed as a sepa a e case and akes a
missing alue i he s uden does no si he exam.
– GRADE. Con inuous a iable ha can a y om 0 o 10. The g ade o each exam
is ea ed independen ly. The a iable p esen s a missing alue when he s uden
does no si he exam.
The main independen a iable is VC, bu in o de o con ol o o he ac o s ha could a ec
academic pe o mance, he ollowing con ol a iables (de ined abo e) we e used:
Educa ional backg ound – sec_educa ion
– a s&li
– science
– ma _access
Selec i i y exam – Selec i i y exam g ade (selec i i y)
– June
Age
The s a is ical me hod used o es he esea ch ques ion di e s depending on he na u e o
he dependen a iable. As PASS_COURSE and PASS_EXAM a e bina y a iables he model
used is a P obi . As GRADE is a con inuous a iable, o dina y leas squa es eg ession was
conside ed o be a sui able me hod2.
2 Mo e in o ma ion on hese me hods can be ound in G eene (1999), Guja a i (1997) and O e o (1993).
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RESULTS
5.1. Resul s o he p obabili y o passing he subjec (PASS_COURSE)
F om he o iginal da ase , a da abase in which he obse a ion was de ined in s uden -academic
yea e ms was buil .
A P obi model was de ined in he ollowing e ms. The explained a iable (Ei ) is he p obabili y
o he s uden i passing he cou se , and is de ined in he ollowing e ms:
Ei =1 i and only i xi
β
+
β
iVDCFi +
ε
i >0 and Ei =0 con a iwise. [1]
Whe e β a e he pa ame e s o be es ima ed, Xi a e he con ol a iables, and VDCFi is
ideocon e encing ha indica es i he s uden i was en olled in a ideocon e encing g oup
in he yea . εi ep esen he e o e m –all he o he a iables and cha ac e is ics no
explici ly included in he model–.
The esul s ob ained a e p esen ed in Table 1.
TABLE 1. PROBIT 1 – EXPLAINED VARIABLE: PASS_COURSE
Va iable Coe . S and. De .
Cons an -1.08*** 0.28
A s&li -0.86** 0.43
Ma _access -0.27 0.28
Sec_educa ion -1.28** 0.57
Videocon e encing (VC) 0.01 0.08
Selec i i y 0.26*** 0.07
Age 0.00 0.01
June 0.,07 0.08
Repea ing 0.75*** 0.09
(***) signi ican a 1%, (**) signi ican a 5%, (*) signi ican a 10%.
As shown in Table 1, VC is no signi ican in he model. In ac , he coe icien is close o ze o,
indica ing no in luence a all in he p obabili y o passing he cou se. I is o be no ed ha
wo educa ional backg ound a iables p esen nega i e and signi ican e ec s. S uden s ha
5
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