The effect of previous subject knowledge on student performance in the subject of principles of accounts in the Hong Kong advanced-level examination: A case study

Abstract

There is a general understanding among accounting teachers that those who have previous subject knowledge in Principles of Accounts (POA) will perform better than those who do not. This study has two aims. The first one is to test the assumption of accounting teachers that, "Students with previous subject knowledge in Principles of Accounts can attain better grades in their Hong Kong Advanced-Level (A-Level) Examination for Principles of Accounts than those who do not." The second aim is to find out if there is any correlation between the English and Mathematical ability of the students and their A-Level POA performance. Our findings indicate that students with previous subject knowledge in POA can attain better grades in their Hong Kong Advanced-Level Examination for POA than those who lack such knowledge; and that the mathematical ability of the students is highly correlated with their A-Level POA performance. © 2011 De La Salle University, Philippines.