Multimodal teaching of accounting at the Durban University of Technology

Abstract

The advancement and innovation of technology has made available a diversified array of modes to promote meaningful and engaging teaching in higher education in the discipline of accounting. A multimodal teaching approach recognises that teaching and learning occur through a range of modes that facilitate the uptake of a diversified portfolio of semiotic resources for meaning making. Students make meaning through a combination of modal resources, the selection of which is determined by individual learning styles. Disruptions to higher education globally can be mitigated through the adoption of multimodal pedagogy, a student-centred, flexible teaching approach, that enables the continuity of creative teaching practices in times of crisis. This study was undertaken to explore multimodal teaching of accounting in higher education, with Durban University of Technology as the case under study. The accounting discipline, being number intensive and technical, creates the perception that it is difficult to teach, more so digitally. The philosophical worldview underpinning this research study was pragmatism. The research design adopted was explanatory sequential mixed methods in two phases. The findings from data collected in the quantitative first phase, was used to inform the sampling and the type of semistructured questions to be asked in the qualitative second phase of the study. The target population encompassed all the academics in the accounting cluster within the Faculty of Accounting and Informatics. Quantitative data analysis was conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 25 and included the use of descriptive and inferential statistics, while qualitative data analysis software, NVIVO was used to analyse qualitative data. The findings of this study revealed that general technological knowledge is very important for successful multimodal teaching of accounting, especially, understanding the technological infrastructure of the institution. Most academics considered knowledge on creating and uploading course content as essential for using Moodle. When using MS Teams, significance was accorded to being skilled at using complex applications and having knowledge on set up, conduct, and control of a digital lecture. Most accounting academics agreed that the accounting curriculum needed to be adapted to a moderate extent to facilitate curriculum realignment for multimodal teaching of accounting. Findings further revealed that the digital pedagogical skills of designing a digital learning environment, adapting pedagogy to digital channels, and creating a digital learning experience, were very necessary for teaching accounting using multiple modes.