Accounting Training in Portuguese Public Higher Education: : Analysis of course units

The training in didactics for higher education accounting teachers, as well as the possibilities that arise from this training, are some of the concerns of a PhD study in Education at the University of Aveiro. The aim of this paper is to present the first research phase of the aforementioned study, which aims at analyzing the state of the art of the training in Accounting offered by Portuguese public higher education institutions. Specifically, it aims to identify in the syllabuses of accounting courses: i) which competences are being covered; ii) which teaching, learning and assessment methodologies and which educational resources are being used. It is considered that this phase of research will assist in the collection of guidelines for designing, implementing and evaluating an accounting teacher training program. Preliminary results showed that training has privileged the development of technical competence, using methodologies based on theoretical-practical classes, where theory is presented in a lecture by the teacher and practice is carried out through the resolution of cases and exercises. Accounting teachers tend to prioritize more traditional assessments, through assignments, tests, exams and examinations. Finally, digital resources are still scarcely mentioned in the syllabus.

I. Introduction

In an age when it is increasingly urgent to prepare future accountants for the information and communication technologies (ICT) job market, in a job market that is increasingly transforming into a 5.0 society. With the adhesion of Portugal to the Bologna Declaration (Law 49/2005) [1], the Portuguese education system started a transition from a traditional model, based on the transmission of knowledge, to a model based on the development of students' competencies. Since then, the use of methodologies and resources adequate to the development of students' competencies became one of the great challenges of the Portuguese Higher Education Institutions (IESP).