Increasing Student Accounting Self‐Efficacy, Interest, and Knowledge Using the DuPont Model

ABSTRACT This research describes a DuPont Model activity used in an introduction to business course. An in‐class activity stimulated students’ confidence in their ability to apply the fundamental accounting principles building upon students’ knowledge of a lemonade stand. Accounting is often viewed by students in introductory courses as “a foreign language,” with common reactions by students of fear and anxiety about financial statements and financial ratios (Borja; Brazelton; Deer, Gohn, and Kanaya; Eber and Parker; and Goh and Scerri). The DuPont Model was developed to visually connect an income statement and the balance sheet to five common financial ratios. Using a preactivity and a postactivity questionnaire and 76 matched pairs of student responses, changes or differences in two student self‐efficacy measures were found. Over one‐half of these student pairs showed increases or improvements in these two self‐efficacy measures from preactivity to postactivity, implying that the DuPont Model positively influenced these self‐efficacy measures. Correlation analysis also showed meaningful, positive correlations among students’ self‐efficacy differences and their attitudes toward accounting. Furthermore, students’ perceived characteristics of the DuPont activity are significantly and positively correlated with students’ attitudes toward accounting. Finally, the results of the study are encouraging to the authors to continue using the DuPont Model activity.