Engaging Vietnamese students in Australian accounting courses through inter-teaching at an offshore campus

This study examined the effectiveness of inter-teaching; a teaching model designed to engage students with links to behaviourist and student engagement theories. This teaching methodology was introduced to enhance student engagement and subsequent academic performance for students studying an accounting course, Management Accounting and Business, at an offshore campus of an Australian University, in Vietnam, who have historically experienced difficulties with successfully completing the course. Commencing semester 2 2015, the first six weeks were taught through the lecture-tutorial model. The weeks 7-12 comprised of the inter-teaching mode of instruction. The same cohort of students participated in both teaching methods. Using a quantitative research methodology, for the lecture and inter-teaching methods of instruction, student responses from surveys and final exam grade marks were compared. Both teaching methods were measured for impact in relation to student engagement and academic performance effectiveness and compared for statistically significance. The results suggest that inter-teaching is an encouraging development for engaging and improving student performance in the Management, Accounting and Business accounting course. It is anticipated that this research will demonstrate that inter-teaching improves student accountability for their learning, effectiveness of student learning, and overall greater student engagement and performance in accounting courses .