Needs of the accounting conceptual foundations of the financial area in the students of business administration.

Abstract

This article answers and gives solutions to a series of hypothesis presented by instructors of the
Financial Accounting area, which express the idea that the teaching-learning methodologies used in
accounting are not the most adequate, and this has as consequence that students forget concepts which
will be used in future courses.
To develop this work we started from a context of philosophy of accounting. Then, pedagogical
models and teaching methodologies were reviewed in order to establish the ones which best fitted for
accounting. Later, a diagnosis of the present situation of the business administration program of Universidad
del Norte was made. Firstly, the importance of accounting in the financial and accounting
areas was determined; secondly, the concepts required for superior courses were identified, as well as
the instructors’ opinion regarding topic command by students. Finally, students’ level of appropriation
of these concepts was meosured, pointing at the causes of the deficiencies present in them with the aim
of answering instructors’ hypotheses.