Yijiun Zhou 
Cognitive Requirement of Accounting Tasks 
A Task Analysis in Chinese Vocational School Textbooks

Competence orientation has become a defining element of vocational education in German-speaking countries. In this context, tasks are considered the ‚transmission belts‘ to implement the reformed educational standards. In her dissertation the author takes a view on the systematic analysis of task characteristics as a method to inspect the degree of tasks‘ cognitive requirements. The theoretical-conceptual part of the dissertation gives a psychological and didactical justification of the principles underlying the tasks‘ cognitive requirement. The effects are analysed in two empirical studies. The first study takes a look on the basis of accounting tasks from Chinese vocational school textbooks, using the structuring content analysis (Mayring, 2008). The second empirical study inspects accounting teachers‘ perceptions and judgments by interviews.

Based on the results, the author develops suggestions for the use of the concept of tasks‘ cognitive requirement in the didactic training of (prospective) teachers at commercial schools.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction
1.1 Problem statement
1.2 Study design
1.3 Study procedures

Part I. Theoretical Exploration: Cognitive Rqeuirement of Accounting Tasks
2. Task Potential in Competence-oriented Discourse
2.1 Critical contextual factors: formation of competence orientation
2.2 Task potential: lynchpin for competence modeling and competence development

3. Theoretical Argumentation of Cognitive Requirement of Accounting Task
3.1 Concept of cognitive requirement
3.2 Theoretical exploration of cognitive requirement in the tasks
3.3 Operationalization of the cognitive requirements of tasks
3.4 Adaptive framework of cognitive requirements in accounting tasks

Part II Analysis of the Cognitive Requirements of Accounting Tasks
4 Methodological Approach
4.1 Study design
4.2 Analysis sample collection and description
4.3 Pre-tests
4.4 Data analysis

5. Empirical Analysis of Accounting Tasks
5.1 Overall description of sampled tasks
5.2 Result of categorical content analysis
5.3 Task cluster
5.4 Task in the Textbooks

Part III Teachers‘ perspectives on cognitive requirements of accounting tasks from textbook
6. Interview Study about Teacher’s Perception of the Cognitive Requirement of Accounting Task
6.1 Research justification and objectives
6.2 Research methods
6.3 Results
6.4 Interim summary of accounting teachers‘ perception of task cognitive requirement

Part IV Summary, implications, and outlook
7 Discussion and Outlook
7.1 Results summary and interpretation
7.2 Reflective critique and prospect
7.3 Implication

Über den Autor

Dr. Yijun Zhou is scientific assistant at the College of Vocational Education, Tongji Univerversity, China. She earned her Ph D 2021 at the University Göttingen, Germany. Her research topics are Vocational Education, Vocational Qualifications, Blended Learning and the German Qualification System.