Redesigning Principles of Accounting to Improve Students’ Performance and Retention
Symon Manyara, Enoch Osei, Bernard McNeal, Augustin Ntembe

Abstract
Principles of Accounting I is a required course for all business majors in the College of Business at Bowie State University. The course had a high failure rate, which resulted in many students migrating to other majors in the university. This problem initiated a study to improve teaching and assessment techniques. A new teaching methodology was developed from a course redesign in an effort to reduce the failure rates. The redesign model requires students to complete graded pre-lecture reading assignments to ensure advanced preparation. The new model was implemented in all Fall 2018 sections, increasing students' enrollment in each section from 25 to 30. The changes reduced the need for many adjunct faculty, which is a cost-saving for the College of Business. Course enrollment steadily decreased from 2006 to 2015 but rebounded and increased consistently after fully implementing the redesign model in Fall 2018. Furthermore, DFW rates declined from 53% in Spring 2018 to 44% in Fall 2018, 42% in Spring 2019, 45% in Fall 2019, and 27% in Spring 2020. The course redesign data showed a steady decrease in DFW rates and a steady increase in enrollment over multiple semesters. Full-time faculty are teaching all course sections to ensure consistency and accountability with the course redesign, thus maintaining the positive trend.

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