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Effect of Video Demonstrations on Students’ Practical Accounting Skills in Nigerian Polytechnics

Abstract

Video demonstrations provide students with visual and sequential representations of accounting procedures, enabling them to observe how practical accounting tasks are performed and reproduced. Practical accounting education requires students to develop competencies in recording transactions, preparing source documents, posting entries, balancing accounts, preparing trial balances, making adjustments, preparing financial statements, and using accounting software. However, students may experience difficulties developing practical accounting skills when instruction depends mainly on verbal explanations, textbooks, and static examples that provide limited opportunities to observe accounting procedures being performed step by step. Video Demonstrations can provide students with repeated access to visual explanations, worked examples, practical procedures, screen recordings, demonstrations of accounting software, and step-by-step solutions. Students may pause, replay, slow down, and review specific stages of an accounting procedure according to their learning needs. Against this background, this study investigates the effect of video demonstrations on students' practical accounting skills in Nigerian polytechnics. The study will be anchored on Social Learning Theory, Experiential Learning Theory, and Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning. Social Learning Theory emphasizes observational learning, modelling, attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation. Experiential Learning Theory emphasizes learning through concrete experiences, observation, reflection, conceptualization, and active experimentation. The Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning explains how learners process and integrate verbal and visual information to construct meaningful mental representations. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how video demonstrations may influence students' practical accounting skills. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental research design. The study population will comprise accounting education students enrolled in selected public polytechnics across Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, polytechnics, departments, levels of study, classes, and eligible accounting education students. Video demonstrations will be assessed using indicators such as step-by-step accounting demonstrations, narrated procedures, visual presentation of accounting tasks, screen recordings of accounting software, demonstrations of transaction recording, source-document preparation, journal-entry preparation, ledger posting, trial-balance preparation, adjustment procedures, financial statement preparation, bank reconciliation procedures, inventory-recording procedures, payroll accounting procedures, costing procedures, taxation procedures, auditing procedures, practical worked examples, real-world accounting scenarios, visual highlighting of important procedures, on-screen annotations, captions, pause-and-replay opportunities, slow-motion demonstrations, repeated demonstrations, downloadable videos, mobile-accessible videos, lecturer-created videos, professionally produced videos, guided viewing questions, accompanying practical exercises, immediate practice after viewing, and opportunities for students to reproduce demonstrated procedures. Students' practical accounting skills will be assessed using indicators such as accurate preparation of source documents, correct transaction identification, accurate journal entries, appropriate ledger posting, balancing of ledger accounts, preparation of trial balances, recording of adjustments, preparation of financial statements, bank reconciliation, inventory recording, payroll calculations, cost accounting procedures, taxation calculations, auditing procedures, accounting software operation, data entry accuracy, transaction processing, error identification, error correction, interpretation of accounting information, sequencing of accounting procedures, selection of appropriate accounting methods, accurate calculations, completion of accounting tasks within specified time, ability to reproduce demonstrated procedures independently, ability to apply accounting procedures to unfamiliar transactions, and consistency of practical performance. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, standardized practical accounting skills tests, performance-based accounting tasks, observation checklists, competency-based assessment rubrics, accounting software practical exercises, video-viewing records, students' practical work, and pre-test and post-test assessments. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize students' demographic and academic characteristics, exposure to video demonstrations, learning experiences, and levels of practical accounting skills. Inferential statistical techniques, including paired and independent t-tests, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the effect of video demonstrations on students' practical accounting skills. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, students' practical skill scores before and after exposure to video demonstrations may be compared with those of a control group receiving conventional accounting instruction to determine changes associated with the intervention. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that video demonstrations have a significant positive effect on students' practical accounting skills in Nigerian polytechnics. Students exposed to structured and well-designed video demonstrations are expected to demonstrate greater accuracy, confidence, procedural understanding, and independence in performing accounting tasks than students receiving conventional instruction without systematic video support. Step-by-step demonstrations may help students understand the correct sequence of accounting procedures and reduce uncertainty about how individual steps are connected. Visual demonstrations of source-document preparation may improve students' ability to identify relevant information and transfer it accurately into accounting records. Journal-entry and ledger-posting demonstrations may strengthen students' ability to follow debit-and-credit procedures and trace transactions through accounting records. Demonstrations of trial-balance preparation and financial statement preparation may help students understand how individual accounting records contribute to broader financial reporting processes. Screen recordings of accounting software may provide students with opportunities to observe practical procedures that may be difficult to demonstrate individually in large classrooms. Pause-and-replay functions may allow students to review difficult procedures at their own pace, while slow-motion demonstrations may help them understand complex sequences. Repeated exposure may strengthen procedural memory and improve students' ability to reproduce accounting tasks independently. Guided questions and practical exercises following video viewing may encourage students to move from passive observation to active performance. Real-world accounting scenarios may help students connect classroom procedures with practical accounting situations. Videos demonstrating errors and their correction may also help students recognize common mistakes and develop appropriate corrective procedures. However, poor video quality, excessive information, lengthy demonstrations, passive viewing, inadequate practical follow-up, limited access to smartphones or computers, unstable electricity supply, limited internet connectivity, insufficient digital skills, and inadequate lecturer guidance may reduce the effectiveness of video demonstrations. The study therefore expects concise, clearly narrated, visually organized, curriculum-aligned, practically focused, and activity-supported video demonstrations to contribute significantly to improved practical accounting skills among accounting education students in Nigerian polytechnics. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on video demonstrations, practical accounting skills, accounting education, Social Learning Theory, experiential learning, multimedia learning, observational learning, digital learning, educational technology, practical accounting instruction, accounting software training, skills acquisition, learner-centred instruction, accounting pedagogy, and polytechnic education in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the National Board for Technical Education, polytechnics, accounting education departments, accounting educators, curriculum developers, educational technology practitioners, professional accounting bodies, and policymakers regarding strategies for strengthening practical accounting education. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for integrating video demonstrations into accounting education programmes, developing curriculum-aligned accounting instructional videos, demonstrating practical accounting procedures through screen recordings and worked examples, combining video viewing with hands-on accounting exercises, providing students with opportunities to pause and replay difficult procedures, training accounting educators in effective video-based instruction, improving access to digital learning resources, incorporating practical video demonstrations into accounting software training, developing competency-based assessments of practical accounting skills, and aligning accounting education with the practical and technological competencies required in contemporary accounting practice in Nigeria.

Keywords: Video demonstrations, practical accounting skills, accounting education students, multimedia learning, Social Learning Theory, experiential learning, educational technology, digital learning, accounting software training, practical accounting instruction, skills acquisition, accounting pedagogy, Nigerian polytechnics, Nigeria.