| Abstract: | Administrators, instructors, students, and employers need to know the essential concepts taught in occupational courses. In particular, instructors require this information in order to avoid some common teaching traps and to avoid establishing a series of cumulative deficiencies for their students. To provide this information, community college accounting instructors performed a forced Q‐sort of 56 accounting concepts. The high level of agreement on the Q‐sort was evidence for a “community of preference.” Lists of the essential and least important concepts were developed from this community of preference. The Q‐sort appears to be an efficient and effective “method” for determining what emphasis instructors should place on course content items. |
