Enhancing the AIS curriculum: Integration of a research-led,problem-based learning task

Issues relating to student learning outcomes, retention and engagement, together with pressure to reinvigorate and differentiate higher education programs through integrating research-based material into the curriculum, are repeatedly in the spotlight. This paper reports on successful results from a case study of a student-centered, research-led, problem-based learning task that was incorporated into the curriculum of an Accounting Information Systems subject. Through engaging students with the learning experience, the curriculum changes addressed identified needs for improved communication, reflective appraisal as well as analytical and critical thinking skills in higher education graduates. The paper concludes with details of student perceptions of the task and learning outcomes, a review of academic performance, and reflection on the methodologies employed.     

欣赏式探询——创建学习型组织的新方法

本文首先阐述了欣赏式探询与学习型组织及其理论相关内容,在此基础上发现了二者之间相通之处,进而从个人发展学习、激发组织智慧和欣赏式探询4D循环过程三个方面展开了欣赏式探询促进学习型组织创建的机理分析,并阐述了利用欣赏式探询创建学习型组织的对策,以使欣赏式探询可以更好地在学习型组织内运用,发挥其独特作用。     

Accounting and business students’ approaches to learning: A longitudinal study

This study reports the results of an investigation into the learning approaches of undergraduate accounting and business students from three universities in Ireland who were exposed to a learning environment, namely the case study method, which aimed to encourage a deep approach to learning. In order to assess the effectiveness of the intervention, the ASSIST research instrument was used to investigate changes in students’ approaches to learning over time. Consistent with previous research, this study considers whether gender is related to students’ approaches to learning over time and if there are differences between students majoring in accounting or business in their approaches to learning. The results of the study indicate that the case study intervention was successful in some respects. However, contrary to expectations, an overall statistically significant increase in students’ surface approach to learning was found. Additionally, it is reported that changes in students’ approaches to learning over time are not associated with gender or degree program. The results of this study offer insights to accounting educators developing educational interventions to encourage deep approaches to learning.     

Accounting Undergraduates' Perceptions of Cooperative Learning as a Model for Enhancing their Interpersonal and Communication Skills to Interface Successfully with Professional Accountancy Education and Training

To interface effectively with professional accountancy training, accounting educationalists should ensure that they turn out graduates who possess the interpersonal and communication skills required of today's accountant. Attainment of these skills is promoted by group work. However, little empirical evidence exists to help academics make an informed choice about which form of group learning enhances interpersonal and communication skills. This paper addresses this deficiency by comparing perceptions of skills enhancement between accounting students who experienced traditional or simple group learning and those who undertook cooperative learning. The findings reveal that the cooperative learning cohort perceived their learning experience to be significantly more effective at enhancing interpersonal and communication skills than that of the simple group learning cohort. This study provides evidence that cooperative learning is a more effective model for delivering interpersonal and communication skills than simple group learning, thereby creating a more successful interface between academic accounting and professional accountancy training.     

An investigation into student satisfaction,approaches to learning and the learning context in Auditing

Arguably, the audit course is one of the most challenging as it links prior accounting knowledge with new audit knowledge that students are generally not exposed to. A mini‐audit group project was implemented at a New Zealand university, and a learning approach and learning experience survey instrument was administered. Responses from 98 students suggest that they perceived the learning experience positively and were encouraged to adopt a deep approach to learning. The findings have implications for accounting educators in the design and development of learning and assessment strategies in an audit course.     

Building a learning organization

Continuous improvement programs are proliferating as corporations seek to better themselves and gain an edge. Unfortunately, however, failed programs far outnumber successes, and improvement rates remain low. That's because most companies have failed to grasp a basic truth. Before people and companies can improve, they first must learn. And to do this, they need to look beyond rhetoric and high philosophy and focus on the fundamentals. Three critical issues must be addressed before a company can truly become a learning organization, writes HBS Professor David Garvin. First is the question of meaning: a well-grounded, easy-to-apply definition of a learning organization. Second comes management: clearer operational guidelines for practice. Finally, better tools for measurement can assess an organization's rate and level of learning. Using these "three Ms" as a framework, Garvin defines learning organizations as skilled at five main activities: systematic problem solving, experimentation with new approaches, learning from past experience, learning from the best practices of others, and transferring knowledge quickly and efficiently throughout the organization. And since you can't manage something if you can't measure it, a complete learning audit is a must. That includes measuring cognitive and behavioral changes as well as tangible improvements in results. No learning organization is built overnight. Success comes from carefully cultivated attitudes, commitments, and management processes that accrue slowly and steadily. The first step is to foster an environment conducive to learning. Analog Devices, Chaparral Steel, Xerox, GE, and other companies provide enlightened examples.     

Smart work and hard work: explicating a learning orientation in strategic management accounting

This paper examines the skills and aptitudes necessary to undertake a strategic management accounting project. It argues that individuals involved in such projects are required to work both smart and hard. This argument is developed theoretically by reference to the work of educational psychologists who have identified two different types of goal orientation which people pursue in achievement situations: the learning orientation and the performance orientation. Evidence that strategic management accounting requires a learning orientation is provided by means of a case study which describes its use in a competitive tendering situation. This is followed by a discussion of the potentially symbiotic relationship of strategic management accounting and organizational learning. The discussion leads to the specification of a research agenda that may have significant implications for the practice and learning of management accounting.     

Flipped v’s traditional teaching perspectives in a first year accounting unit: an action research study

With the need to move accounting students towards deeper learning approaches and understandings, this first cycle of an action research study sought to determine the student’s perspective of the flipped learning approach. With this learning approach gaining momentum in recent times, this study focuses on a first-year introductory accounting class in an undergraduate business degree. In making changes to the learning environment, we survey students and find that there are significant differences between the flexible student, that is, students that are already exposed in a limited way to this approach, and the face-to-face student. Results indicate further action research is required if the flipped learning approach is to be considered a serious teaching and learning contender for the first-year student.     

Accounting education: a cooperative learning strategy

This paper reveiews the experiential learning and learning-styles literature and applies it to accounting instruction. The authors show that the majority of Sophomore accounting students display a learning style which is inconsistent with traditional teaching methods. An experiential teaching approach is presented which utilizes a cooperative learning environment. This method resulted in improved student performance.     

Detecting insurance fraud using supervised and unsupervised machine learning

Fraud is a significant issue for insurance companies, generating much interest in machine learning solutions. Although supervised learning for insurance fraud detection has long been a research focus, unsupervised learning has rarely been studied in this context, and there remains insufficient evidence to guide the choice between these branches of machine learning for insurance fraud detection. Accordingly, this study evaluates supervised and unsupervised learning using proprietary insurance claim data. Furthermore, we conduct a field experiment in cooperation with an insurance company to investigate the performance of each approach in terms of identifying new fraudulent claims. We derive several important findings. Unsupervised learning, especially isolation forests, can successfully detect insurance fraud. Supervised learning also performs strongly, despite few labeled fraud cases. Interestingly, unsupervised and supervised learning detect new fraudulent claims based on different input information. Therefore, for implementation, we suggest understanding supervised and unsupervised methods as complements rather than substitutes.     

Perceptions of the learning context and learning approaches: Implications for quality learning outcomes in accounting

This study analyses learning approaches, course perceptions and learning outcomes of a group of second year accounting students at an Australian university using qualitative data analysis techniques. The research method involves the development of a series of matrices linking types of motives and strategies used by students in their study, together with their perceptions of the learning context associated with learning outcomes. The study focuses on assessing the links between learning approaches and a qualitative assessment of students' conceptual understanding of aspects of financial accounting studied at the undergraduate level. The results confirm how individual differences in the perceptions of the learning context relate to study motives and strategies. The findings show how different forms of memorisation relate to study strategies and how the completion of accounting tasks link to students' perceptions of course requirements. There was also some evidence that, in terms of learning outcomes, students with sophisticated levels of understanding of concepts, tended to have consistent deep and achieving approaches to learning. This result was compared with students' academic performance as a measure of learning outcome. Discrepancies between these two measures of learning outcome are highlighted in the conclusions. The findings strengthen the case for further investigation of the use of measures other than academic performance in examining relationships between learning approaches and learning outcomes.     

Choice-based learning: lecture-based or team learning?

This study investigates choice-based learning as a choice between lecture-based or team learning in a large class at a large university in a European country. The study was designed as a between-subjects quasi-experiment where students were allocated their preferred learning approach. Data were collected for eight consecutive years (2008–2016). Based on quantitative and qualitative data, this study investigates the effect of choice-based learning on choice satisfaction, student selection and on student learning outcomes. The results show that team learning has a positive effect on learning outcomes. If students are faced with the choice, the majority select lecture-based learning. Additionally, both student groups are satisfied with their selected learning paths but selected them for specific reasons. Finally, choice-based learning provides job satisfaction for the instructors of both learning paths. These results can re-energize the ongoing discussion on why and how to engage students in learning activities.     

基于建构主义的计算机辅助英语词汇学习

随着计算机技术的日新月异和大学英语教学改革的进行,利用计算机及网络技术进行英语教学已经被广泛接受并付诸实践。因此,处于英语学习中心地位的词汇学习也毫无疑问将受益于这一新的学习工具,因为它能够为英语学习提供生动的学习环境。本文从建构主义的学习观及学习环境等理论来探讨计算机辅助英语词汇学习。     

Relationships between Vocational Interests and Learning Approaches to Advance the Quality of Student Learning in Accounting

Abstract

This study investigates the influence of vocational interests on the learning approach of accounting students at the undergraduate level. It brings together two theoretical models: vocational interests and approaches to learning, to investigate student learning in the accounting discipline. The research focus is supported by more general findings from the education literature which suggest that interest-oriented learning leads to superior approaches to learning. The research was tested using 917 tertiary accounting students across two universities. The associations between vocational interests and learning approaches provide support for the theoretical model linking vocational interests (e.g. conventional) with deep learning approaches in a tertiary accounting environment. There are practical implications for the teaching of accounting with particular reference to whether the current curriculum reinforces the values of those individuals with conventional interests.     

Supporting Students' Learning: The Use of Formative Online Assessments

This paper investigates the impact of online multiple choice questions (MCQs) on students' learning in an undergraduate Accounting module at a British university. The impact is considered from three perspectives: an analysis of how students use the MCQs; students' perceptions expressed in a questionnaire survey; and an investigation of the correlation between MCQ usage and examination performance. The study reveals a number of interesting findings. First, students use the MCQs in different ways, indicating that MCQs are suitable for different learning styles. Second, the MCQs are perceived as being useful by virtually all students. Third, the statistical analysis shows a statistically significant correlation between regular MCQ usage and higher examination performance while controlling for a number of other confounding variables. These findings lead to the conclusion that MCQs are useful tools that can effectively support students' learning. Therefore the use of MCQs on other Accounting and Business modules is encouraged.     

Machine learning methods in finance: Recent applications and prospects

We study how researchers can apply machine learning (ML) methods in finance. We first establish that the two major categories of ML (supervised and unsupervised learning) address fundamentally different problems than traditional econometric approaches. Then, we review the current state of research on ML in finance and identify three archetypes of applications: (i) the construction of superior and novel measures, (ii) the reduction of prediction error, and (iii) the extension of the standard econometric toolset. With this taxonomy, we give an outlook on potential future directions for both researchers and practitioners. Our results suggest many benefits of ML methods compared to traditional approaches and indicate that ML holds great potential for future research in finance.     

Impact of group exams in a graduate intermediate accounting class

Cooperative learning techniques have been found to be quite successful in a variety of learning environments. However, in university-level accounting courses, investigations of the efficacy of cooperative learning pedagogical methods have produced mixed results at best. To continue the search for a cooperative learning method that is effective in accounting education, this study examines the use of group exams in a graduate intermediate accounting class. We provide evidence of a number of positive effects. Average scores on group exams were consistently higher than average scores on exams taken in individual format. Students adapted to the new assessment format rapidly and effectively. Further, students found the experience positive and believed they had improved important skills such as communication, time management, and teamwork. While some evidence of a free-rider effect and negative behavior associated with it was found in the beginning, this behavior was apparently temporary.     

元认知策略观照下的大学英语自主学习

近年来,大学英语自主学习成了热门话题。本文通过对元认知理论和元认知能力培养的综述和评价,来说明元认知策略在大学英语自主学习中的重要作用。在此基础上,分析了我国高校自主学习环境以及现代大学生的素质,提出了融合传统课堂与自主学习结合的大学英语指导性自主学习模式。     

Serial acquirer bidding: An empirical test of the learning hypothesis

Recent academic studies indicate that acquirers' cumulative abnormal returns (CAR) decline from deal to deal in acquisition programs. Does this pattern suggest hubristic CEO behaviors are significant enough to influence average CAR patterns during acquisition programs? An alternative explanation is CEO learning. This study therefore tests for learning using successive acquisitions of large U.S. public targets undertaken by U.S. acquirers. A dynamic framework reveals that both rational and hubristic CEOs take on average investor reactions to their previous deals into account and adjust their bidding behavior accordingly. These results are consistent with a learning hypothesis.