An analysis of teaching strategies designed to improve written communication skills

Accounting instructors can embed effective writing into the curriculum, but how much instruction is enough to make a significant improvement in students’ written products? In this quasi-experimental study, we compare the effect of three levels of minimal instructional intervention: all students in the study received a rubric outlining the evaluation criteria and graded feedback on the use of effective business writing (low instruction level); for the medium instruction level, students also received handouts on effective written communication; the high instruction level students received classroom instruction in addition to the handouts, rubric, and feedback. We find that all students show significant improvement in written communication skills in the areas of organization, development, and expression. Students who received the high instruction level show the most improvement. Providing students with the scoring rubric and grading for effective business writing is beneficial to student self-awareness and encourages students to significantly improve their written products.     

Evaluating a method of integrating generic skills with accounting content based on a functional theory of meaning

This paper documents and evaluates an intervention designed to integrate the learning of selected generic skills, particularly analytical thinking and written communication skills, with the learning of accounting content. The method used was to scaffold practice in analytical thinking skills through specially designed writing activities. Content‐focused learning materials adapted from task‐types currently used to teach language skills were used to facilitate the analysis and interrelation of accounting concepts, principles and problems in interpersonal communicative contexts typical of actual accounting practice. The materials, in three assignments, were designed to incorporate: (i) selected generic skills, taken from those listed by the professional accounting bodies; (ii) writing, both as communication and as an instrument for analytical thinking and learning; (iii) knowledge of accounting concepts and principles; and (iv) awareness of the interpersonal dimensions of professional communication. Overall, students showed improved learning outcomes, with improvements of 19 percentage points for non‐Australian students over the three assignments. We were also able to show significant positive relationships between the assessments of assignments 2 and 3 and performance in the knowledge‐based final examination. Improvements in the quality of learning were shown in students’ improved ability to assess their own work.     

A writing program for accounting courses

The author's premise is that communication skills, as well as technical knowledge, are critical elements for success in accounting. Accounting instructors can provide opportunities for students to hone their writing skills while teaching them technical subject matter. Assignments that require research in the profession's literature are particularly valuable for this purpose. Feed-forward and feed-back strategies can simplify the grading task and alert students to their writing deficiencies. Computer-assisted writing and analysis enhance the learning experience by using the technology students will encounter in the work place.     

Integrating effective writing skills in the accounting curriculum

The J.M. Tull School of Accounting at the University of Georgia has developed a program for its accounting curriculum which integrates the teaching of effective writing skills with the regular accounting courses. Students in a three-course sequence write a total of eight papers — technical, memos, or reports. The assignments resemble on-the-job technical writing tasks actually encountered by professional accountants. A full-time writing consultant on the School's staff provides occasional lectures and handouts for students on effective writing skills; she also provides help to individual students who may need it. Papers are evaluated for both accounting content and effective writing     

Transforming teachers’ temporalities: Futures in an Australian classroom

There is much rhetoric in education about the ways in which students are prepared for ‘the future’. The notion of the future in Australian education is dominantly singular, vague and abstract. This paper describes research which investigates changes which occur within teacher practices, enacted curriculum and student learning. The case study at the centre of this research focuses on a primary school south-east of Melbourne, Australia, which is internationally acknowledged as ‘innovative and leading’ in ‘educating for the future’. Initially, it was apparent that this notion of the future was assumed, and these specific teachers had given little thought to what that future looked like, or how that related to students’ learning requirements. As a result of professional learning, the teachers underwent temporal transformation, in integrating explicit futures dimensions within their curriculum. Arising from this research were significant key findings which highlight the need for a reconceptualisation of the ways in which curriculum and pedagogy are enacted in regards to notions of multiple futures. Furthermore, it generates renewed calls for futures perspectives to be addressed explicitly within education. Importantly it highlights a deficit in current teacher thinking about their roles in ‘educating for the future’.     

Meeting threshold learning standards through self-management in group oral presentations: observations on accounting postgraduate students

This study explores the development of student self-management skills through an oral presentation task. It is motivated by the challenge to maintain consistent quality in students’ oral skills and to incorporate national accounting curriculum requirements for threshold learning standards into an accounting subject. The study has been conducted in Australia using a sample of postgraduate accounting students, and the task required the students to prepare a group presentation using action learning. The data were collected using in-class observation and a survey. Students indicated that they were more confident and comfortable in preparing and presenting the oral presentations as compared with their previous experiences. This was especially due to students having a second opportunity to improve their presentations allowing a better understanding of the expected standard. The oral presentation task benefitted all students but was especially useful for those who had limited experience speaking in front of a larger audience.     

Further Evidence of Critical Thinking and Final Examination Performance in Advanced Financial Accounting

This study examines whether in-course test components requiring stronger critical thinking skills can help explain final examination performance in an advanced undergraduate financial accounting course, conducted in 2003 and 2004 over three continuous semesters at an Australian university. It proposes and validates two levels of dimensions affecting final examination performance: in-course test components and students’ previous university academic performance. Analysis of a database of 1,816 students using standardised multiple regression over three continuous semesters suggests that while overall Grade Point Advantage (GPA) is the single best predictor of final examination performance, in-course test components that require more critical thinking are better predictors than others, except for the in-course ethics essay test. Length of stay also had some predictive ability. This study suggests that academics should pay attention to monitoring and providing feedback to students on their in-course performance in tests that examine critical-thinking skills covering a wide range of topics. Such monitoring and feedback may assist in improving the final examination performance of students in this course.     

Evaluation of student feedback

We examine a flexible assessment system that allows students to determine the weights allocated to each course component and to re-allocate the weights in response to achieved scores. The flexibility is intended to encourage students’ participation in the learning process, thereby promoting self-regulated learning skills. We compare this assessment system to a traditional system and to another system, in which the students may choose their own weights but cannot change them later in the term. We examine the impact on students’ motivation as measured by the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), as well as the impact on grades and students’ attitudes. Our results indicate little improvement in motivation, grades or attitudes when students design and commit to their grading plans early in the term. However, the more flexible system, which allows for re-allocation, appears to improve students’ grades, self-reported motivation and attitudes.     

The Acquisition of Generic Skills of Culturally-diverse Student Cohorts

The changing nature of higher education and the structure of graduate labour markets have increased emphasis on employability and graduate outcomes. Universities have responded to this changed environment by embedding generic skills in the curriculum. This paper examines the generic skills that students perceived they acquired in their accounting studies in preparation for graduate employment. Given the changed background profiles of students studying accounting degree in Australia, and the employment difficulties they encounter on graduation, the study specifically addresses the perceptions of students from diverse cultural backgrounds. The findings demonstrate that, overall, students believed that their accounting course assisted in developing generic skills, while differences in perceptions were identified between different cultural cohorts. The research highlights the need to develop educational practices which embed generic skills development in the curriculum in a way that maximises the opportunities for culturally-diverse student cohorts to enhance their employment outcomes on graduation.     

高职市场营销专业课程体系改革的研究与实践

为了全面提高市场营销人才素质,满足新世纪市场经济条件下对市场营销人才的需求,要求必须构建一套新的人才培养规格和教学模式。本文结合多年教学实践构建市场营销专业新的课程体系,通过优化课程体系,整合课程内容,设立灵活得多方向课程,构建符合本校实际的实训教学模式,将理论教学与实训教学相结合。探索新的教学模式,在此过程中提高教师素质,提高教师教研能力、教学水平。拓展学生学习的时间、空间,提高教师的教学效率和学生的学习效果,促进我区高职市场营销专业人才培养水平的提高。     

Extending the classroom boundaries – an evaluation of an asynchronous discussion board

Accounting educators are being challenged to revitalize the accounting curriculum and to expand methods of delivery, especially through the application of technology. Web-enhanced course delivery offers an opportunity to expand delivery techniques. This paper evaluates an asynchronous discussion board group exercise in an intermediate accounting course. Analysis of students' perceptions of the exercise indicated that they considered it had contributed to their learning. The discussion board gave them time to analyse other students' responses and to prepare their own contributions. The results show the discussion board made it easier for non-English background students and students over 30 years of age to express an opinion, and made them feel they had to contribute to the discussion. Students raised issues about the quality of the contributions, the lack of feedback from the lecturer on discussion topics, the time taken to complete the exercise and the amount of work involved for the assessment weighting.     

对英语写作中教师反馈作用的调查与分析研究

相关研究表明,教师反馈在提高学习者写作质量和写作水平中起着重要的作用。目前,国外的研究者对各种类型的教师反馈进行了大量卓有成就的探索,而国内关于教师反馈的实验性研究却并不太多。针对内蒙古工业大学10级非英语专业学习者的英语写作实际水平情况,为深入探讨教师反馈在英语写作中的作用,并进一步提高写作教学效果,笔者展开实验,对测试筛选出的实验对象发放调查问卷,并利用SPSS软件对调查的数据结果进行统计,分析掌握学习者对教师反馈的整体看法态度和意见建议,从而能更好地促进我校教师反馈机制的有效性同时对提高学习者的写作输出能力意义深远。     

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.     

Generic skills in accounting: perspectives of Chinese postgraduate students

This study examines Chinese accounting students’ perceptions of skills required for a professional accounting position in Australia and of the emphasis placed on skills during their postgraduate Master of Professional Accounting (MPA) course. The study is motivated by concerns about international students’ inadequate generic skills and their difficulty in securing professional employment. We find that Chinese students perceive ‘communication skills’ to be the most important for their professional employment in Australia, but at the same time they tend to overemphasise technical skills and underemphasise other desirable generic skills.     

A Critical Learning Outcome Approach in Designing,Delivering and Assessing the IT Knowledge Syllabus

Although the accounting profession has embraced a competency-based approach in the education and training of students, some educators struggle to adapt the delivery and assessment of their accounting programmes to bring them in line with these outcomes. The challenge for all educators is to seek ways to marry the curriculum, the design and delivery of the syllabus and assessment in such a way as to maximize students’ learning in relation to priority goals. The aim of this paper is to discuss how the IFAC curriculum on the general knowledge of IT (IEPS 2) could be analysed using an alternative approach based on critical learning outcomes to develop a syllabus that would enable educators to deliver and assess it in line with the learning outcomes and competency requirements. The newly-developed syllabus should direct educators to adopt a holistic approach in the delivery and assessment of the IT course. This approach should ensure that students understand how information technology can support them as accountants in producing information in the format required by users.     

《国际贸易实务》课程教学模式构想

《国际贸易实务》作为国际贸易专业的主干课,又是跟实践环节最为密切的课程,是国贸专业教学中的重中之重。本文专门针对实务课程的特点,提出该课程在本科教学中的模式构想,其意义在于提高学生掌握国际贸易实务的兴趣、促进学生进一步掌握国际贸易实务技能、提高学生的实践能力、增加课堂吸引力、取得良好的教学效果,形成学习专业技能、掌握专业技能、提高专业技能的氛围。     

Classroom strategies for improving students’ oral communication skills

Accounting students, while technically proficient, are often weak in, and apprehensive about, oral communication. In this paper, we illustrate how using “communicating-to-learn” strategies can improve students’ oral communication skills and strengthen their accounting abilities. We provide a series of four practical and classroom-tested assignments for improving students’ speaking skills without unduly increasing demands on course structure or grading.     

Using student-generated cases to teach accounting information systems

This paper discusses the potential advantages of integrating student-generated cases into the accounting information systems course. The benefits of the traditional case method are discussed, and the student-generated case technique is presented as a way of further fostering a creative learning environment, which promotes a deeper understanding of the course material than the traditional case method. Further, this paper discusses how the student-generated case method can help students develop their group interaction skills, as well as their oral and written communication skills.     

从外语学习者需求视角看大学英语的课程建设

本文以需求分析理论为依据,通过问卷调查的方式对毕业生的英语学习需求和用人单位英语需求状况进行了调查,旨在了解毕业生的英语综合能力及对课程设置、社会需求、自我英语水平的认识,用人单位对毕业生的需求和评价.研究得出以下结论：学生的语言综合能力特别是听说能力最薄弱,亟待加强;当前大学英语教学未能充分体现和切实满足学生的学习需求,需加强学生英语实践应用能力;在英语教学中应切实加强学生的跨文化综合素质.以期本文提供的数据及分析能为大学英语的课程建设提供一些借鉴.     

Introducing a Learning Portfolio in an Undergraduate Financial Accounting Course

This paper evaluates changes made to the internal assessment component of a third year financial accounting course at a university in New Zealand. A learning portfolio was designed to supplement existing coursework. The aim was to engender in students a deep rather than a surface approach to learning. As a record of the students' learning, the learning portfolio was an attempt to produce an innovative development in the assessment of what was a traditionally taught financial accounting course. Within their learning portfolios, students were required to complete a number of tasks, each aimed at improving critical thinking skills and creativity. Students were also required to maintain a personal or reflective section aimed at personalising and deepening the quality of their learning.