A comparison of Norwegian and United States accounting students' learning style preferences

Individual differences among humans are apparent in many environments and situations. Educators should be concerned about whether such differences are systematic to such an extent that they significantly affect the effectiveness of various pedagogical methods and training approaches. This paper investigates one type of individual difference-learning style-which may vary across cultures and which may be relevant for both accounting education and audit practice. Learning style is defined as an individual orientation to learning, utilizing four basic modes of learning to various degrees.

Learning style measures were obtained from Norwegian and United States accounting students with varying experience levels. The learning styles for the US students were compared to data obtained in prior research and were found to be generally consistent with these studies. The Norwegian sample was compared to both the current United States results and prior research and was found to be significantly different from the US learning style preferences. Implications of these differences for both education and practice are explored.     

Continuing Professional Development – The IFAC Position1

Within the context of accounting education, this paper explores the impact of computer-aided learning (CAL) on students' learning experience, on teaching costs and on staff time available for research activity. The findings of two experiments are reported. The findings of the first experiment suggest that there was no significant adverse effect on the examination perfofmance of those students who opted to use CAL rather than attend lectures on management accounting. However, questionnaire responses from the students who opted to use CAL suggest that CAL had an adverse effect on their interest in accounting. The findings of the second experiment suggest use of CAL in a supplementary role did not improve student's examination performance in a course on financial reporting. The analysis in the paper suggests that CAL, when used in a supplantive role, has the potential, in certain circumstances, to reduce costs and to increase the staff time available for research activity. The paper concludes that if academic managers can be reasonbly confident that students' examination performance will not be affected adversely by the use of supplantive CAL they may consider its introduction in order to capture the benefits of reduced costs and the additional staff time available for research activity. However, in making such a decision, academic managers should bear in mind that saupplanbtive CAL can have an adverse effect on stuedents' interest in accounting.     

A rejoinder to commentaries on “Why DCF capital budgeting is bad for business and why business schools should stop teaching it”

This paper examines the effects of exposing accounting graduate students to professional ethics. First, a method of instruction that encourages students to consider the ethical implications of business decisions was developed. This instruction included exposure to Kohlberg's theory of moral development, study of professional codes of ethics, and extensive use of written and video ethics cases. Next, instructional effectiveness was assessed through a pre-post-test with control group design. An accounting-specific test instrument was developed and validated. This instrument contains decision scenarios designed to elicit and identify students' stages of ethical reasoning, Test results revealed that students receiving ethics instruction demonstrated gains in ethical reasoning within the decision context. Appropriately designed ethics modules can thus foster consisitent consideration of ethical issues in decision making.     

市场经济条件下会计职业道德建设探究

会计职业道德是会计从业人员在会计工作时应遵循的职业行为准则和规范,是社会诚信体系的重要组成部分.随着经济社会的不断发展,会计职业道德将面临严峻的考验,一些会计人员职业道德观念淡薄甚至职业道德沦丧,加强会计职业道德建设就显得尤为重要.本文从当前会计职业道德建设的必要性、存在的问题人手,阐述在市场经济条件下会计职业道德建设的意义及提高会计职业道德建设的对策.     

对完善我国中小企业会计监督的思考

目前,我国中小企业内部监督存在严重的问题,要加强和完善内部会计监督职能,必须从加强法律体系建设、建立健全企业内部监督机制、加强单位负责人的会计监督责任、培养高素质的会计人员等几个方面着手。本文针对当前大多数单位会计监督弱化极为普遍的现象,分析了会计监督弱化的原因,并提出了加强会计监督的措施,重点解决内部监督弱化严重的问题,提高内部会计监督的执行力度,实行中小企业内部会计监督考核评比制度,提高单位领导和社会各阶层对中小企业内部会计监督的重视,早日完善内部监督机制。     

论高等教育会计学科文化

高教会计学科文化是高教会计学科领域中的一种文化形态和文化现象,从广义上讲,既包括高教会计学科的物质文化,又包括高教会计学科的制度文化和精神文化。从狭义上说,高教会计学科文化是关于高教会计人的思想观念、价值体系、行为规范、社会认同、制度体制和文化产品等一系列范畴的总和。高教会计学科文化是高教会计学科建设的思想基础、精神动力、智力支撑、行为和道德规范。不同国度的高教会计学科文化是同一性和多样性的统一,同一国度高等教育体系中会计学科文化是共性与个性的和谐。     

管理会计的发展与展望

我国管理会计的发展呈现出以下特点:大多数企业的信息系统依然是为财务会计而非管理会计设计的。而在管理会计的教育界,这种局限性体现在:一方面,对已有的管理会计应用经验缺乏总结和提高。另一方面,学术界投入的力量比较少,学者们不肯深入实践去调查,去总结经验。甚至可以说,长期以来理论界过于偏重财务会计。21世纪我国管理会计发展的关键是要充分发挥管理会计的作用,提高企业经济效益,因此,必须从推动管理会计发展的原动力出发,立足于我国的国情。现代管理会计具有系统化、规范化、职业化、社会化和国际化的发展趋势。     

CEOs’ experience of the Great Chinese Famine and accounting conservatism

This study investigates how a CEO's early-life experience of the Great Chinese Famine affects corporate accounting conservatism. We find that companies whose CEOs had experienced famines in early life adopted more conservative accounting policies. This famine experience effect is more pronounced in high uncertainty environments proxied by non-SOEs, politician turnovers and the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Additional tests indicate that CEOs with famine experience tend to support conservative accounting practices for contingencies and accelerate the recognition of asset impairments in negative events. Overall, consistent with imprinting theory, our results highlight the role of early-life traumatic experiences in shaping CEOs’ risk preferences and financial reporting policies.     

A Rejoinder to the long road to publishing: A user-friendly exposé1

The focus of this paper is an investigation into the approaches to studying of Portuguese students of introductory accounting using the short version of the ASSIST instrument. In doing so, it also examined the impact upon the strategy adopted of the discipline area of students and gender. The results validate the use of the inventory with students of accounting in Portuguese higher education and add weight to the use of translated versions of this instrument elsewhere. The findings indicate that Portuguese students of introductory accounting favour a strategic approach over either a deep or a surface approach and suggest that both the individual student's discipline area and gender have an impact upon the adopted approaches to studying.     

Conference address: the accounting education change movement in the United States

This paper is based on a keynote speech made before the British Accounting Association Special Interest Group on Accounting Education in May 2002. Its purpose is to present the author's perspectives about the accounting education change movement in the United States during the decade of the 1990s. The paper questions whether accounting is taught too much from a practical as opposed to a conceptual basis. It also questions whether textbooks have remained sufficiently contemporary and kept pace with the needs of accounting instructors and students. The paper then turns to the issue of professional image, suggesting that recent corporate scandals have tarnished the image of the accounting profession. The recommendations of the so-called change literature are then used as a basis for suggesting that academe must take care not to let analytical skills become a casualty of change. Finally the paper provides suggestions regarding the design and process of scholarly papers on the subject of accounting education.