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.     

Broadening management accounting education: more theory,more practicality ∗

There are two widespread beliefs among management accountants. Management accounting should be practical, and education for doing the job the management accountant actually does should include topics which would require extensive training in theory. The two beliefs are not inconsistent. Management accounting education starting from theory and moving to its application could be far more practical than education without theory in applying predefined techniques.     

Changes in accounting education: preparing for the twenty-first century ∗

The Accounting Education Change Commission (AECC) was formed in the USA to be a catalyst for change in accounting education. The AECC has called for fundamental changes in what is taught and how it is taught. The AECC has issued Position Number 1 that describes the desired objectives for accounting education and has made ten grants to four-year and graduate schools to stimulate curriculum changes.     

“能力本位”导向的大学本科会计专业教学问题分析

近年来,我国会计专业教学水平在教育体制改革和市场经济推动下不断提高,在创新教育模式与体制建设上也取得诸多成就。但现行教学体系,又使高校培养的人才在一定程度上无法满足企业用人需求。文章结合我国高等院校会计教育实际,通过调研在分析现有会计专业人才培养现状的基础上,对高校本科会计教学面临的问题及成因进行分析,发现存在教育环境压力过大、内部动力不足、学科规划不合理等问题,提出运用“能力本位”的教育理念对高校会计专业教育环境、学科建设、国际合作和评价体系等进行再思考。     

Education par excellence: Developing personal competencies and character through philanthropy-based education

This teaching note presents an innovation in accounting education called the Philanthropy Project. ² The Philanthropy Project emphasizes experiential learning and is designed to promote the learning of discipline-specific concepts while simultaneously addressing the social needs of the surrounding community. In the Philanthropy Project, students receive money to distribute to not-for-profit organizations (NFPs) based on a competitive proposal process they help to develop and administer. A distinguishing characteristic of this project is that it is not a simulation. Students make real decisions that have immediate consequences to certain groups of people in their own communities. They have to make difficult choices by allocating scarce resources to some agencies and saying “no” to other agencies, all with worthy causes.     

Pension accrual management and research and development investment

This study investigates whether discretion in reporting pension expenses mitigates research and development (R&D) manipulation. Using a sample of Japanese manufacturing firms during the fiscal years 2001–2011 where both pension costs and R&D expenditures have large impacts on the bottom‐line earnings, I find that higher discount rates are associated with higher R&D investment among firms in which pension expenses could have large impacts on reported earnings. I also find that this relationship is found only among firms in high‐tech industries. These results suggest that pension accrual management substitutes costly R&D manipulation that may hurt future competitive edge.     

基于通识教育理念的大学英语课程设置与教学研究

通识教育是高等教育的组成部分。受欧美国家大学的影响,中国高校也开始重视并实践通识教育。本文从通识教育的起源和内涵的角度出发,通过研究美国大学的通识教育实践,对中国大学英语的课程设置和教学所面临的问题进行分析,对如何提高学生的综合英语应用能力,改进大学英语课程设置和教学进行了思考。     

Professional Skills and Capabilities of Accounting Graduates: The New Zealand Expectation Gap?

Much has been written about teaching and learning deficiencies in accounting education. Universities have grappled with the challenge and developed a number of strategies to address the concerns raised. Many of the recommended strategies for addressing these deficiencies have included a focus on the development of professional capabilities and skills. This paper reports on a study which has identified the capabilities which are considered to be the most important for successful practice in accountancy during the first years after graduation and identified the extent to which New Zealand universities have focused on these in the delivery of their study programmes. Most attempts to measure the nature and extent of change to accountancy degree programmes have collected data from current or graduating students or from the university itself. This study instead collected feedback from accountancy graduates employed in public practice with three to five years post graduation professional experience and from their workplace supervisors. This paper reports on the results of the graduate feedback, provides a useful insight into where progress has been made and identifies where further improvement is necessary.     

The context-specific conceptions of learning in case-based accounting assignments,students’ characteristics and performance

The present study contributes to accounting education literature by describing context-specific conceptions of learning related to case assignments, and by exploring the associations between the conceptions of learning, students’ characteristics and performance. The data analysed consist of 1320 learning diaries of 336 students, connected with students’ characteristics and course grades. The results are in line with earlier studies in that most students in accounting describe reproductive conceptions of learning. However, instead of only increasing knowledge, case assignments seem to emphasise the application of knowledge to real life. Furthermore, the conception of learning seems to be associated with performance in the course and the age of the student. Since no positive development of the conceptions of learning is visible during the course, using case assignments as such does not seem to solve the problem of reproductive conceptions. Therefore, how case assignments are used in teaching needs to be carefully considered.     

Comments by the European Accounting Association on the International Accounting Education Standards Board Consultation Paper ‘Meeting Future Expectations of Professional Competence: A Consultation on the IAESB’s Future Strategy and Priorities’

On December 2015, the International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB) issued a consultation paper entitled ‘Meeting future expectations of professional competence: A consultation on the IAESB’s future strategy and priorities’. Its aim is ‘to obtain public comment on its vision for the next five years and the strategic priorities it believes need to be addressed in serving the public interest’ [International Accounting Education Standards Board [IAESB]. (2015a). Meeting future expectations of professional competence: A consultation on the IAESB’s future strategy and priorities. Consultation paper. Retrieved from https://www.ifac.org/publications-resources/consultation-paper-meeting-future-expectations-professional-competence, p. 3]. This article reports the answers of the European Accounting Association to the questions asked in the consultation paper. The comments suggest a reinforcement of the entry requirements that would include a proper education background, advanced levels of both some technical competences and interpersonal/communication skills as well as a very strong ethical commitment. They also recommend a more thorough development process for the continuous education of accountants, a stronger link between practitioners and academia, insights for new IESs and more effective communication strategies about IAESB activities.