An historical perspective on governmental accounting education

This paper presents a senior governmental accounting educator’s perspectives on how governmental accounting education has changed over the past 35 years and what we can expect for the future. Having begun my academic career during the 1970s, a period of turmoil and debate about the deficient state of governmental accounting, I look at how events of this period influenced my personal decision to specialize in governmental accounting education and how those events led to a path of dramatic improvement in governmental accounting standards, practice, and education. Key trends in governmental accounting education are discussed along with major changes in practice guidance over the years that have challenged textbook authors and faculty in staying abreast of change. The paper identifies many governmental accounting educators who have made significant contributions to governmental accounting and auditing policy and encourages current educators to seek ways to participate in the policy-making process. Finally, the paper discusses the future outlook for governmental accounting education and concludes that governmental accounting educators are well positioned to contribute to achieving the recently released recommendations of the Pathways Commission (2012).     

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.     

A note on videos and accounting education

Doctoral students are often uncomfortable making oral presentations before their peers and the instructor. This paper describes a recent innovation employed in the doctoral programme of a major university which we feel has been useful not only in increasing the communication skills of our doctoral students, but has also enhancing the quality of doctoral students' dissertations as well as the teaching and presentation skill of staff involved in the programme.     

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.     

Excel in the accounting curriculum: perceptions from accounting professors

Public accounting firms emphasize the importance of accounting graduates being proficient in Excel. Since many accounting graduates often aspire to work in public accounting, a question arises as to whether there should be an emphasis on Excel in accounting education. The purpose of this paper is to specifically look at this issue by examining accounting faculty's perceptions of Excel in public accounting and accounting education. We survey 245 faculty members at over 100 accounting programs. We find that a majority of faculty incorporate Excel in their accounting classes consistent with their perception of Excel importance. However, we find that students are not fully proficient in Excel based on faculty's perceptions. This study contributes to the accounting education literature by identifying possible disconnections between Excel skills faculty include in the accounting curriculum and specific Excel skills faculty believe new hires (i.e. recent accounting graduates) most often use in public accounting.     

The budgetary interview: Intentional learning for students in governmental and non-profit accounting

Learning-to-learn skills are critical to the future success of accounting students. This paper reports on a budgetary interview exercise that helps students develop as intentional learners. Students select a government or non-profit agency to investigate, arrange an interview with an agency official to discuss the budgetary process, write a technical paper on what was learned, and record their reflections on the experience. The budgetary interview exercise was implemented with undergraduate students in governmental and non-profit accounting courses over four academic years (one course per year). Effectiveness of the exercise was assessed via content analysis of student papers and reflections. Results indicate the exercise was highly effective in helping students develop intentional learning skills. Furthermore, students successfully connected classroom material to “real-world” practice, and most students reflected on potential careers in governmental or non-profit sectors. Appendices provide materials that instructors may use to implement this exercise.     

Management accounting in Europe: a view from Canada

On the basis of a reading ofManagement Accounting: European Perspectivesedited by Al Bhimani (1996) there appears to be no historical pan-European perspective on management accounting. However, following the advent of the relevance lost and strategic cost management movements, and especially activity-based costing, there does seem to be emerging a certain homogeneity in European management accounting practices. This commentary questions the intellectual and practical basis for these movements and activity-based costing. It also identifies some of the particular achievements of European management accounting researchers which are not covered in the book.     

Achieving globalization of AACSB accounting programs with faculty-led study abroad education

This paper is motivated by recommendations from the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the Pathways Commission, and NAFSA: Association of International Educators to increase global exposure in the accounting curriculum. Some schools have responded to these demands by offering short-duration, faculty-led, study abroad programs. We explain how these programs play a vital role in fulfilling the educational advisory boards’ calls to internationalize the accounting curriculum and investigate the extent to which schools are incorporating these programs. This paper provides a review of the details from our hand-collected data on the short programs that are offered by AACSB-accredited institutions. We integrate the information from our collection of data on existing programs, prior literature, pronouncements from educational advisory boards, and select faculty interviews to offer an analysis of the course design and travel considerations for schools contemplating such an opportunity for students in their programs.     

会计专业双语教学存在的问题及其改进

自教育部《关于加强高等学校本科教学工作提高教学质量的若干意见》的通知以来,全国高校创造条件使用英语进行专业课教学,如何开展才能确保高校双语教学的顺利进行已经成了教育管理者和社会关心的一个重要问题。本文就高校会计专业双语教学的现状进行了探讨和分析,并将理论与实务相结合,针对文中提出的种种问题做了具有可行性的建议。     

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.     

The effectiveness of using spreadsheets to teach financial accounting

There have been numerous attempts to integrate micro-computers into the teaching of accounting courses in higher education. Two of the reasons that have been suggested for using computers on accounting courses are: firstly, the educational benefits and, secondly, that students will then be equipped with the computing and spreadsheet skills that they will require in the workplace. One method of using the computer is to use it as a computational tool, allowing the student to develop models from scratch. Such an approach was developed by Marriott & Simon (1990a). However, as there is little evidence regarding the educational effectiveness of using such methods, a rigourous and structured research project was conducted using first–year accounting degree students at Cardiff Business School. This article outlines the rationale for the project and analyses the results obtained. The results indicate that while spreadsheets can be successfully integrated into an accounting course, their use had no measurable impact on test performance. However, the use of computers can still be deemed to be worthwhile as the students' computer skills are enhanced and it permits further integration in other courses where educational benefits may be more readily obtained.     

Formative assessment in accounting education and some initial evidence on its use for instructional sequencing

Formative assessment (FA) provides instructors and students with feedback to improve learning. Across a variety of education settings FA is one of the most effective classroom interventions for improving student learning outcomes. Yet the accounting education literature is almost devoid of any work related to FA. One barrier for developing FA in accounting education is the significant background knowledge needed to implement FA successfully. The purpose of this paper is to provide some of that background. The paper includes conceptual discussion from the general education literature to explain how FA improves learning and discussion of research that has identified features that affect the efficacy of FA practice. One of these features is how instructors use FA data to adjust instruction. An empirical study illustrates that accounting educators can use FA data to inform a decision about instructional sequencing. Instructional sequencing principles have been used to develop new accounting curricula and courses, and accounting education research has used empirical data to inform an instructional sequencing decision. The current study tests, using a sample of introductory accounting students, alternate versions of two FA tasks to determine which version is better for identifying deficiencies in student learning outcomes. Results suggest that one version of each task is better for identifying deficiencies, but an adjustment to instructional sequencing may be needed to ensure efficacy of one of the tasks, depending on how the FA practice is implemented.     

Efficiency in accounting education: evidence from Turkish Universities

It is important to see efficiency of accounting education in order to fully understand the operational environment of companies. In this study, the 45 public universities in Turkey was investigated by using Data Envelopment Analysis [DEA]. In order, some definitions for the outputs and inputs are required for the model. The criteria developed by American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is used as definitions for inputs, is used and the result of the Selection Exam for Public Personnel [SEPP] is used to measure efficiency in accounting education. According to our results, Turkish universities are successful in producing the most appropriate output. They are usually using their input components in a favorable way. According to our model accounting education delivered in the undergraduate programs of the higher education system in Turkey is generally effective. But universities are using resources excessively to get the output. On the departmental basis, Turkish universities are technically effective to a great extent. It is determined that the departments of labor economics, industrial relations and partially public finance are more effective departments. According to resource usage, while the most effective departments are departments of public finance, departments of business administration are the most ineffective ones.     

内蒙古财经学院教学模式改革问题研究

教学模式的改革是21世纪高校教育体制改革中亟待解决的问题。近年来内蒙古财经学院的教学改革取得一定成果,但也存在传统教学方式依然占主流、现代教育技术还没用被广泛应用等问题,因此本文根据我院的实际情况提出了以学生为中心、突出“三能”,多层次培养人才的教学模式。     

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.     

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.     

Effective controls for research in international accounting

Numerous studies have examined the value relevance and other characteristics of international and country-specific accounting standards. This paper evaluates the experimental designs of selected studies with respect to the controls essential for effective research. Both cross-country and within-country research designs share a common need for controls. Perhaps the most distinctive element of effective design in these studies is the control for institutional, cultural, and structural differences between countries. Previous research shows that the key outputs of various country-specific accounting standards are functions of a variety of factors including accounting-related issues, legal origin, shareholder protection, the information environment, financial markets, and enforcement of these standards. In addition, effective studies of country-specific or international accounting principles require control for firm and industry-specific effects and for self-selection bias, as in conventional within-country examinations. When controls are not sufficient, observed differences in the outputs of alternative accounting standards may result from differences between countries or firms rather than from different accounting principles. We review a sample of recent research with attention to these control considerations.     

The changing technological environment and the future of behavioural research in accounting

In an era where the pace of change continues to escalate, behavioural research provides an ongoing avenue for explaining the likely effects of emergent changes on decision‐making by providers, users and assurers of accounting information, and for providing ex ante enlightenment for policy‐makers. The purpose of this discussion is to identify contemporary changes affecting the accounting environment, discuss the potential impact to individual and organisational decision‐making, and explore how behavioural research can be utilised to examine these changes. Specifically, this discussion focuses on the impact that technological changes have had on financial reporting, external auditing and managerial accounting, with an eye towards the potential for these changes to radically alter the future of accounting and auditing research.     

A study of the perception of public accounting skills held by UK students with accounting and non-accounting carrer aspirations

This paper examines perceptions of the skills that are important for success in public accounting. The total sample consists of 203 respondents who have operationalized carrer interest by either applying to accounting firms (n = 107) or to other large companies for non-accounting positions (n = 96). Data was gathered using an attitudinal questionnaire administered to the two groups. ttests, ANOVA and multivariate analysis were used to analyse the results. Factor analysis was used to generate inputs for discriminant analysis. The finding indicate that bot groups have similar perceptions of the importance of analytical ability and deductive reasoning. However, respondents interested in entering the accounting profession attach greater importance to the possession of good interpersonal skills, empathy, sensitivity, innovation and creativity. Accounting applicants describe accounting as incorporating a wider skill repertoire than those with non-accounting aspirants. The implications of these differing views for carrer choice and accounting education are explored.