Enhancing student engagement in large management accounting lectures

The education literature suggests a student-focused teaching strategy to improve students’ engagement in a lecture. However, in traditional accounting lectures students take the role of passive and anonymous recipients of knowledge. This paper reports on two cycles of an action research project, developing and refining a blended learning model, with the purpose of enhancing students’ engagement in the lectures of a large management accounting course. Results of our study find that engagement was enhanced with the implementation of this model. This study contributes to the accounting education literature through reporting evidence from action research and the effective implementation of a blended learning model that accounting educators can use.     

Students’ conceptions of learning in the context of an accounting degree

Students' conceptions of learning (CoL) play an important role in the learning process leading to the development of generic skills. This paper investigates whether CoL of accounting students can be developed by incorporating high-level cognitive skills progressively within the accounting curriculum. First, the study explored, using phenomenography, the variation in accounting students' CoL. The findings highlighted some nuances in accountings students' CoL and that lower-order CoL were prevalent among accounting students. However, more (less) third-year students than second-year students adopted higher- (lower-) order CoL. Upon examining the learning objectives, teaching methods and assessment of all units comprising the accounting major of the host university, evidence was found that CoL are progressively developed and shaped, albeit in a limited way, based on the levels of cognitive domain emphasised within the curriculum. The findings highlight the need for accounting educators to take a whole of the programme approach to developing higher-order CoL.     

Enhancing Students' Enabling Competencies: Student Perspectives and Recommendations for Educators*

Employers continue to express concern that accounting graduates lack the necessary competencies when they enter the workplace. These concerns have been addressed in part by periodic revisions to Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada's (CPA Canada) CPA Competency Map, which is used to define competencies for entry into the profession. The CPA Competency Map has recently been revised to include a new set of enabling competencies (often called generic or soft skills). However, the accounting literature highlights a concern that time and resources spent on the expanding set of enabling competencies could take valuable resources away from teaching technical accounting skills. In addition, the education literature indicates that student motivation plays a key role in learning. If students are motivated to learn enabling competencies, then educational efforts could be more efficient and effective. Conversely, a lack of student motivation could reduce student engagement and learning. To address these concerns, we investigated the student's perspective on the importance of enabling competencies as well as on how and where enabling competencies should be learned. We surveyed 380 students enrolled in the CPA Canada Professional Education Program (PEP). We investigated the three new enabling competencies that are most distinct from the previous set of competencies and that may be the most difficult for accounting educators to teach: adaptability and resilience; creativity and innovation; and active listening. We asked students about the importance of these new enabling competencies for their future careers and whether the competencies should be taught in PEP or in the workplace. Our results indicate that students believe that the new enabling competencies are important and should be learned in both the classroom and the workplace. Moreover, student responses to open-ended questions provide educators with suggestions on how to incorporate enabling competencies into the classroom by blending activities that could simultaneously enhance enabling competencies with technical competencies.     

Teaching alternative income determination models via a classification matrix

Periodic income determination traditionally has been an important part of financial accounting theory courses. In this article, the authors present an approach for introducing and discussing alternative capital maintenance and net asset valuation concepts which determine periodic income. The authors believe that this approach provides students with the ability to view various accounting income theories in perspective and hence allows students to concentrate on the relative conceptual merits rather than the mechanics of the theories.     

Monetary valuations of university course delivery: the case for face-to-face learning activities in accounting education

Student preferences for delivery options were obtained within a monetary framework by asking students to purchase their ideal course structure. Results show that accounting students prefer to spend more on tutorials but purchase less lecture time; the difference due to the higher cost of tutorials compared to lectures. Face-to-face classes were preferred to web-based materials. Within lectures and tutorials students prefer more time devoted to teacher-centred activities than student-centred activities. Monetary valuations, where students must take into account the cost of delivery as well as effectiveness, provide insights for teaching staff and administrators, who need to simultaneously enhance teaching and learning, satisfy student preferences and operate with limited resources. Online and/or student-centred learning may not be compatible with preferences of accounting students. Teachers need to balance calls to change educational delivery and learning activities with preferences of accounting students, or ensure they educate students on why non-preferred approaches are undertaken.     

The yellow brick company: An instructional case for integrating the teaching of tax and managerial accounting

In recent years, the emphasis in accounting education has shifted from technical instruction to a broader understanding of the role of accounting in decision-making. One outgrowth of this new emphasis has been an integration of the accounting curriculum, whereby courses assimilate and explore the interrelationships among the various accounting subareas as well as with other disciplines. The aim of this instructional case is to help bridge the gap that typically exists between tax and management accounting teaching. Through the evaluation of three mutually exclusive alternatives, students are systematically introduced to the ways that implicit taxes, alternate tax structures, and the treatment of net operating losses (NOLs) can alter the relative profitability and risk of alternative courses of action. The case thereby helps students who do not take courses in taxation to appreciate that taxes are not simply payments to the government after the fact. Rather, they play an important and integral role in managerial decision-making.     

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.     

An Analysis of Concepts and Evidence on the Question of Whether IFRS Should be Conservative

Do international accounting standards require conservative accounting? The IASB's conceptual framework suggests that they should not, while the research literature is largely silent on the matter, typically presuming conservatism to be an outcome of private contracting rather than standardized, public, general purpose financial reporting. In this paper, we analyze the actual requirements of IFRS. We find multiple examples of recognition requirements that lead to unconditional conservatism, measurement requirements that lead to conditional conservatism, and also presentation/disclosure requirements that further support a conservative reporting environment. These findings complement, support and deepen existing evidence in the empirical literature that accounting is in practice conservative. We show, however, that the requirements for conservatism in IFRS conflict with, first, the IASB's stated position in its conceptual framework that accounting should not be conservative and, second, the private contracting explanation for conservatism that is generally accepted in the literature. What is missing, and lies behind both conflicts, is an acknowledgement and understanding of the role of an agency/contracting perspective in enhancing the decision‐usefulness of general purpose accounting standards, given the information/incentive asymmetry and uncertainty that characterizes the real‐world context in which those standards operate. From a policy perspective, such an understanding would reconcile the IASB's conceptual framework with the actual requirements of IFRS. From a research literature perspective, such an understanding would re‐position accounting standards as central to the practice of accounting conservatism, which would in turn require revision to the generally accepted theory of a private contracting explanation for the empirical evidence of conservative accounting practice.     

Reflections on Amernic and Craig: A Note

Amernic and Craig (2004 ) propose the impossibility of anything other than a binary divide between moral absolutism and relativism. Campbell (1992 ) is drawn on to support this; however, it is revealed here that it cannot be used in this way. While Amernic and Craig leave the arguments as to the inevitability of this binary divide at this juncture, their discussion of the possibilities for accounting education reform offers the prospect of an alternative to relativism that avoids moral absolutism. More fortunately, Campbell's book provides the theoretical arguments necessary to rebut both absolutism and relativism. This rejoinder observes that, in reviewing the history of accounting, Amernic and Craig drew heavily on the work of Raymond Chambers, a critic of current accounting practice. In many works he demonstrated its failure to produce data comparability when complying with current accounting standards to report the values of assets, debts and income. For Chambers, truth in accounting (and ultimately data comparability) is found by the rigorous application of scientific rules. Introducing students to his persuasive arguments would be a very effective way of helping them understand the fragile and disputed nature of truth in accounting. But students should also be introduced to the arguments of those such as Gaffiikin, who believe there are limits to the extent that accounting can be based on objective facts (2000). To allow them simply to accept the orthodoxy of the day not only fails to prepare their minds ( Clarke, 1996 ), it also allows relativism into our classrooms. Students who can grapple with truth in accounting can then start addressing ethical truth. We must take our students beyond professional rules of conduct. A goal outlined in the article should be to teach them to treat the readers of financial statements with, as Campbell puts it, 'integrity and insight' (p. 438).     

Accounting graduates' perceptions of skills emphasis in undergraduate courses: an investigation from two Victorian universities

This study investigated the emphasis placed on technical and generic skills developed during undergraduate accounting courses from the graduate perspective. It is motivated by two issues. First, calls by the accounting profession and international education committees regarding the professional adequacy of graduates. Second, the challenge facing educators and professional bodies to design accounting courses that address a diverse range of needs from students, the educational philosophy of the institution, and the changing dynamics of global business. Data obtained from 310 graduates from two Victorian universities provided insights into the types of skills development considered necessary for a successful accounting career.     

Preparer versus user introductory sequence: the impact on performance in Intermediate Accounting I

The normal subject matter in the first semester of a traditional introductory accounting course closely parallels the content in Intermediate Accounting I. Because research shows that student performance in college accounting courses is influenced by prerequisite courses, one would expect that those who take a user-approach introductory sequence will not perform as well in later courses. The research reported in this paper compares the performance of students in a traditional Intermediate Accounting I course who took either a preparer-or-user approach introductory sequence. Of the 150 accounting majors in the sample, 53 (97) took a user-approach (preparer-approach) introductory sequence. Of the 97 preparer-approach students, 47 (50) were four-year (transfer) students. The results are consistent with prior research and indicate that SAT scores and student effort are significant for each of the individual tests and for the overall average in course examinations. Gender is not consistent a factor in performance, which also supports prior research. The data indicate that students who took a preparer-approach sequence did not score higher in Intermediate Accounting I and that entry status is not a factor in this performance. This finding leads to the question of whether or not a user-approach would better service those students in our introductory accounting courses who are not accounting majors.     

Alcoa: Toward understanding minority interest

In this case students explore the financial statements of Alcoa as an example of a consolidated company with minority interest in order to understand minority interest and the differences among the concepts of accounting for consolidated enterprises: economic-unit, parent-company, and proportionate concepts. Unlike other Fortune 500 companies, Alcoa presents sufficient footnote disclosures to approximate financial statements based on each theoretical concept. Although Alcoa, and most public companies, primarily follow a mix of parent-company-concept and economic-unit-concept, students need to understand all three concepts discussed in FASB Discussion Memorandum Consolidation Policy and Procedures (FASB, 1995) because accounting for consolidated enterprises is changing in the 1990s and will surely continue to evolve during their professional careers. By transforming Alcoa's financial statements to be consistent with each accounting concept and evaluating the usefulness of these statements, students expand their understanding of minority interest and consolidated financial statements from a user's perspective and gain insight into accounting theory.     

Inconsistencies in the business law education of accounting students: A survey of accounting educators

A general requirement for an accountant to take the CPA examination is the completion of a course in business law. It appears that what constitutes the business law course requirement is rather loosely defined and leaves excessive room for interpretation. What is a business law course? A survey of accounting educators regarding the business law requirement and the law courses taught at their respective schools reveals, inter alia, a divergence of opinion regarding the business law requirement, the perceived objective of teaching business law to accounting students, the importance of the legal topics included on the CPA exam, and the coverage of those topics at their respective institutions. In general, accounting educators are encouraged to both review their current business law requirements and to take a more active role in monitoring the business law curriculum.     

Overhead allocation: a cautionary tale!

This paper examines the behavioural consequences of charging/allocating central overheads to profit centres within a UK public sector institution. It is based on actual events at a UK university and the issues are set out in a case study format using correspondence from the profit centre manager to highlight issues of contol and measurement. A number of student tasks are suggested that require students to think beyond accounting numbers and consider the potentially conflicting roles of accounting information. In particular there is a conflict between the need to recover full costs from the University/Head Office perspective and the potential alienation of profit centre managers with only crude models for overhead recovery. The problems caused by inappropriate communication of accounting data and reactions to that data are also considered and instructors may use the case to introduce students to the differences between profit and not-for-profit organizations.     

Editorial: Special issue on tax education

In accounting education, most Student Approaches to Learning (SAL) research has investigated the relationship between students' performance and their approaches to learning. Relatively limited research has been conducted on how assessment practices influence the quality of students' learning from the students' perspective. This paper seeks to address this gap in the accounting education literature. The research is centred on a large Australian undergraduate accounting degree delivered in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. Focus group interviews were conducted with students across the three locations. The research results reveal that: (1) it is the English competency of students that has the most important impact on students' completion of set assessment tasks and thus their approach to learning; (2) it is the way in which assessment is designed and written and the way lecturers convey their expectations about how assessment will be undertaken that is crucial to how students from various countries perform in that assessment; and (3) students' approaches to assessment and their preferred assessment tasks are not homogeneously based on cultural background.     

Ethics matters: the integration of ethical considerations in management accounting textbooks

This paper examines the integration of ethical considerations in management accounting (MA) education. Drawing on the work of Alisdair MacIntyre, it is argued that MA instruments such as performance measurement are not morally neutral, but instead bear moral implications. Therefore, this paper contends that MA students should be trained to take these moral implications into consideration alongside MA's technical aspects. A content analysis is carried out to examine the integration of ethical considerations in top-ranked MA textbooks. The findings indicate that these textbooks, particularly the introductory textbooks, marginally integrate ethical considerations. Furthermore, the findings point to the risk of detaching ethical considerations from the discussion of MA's technical aspects, which may weaken the potential of the ethical considerations and turn them into ‘afterthoughts’. Finally, this paper offers practical suggestions for the improvement of the integration of ethical considerations in MA education and concludes with directions for future research.     

会计人才能力需求与本科会计教育改革:利益相关者的调查分析

本研究利用焦点团体访谈和问卷调查方法,探讨中国本科会计教育改革的问题。通过对会计师、会计学生和会计教师三类会计教育利益相关者的结构化访谈和问卷调查,研究不同利益相关者在会计毕业生能力项目和会计教学方法两个方面的期望认知。研究结果表明,不同利益相关者之间对部分能力项目和教学方法存在认知差异,教师是否接受海外教育背景对这两类项目的认知差异不显著。根据研究结果,我们分析了其产生的原因以及对中国会计教育改革的启示。     

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.     

Comparative evidence about the verbal and analytical aptitude of accounting students

Concern over the declining quality of accounting students has led to widespread changes in accounting education. Yet, surprisingly little evidence exists to indicate that we can draw better students by changing curricula and teaching methodologies. This study adds to the rather small sampling of work on the relative quality of accounting majors. It focuses on the retention and attraction of high quality students with both analytical and verbal skills. The results show that the accounting major attracted and retained top students from the University. Students who chose an accounting major, however, tended to be stronger in analytical than verbal skills and this gap widened with attrition. Analytical skills related more strongly than verbal to performance in the introductory accounting course, although verbal skills became more important in more advanced coursework.     

The winnowing away of behavioral accounting research in the US: The process for anointing academic elites

This paper reports the results of a study of the most prolific publishers in the four recognized most prestigious journals in accounting for the period 1963 through 1999. The focus is on learning whether the widespread perception that behavioral accounting research (BAR) has diminished in significance as a prominent paradigm in the US accounting academy has any validity and to identify whether a new generation of US BAR researchers is emerging to join the academic elite. Based on the characteristics of persons who have appeared as authors five or more times during the study period, it seems that BAR is in recession in shaping the US academic agenda in accounting. The power of successful individuals to shape the academic agenda as evidenced by service on editorial boards of prominent journals is dominated by those individuals who are graduates of a set of elite schools utilizing a neoclassical economics based research paradigm. The power of this group seems to be growing in the US. In spite of the interest in BAR among accounting doctoral students and faculty, it is not a pursuit that now leads to academic status, which, in turn, diminishes its potential contribution towards the shaping of the accounting academic agenda.