Beyond the mechanics of spreadsheets: using design instruction to address spreadsheet errors

Given that the usage and complexity of spreadsheets in the accounting profession are expected to increase, it is more important than ever to ensure that accounting graduates are aware of the dangers of spreadsheet errors and are equipped with design skills to minimize those errors. Although spreadsheet mechanics are prevalent in accounting curricula, less attention has been given to design considerations that can reduce the incidence of spreadsheet errors. The extant literature provides evidence of the most common types of spreadsheet errors and explanations as to why they occur. Using the work of Panko and others, this paper outlines a three-step approach for introducing spreadsheet design practices to novice spreadsheet developers. To facilitate design instruction, this paper provides a summary of foundational readings related to spreadsheet errors as well as specific teaching strategies for addressing the most common spreadsheet errors identified in the literature.     

Introducing spreadsheets into an intermediate financial accounting course: the results of a quasi-experiment

Previous research has revealed a measurable decrease in student attitude towards the use of computers when they are integrated into teaching. This fall in attitude is thought to reflect the initial diffculties encountered when attempting to use computers and learn acounting techniques at the same time. However, it is postulated that once the students' computer ability has achieved an adequate level, then attitude will recover. This paper reports the results of a continuing investigation into the attitude of second-year undergraduate accounting students towords the use of computers in their studies. The method used was to ask students to complete a questionnaire about their attitudes and self-assessed ability and to undergo a written test of their computer/spreadsheet Knowledge. These data were merged with those from earlier testing to give a two-year data set. The results indicate that the attitude of students to using computers generally continued to fall significantly. However, their ability to use computers and spreadsheets rose. In the case of spreadsheets, this rise in ability was significant. It was found that students who took, as options, additional courses which integrated computers had more positive attiudes and achieved higher scores in the computer Knowledge test than those who did not. This implies that the initial fall in attitude experienced in previous studies was not an isolated temporary phenomenon. The imporvement in ability is observed, but this did not have the expected effect.     

Electronic spreadsheet technology in the teaching of accounting and taxation—Uses,limitations, and examples

Three advantages of using electronic spreadsheets in classroom settings are identified: 1. spreadsheets provide applied settings in which to learn their usage, 2. spreadsheets aid students in understanding complex accounting problems and 3. the power of spreadsheet templates can be demonstrated. We also identify three limitations of the classroom use of electronic spreadsheets: 1. the extra time commitment for faculty and students, 2. the inherent danger of reducing repetitive problem practice and 3. the lack of any pedagogical benefits in certain accounting contexts. These benefits and limitations are combined to form an overall pedagogical strategy. In addition, several spreadsheet templates are provided as illustrations for our arguments.     

Interactive spreadsheet models reinforce accounting principles

This note presents an interactive spreadsheet model requiring students to create formulas that complete an incomplete, preexisting spreadsheet model and thereby demonstrate their understanding of the accounting principle being applied. The model's verification feature uses keyboard macro commands that compare the student's formulas to correct formulas stored on the spreadsheet. If any formula is incorrect, the error is highlighted and an online help screen is displayed to assist the student in preparing a correct solution. Interactive models provide students with immediate knowledge of results and improve the efficiency of class administration.     

Introducing uncertainty in the teaching of pensions: A simulation approach

Recent technological developments have made it possible to allow students to model probabilistic situations using electronic spreadsheets. This paper illustrates how explicitly incorporating uncertainty can add new dimensions to pension accounting. Faculty members teaching advanced financial accounting topics could use this innovation to help reorient accounting education toward skill development.     

Integration of law with accouting: A more comprehensive learning experience

Since accounting principles is often a surrogate for an introduction to business course, it is an ideal medium for introducing students to many aspects of commercial, civil, and criminal law. When using the approach suggested in this article, care must be taken not to detract from the accounting course or diminish the course content in any way. The accounting course may, however, be greatly enhanced by the allusions and references made by the accounting professor to the various laws.This approach to instructing accounting offers a number of benefits. Students are not only assisted in their immediate course work, but also throughout their entire business program. The accounting course is enhanced by comprehensive handout materials which are provided to the students and which can be retained by the students as ready references during the course and thereafter. (Examples of such supplemental materials are presented.) Upon conclusion of several terms of accounting, the students have obtained an otherwise unavailable exposure to the interrelationship of accounting and law.     

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.     

Electronic spreadsheets: Powerful and flexible educational tools

Electronic spreadsheets offer many opportunities for the accounting curriculum. They become vehicles for solving class exercises and problems and valuable aids for student learning of numerous accounting topics. They provide accounting students with the power of the computer while requiring them to use the traditional thought processes in understanding and solving accounting problems.     

Editorial to Introduce the Bloom and Webinger Forum

Abstract

Undergraduate accounting students in Australian universities are dissatisfied with the feedback that they currently receive. Recent evidence from the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ, a national survey of Australian university graduates) suggests that the accounting discipline ranks poorly on assessment feedback when compared to other disciplines. This finding aligns with the results of local university data, which also shows that students appear dissatisfied with feedback. Similar results can be found in other jurisdictions, as noted by the Higher Education Academy in the UK. Given the importance of feedback to enhancing students' learning, these results are of concern to accounting academics and other stakeholders, including professional accounting bodies and graduate employers. To date, few studies have sought to understand in a comprehensive manner the relatively poor performance in feedback scores in the discipline of accounting. This exploratory study seeks to address this gap by investigating the reasons underlying students' dissatisfaction. We report on students' perceptions obtained from a large survey of Australian undergraduate accounting students across 12 universities. Over 2600 students responded to the survey. Our findings indicate that accounting students value feedback that is individualised, detailed, constructive and timely, and that currently they are not receiving feedback with these attributes.     

Perceptions of the benefits of the A3 planner in facilitating project-based learning in accounting education

This paper evaluates ways of instilling project management skills into accounting-based learning by the use of an iterative A3 planner to plan, monitor and review assignment progress. The application of an A3 planner to facilitate a project-based learning (PBL) group assignment in undergraduate accounting education has been critically evaluated in terms of both the student and tutor experience. The study uses a mix of qualitative and quantitative data. Quantitative data assisting exploration of perceptions were collected through 100 undergraduate students. A series of focus group discussions were carried out to investigate students’ engagement and tutors’ teaching experiences regarding the adoption of the A3 planner. The results suggest that the A3 planner promotes active planning and effective management of a PBL group assignment. It makes students’ thought processes more visible thereby facilitating and enhancing the tutoring/mentoring process. Moreover a more interactive and transparent approach by doing assignment via the use of an iterative A3 planner has ensured more feedback points and action based efficiency in the doing approach for learners.     

Teaching good systems design for spreadsheet projects

One of the greatest challenges facing any business is creating information and accounting systems that work, and one of the greatest challenges in accounting education is to teach effective systems design in the limited time available. Accountants need to be knowledgeable in systems principles, but often students' systems exposure is limited to a one semester course in Accounting Information Systems.This paper describes the application of structured design to spreadsheets. Spreadsheet construction projects can then be used in an Accounting Information Systems course to teach system design principles. The advantages of this approach are: (1) that systems with sufficient complexity to illustrate the principles and techniques of good design can be constructed in a few weeks, (2) the spreadsheet software neither forces good design not prohibits it, thus requiring good design to be built in by conscious choice, and (3) it is an active, hands-on approach, which greatly facilitates learning.     

Introducing XBRL through a financial statement analysis project

In this project, we introduce business and accounting students to the application of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) through the use of interactive data. Students study the basic concepts and potential benefits of interactive data and XBRL. Students learn to extract the financial reports of two companies in the same industry. Then, using traditional financial analysis techniques (ratio analysis) students can compare the performance of these companies. Thus, the project accomplishes two important objectives: it introduces students to the benefits and features of XBRL-tagged financial reporting and interactive data, and it shows how this medium can be used to facilitate the analysis of financial statements. The project uses free, publicly available interactive data tools to accomplish these objectives.This project is appropriate for any level of financial accounting course in which students use public company financial statements to generate financial ratios and conduct analysis on them. We aim the project at MBA-type introductory accounting courses. In addition, we show how it can easily be expanded to be applied to higher level financial statement analysis courses, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The project provides some background into how XBRL-tagged financial reporting is generated, while the main focus is on application of interactive data and not the technology itself. Since XBRL is now mandated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for most reporting entities, it is critical for today’s business students to be familiar with this method of communicating financial information.     

Accounting ethics education: Integrating reflective learning and virtue ethics

This paper explains the use of reflective learning techniques to create and deliver a new ethics course. Students apply virtue-based reasoning with reflective thinking to resolve conflicts faced by accounting professionals. Teaching techniques include class discussion, minute papers, reflection journals, role playing, and case analysis. Students express their thoughts orally and in written form, interact with other students, receive feedback during and after assignments, and demonstrate what they have learned. Reflective learning helps to transform existing ideas and understandings to come to a new understanding of a situation. As a tool for ethics education in accounting, reflective learning provides the link that may enhance ethical understanding and enable students to apply virtue and reflective thinking to a variety of situations discussed in accounting courses. For students, reflective learning slows down classroom activity giving them more time to process the material, linking it to prior ideas. Instructors benefit from frequent student feedback and greater involvement in the learning process.     

The Bakery: a cross-functional case study for introductory managerial accounting

This instructional case is designed to achieve four educational objectives: (1) to give students a more complete appreciation of the importance of considering accounting information along with marketing and economics-related information, avoiding a myopic focus on accounting data, (2) to give students practice in pricing, cost volume profit analysis (CVP) and outsourcing decisions, (3) to help students learn to build spreadsheets that are capable of what-if analysis, and (4) to provide an active learning experience that engages introductory accounting students. The Bakery is a non-profit organization whose primary function is to sell baked goods and beverages to students in a large campus residence hall complex. In completing the case, students utilize information provided about the costs and previous pricing structure of The Bakery, along with information they collect about competitors' product offerings, prices, and accompanying services, and their own knowledge of The Bakery's customers, college students and their parents, as a basis for making pricing decisions. Once they have completed the pricing analysis, students use the resulting variable costing income statement to perform CVP and to analyze a decision to potentially outsource The Bakery's operations.     

Virtual Office Hours (VOH) in accounting coursework: Leveraging technology to enhance an integrative learning environment

For at least the past two decades, accounting educators have been faced with increasing demands to keep pace with imperatives from the profession and with changes in the practice environment. Rapid changes in information technology applications, both in accounting practice and in academe, have added to the complexity of accounting educator responsibilities. This paper reports on the development and use of a “Virtual Office Hours” (VOH) platform to enhance opportunities to engage students in their learning beyond the classroom environment. This approach has been developed as a result of instructor experience with adding technology applications in the accounting classroom to better reflect practice environment needs. VOH has been implemented in auditing and intermediate accounting courses to develop clear and assured lines of communication between the student and instructor, and to foster the use of information technologies as a normal and expected characteristic of the course learning environment. In so doing, the approach uses tools that students will likely apply in the practice setting to interact with clients and colleagues. This can be seen as an extension of the model conveyed by the AICPA in its Core Competency Framework to leverage technology for student skill building. Student feedback, insights from accounting course experiences with VOH, and suggestions on applicability to other accounting educators are considered in the paper.     

A quasi-experimental assessment of interactive student response systems on student confidence,effort, and course performance

The interactive student response system (SRS), commonly referred to as ‘clickers,’ is an alternative learning method that has the potential to improve student course (i.e., quiz/examination) performance. Prior SRS studies both within accounting and other academic disciplines have found conflicting results as to its influence on student course performance. This quasi-experimental study re-examines the relationship between the use of an SRS and course performance. We also investigate how using SRS influences student confidence and time spent studying outside of class. Unlike prior SRS related studies, we tested both our SRS class and our control class (with no SRS) in the same academic semester with the same instructor to provide a higher degree of experimental control. Through doing so, we compared the benefit of immediate feedback achieved by SRS to the delayed feedback of traditional assessment formats. Higher in-class performance on multiple-choice quiz items was found for students using SRS versus those who did not use SRS; however, no significant differences in examination performance or overall course performance were noted between the two groups. Students using SRS reported being more confident in their abilities and spent less time preparing for the course outside of class, while maintaining similar overall course performance when compared to those who did not use the SRS. We conclude our study by providing areas of meaningful future research related to the use of SRS.     

Individualised interactive formative assessments to promote independent learning

Rules-based drill-and-practice questions are often used to promote learning in quantitative courses. Individualised questions are, however, more likely to encourage deep approaches to learning, especially when feedback goes beyond correct/incorrect signals. Individualised questions discourage inappropriate shortcuts, such as peers copying solutions. However, individualisation places extra work on an instructor, particularly in large classes. The objective of the paper is to promote independent learning by describing an automated approach that allows instructors to deliver individualised questions to students with minimal effort. The approach also allows students, at their own discretion, to get individualised help and feedback. Instructors that use rules-based drill-and-practice problems as part of the learning repertoire should find many opportunities to use the approach described in this article.     

Great Galway Goslings: Organizational Context of Managerial Accounting*

This case seeks to enhance student understanding of the relationship between accounting information and the order fulfllment and production activities of a manufacturing frm, Great Galway Goslings. Great Galway Goslings manufactures goose sculptures and has been suffering losses in recent years. Students draw on the skills they learned in financial accounting to analyze the company's order fulfllment activities, identify economic transactions, and prepare journal entries. The case provides a link to managerial accounting topics as students use segment financial statements to create contribution margin income statements, perform break‐even analyses, and recommend whether Great Galway Goslings should keep its retail business segment. Students will become familiar with the key features of business process management (BPM) and the extensive, real‐world activities that a manufacturing entity engages in to fll an order. Students will analyze the company's existing order fulfllment process and apply their knowledge of BPM to recommend process improvements for Great Galway. This case contributes to the accounting case literature by serving as a bridge from financial accounting to managerial accounting, intertwining many topics from managerial accounting into one cohesive case, and providing real‐world business process knowledge. Student feedback indicates that, overall, the case met its stated learning objectives. Great Galway Goslings is appropriate for an undergraduate introductory managerial accounting course but can be adapted to the equivalent graduate‐level course or an accounting information systems course.     

Offering a globally-linked international accounting course in real time: a sharing of experiences and lessons learned

This article reports the experiences from offering an online international accounting course that involved students from Japan, Spain, Switzerland, and the USA participating in real time via both audio and video links. In addition to interacting among themselves, students also interacted with accounting practitioners and standard setters from these countries. The latter attended class either in person or “virtually” via audio and video links. The paper also discusses the major benefits from the course, as identified by student feedback and direct faculty observations. A number of challenges in offering a course of this type also are identified. These insights can assist accounting educators interested in implementing a similar international accounting course at their institutions. They also have implications for applying distance-learning approaches in courses with a domestic focus.