A narrative on integrating research and theory into undergraduate accounting curriculum

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron Baker ◽  
Sara Wick
Keyword(s):  
Course Design ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Student Response ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Professional Certification ◽  
Pedagogical Tool ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
Student Reaction ◽  
Accounting Curriculum

Purpose This paper aims to describe an effort to integrate accounting research and theory into an undergraduate accounting education program through the development and delivery of a fourth-year course. Informing ideas for the course design and content are discussed, and feedback from the students and instructor is provided. Design/methodology/approach This paper takes the form of a commentary and offers the authors’ opinion based on the experience of designing and teaching the course. An in-class survey was conducted in three separate offerings of the course. Findings Student response to the course and material was more positive than anticipated, indicating that undergraduate accounting students are receptive to learning about research and theory, even when it is not required for entrance into a professional certification program. Also, many students often went above and beyond the course requirements in the work they submitted. This indicates that there is an appetite for engaging with material that presents accounting as a social phenomenon rather than solely as a technical activity. Research limitations/implications While the data were collected over multiple years, the survey was conducted at a single university. These findings have implications for the design of undergraduate accounting education programs and, potentially, for addressing the gap between accounting research and practice. Originality/value This review contributes to the discourse on integrating research into undergraduate accounting education as recommended by the AAA Pathways Commission. It describes one method of doing so and identifies the literature that informed the approach taken. This paper also contributes to the accounting education literature by providing evidence of student reaction to a course that uses research and theory as a subject matter rather than a pedagogical tool. This evidence may also inform the teaching –research nexus discourse.

Undergraduate accounting students’ perception of a course in accounting research and theory

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron Baker ◽  
Sara Wick
Keyword(s):  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Academic Career ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Student Interest ◽  
Faculty Shortage ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
Accounting Practitioners

Purpose This study aims to measure the response of undergraduate accounting students to a stand-alone course in accounting theory and research. The aim of the study was to gauge students’ perceptions of the usefulness of this course and to determine if exposure to this material would increase student interest in accounting research and in pursuing a career in academia. Design/methodology/approach Three cohorts of students enrolled in the course completed an in-class survey. The study was conducted from 2015 to 2017. Findings The results of the survey show that student interest in accounting research and theory increased substantially as a result of the course. Students felt that learning about accounting research and the theories used in accounting research enhanced their overall understanding of accounting and would be useful to them as accounting practitioners. This study also reports that students interested in pursuing a PhD and/or an academic career also increased. Research limitations/implications Data were only collected at a single university and represent student perceptions only. Practical implications The results of this study and the description of the course design will inform academics seeking to answer the American Accounting Association Pathways Commission’s call to integrate accounting research and education. This study also suggests a pathway towards addressing the chronic academic accounting faculty shortage. Finally, the results will be of interest to those designing undergraduate accounting curriculum. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature on the “teaching-research nexus” in accounting by providing evidence, from the perspective of undergraduate accounting students, of the usefulness of integrating research into undergraduate accounting education. While many accounting researchers view accounting research and teaching accounting as separate activities, the response from students suggests that there is value in fostering a more complementary relationship between these two activities.

Perceptions of salient stakeholders on the integration of sustainability education into the accounting curriculum: a Jordanian study

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 371-402
Author(s):  
Huthaifa Al-Hazaima ◽  
Mary Low ◽  
Umesh Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Sustainability Education ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business Executives ◽  
Accounting Curriculum ◽  
Final Sample ◽  
Important Field ◽  
The Government ◽  
Applied Knowledge

Purpose This paper aims to examine the perceptions of salient stakeholders in Jordan concerning the importance of integrating sustainability education (SE) into the accounting curriculum. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses salient stakeholder theory as a lens and seeks to explore the possible integration of SE into the Jordanian tertiary accounting curriculum. A final sample of 702 salient stakeholders including university accounting educators, accounting students, industry accountants, government representatives and accounting association professional members were used to glean an insight of their views and the extent to which sustainability is present in accounting education. Findings Findings indicate that there is a strong belief by these salient stakeholders that there is significant importance for the integration of SE into the accounting curriculum in Jordanian universities. There is concern that the current curriculum does not meet the educational needs of future accountants and business executives from a sustainability perspective. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the research debate on the competencies crisis in accounting education by focusing on the lack of SE in the accounting curriculum. This study draws attention to the need of up-skilling and applied knowledge in this critical area. There are strong viewpoints from the salient stakeholders in this study. They emphasise that a progressive education solution is required and which integrates SE into the accounting curriculum. Practical implications The research is useful to accounting educators, professional accounting associations, industry, accounting students and the government. The salient stakeholders in Jordan wish to include SE within the accounting curriculum. This would lead to future accountants and business executives having stronger competencies to respond in a resilient and resourceful manner to changes in the way business is conducted, especially in an area where societal and environmental impacts are highly scrutinised. Originality/value This study provides evidence on how salient stakeholders of an emerging economy can influence, provide guidance and leadership in integrating SE in the accounting curriculum. Engaging actively and extensively with research studies such as this allows them to voice their opinions about the importance of sustainability and how their country can better engage in this increasingly important field.

PENGARUH MOTIVASI, KREATIFITAS, DAN MENTALITAS TERHADAP PENDIDIKAN AKUNTANSI PADA PERGURUAN TINGGI SWASTA DI KOTA PADANG

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Fitriani Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Hypothesis Testing ◽  
Private Universities ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Accounting Curriculum ◽  
Accounting Courses ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The City

Accounting education is taught in some private universities has impressed as stagnant knowledge, mechanical, and oriented material that causes a lot of students in general become saturated in the learning process. In Indonesia at several universities, almost all accounting courses little or no charge to enter the motivation, creativity, and mentality in the accounting curriculum-based motivation, creativity, and mentality can only he done well when formulated in a more complete firm of the curriculum. Therefore, this study examines the effect of motivation, creativity and mentality in accounting education to obtain empirical evidence. In this study using primary data obtained through questionnaires from a list of questions posed to accounting students in private universities in the city of Padang. The sample in this study was conducted with a purposive sampling technique where the sampling method was based on certain criteria, namely : involving student participants who majored in accounting class of 2010, 2011, and 2012 who had studied the sciences and overall accounting associated with accounting. Testing the hypothesis of this research is conducted with multiple regression analysis. The first hypothesis testing results found that motivation does not significantly influence accounting education in private universities Padang. The second hypothesis testing results found that creativity significantly influence accounting education in private universities Padang. The third hypothesis testing results found that significantly influence the mentality of accounting education in private universities Padang.

Ethics and accounting education: does teaching stand-alone religious courses affect accounting students’ ethical decisions?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibrahim El-Sayed Ebaid
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Business Ethics ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
T Test ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Credit Hours ◽  
Ethical Decisions

Purpose Undergraduate accounting program at Umm Al-Qura University in Saudi Arabia is a unique case. The program includes 147 credit hours of which 28 credit hours are religious courses. This study aims to examine the effect of teaching these religious courses on students’ ethical perceptions and decisions. Design/methodology/approach A survey was conducted for a sample of accounting students at Umm Al-Qura University. The sample was divided into two groups; the first group includes students who did not study religious courses, while the second group includes students who study religious courses. The questionnaire contained three groups of questions that aimed to explore students’ perceptions of ethics in general, students’ perceptions of business ethics and explored their ethical attitudes regarding some accounting decisions that involve ethical dilemmas. Independent two-sample t-test and multiple regression analysis were used to determine whether the responses of the two groups were significantly different. Findings The findings of the study revealed that teaching religious courses led to an improvement in students’ perception of business ethics and an improvement in students’ ethical decision-making. However, the results of the independent sample t-test showed that this improvement was not significant. The results of the study also revealed that male students tend to make less ethical decisions than female students. Research limitations/implications The findings offer an indication for those responsible for managing the accounting program at Umm Al-Qura University to start developing the program so that some of the general religious courses are replaced with specialized courses in accounting ethics that focus directly on ethical dilemmas faced by the accountant when practicing the accounting profession. Originality/value This study contributes to the current literature related to examining the effect of teaching ethics courses on the ethical perception of accounting students by focusing on accounting students in Saudi Arabia as a context that has not been examined before.

SMEs project: a method to encourage interpersonal skills among pre-service accountant

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 883-895
Author(s):  
Gaffar Hafiz Sagala ◽  
Tri Effiyanti
Keyword(s):  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Interpersonal Skills ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Social Loafing ◽  
Evaluation Instrument ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Accounting Education Change Commission reveals that accounting professionals are required to have interpersonal skills. For this reason, higher education requires the dynamics of learning that can foster critical thinking skills, analysis, communication, negotiation, cooperation and argumentation. Therefore, studies in the field of accounting education have led to a project approach to provide students with complex learning experiences to develop various supporting skills in addition to learning outcomes. Interestingly, the methods have its own dilemma with social loafing in groups. Therefore, a lecturer must be able to match it with an appropriate evaluation instrument. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of implementing peer evaluations and project-based learning (SMEs project) on improving the interpersonal skills of accounting students. Design/methodology/approach The population of this research is Accounting students at Medan State University, while the sample is students who are undergoing Cost Accounting courses taken with purposive sampling. The within-sample of field experiment method was conducted in the current study. Furthermore, data analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA analysis assisted by SPSS 19. Findings The results of this study showed that students had an increase in interpersonal skills in their board, and peer-evaluation design resulted in learning satisfaction and fairness in students. Originality/value The results of this study produce practical recommendations for lecturers to innovate their learning activities with actual project design and control group dynamics with accommodative evaluation designs. This study provides new insights in building a comprehensive instructional design, so it can strengthen the concept of instructional and evaluation designs which are integral parts that should match between one another.

To be or not to be: an investigation of accounting students’ career intentions

2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 360-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zauwiyah Ahmad ◽  
Hishamuddin Ismail ◽  
R. N. Anantharaman
Keyword(s):  
Accounting Education ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Accounting Profession ◽  
Career Intentions ◽  
Extrinsic Rewards ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Internship Experience ◽  
Student Cohorts ◽  
New Finding ◽  
Changes Over Time

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study accounting students’ intentions to pursue their careers as accountants and modelling this within the context of Malaysian accounting education. Design/methodology/approach – Data were gathered via a questionnaire survey involving undergraduate accounting students. Factor analysis, independent sample t-tests, and multiple regressions were employed. Findings – In total, four findings were derived from this study. First, within the undergraduate accounting programmes, non-commitment towards the accounting profession can still exist. Second, intrinsic interest is a significant predictor of career intentions. Third, the influence of anticipated conflict provides a new finding in relation to accounting students’ career intentions. The last finding is concerned with the influence of internship experience on students’ career intentions. Research limitations/implications – It was assumed that differences detected between the accounting student cohorts reflect changes over time in students’ intentions. Practical implications – Suggestions that have been previously put forward in efforts to market the accounting profession were mainly focused on promoting the extrinsic rewards. However, findings from this study suggested that sole focus on extrinsic rewards is not enough to warrant commitment towards the profession. Instead, marketing efforts should also focus on intrinsic values of the profession. Originality/value – The study has provided evidence that anticipated conflict should be given more attention by accounting researchers. Although students’ career intentions seemed to become clearer and more uniform as they progressed with their studies, two issues remain to be addressed by education institutions and accounting professional bodies, namely anticipated conflict and the conduct of internship programme.

Researching ethnicity in the Pacific region

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 302-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel F. Baskerville ◽  
Katharine Wynn-Williams ◽  
Elaine Evans ◽  
Shirley Gillett
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
First Language ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
The Pacific

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how the construct of ethnicity can best be determined for empirical analysis in accounting research, particularly in the Pacific region. Design/methodology/approach – This paper reviews relevant sociological and accounting literature. In addition, it presents the results of a case study where “first language” was used as a proxy for ethnicity. Findings – The results of the literature review present six different research approaches towards determining ethnicity. Furthermore, it is found that “first language” was a justifiable determinant of ethnicity in an accounting education study. Research limitations/implications – The determination of reliable and valid proxies for ethnicity in accounting research is important for researchers, including those whose objective is to associate ethnicity with learning and teaching outcomes, accounting and financial reporting activities or behaviours. Originality/value – In the context of accounting research, the value of this study is its challenge to the notions that culture and ethnicity are not only homogenous but interchangeable and to offer a reflection on how ethnicity can be determined.

Accounting students’ perceptions of important business communication skills for career success

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Atef Oussii ◽  
Mohamed Faker Klibi
Keyword(s):  
Communication Skills ◽  
Career Success ◽  
Business Schools ◽  
Business Communication ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Practice ◽  
Graduate Unemployment ◽  
Accounting Graduates

Purpose This paper aims to examine the business communication skills that accounting students see as having the highest importance for career success. It also explores the current levels of development of these skills and analyzes them through a comparative study between three Tunisian business schools. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a questionnaire sent to180 students from three business schools to provide insights into the development of communication skills perceived important for a successful accounting career. Findings The results indicate that all students are conscious of the importance held by communication skills for career success in the accounting profession. However, they feel that their aptitudes are sometimes poorly developed, especially when it comes to proficiency in French (as a language of business in Tunisia) and written skills. Practical implications The paper’s findings offer important guidance concerning the communication skills that accounting students consider most needed by the Tunisian labor market. The findings of this study may be useful for curriculum development in local and international contexts. Originality/value This study is conducted in a developing country where the graduate unemployment rate is about 30 per cent. This high unemployment often affects service professions like accounting. Moreover, in Tunisia, accounting education focuses particularly on technical aspects. So far, no studies have been conducted to show whether students nowadays are aware of the increasing importance of generic skills in accounting practice. As a result, the conclusions of this study could provide Tunisian stakeholders with insights into ways of potentially improving accounting graduates’ employability.

Exploring future accountants’ academic fraud (in)tolerance: Oman evidence

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-83
Author(s):  
Hairul Suhaimi Nahar
Keyword(s):  
Primary Source ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Tolerance Level ◽  
Academic Fraud ◽  
Academic Activities ◽  
Accounting Major ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
And Training

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the (in)tolerance level of accounting major students in Oman toward identified integrity destroying academic activities. Design/methodology/approach A triangulation approach was adopted whereby a questionnaire survey on academic fraud (AF) was administered to a group of Omani major accounting students. The descriptive statistical results were further analyzed and validated using in-depth interviews in exploring further the students’ tolerance decisions. Findings A conceivably low and non-disturbing tolerance level toward the myriads of integrity destroying academic activities was documented. The tolerance is, however, observed to be dynamic in nature as it is sensitive to fraud “severity” and “seriousness”, i.e. it increases as AF activities become less severe and serious. Minor free-ride is tolerated the most, followed by minor plagiarism and seldom forgery. These AF activities were tolerated most by female and academically weak students. The varying results suggest that demographic factors do play a role in shaping Omani future accountants’ AF tolerance. The interview results further point to the intertwined factors of academic, family and peers, as well as religion that primarily influence their AF tolerance levels. Originality/value The research fills the extremely scarce accounting education literature in Oman by documenting fresh evidence of AF (in)tolerance among future members of the country’s accountancy profession. As academic is the primary source of accountants’ accountability and integrity knowledge and training base, investigating accounting students’ tolerance toward integrity in the acute context of AF would effectively provide a reflection of the profession’s future integrity environment.

Do entrepreneurial skills affect entrepreneurship attitudes in accounting education?

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 739-757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sameh M. Reda Reyad ◽  
Abdalmuttaleb Musleh Al-Sartawi ◽  
Sherine Badawi ◽  
Allam Hamdan
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Entrepreneurial Intention ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Test Statistic ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Entrepreneurial Skills

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the evidence of accounting undergraduates’ attitude toward entrepreneurship, in particular, whether entrepreneurial skills developed in accounting education engender cognition of skills and intentions of starting a business. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a χ2 test statistic used to evaluate a logistic regression to gauge the effect of delivering six entrepreneurial skills (risk taking, critical thinking, problem solving, innovation, autonomy and need for achievement) on entrepreneurship attitudes (cognition of skills and intentions). Data consist of questionnaire responses obtained from 668 undergraduates attending Egyptian and Bahraini universities. Findings The results reveal that accounting students perceive the following four entrepreneurial skills as a key for starting their own business: risk taking, critical thinking, problem solving and innovation. In addition, Egyptian students incline toward cognition, whereas Bahraini students head toward intentions. Practical implications Some changes to accounting curricula are proposed to enhance entrepreneurial intention. Originality/value This paper offers a new contribution as it focuses on the challenges and the considerations in the Arab World Universities.

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