Advances in Accounting Education Teaching and Curriculum Innovations: Volume 17

This exercise should make apparent to introductory accounting students the importance of internal controls both as a deterrent and as an early detector of fraud. We use the fraud triangle (PCAOB, 2010) framework to help students understand and evaluate this fraud. We believe completing this exercise will give students a better understanding of fraud in general, the fraud triangle, and internal controls and their use in preventing and detecting fraud.

This exercise presents an actual embezzlement committed by a long-tenured employee of a local not-for-profit organization. Each component of the exercise contains a series of questions to facilitate classroom discussion.

Student surveys confirm that students learn about detecting and preventing fraud. Students also indicate that they find the not-for-profit setting interesting and would use the principles in the exercise if they become affiliated with a not-for-profit organization.

To our knowledge, this is the first fraud exercise directed at educating students in introductory and survey courses in accounting where students likely have only a minimal understanding of accounting and internal controls.

To examine how use of different quiz formats in an introductory financial accounting course encourages student beliefs about performance in the course.

Surveys of students prior to and after experiencing five different types of quizzes in the course.

In general, students found quizzes to be a helpful and motivating tool in assisting them in preparation for exams. Students preferred the alternative quiz styles to a traditional quiz style, and for two of the four alternative quizzes, they experienced increases in confidence of the material as the result of the quiz.

Instructors should consider adopting alternative quiz formats, which are characterized as low stakes learning interventions that allow students to struggle, fail, and ultimately succeed in the introductory financial accounting course.

The quizzes had positive effects on students’ confidence in the course and the interactive nature of some quiz formats also increases students’ ability to work collaboratively with others in the class. This helps improve class participation overall.

Presents use of quizzes as a learning tool rather than just an assessment tool, and provides suggestions for type of quiz formats that increase students’ perceived confidence.

Explore the use of simulation within managerial accounting principles courses to enhance business integration learning. Course pedagogy and content changes are examined as an alternative approach to traditional lecture. Specific outcome goals include critical thinking, engagement, and communication skills development.

Literature review, stakeholder feedback, assessment examination results.

Stakeholder feedback suggests increased student motivation and engagement can occur with simulation use. A positive impact on student learning is possible where a real-world, competitive decision-making scenario is provided in conjunction with enthusiastic instructor guidance. Further, standardized examinations are available as a means to evaluate assurance of learning goals and continuous improvement models related to assessment.

Highlights the development of quantitative and qualitative decision-making skills.

Students are better prepared for business study through development of decision-making, critical thinking, teamwork, and communication skills.

The use of simulation represents a powerful tool for study of the interdisciplinary nature of business. Instructors may find the feedback herein beneficial as they consider pedagogy alternatives for their managerial accounting principles courses.

Examine hiring preferences of nonpublic accounting professionals when selecting candidates with online versus traditional face-to-face (FTF) accounting degrees.

Surveys.

Consistent with Kohlmeyer, Seese, and Sincich (2011), this study revealed that accounting professionals, in general, indicated a strong preference to hire students with a FTF accounting degree as compared to a candidate with an online (OL) accounting degree. However, there were two significant departures from the results of Kohlmeyer et al. (2011). AACSB accreditation did help mitigate the respondents’ reluctance to hire students with OL degrees. In addition, nonpublic accounting professionals were neutral as to whether they would hire someone with an online accounting degree in the next three years. Public accounting professionals opposed hiring someone with an online accounting degree in the next three years (Kohlmeyer et al., 2011).

Online programs are going to have to be more proactive in persuading accounting professionals that an online and FTF accounting degree are equally desirable for hiring purposes.

Students need to be aware of accounting professionals’ hiring concerns in regard to candidates with online accounting degrees.

Little research has examined the hiring preferences of accounting professionals in selecting candidates with either an online or FTF accounting degree.

Despite the fact that learning the mechanics or the knowledge of how to prepare the Statement of Cash Flows (SCF) is not highly complex, students continually struggle. This paper summarizes the history along with the importance and value-relevance of the SCF in practice to better inform the classroom.

Specifically, I examine pedagogies, tools, and delivery methods from previous studies and suggest areas for future education-based research studies.

The use of the SCF in practice has persisted over centuries. I explore methods of incorporating the SCF into the classroom, including the implications of McNellis (2015) and Frischmann, Pumphrey, and Santhanakrishnan (2015). I also examine the use of technology in the classroom and online delivery.

Academics and administrators should find this paper helpful as it provides a summary of examples for the classroom, which could lead to continuous curriculum improvement. For many universities, maintenance of program accreditation mandates assessing learning and, therefore, continuous curriculum improvement.

Anecdotal evidence indicates that one of the more difficult issues faced by accounting students is the understanding and preparation of the statement of cash flows (SCF). This study investigates the impact of different instruction methods for covering the statement on student learning outcomes. Currently, two prominent intermediate-level financial accounting texts cover the SCF primarily in one end-of-text chapter, a massed presentation. The current study argues that the SCF is a topic that is cross-sectional in nature, and is applicable to the textbook material on the accounting transactions that are spread throughout the texts. In accordance with the spacing effect (Dempster, 1988), instruction of SCF material across the major recognition and measurement topic chapters, a spaced presentation format, potentially yields enhanced learning outcomes in comparison to the massed presentation.

Across three semesters of an intermediate-level financial accounting course, the SCF delivery format and coverage were varied in a 1 × 3 between-subjects experiment. The subjects completed an indirect-method SCF preparation task, which I analyzed across the three conditions.

Students learning the SCF presentation of intermediate-level transactions in a spaced presentation earned higher scores on the task compared to those learning the material in a massed format. Furthermore, the students exposed to the massed presentation performed no better than those not instructed on the material.

I base my findings on the results of one assessment of the SCF in one course. Future research should consider various tasks related to the SCF at different course levels and across a variety of instructional techniques.

The results imply that changes to the delivery of SCF material could potentially produce benefits to student learning.

This instructional tool enhances coverage of statement of cash flows topics in graduate or upper division undergraduate accounting and finance courses.

We review one of the complexities of preparing the statement of cash flows. The exercise may include a discussion of the mechanics of preparation of the statement of cash flows using the indirect method. This discussion might include rationales behind operating section adjustments and highlight the pitfalls of using these adjustments without understanding their reasons. Preparation of a statement of cash flows may be followed by introducing the concept of nonarticulation and how it can cause the information presented in the statement to be misleading. To further understanding, the instructor may introduce the reconciliation worksheet provided. Finally, a current public company example, also provided, highlights the magnitude of nonarticulation in practice.

Students learn the complexities related to the preparation of the statement of cash flows. They are introduced to the concept of nonarticulation using an example of public company financial statements. Student feedback suggests appreciation for developing a deeper understanding of the statement of cash flows, learning why they are unable to replicate disclosed operating cash flow from balance sheets of publicly traded companies.