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

Abstract

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 difficulties encountered when attempting to use computers and learn accounting 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 towards 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 attitudes 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 or temporary phenomenon. The improvement in ability is observed, but this did not have the expected effect.

Pesquisas experimentais aplicadas à educação contábil: panorama atual e oportunidades no cenário brasileiro

“…Enquanto estudos mais antigos reportam resultados referentes ao uso de novas tecnologias para a realização de tarefas, como é o caso dos estudos que verificaram o uso de computadores e planilhas próximo do seu surgimento (Marriott, 1992;Marriott & Mellett, 1994;McInnes, Pyper, Van Der Meer & Wilson 1995), estudos posteriores analisam o uso de tecnologias que se popularizaram para apresentação de conteúdo. Especificamente no uso do PowerPoint, os aspectos positivos são de que os estudantes melhoraram sua atitude em relação ao professor que usa tal mídia e o consideram mais eficiente e eficaz quando fornece as anotações; mas efeitos do uso da mídia na memória e do fornecimento das anotações no desempenho em provas não foram confirmados (Nouri & Shahid, 2005;.…”

Addressing the AICPA core competencies through the usage of the monopoly™ board game

“…Prior research supported the usage of spreadsheet applications in financial accounting courses. In their study of using spreadsheet application in an intermediate accounting course, Marriott and Mellett (1994) reported that “compared with manual methods […]. the spreadsheet provides increased computation accuracy” and elevates students’ competitiveness in the job market (p. 297).…”

The impact of a computerised consolidation accounting package (CCAP) on student performance

“…In terms of student performance, the findings from such studies have yielded mixed results (Lane and Porch, 2002). Early research on student performance has reported either: ambiguous results, indifferent performance or even a decline in performance (McInnes et al, 1995;Marriott and Mellett, 1994;Sangster, 1992). However, a higher proportion of more recent studies are indicating an improvement in students' performance as a result of using computer-assisted applications (Potter and Johnston, 2006;Davidson, 2002;Fetters et al, 1986;Friedman, 1981;Groomer, 1981;Perera and Richardson, 2010).…”