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Teaching Note

Enhancing the Teaching of Management Accounting Through the Use of Innovative Assignment Design. Erwin Waldmann* Abstract This paper describes a computer program that was developed by an educational software firm for use by accounting educators. The author received a beta version of the software for evaluation and research purposes. The program generates individual management accounting assignments for students enrolled in an accounting degree. The program also generates solutions to each unique assignment. This assists tutors in their marking and provides students with detailed feedback. The assignment generator was designed to help overcome various educational problems associated with plagiarism. This paper discusses related issues of ethics, equity, motivation and cooperative learning. The effectiveness of the program was evaluated after implementation. Student performance on individual and traditional accounting assignments was compared. The findings indicated that academic misconduct and its related consequences was significantly diminished without increasing administrative or marking costs. An associated aim of the project was to show the feasibility of this approach to accounting educators who possess reasonable programming skills. Keywords Management Accounting Teaching Assignment Design Assignment Generator *University of South Australia

Introduction There has been a very large increase in enrolments in Management Accounting due to the popularity of Accounting Qualifications generally and also due to the heavy demand from overseas students. This has been the case for both University and TAFE qualifications. A suitable assignment for management accounting would be the preparation of a comprehensive budget for a manufacturing entity. An assignment of this nature allows for the assessment of important areas such as accounting and business knowledge, problem-solving skills and critical-thinking abilities (Dowling et al., 2003; Utts et al., 2004). If the assignment is suitably designed other important areas identified by Herring and Izard (1992) such as interpersonal skills, ethical behaviour and independence can be incorporated. This type of assignment usually constitutes an important part of a student’s assessment and helps to ensure that the total collegiate experience has been a valuable one (Tang and Byrne, 2007; DeMong et al. 1994). Most business Faculties will have large student numbers in a Management Accounting course. Due to cost and administrative constraints, students usually receive only one common set of transactions when asked to prepare accounting reports for a firm, be it Budgets or some other area of Management Accounting. Unfortunately, because of the nature of non ambiguous accounting processing tasks, this will result in the same correct answer for all assignments. This makes it very difficult to ensure that work handed in has been done by the student in question. It therefore encourages cheating which is seen as a widespread problem by educators and students alike (Apostolou et al., 2001; Maslen, 1993) and detracts from the value of assignments as a valid assessment tool. Furthermore if the assignments given to students can be easily copied, then this form of assessment will be diminished in the eyes of the student body and the academic staff (Peterson and Reider, 2002; Haines, 1986;

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Connor, 1985). Easily copied assignments also discriminate against honest students who will find themselves at a disadvantage regarding grades (Watson et al., 2007). Educators have commented on academic misconduct in courses leading to employment fields requiring high levels of competence and personal integrity (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, 2002; Ferrel 1993; Todd-Mancillas, 1987). Accountants play a very important role in ensuring the integrity of our financial system, consequently it is important that ethical behaviour be encouraged in accounting courses by ensuring that opportunities for misconduct are minimised. This has been highlighted by research that has established a likely deficiency in ethical development for those entering and remaining in the accounting profession (Mautz, 1975; Blank, 1986; Armstrong, 1987; Ponemon, 1988). The Bedford Committee (1986) recommended that “accounting education must not only emphasise the needed skills and knowledge, it must also install the ethical standards and the commitment of a professional”. Significantly Ponemon, (1988) concluded that these deficiencies may be the result of characteristics within the accounting curriculum that inhibit an individual’s ethical beliefs during their education. The setting of assessment tasks that are easily abused for assessment purposes should be viewed in the light of Ponemon’s findings. One of the positive aspects of assignments is that they enable students to learn cooperatively (Cockrell et al., 2000). The value of cooperative learning has been commented upon by numerous researchers. In a review of the educational research literature McKeachie, et. al. (1986, p.63) conclude that the best answer to the question, “What is the most effective method of teaching?” is that it depends on the goal, the student, the content, and the teacher. But the next best answer is, “Students teaching other students.” Educational practitioners have reported that cooperative learning resulted in high academic achievement; provided a vehicle for students to learn from one another and enhanced academic achievement and social competence (Kagan, 1989). These positive aspects are particularly relevant for subjects like

accounting where cooperative learning can be extremely effective (Cottell and Millis, 1993). Innovative Individual accounting assignments will allow for this interaction without necessarily compromising the value of individual output. This fulfils the two key features of cooperative learning as described by Cooper (1990) namely “student-student interdependence and individual accountability”. The problem of accountability and the fact that group grades are distasteful to many students has led many faculties to use group work sparingly (Cooper, 1990). Individual assignments have the potential for achieving the benefits of cooperative learning without compromising on individual assessment. The purpose of this article is to report on an approach designed to alleviate some of the problems that have been discussed. This paper describes a computer program that was developed to generate individual assignments and solutions. The effectiveness of the computerised assignment generator was assessed by monitoring the implementation of this approach. This monitoring was both qualitative and quantitative. Although a number of important issues were raised in the introduction, this paper is confined to investigating the effectiveness of individual assignments as a means of reducing plagiarism and as a result some of the negative educational and ethical factors related to it. The organisational and cost factors associated with individual assignments were also examined. Assignment Generator Overview The computerised assignment generator was developed specifically for accounting and has its own icons, help screens and pull down menus. Assignments generated can cover a range of different businesses, depending on the format used. Each assignment will have a unique set of transaction types, transaction amounts and dates. The program numbers each assignment for identification purposes. Due to the complexity and length of a major accounting assignment it would be impractical to request tutors to compute a solution manually for each unique assignment, which is a major reason why individual assignments are

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seldom used. The assignment generator automatically computes the answers to each individual assignment at the same time that the list of transactions is prepared. A separate solutions file is saved on disk as a stand alone database program. Tutors can key in the unique assignment identification number that they wish to correct. The program will then print out the solution for that assignment or allow for it to be viewed on screen. If desired the program can generate assignments for three different classes of business. Each student will get a unique set of transactions and projections irrespective of what business is involved. Method The effectiveness of the assignment generator was assessed by monitoring the implementation of the program. This monitoring was both qualitative and quantitative and involved: • Comparison of student grades on

traditional and individual assignments. • Interviewing tutors and lecturers to

evaluate the marking, administration and educational value of individual assignments.

Students studying the course that was evaluated were required to undertake two separate assignments as part of their assessment. The first assignment was done early in the semester. It was a traditional type of assignment where all students received the same question containing identical data. The second assignment which was done towards the end of the semester however this assignment was an individual assignment prepared with the assignment generator. There were 115 students enrolled in this course who completed both assignments. Both traditional and unique assignments were marked by the same group of academics. The null hypothesis was “There will be no difference between the distribution of scores on the traditional assignment and the scores on the computer-generated assignments”.

To test the null hypothesis a comparison was made of means and standard deviations on marks obtained by students on the two assignment types using a paired samples t-test. The significance level for rejection of the null hypotheses was set at p < .001 There were six tutors and lecturers who participated in this project. Because of the small number of subjects (academics) involved, the results of this survey can only be seen as tentative. For the same reason no statistical analysis of responses by these tutors was attempted. The following questions were given to tutors involved in marking to evaluate the effectiveness of individual assignments compared to the traditional assignment approach. Tutors were encouraged to give reasons for their responses. 1. Was the marking and administration of

individual assignments using the computerised solutions module any more time consuming than traditional assignments?

2. Are you satisfied with the administrative and control procedures implemented with individual assignments?

3. Do you think that individual assignments enhance the learning process?

4. Do you think that individual assignments give a more valid measure of student knowledge?

Results Students’ results on their traditional and individual assignments were compared using a paired sample t-test (Table 1). The mean score for the traditional assignment was 9 out of a possible 10 marks. Individual assignments on the other hand had a mean score 15.8 out of a possible 20 marks. A significant difference between the scores was found as reflected by the t-value of 29, df 114, with p < .001. The null hypothesis was therefore rejected. Academic staff involved in the project were interviewed and responses elicited to the four questions mentioned previously. A summary of these responses is shown below:

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Table 1: Paired Samples T-tests for Traditional and Individual Assignments

Was the marking and administration of individual assignments using the computerised solutions module any more time consuming than traditional assignments? It was discovered that the time taken to mark individual assignments using the solutions module was not significantly different to a traditional accounting assignment. The time to extract solutions from the database was approximately five seconds per assignment. None of the academics interviewed experienced any increase in time spent on administrative matters. Are you satisfied with the administrative and control procedures implemented with individual assignments?

Although tutors were satisfied with control procedures overall, a number of problems were mentioned. These related to the validity of the transaction sheet students were required to attach to their completed assignments. One tutor found that two transaction sheets were identical which implied that one had been photocopied. It was suggested that this could be remedied by printing transaction sheets on special coloured or watermarked paper. Do you think that individual assignments enhance the learning process? All academics involved in the project felt that individual assignments enhanced the learning process. Various reasons were given for this opinion, however, most involved the fact that students were spared the temptation of direct copying ensuring that the assignment fulfilled its task as a revision exercise. Other comments

included increased motivation for students since good grades would be seen as more valid by students and tutors; greater competition and increased interest in an innovative form of assessment. Tutors noticed that individual assignments did not prevent students from learning cooperatively. Do you think that individual assignments give a more valid measure of student knowledge? All academics were of the opinion that individual assignments were a more valid measure of a students’ accounting knowledge. The fact that marks for the individual assignments were lower and the distribution more spread out was cited as confirmation of this opinion. Discussion and Conclusion This report described how an accounting assignment generator was used as a computational tool for generating unique management accounting assignments in an attempt to alleviate the various educational problems associated with traditional assignments using identical data. These problems included assessment, equity, ethics and professional development. Organisational and cost considerations were also investigated. Although a number of important issues were raised in the introduction, this paper was confined to investigating the effectiveness of individual assignments as a means of reducing plagiarism and as a result some of the negative educational and ethical factors associated with it. Although individual assignments do not prevent a student from having their assignment

Variable No of pairs Corr 2 tailed Sig mean SD SE of MeanTraditional 9.06 .976 .091 115 .43 .000 Individual 15.87 2.71 .253

Paired Differences

Mean SD SE of Mean t-value df 2 tail Sig

-6.82 2.46 .22 -29.73 114 .000

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done by somebody else, the amount of work involved would make this unlikely. An examination of results using a paired sample t-test showed a significant difference (p < .001) between the scores gained on traditional and individual assignments with individual assignments showing lower mean scores. The findings showed that the mean scores on the individual assignments were less than traditional assignments and distribution of grades was flatter. This supports the contention that the lower mean scores in the second computer generated assignment were the result of a decrease in plagiarism although it could be argued that this difference was due to the second assignment being more difficult, the author contends that this is unlikely since a serious attempt was made to give assignments that were equal in difficulty. The other observation was that the distribution of scores in the individual assignments was significantly flatter as measured by their standard deviation. The performance of the computerised system was further assessed by questioning markers on the time taken to mark and process assignments. The rate of evaluation was the same as with common transaction assignments done in previous years (ie., four assignments per hour). This was expected since each individual assignment had its own solution. The time taken to extract each solution from the database was insignificant. Consequently it is concluded that it is possible to introduce computer generated unique assignments without significantly increasing costs. Tutors were instructed to attach the solution to the marked assignment for return to students together with the normal comments that are added to a student’s work. This part of the exercise proved very successful overall though one case of photocopying a transaction sheet was discovered. There were no complaints from tutors regarding the system and all papers were processed as directed. A number of improvements to administrative and control procedures were suggested. These included printing transaction sheets on special paper to prevent photocopying and carefully checking the integrity of each transaction sheet returned. To improve control it was suggested that solutions modules be distributed to markers only after the closing date for assignment submission. Other than the attempt at

photocopying transaction sheets the project appeared free of the usual plagiarism problems. All academics involved in the project felt that individual assignments enhanced the learning process. A common reason put forward for this attitude was the likelihood that most, if not all work, was done by the student in question. Tutors noticed that individual assignments did not prevent students from learning cooperatively which is seen as an important part of the learning experience. Feedback that tutors received from students also suggested that individual assignments motivated students to perform at a higher level. Further research needs to be carried out on the attitude of students towards individual and traditional assignments. In particular the validity of assessment, ethical values, motivation and cooperative learning. References American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, (2002), Code of Professional Conduct, AICPA, New York, NY. Apostolou, B. A. Watson, S.F. Hassell, J.M. and Webber S.A.(2001) Accounting Education Literature Review (1997–1999), Journal of Accounting Education 19 (1), pp. 1–61. Armstrong, M. B. (1987), “Moral Development and Accounting Education,” Journal of Accounting Education, 5(1): pp.27-43. Blank, M. (1986), “Socialisation and Public Accounting Firms” (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Pennsylvania State University, Ohio. Cockrell, K.S., Caplow, J.A.H., and Donaldson, J.F. (2000). “A Context for Learning: Collaborative Groups in the Problem-Based Learning Environment”. The Review of Higher Education, 23(3): pp. 347-363. Connor, J. J. (1985), “Submissions in the Technical Writing Course: Towards Ensuring Their Originality”, English Quarterly, 18(2): pp. 53-56.

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Cooper, J. L. (1990), “Cooperative Learning and College Teaching: Tips from the Trenches”, The Teaching Professor, 5(4): pp. 1-2. Cottell, Jr., P. G., and Millis, B. J. (1993), “Cooperative Learning Structures in the Instruction of Accounting” Issues in Accounting Education, Spring, 8(1): pp. 168-195. DeMong, R. F., Lindgren, Jr., J. H., and. Perry S. E (1994), “Designing an Assessment Program for Accounting” , Issues in Accounting Education, Spring , 9(1): pp. 13-21. Dowling,C., Godfrey, J. M. and Gyles, N. (2003) “ Do Hybrid Flexible Delivery Teaching Methods Improve Accounting Students’ Learning Outcomes?”, Accounting Education 4 (December): pp. 373–391. Ferrell, C. M., and Ferguson, W. F. (1993), Assessing Graduate Education Students' Propensity toward Academic Misconduct, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, April 12-16, Atlanta, GA. Herring, H. C., III, and Izard, C. D. (1992), “Outcomes Assessment of Accounting Majors” Issues in Accounting Education, Spring, 7(1): pp. 1-17. Haines, V. J. (1986), “College Cheating: Immaturity, Lack of Commitment and the Neutralizing Attitude”, Research and Higher Education, 25(4): pp. 342-54. Kagan, S. 1989. Cooperative Learning Resources for Teachers. Resources for Teachers, San Capistrano, CA. McKeachie, W. J., Pintrich, P. R., Lin, Y., and Smith, D. A. (1986), Teaching and Learning in the College Classroom: A Review of the Research Literature, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. Maslen, G. (1993), “Plague of Plagiarism”, Campus Review, 3(8): pp. 12-17. Mautz, R. K. (1975), “The Case for Professional Education in Accounting,”

Schools of Accountancy: A Look at the Issues, AICPA, New York: pp. 23-35. Peterson, B.K. and Reider, B.P. (2002) “Perceptions of Computer-Based Testing: A Focus on the CFM Examination”, Journal of Accounting Education 20 (4): pp. 265–284. Ponemon, L.(1988), “A Cognitive-Developmental Approach to the Analysis of Certified Public Accountant’s Ethical Judgments” (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Union College of Union University). Tang, M., and Byrne, R.,(2007) “ Regular Versus Online Versus Blended: A Qualitative Description of the Advantages of the Electronic Modes and a Quantitative Evaluation”, International Journal on E-Learning 6 (2), pp. 257–266. Todd-Mancillas, W. R. (1987). “Academic Dishonesty among Communication Students and Professionals: Some Consequences and What Might Be Done About Them”, Paper presented at the 73rd Annual Meeting of the Speech Communication Association, November 5-8, Boston, MA. Utts, J., Sommer B., Acredolo, C., Maher, M. W. and Matthews, H. R. (2004). A Study Comparing Traditional and Hybrid Internet-Based Instruction in Introductory Statistics Classes. Journal of Statistics Education, 11(3): http://www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v11n3/utts.html Watson, S.F., Apostolou, B.A., Hassell, J.M. and Webber, S.A. (2007)”Accounting Education Literature Review (2003–2005)”, Journal of Accounting Education, 25 (1): pp. 1–58.

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