Curricula in introductory accounting: The ‘old’ and the ‘new’
Chrisann Lee & Jayne E. Bisman
Working Paper 20/06
December 2006
About the Authors
Ms Chrisann Lee, Associate Lecturer, School of Accounting C2-1, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst NSW 2795 Australia
Dr Jayne Bisman, Associate Professor, School of Accounting C2-1, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst NSW 2795 Australia
Charles Sturt University – Faculty of Business Working Paper Series
Managing Editor: Associate Professor Jayne Bisman, School of Accounting, Bathurst
Editors: Dr P. Mathews, School of Commerce, Wagga Wagga
Associate Professor M. O'Mullane, School of Business, Albury
Dr R. Tierney, School of Marketing and Management, Bathurst
The Faculty of Business Working Paper Series is intended to provide staff and students with a means of communicating new and evolving ideas in order to encourage academic debate. Working papers, as the title suggests, should not necessarily be taken as completed works or final expressions of opinion. All working papers are subject to review prior to publication by one or more editors or referees familiar with the discipline area. Normally, working papers may be freely quoted and/or reproduced provided proper reference to the author and source is given. When a working paper is published on a restricted basis, notice of such restriction will appear on this page.
Table of Contents
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Accounting education at the ‘crossroads’
- Research method
- Results
- Findings and conclusion
- References
- Appendix
Abstract
Coupled with significant debate over the last several decades about the state of accounting education, introductory subjects in accounting have also been the target of considerable criticism. In particular, the narrow content and technical focus of such subjects has come under attack, as has the quality of the student learning experience, given the influence that this experience may have on students’ perceptions of accounting and their subsequent choice of major and career. In this paper we examine a number of these issues and build a profile of the current curriculum of introductory accounting subjects based on a review of subject outlines and textbooks and a cross-sectional survey of the objectives, content, and teaching delivery strategies of these subjects in Australian universities (n=21). The research is particularly germane given the current climate of university reform where distinctions can be made not only on the basis of notions concerning ‘old’ (or traditional) and ‘new’ curricula and teaching methods, but also between ‘old’ and ‘new’ universities and those which service metropolitan or regional areas. There was a twofold purpose to the research, being: (1) to provide a benchmark against which universities can compare their own curricula, and which may also provide useful information to professional bodies, and (2) to assess if there are apparent differences in the way particular groups of universities have designed and delivered the initial subject in accounting. The results indicate that curriculum and teaching and learning strategies across ‘new’ and ‘old’ universities, and regional and metropolitan universities, are generally comparable.