Trevor Hassall

Quality in higher education: from monitoring to management

Concepts of accountable management in the public sector have ensured that issues relating to performance measurement have been high on the agenda of higher education institutions. Several quality initiatives are happening at the same time as universities are faced with diminishing financial support from public sources of finance. It has been suggested that higher education should look to private sector models of performance measurement in order to address important quality issues. In taking such models, the paper argues the importance of recognising that key performance indicators on their own can be dysfunctional unless they are grounded within the culture of a strategy‐focussed organisation. The paper then proposes the use of a balanced scorecard approach in order to reinforce the importance of managing rather than just monitoring performance. A balanced scorecard for a faculty of business and management is developed in order to illustrate the points being made.

Priorities for the development of vocational skills in management accountants: A European perspective

Abstract In recent years there have been many calls for a re-orientation of accounting education in order to include the development of competencies such as communication, group working, and problem solving skills. However, concern has been expressed that the proposed changes are possibly biased towards the interests of public accounting employers. This paper presents and compares the opinions of the employers of management accountants in Spain and the UK, and then by using a weighted importance indicator determines vocational skills development priorities. The factors that the Spanish and UK employers identified as major constraints to the development of vocational skills are also compared.

Teaching and learning using case studies: a teaching note

This paper reviews the use of the case method as a teaching and learning vehicle. It centres on a module that aims to develop learning by the use of the case method. It examines the rationale for the development of the module and the subsequent decision to use the case method. Also identified in the paper are issues concerned with module operation and assessment. Finally, an attempt is made to evaluate the module based on a student experience perspective.

Cooperative learning : a literature guide

Many accounting academics have expressed interest in the possibility of including cooperative learning in their courses. The purpose of this guide is to introduce interested readers to cooperative learning literature. This guide is intended to provide an introduction for accounting educators interested in applying and/or researching cooperative learning techniques. We start this guide by providing a definition of cooperative learning. We then review the underlying theories supporting the use of cooperative learning. An annotated bibliography of some of the major articles dealing with cooperative learning are presented in the final section.

Approaches to learning of management accounting students

Explores whether professional management accounting students adopt deep or surface Approaches to Learning. Using methodologies developed for research into higher education, suggests a model that focuses on students’ approaches to learning. It is important to stress that the concern of the model is with students’ perceptions, because it is these perceptions that will decide how the students approach their learning. The model is explored by using an Approaches to Studying Inventory questionnaire. Previous research in this area has largely been in the area of higher education. This empirical study is based on the students of a professional accounting body. The findings are presented in total and are then further analysed by gender, domicile and study method.

Communication apprehension in UK and Spanish business and accounting students

Distinguishes between communication apprehension (CA), the fear of actually communicating, and communication development, the ability to maintain and improve performance as a communicator. Indicates that CA needs to be addressed before progress can be made in developing the communication skills of graduates to which employers attach considerable importance. Reports the results of a study comparing levels of CA amongst business and accounting students in the UK and Spain, which confirm the high levels of CA found in North American students but also indicate differences which may be due to cultural and other factors. Considers implications of findings for curriculum design and staff development.

The vocational skills gap for management accountants: the stakeholders' perspectives

Previous research into the views of employers of accountants has identified the need to develop a broad range of wider vocational skills. This paper identifies the relative importance of a specified range of vocational skills needed for a chartered management accountant to discharge his/her duties. Views are sought from the employers of management accountants and from management accounting students who are currently in the process of qualifying. By analysing the relative importance of the skills and the level of skills actually exhibited, this study prioritizes areas for development and training. The findings of this study confirm that employers and students recognize that it is important for accountants to develop a range of vocational skills. There is broad agreement between the employers and the students on the areas to prioritize. However, there are differences in the specific priorities. The employers and students also agree that the development of vocational skills should be integrated into the accounting curriculum.

Using case studies in accounting education

The debates surrounding the development of accounting education continue to focus on the ubiquitous view that accounting practice and the role of the professional is changing but accounting education is not reflecting this change (Patten andWilliams, 1990; Albrecht and Sack, 2000). TheAECC Position Statement No.1 (AECC 1990) was instrumental in summarizing the vision of the desired professional profile of future accountants. This statement, in conjunction with the Bedford Report, the White Paper and the AICPA statements, formed a solid basis for a large number of curricular innovations and research studies. The Bedford Report (AAA, 1986) concluded that accounting courses should ‘aim to develop the students’ capacities for analysis, synthesis, problem solving and communication.’ Of particular concern was the misleading way in which accounting problems are presented to students as being well-structured and well-defined (Sterling, 1980; Mayer-Sommer, 1990). A comment in the Bedford Report drew attention to the influence of accounting regulation on teaching styles: ‘the current pedagogy also emphasizes problems with specific solutions rather than cases with alternative solutions.’ As part of the calls for change in accounting education, prescriptions emerged for educators to move to case-based methods, seminars, role-plays, and simulations for actively involving students in the learning process (AAA, 1986; AECC, 1990; IFAC, 1996; Adler and Milne, 1997a; Hassall et al., 1998a). And similar calls have come from educationalists more generally who were concerned that undergraduate education was overemphasizing the technical capacities of students’ knowledge to the detriment of more generic ‘life-long’ skills and attitudes (e.g., Biggs, 1989; Gibbs, 1992; Ramsden, 1992; Candy et al., 1994). Accounting academics indicate that the analysis of case studies, linked to oral and written assessments, was the preferred pedagogical approach to promote synthesis and evaluation of content and to develop professional skills in higher level courses (Ainsworth and Plumlee,1993; Hassall et al., 1998b). In response to the calls for change, case studies are now being increasingly used in the teaching of accounting in higher education and they have also been added to the examination structure of many accountancy professional bodies. In putting together this collection of papers from accounting educators, we did not and do not necessarily intend by ‘case study’ some long or even short pre-existing (as in published) description of an organizational and/or accounting situation/problem. To us, case studies are not determined by their material content, but rather by what students do with them, and what they do to students’ learning and their pre-existing conceptions. Case study material by itself, for example, does little to define the nature of the learning task. If used in a situation where the instructor entirely dominates the problem definition, analysis, solution set and recommendation phases, as for example in a lecture demonstration of how to do a case study, then the learning situation is relatively inactive and, we would argue, the students’ learning the poorer for it. If, on the other hand, the learners are given or even have to find the case study material and then have a class session in which to present and discuss the material with their peers, then the situation is considerably more active (see Barrows, 1986 and Milne and McConnell, 2001 for discussion on a variety of ‘case-methods’). What makes a ‘case study’, then, is more governed by what it does, and who does the doing, than what it is and, as can be seen from the collection of papers in this issue, they can range from field investigations conducted by students to extremely short, but thought-provoking folk stories. Accounting Education 13 (2), 135–138 (June 2004)

Accounting Students and Communication Apprehension: A Study of Spanish and UK Students

ABSTRACT Accounting is about measuring and communicating. Accounting bodies and employers have expressed opinions, which have been supported by research results, advocating that greater emphasis is placed on the development of communication skills throughout the education and training of accountants. Consequently, an increasing number of accounting programmes now include communication skills as educational objectives or learning outcomes, and have integrated activities into the curriculum specifically to develop these skills. It is important to recognise that certain factors can severely restrict the development of communication skills; a major factor is communication apprehension. Research suggests that the existence of high levels of communication apprehension will make efforts to improve communication skills ineffective. Previous research findings indicate that accounting students have high levels of communication apprehension. This paper compares and contrasts the levels and profiles of communication apprehension exhibited by accounting students at the (UK University) and those at the (ESP University). The levels of communication apprehension are also compared with those of students from other disciplines at the same institutions. The results confirm the high levels of communication apprehension in European accounting students. There are notable differences between the two countries however in certain underlying factors.

Motivations, expectations and preparedness for higher education: a study of accounting students in Ireland, the UK, Spain and Greece

Abstract This paper compares the motives, expectations and preparedness of a sample of students commencing the study of accounting in higher education in four European countries. The findings reveal that whilst all students are motivated to progress to higher education for career-oriented reasons and to seek intellectual growth, considerable variation is observed between the students in the four settings with regard to motives, confidence and perceptions of preparedness for higher education. The implications of these findings, both in the context of the alignment objectives of the Bologna process and the ongoing accounting education change debate, are considered.