Introductory Financial Accounting Research Articles

Impact of Video Lectures on Students’ Performance and Analysis of Viewer Demographics in Online Courses

ABSTRACT The objectives of this study were to validate the effectiveness of using instructional videos in online introductory accounting courses and to examine how specific student characteristics relate to online video-viewing behavior. Data were collected from ten online course sections of introductory financial accounting taught by two different instructors in the fall 2021 and spring 2022 semesters (n = 240). Students were instructed, but not required, to watch faculty-recorded instructional videos before completing the homework assignments and assessments for each topic. Students’ percentage of course videos viewed and final course grades were analyzed. The relationships between students’ video-viewing behavior and the student characteristics of gender, program major, age, degree level, ethnicity, and GPA, were also analyzed. The findings clearly show that viewing faculty-recorded instructional videos significantly impacts actual student performance. Students’ age and the percentage of videos viewed are weakly but positively correlated, whereas students’ GPAs and the percentage of videos viewed are significantly correlated. The final contribution is a predictive multivariable model that can predict student outcomes based on the significant predictors of GPA and the percentage of videos viewed. This paper contributes empirical data about using faculty-recorded videos in asynchronous, online accounting courses.

Does Student Engagement Impact Learning Differently in Face-to-Face and Virtual Accounting Classes?

ABSTRACT This paper investigates how student engagement impacts learning in face-to-face and virtual classes. Our setting is an introductory financial accounting course taught by three instructors face-to-face in fall 2019 and virtually in fall 2021. Our proxy for student engagement is the accuracy of responses to in-class group polling questions. We measure learning using final exam scores. We hypothesize and find that higher levels of student engagement resulted in better scores on the final exam in both the face-to-face and virtual classes but that over the course of the semester engagement declined faster in the virtual classes than in the face-to-face classes. We also find that the decline in engagement contributed to lower final exam scores in the virtual classes relative to the face-to-face classes. Taken together, these findings highlight some of the challenges faced by educators when delivering content virtually. Data Availability: Data are available from the authors upon request.

ChatGPT and academia on accounting assessments

ChatGPT is considered a risk and an opportunity for academia. An area of threat in contemporary settings is whether it can become a student agent for assessments in academia. This study determines how ChatGPT can become a human agent for students on two financial accounting course units, multiple choice question assessments. The study provided five numerical-based and five narrative-based multiple choice questions. There were ten questions for the Introductory Financial Accounting and 10 for the Advanced Financial Accounting course units. ChatGPT received one question at a time requesting a solution. In the Introductory Financial Accounting section, ChatGPT produced incorrect answers because it incorrectly assumed the underlying assumptions contained in those questions. In Advanced Financial Accounting, ChatGPT presented incorrect answers because of the complexity of the task contained in those questions. ChatGPT demonstrated similar competencies in providing solutions to numerical-based and narrative-based questions. ChatGPT obtained the correct answers to sit in the 80th percentile in the Introductory Financial Accounting course unit assessment and the 50th percentile in the Advanced Financial course unit assessment. ChatGPT4 showed improved performance, with the 90th percentile for Introductory Financial Accounting and the 70th percentile for Advanced Financial Accounting. The findings indicate that the knowledge construct requires reflective thinking with ChatGPT in the ecosystem, and what is assumed and assessable knowledge must be revisited.

Bread Crumbs to Financial Statement Analysis: Writing Assignments to Enhance Students’ Interpretation

Introductory financial accounting and financial management texts focus on the construction of financial statements andthe calculation of financial ratios with less attention to the interpretation of and connections among the ratios, except for briefpresentations of DuPont Analysis. Seeking to enhance student understanding of financial ratios and to provide them opportunitiesto write and think critically outside class, I created six assignments that lead students through simple questions and explanationsto analytical conclusions. Assignments are spaced throughout the semester to include related topics. For example, the leverageassignment is due after we cover bonds and risk and includes credit ratings and beta. In the first assignment, each studentchooses a firm and writes an introduction to the firm to provide context for later analysis. The second assignment directs themto Morningstar for common-sized statements and asks them to respond to questions related to their firms’ financing, investmentsand expenses. The third through sixth assignments use firm and industry data from Reuters and focus on financial ratios: leverageand coverage, liquidity and turnover, profitability, and market value. The assignments model an approach to critical thinkingthat progresses from data description and comparison through analysis and synthesis to evaluation.

Breaking Down the Silos Between the Introductory Financial Accounting and Corporate Finance Courses

In this paper, we provide a broad overview of the topics that are taught in undergraduate financial accounting and corporate finance classes. We document the overlaps in these introductory courses and describe the similarities and differences in how topics are taught in both disciplines. We then discuss, topic-by-topic, how instructors can reinforce the connections between the two fields in the classroom for more effective teaching and deeper learning. Our paper will help instructors to reinforce the connections between the two disciplines in the classroom for more effective teaching and deeper learning. It also provides the first step towards building effective teaching materials for accounting and finance courses for successful integration.

Improving introductory financial accounting learning and retention through course redesign

This paper reports the results of a course redesign project for introductory financial accounting taught predominately to non-accounting majors. The objectives were to improve student learning and student retention. Student learning was measured with an assurance of learning (AOL) instrument. Retention was measured by the DFWI rate, composed of the grades of D, F, W (withdrawal) or I (incomplete). Thus, we measured the impact that the course redesign had on mean AOL scores and on mean DFWI rates. The first step in the redesign was to reduce the detailed course content. This created time for pedagogical changes in the second step. Metacognitive and active learning activities were added to foster student learning. Results indicated that the content reduction alone did not significantly impact AOL scores or DFWI rates. The pedagogical changes significantly improved AOL scores, and the combination of the content reduction and pedagogy changes decreased DFWI rates. It is hoped that the positive results will serve to inform other such course improvement efforts.

Brittney’s Boutique: Tailoring financial statements for function as well as fashion

This note slightly modifies and adapts a managerial accounting case, Brittney’s Boutique: Tailoring a budget for function as well as fashion (Stuebs, M., Bryant, S., Edison, C., & Reese, K. (2017). Brittney’s boutique: Tailoring a budget for function as well as fashion. Journal of Accounting Education, 39, 32–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaccedu.2016.12.006), for use in an introductory financial accounting or hybrid accounting course that combines financial and managerial accounting topics. The adapted case provides you the opportunity to extend and apply financial accounting knowledge to the practical, real-world setting of Brittney’s Boutique, a student’s entrepreneurial start-up effort in the retail fashion merchandising business. The case is intended to challenge you to: 1) use financial accounting knowledge to prepare journal entries, general ledger posts, financial statements and financial ratios; 2) recognize and understand the needs and challenges in starting a business; 3) apply Excel knowledge, skills and abilities; and 4) analyze and combine financial accounting information to make judgments, conclusions and recommendations.

An examination into the role of a peer academic online mentoring programme during Emergency Remote Teaching at a South African residential university

For residential universities, the COVID-19 pandemic in the 2020 academic year necessitated the suspension of in-person lectures and a swift transition of classes and other in-person activities to emergency remote teaching (ERT). This included the academic module mentoring programme, cognisant of the potential challenges experienced by first-year students during a period of ERT. The role of an in-person module mentoring programme before ERT was only to provide academic support to first-year students within an introductory financial accounting module to promote student success. This study investigated the role of an academic online mentoring programme for students in an introductory financial accounting module during ERT. A web-based survey was conducted to source the perceptions of both mentors and mentees who participated in an introductory module academic mentoring programme both before and during ERT to analyse whether the role of the academic module mentoring programme had shifted beyond that of academic support in an ERT environment. While academic support remained at the forefront as the main perceived benefit of the online mentoring programme, with the transition to ERT, the findings of this study illustrate an altering role that is more inclusive of additional psychological and peer support and engagement perceived benefits for first-year students who participated in an academic mentoring programme for students in an introductory financial accounting module during a period of ERT. Understanding student perceptions of the value derived for first-year students from an academic online mentoring programme is important in understanding first-year student needs and to provide relevant and applicable training to first-year students to promote student success during ERT. The findings of this study provide insight to institutions and in considering the addition of academic interventions such as offering academic online mentoring programmes during ERT and highlight the perceived value-add from both a mentor and mentee perspective.

Do Accounting Textbooks Inculcate Global Mindsets: An Analysis of Textbooks Adopted in Indonesia

ABSTRACT This study examines the content of introductory financial accounting (IFA) textbooks to answer the questions: (1) do the textbooks inculcate global mindsets? (2) How and the extent to which the textbooks reflect global mindsets? We analyzed the textbooks by attentively read the texts, followed by an in-depth discussion among the researchers to establish major representations of the texts. Findings from the analysis indicate that instead of promoting a broader view of the world that might instill and foster global mindsets in business students, the textbooks narrow-mindedly inculcate only a single perspective, which dominantly draws on the ethical values and assumptions of Anglo-American capitalism. Consequently, students are deprived of a critical understanding of the subject as well as denying them from developing a mindset required by the global business environments. Thus, this paper calls for recasting the presentation of accounting knowledge within IFA textbooks by inculcating multiplicity rather than uniformity to develop cognitive complexity. Moreover, accounting educators should provide students supplementary readings that offer alternative frameworks for more critical reflection. These recommendations are a way forward to improve teaching international business (IB) education in business schools by facilitating an in-depth understanding of IB in individual business functional disciplines.

Deconstructing the Language of Accounting Textbooks to Make Power Relations Visible

The paper is motivated by the realization of the absent of critical engagement research problematizing the mainstream accounting worldview within accounting textbooks in the context of Indonesia. By doing so, this study uses the Thompson’s (1990) Schema of analyzing ideology to examine the content of popular introductory financial accounting (IFA) textbooks adopted by universities to reveal how, and the extent to which, the ideological status quo is reflected within these texts. This means the analysis tries to understand how ideological meaning is constructed within the textbooks. The analysis shows that the investigated textbooks portray accounting as an abstracted notion of a practical and calculative tool. Meanwhile, the ideological assumptions and socio-political and cultural background and conflict inherent in accounting are concealed and obscured. The textbooks have not scrutinized the concepts and measurement of accounting beyond employing a shareholder perspective. Consequently, the users’ attention is deflected from or glossed over the underlying ideological nature of the textbooks

Finding an Easier Way to Explain the Statement of Cash Flows

The statement of cash flows is one of the required financial statements of public companies, and thus is required of all accounting majors. After learning the other required financial statements in an introductory financial accounting course and, again, in the first intermediate accounting course, accounting majors learn how to prepare the statement of cash flows in the second or last intermediate accounting course. Most accounting majors find the statement of cash flows significantly more difficult to learn than any other financial statements. Especially, students find it most difficult to understand the indirect method of preparing the statement of cash flows. Preparing the statement of cash flows using the indirect method, students go through the most difficult time, specifically, doing the adjustments that are made to net income to reconcile to cash flows from operating activities.In this paper, presented is a different way to explain the principles of indirect method of preparing the statement of cash flows with a focus on the reconciliation of net income to cash flows from operating activities. Different from the explanations in the textbooks available in the market, the approach presented in the paper is preferred by all the students who were taught the statement of cash flows. Also, pointed out in the paper are a few things that students are easily confused of in learning the statement of cash flows.

An institutional perspective on the selection and use of accounting textbooks: the case of universities in Indonesia

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the selection and use of introductory financial accounting (IFA) textbooks in the context of achieving the objectives of accounting education to provide both discipline-specific skills and liberal education.Design/methodology/approachThis paper adopts a qualitative research design to collect data through semi-structured interviews with 33 accounting educators across Indonesia. This study uses the institutional theory approach to explain how accounting textbooks are selected and used to meet the objectives of accounting education at universities.FindingsThe study provides evidence of the adoption of a systematic procedure for the selection of recommended IFA textbooks. The selection was driven by the technical-regulatory objective of providing technical training. This objective also guides the use of the recommended textbooks. In a sense, accounting educators were more concerned about responding to institutional pressures of preparing accountants for work in the accounting industry rather than providing students with a liberal education that promotes critical thinking and problem-solving skills.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focuses on the selection and use of IFA textbooks. Further research should examine the contents of various accounting textbooks and obtain feedback from the people involved in the publication of the textbooks.Originality/valueThe findings of this study have important implications for accounting educators. They can use these findings to improve their selection and use of accounting textbooks.

Pivoting in a COVID-19 teaching environment: developing interactive teaching approaches and online assessments to improve students’ experiences

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the changes made to course delivery, course materials and assessment approaches required in response to the COVID-19 pandemic which forced many changes to occur in a very short time. Design/methodology/approach It is a case study of the changes made to content, teaching methods and assessment in a postgraduate introductory financial accounting course of approximately 350 students across two terms. Findings The key findings are that the sudden change from face-to-face to online teaching to address government regulations, social distancing expectations and students’ needs required immediate changes to how content was delivered, how to interact with students (many of who were studying outside of Australia), and how to adapt to online assessments. Many of the innovations the authors describe will continue to be used in the course going forward both in face-to-face and online formats. That is, the need to change resulted in innovations that can be implemented in a post-pandemic environment. Originality/value The key value of this paper is to provide instructors with insights into the innovations the authors made to address the changed circumstances, which can be incorporated into other accounting courses in the future.

Artisan Flooring Products, Inc

The owner of a small retail flooring company is projecting her company's financial performance and financial position for the current 2020 calendar year. The company began business in 2019, and by all measures, that first year had been a financial success. A small profit was earned, and the year ended in a strong financial position. But disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the need for new planning. A number of changes to business activity are projected, together enabling the construction of pro forma 2020 financial statements. Liquidity, profit, and the ability to take an annual owner's draw could then be assessed.This case is optimally used early in an introductory financial accounting course, or as a stand-alone exercise that illustrates the construction of financial statements. It can also be used as two distinct accounting analyses: (i) students can use the case data to reconstruct the 2019 balance sheet and income statement provided within the case exhibits, and (ii) they can also use the new projections to complete the 2020 pro forma financial statements. Excerpt UVA-C-2445 Dec. 16, 2020 Artisan Flooring Products, Inc. Jenny Zheng had been excited about the prospects for 2020. The previous year, the first for her company, had ended with an unexpected profit. The momentum going into the new year was strong. But by late February, it was clear that 2020 would be nothing like anyone had expected. The early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic had squashed demand, and Zheng found herself juggling potential government loan access and regulations, possible employee layoffs, and ever-changing local and national medical guidelines. Scenario planning around this new reality took on critical importance. The Company Artisan Floor Products, Inc. (AFP), was a retail flooring company serving do-it-yourself (DIY) consumers and professional flooring installers. It specialized in stone plastic composite (SPC), laminate, and glue-down vinyl flooring in a variety of lengths and colors. The most popular with customers was its SPC simulated wood grain finishes in either brown or gray. AFP did not install flooring, but rather sold ready-to-install products and supplies. . . .

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Integrating Experiential Learning in an Introductory Financial Accounting Course to Enhance Learning: The FIFA Approach

The Fieldwork Introductory Financial Accounting [FIFA] approach was introduced to resolve the problem of lack of understanding of basic financial accounting among accounting students with no background in accounting for the Financial Accounting 1 (FAR 110) course. The FIFA approach stemmed from the initiative of the teaching lecturers to enhance students' understanding of the most significant and elementary accounting knowledge: (i) identification and classification of accounting elements (assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses & equities), and (ii) sources of documents. The main purpose of this paper is to determine the effectiveness of the FIFA approach in enhancing students' understanding throughout an introductory financial accounting course. A total of 79 students participated in this study, and were divided into 2 groups; the treatment group and the control group. The experimental design using a non-randomised control group pre-test-post-test design was utilised. This study revealed that the FIFA approach significantly enhanced the students' understanding of the most significant elementary accounting knowledge, which comprises identification and classification of accounting elements and sources of documents. The findings are expected to benefit higher-education institutions, particularly accounting academics and curriculum coordinators when performing Accounting-curriculum revision so as to embed the FIFA approach in their introductory accounting courses. Moreover, the results of this study are expected to encourage countless educators to incorporate more learning activities associated with the active-learning approach and pedagogies beyond the four walls, which could boost students' knowledge and skills. The findings of this study also provide evidence on how real-world exposure is vital in order to facilitate accounting knowledge and understanding.

The effect of online review exercises on student course engagement and learning performance: A case study of an introductory financial accounting course at an international joint venture university

Prior literature suggests that Chinese students studying in Western Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) tend to underperform compared to local students. Yet few studies have explored the effect of learning and assessment tasks on the engagement and performance of Chinese students who are undergoing a transition into the Western learning environment. We design two online review exercises, which are summative assessments with a formative aspect, for an introductory financial accounting subject and study the effect of these tasks on a group of business students enrolled in the course at an international joint venture university based in China. We find that the online review exercises increase student engagement. Students spent a significant amount of time preparing for the online review exercises both before making their initial attempt and between each attempt. Students undertook a variety of learning activities in completing the online review exercises and their understanding of the subject improved as a result of going through the process. Student performance in the midterm and final exams is positively related to their efforts in completing the online review exercises. The findings are of relevance to accounting educators in both the Western HEIs and traditional Chinese universities who are interested in enhancing the learning performance of Chinese business students.

KAT Insurance: Data Analytics Cases for Introductory Accounting Using Excel, Power BI, and/or Tableau

ABSTRACT KAT Insurance Corporation (KAT) presents two independent data analytics cases for introductory financial and managerial accounting courses, using four datasets based on anonymized real-life data (over 65,000 sales records from a national insurance company). The cases introduce students to data cleansing, data dictionaries, and data visualization topics through analysis of sales and/or cost records. The cases use Excel, Power BI, and/or Tableau for students to learn different emerging technologies and develop students' technological agility, addressing the AACSB's Accounting Accreditation Standard 5 and AICPA Accounting Competencies. Over 2,700 students have successfully completed at least one of the cases, and few students had any prior experience with Power BI and/or Tableau. Students surveyed felt their skills improved as a result of the projects, which highlights the relevance and need for this instructional resource that is designed with both accounting instructors and students in mind.

College Students’ Use and Reception of Accounting Textbooks: An Indonesian Perspective

Due to the limitations of accounting textbooks, students do not realize a broader potential of accounting can make to society outside a scorekeeping practice ascribing priority to shareholders. The purpose of this study is to explore how students in Indonesia use the recommended introductory financial accounting (IFA) textbook to understand whether they use it in a way that allows a more nuanced, contextual and broad-based understanding of accounting. Drawing on the results of four focus groups conducted with students who represent four accounting degrees of Indonesian universities, the study reveals that students are strongly attached to the recommended textbook. It seemed they could not get away from having to use the text if they were to succeed in the course. Therefore, the intellectual source of these students was solely the neoclassical economic paradigm, the primary emphasis of which is satisfying the materialist desires of shareholders. This was evident in the perspectives of both students of conventional and Islamic accounting programs.

Early assessment as a predictor of academic performance: An analysis of the interaction between early assessment and academic performance by first-year accounting students as a South African university

Current emphasis on students’ academic adaptation in higher education necessitates the evaluation of predictors of successful preparation of first-year students. This study evaluated the implementation of early assessment (EA) in two first-year financial accounting courses at a South African university, namely an introductory financial accounting course, aimed at students without prior exposure to accounting, and a professional body accredited accounting course, aimed at students with prior exposure to accounting. This module-specific benchmark assessment, early in the academic year is often used as a predictor of preparation, adaptation and potential future academic performance. Given the discontinuation of a university, wide EA protocol within a faculty the academic contribution of the EA has been questioned. The study’s focus comprised two research questions, namely whether the EA can be used as a predictor of future academic performance of two different academic performance groups and whether students in a lower academic performance group are able to achieve success despite a low result in the EA. The research methodology included an analysis of variances to determine the correlation between the early assessment and either mid-year or final marks, as well as significance evaluation of the measured variance analysis using the Bonferroni test. The findings suggest that whilst the EA could potentially be used as an early warning sign for at-risk academically low performing students, the EA could also result in a misleading representation to students in the high academic performance category. Principally, the EA was found not to be a reliable predictor of future academic performance. In addition, the mixed results obtained from the evaluation of the effect of the nature and format of the assessment suggested that it had a low and non-meaningful effect on the predictive value of the early assessment. The fact that students in the academically low performance group were largely able to pass the module, however, suggests the success of intervention utilising the EA as an early warning. Higher education module developers could therefore consider the implementation of an appropriate EA in various undergraduate modules, based on the findings.