The Accounting Education Change Assessment Process: A Research Report
Abstract
This paper reports on the assessment of educational outcomes at one of the
original twelve schools to receive an Accounting Education Change Commission
(AECC) grant. The funded proposal, by the accounting area at the Rutgers
Graduate School of Management, called for curriculum and teaching revisions.
The changes included modularization of the curriculum, creation of an intensive
learning atmosphere to encourage socialization to professional values, and
intensive efforts to promote the use of the computer, communication
assignments, and research work throughout the curriculum. These were intended
to foster higher student technical skills (e.g., computer, research, and writing
skills) and values (ethics, commitment to life-long learning, and a positive view of
business).
A pre- and post- experimental design was used. Exit data alone were collected
from the last, pre-curriculum revision class. Both entry and exit data were
collected from the four classes that entered the Rutgers Professional Accounting
MBA program (PAMBA) after the curriculum and teaching changes began to be
phased in during the Summer of 1992. The survey instrument consisted of some
previously published instruments and some created for use in this study. With
respect to the four change classes, the results showed that self-reported thinking,
financial, communication, and computer skills improved significantly among the
classes that benefited from the curriculum and teaching revisions. Scores on the
value measures either did not change, or declined. Overall satisfaction with the
Rutgers PAMBA program was significantly higher among the classes that
benefited from the AECC-funded project than among the students from the last
class before the AECC-funded curriculum and teaching changes were
implemented. Two of the exit value measures and two of the exit skill measures
were also higher for the four change classes collectively than for the last nonchange
class. On balance, it seems that the Rutgers change effort succeeded.
original twelve schools to receive an Accounting Education Change Commission
(AECC) grant. The funded proposal, by the accounting area at the Rutgers
Graduate School of Management, called for curriculum and teaching revisions.
The changes included modularization of the curriculum, creation of an intensive
learning atmosphere to encourage socialization to professional values, and
intensive efforts to promote the use of the computer, communication
assignments, and research work throughout the curriculum. These were intended
to foster higher student technical skills (e.g., computer, research, and writing
skills) and values (ethics, commitment to life-long learning, and a positive view of
business).
A pre- and post- experimental design was used. Exit data alone were collected
from the last, pre-curriculum revision class. Both entry and exit data were
collected from the four classes that entered the Rutgers Professional Accounting
MBA program (PAMBA) after the curriculum and teaching changes began to be
phased in during the Summer of 1992. The survey instrument consisted of some
previously published instruments and some created for use in this study. With
respect to the four change classes, the results showed that self-reported thinking,
financial, communication, and computer skills improved significantly among the
classes that benefited from the curriculum and teaching revisions. Scores on the
value measures either did not change, or declined. Overall satisfaction with the
Rutgers PAMBA program was significantly higher among the classes that
benefited from the AECC-funded project than among the students from the last
class before the AECC-funded curriculum and teaching changes were
implemented. Two of the exit value measures and two of the exit skill measures
were also higher for the four change classes collectively than for the last nonchange
class. On balance, it seems that the Rutgers change effort succeeded.