Using an accounting information system to facilitate course integration.

Jones, Beth H. ; Heinrichs, Lynn R.

BACKGROUND

Business programs have been under scrutiny for at least a decade. Employers complain that graduates are inadequately prepared for even entry-level positions. Accounting and IS programs have suffered similar criticism. Two common complaints are that students lack good communication skills and have difficulty integrating concepts across disciplines. Faculty in the disciplines must face the reality that there is room for improvement.

Needs of accounting graduates. Over the past decade accounting programs have been under pressure to change. The American Accounting Association's Bedford Committee report, published in 1986, concluded that "accounting education as it is currently approached requires major reorientation between now and the year 2000" (AAA Committee, 1986). Their views were reiterated in 1989 in the "Big 8 white paper" which found accounting graduates lacking in several areas, including needed communication, intellectual, and interpersonal skills (Big 8, 1989). A good summary of the situation was reported by Lau and Rans:

"In today's highly competitive and dynamic business environment, employers expect their accounting employees, including those at the entry level, to be well-rounded. In addition to being adequately trained in accounting skills, employers also expect their employees to be good communicators, team workers, and critical thinkers. Traditional accounting education has primarily focused on technical accounting skills." (1993)

Needs of IS graduates. Information systems programs also have been criticized for not adequately preparing graduates for the world of work. In addition to being faulted for not providing students with appropriate technical competencies, IS programs are often accused of not preparing graduates with adequate business and communication skills. For example, Paul Gillan (1995), Executive Editor of Computerworld, identified "well-rounded business graduates" as being a primary need of chief information officers (CIO) in the hiring of new employees. More recently, a Computerworld article (Magletta, 1996) cited the following problems with current IS graduates:

 Many say new graduates often lack the right mix of technical,
 business, industry and software skills in demand in today's
 decentralized, user-driven environment. Some complain that
 graduates are not trained in hot technologies--such as
 telecommunications and relational databases--or even exposed to
 them. Even fewer are taught project management, communication,
 documentation and team skill (p. 79).

Possible remedies. Two common remedies that have been offered for many of the problems faced by business, accounting, and IS programs are (1) curriculum integration and (2) new learning techniques. For example, Porter and McKibbin (1988) recommended almost a decade ago that management education needed a "greater level of cross-functional integration" (p. 323). More recently, Dudley et al. (1995), described the need for integration as follows: "Students must be expected to retain information from introductory courses, integrate it with material from other courses, and apply it to advanced courses" (p. 309).

Application of learning techniques new to business programs can also solve many of the problems involving inadequate preparation of graduates. Cooperative learning structures foster group processing and social skills. They also enhance problem-solving abilities and master of complex concepts (Cottell and Millis, 1993). Peer teaching can enhance retention as well as communication and interpersonal skills. Students retain only 5% of what they hear in lecture, but 90% of what they teach others (Cohen and Boyd, 1996).

There is no question that business schools are responding to the need for change and implementing some of these solutions. Some examples of universities making the transition are identified by Siegel and Kulesza (1996):

University of Illinois: [The new accounting program] ... emphasizes active learning, critical thinking, team and group work, and communication skills while producing a technically competent accountant.

Northeastern Illinois University: our College of Business and Management is being revised to [have] learning and instruction based on student projects, case studies, and continuous interaction with accounting professional and financial executives in industry.

Virginia Commonwealth University: [We are] introducing software applications into curriculum, writing requirements, group work, case studies, and ethics modules.

Boston University: The School of Management has adopted a rigorous cross-disciplinary core curriculum, with team-taught, team-learning multi-disciplinary courses.

While examples such as these exist, the majority of business programs are still conducted using traditional teaching techniques in compartmentalized courses, leaving graduates inadequately prepared for work. Not only is this frustrating for employers, it is also disappointing to the faculty who prepare these graduates. The project described in this paper begins to address the graduate preparation problem through course integration and team learning.

PROJECT PURPOSE

The purpose of this project was to enhance learning in an accounting course and an information systems course through an integrative, cooperative learning project. Accounting Principles I students were assigned the task of playing monopoly and recording their transactions manually in a general journal. IS students were assigned the task of teaching accounting students how to enter these data into an accounting information system (AIS) for report generation. Specific objectives for the project are shown in Table 1.

The accounting information system around which the project focuses is a typical general ledger package that accompanies an accounting principles textbook. Although simplistic in nature, the package provided an excellent example of application design concepts relevant to an introductory IS class. For example, students could observe the implementation of such techniques as (1) graphical user interfaces (GUIs), (2) event driven programming, (3) transaction processing, and (4) system integration.

For introductory accounting students, the AIS might also appear to be simplistic. However, to use the software for problems other than those presented in the textbook requires modification of a chart of accounts. Because documentation is minimal, ample opportunity exists for novice users to make errors and misinterpretations.

The task of students teaching students how to use the AIS could provide benefits to both classes. Introductory programming students experience a simple, yet complete, transaction processing system. Accounting students avoid the certain frustrations of using a poorly-documented software package. Both groups receive benefits from project participation.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The two classes participating in the project were Principles of Accounting (ACCT 251) and Introduction to Programming (CIS 256). While students in the CIS course were primarily majors (with a few exceptions), members of the ACCT 251 class represented a wide variety of business programs. Both classes were scheduled at the same time to facilitate group meetings. The enrollment for the accounting course was 38 in comparison to 22 for the CIS class.

Project activities. Figure 1 shows the flow of activities for this project. IS activities appear on the left side of the chart; accounting activities are shown on the right. A description of each activity is provided below.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Activity 1. Generate transactions (accounting task). Accounting students were assigned to groups of three or four students, each of whom represented a separate real estate company. They met outside of class and played the Monopoly game. Each player recorded transactions which affected his or her company in a general journal for subsequent entry into the accounting information system (AIS). The journal entries had to be detailed enough that someone could replay the game totally if they had the journal entries for each member in a group (see Figure 2). The game was over after each player completed his or her 20th turn. Playing Monopoly gave each student an individual set of entries to enter into the AIS; thus minimizing the potential for copying.

Activity 2. Explore AIS (IS task). The programming students were first assigned individually the task of learning how to use the accounting information system. Students were given a set of sample Monopoly transactions from a previous semester. After entering the transactions, IS students generated the same types of reports that were to be required of the accounting students.

Activity 3. Prepare AIS Handbook (IS task). After learning how to use the software package, the IS students were paired together for the task of developing a user handbook. Each pair of IS students was responsible for preparing documentation; decisions regarding the specific content, approach, and format of the handbook were their responsibility.

Activity 4. Conduct training (joint task). On a designated training day, IS and accounting students met in the computer laboratory for training. Each IS team was assigned to help one accounting Monopoly group. Each accounting student was given a handbook prepared by their assigned IS team with instructions on how to use the AIS software. IS student teams assigned to individual accounting groups were available for help when the handbook was unclear or inadequate. Each IS team maintained a training log consisting of user questions and problems.

Activity 5. Prepare statements (accounting task). After the accounting students became familiar with the AIS, each one was individually responsible for updating the chart of accounts, entering his/her transactions, generating financial statements, entering closing entries, and generating a post-closing trial balance. Due to time constraints, most were not be able to complete their tasks during the assigned lab training day. If they ran into difficulties after the training session was over, they were asked to keep track of any problems they encountered. The final step in this project was for the accounting students to play Monopoly with their group again, generate 20 more transactions, post them to the AIS, and have the system produce financial statements, closing entries, and a post-closing trial balance.

STUDENT RESPONSES & OTHER OBSERVATIONS

The training logs maintained by the IS students were examined to assess the effectiveness of the training experience. The students recorded 77 requests for help. The instructor categorized the problems into three different categories as shown in Table 2.

Accounting software problems represent those requests for help that specifically related to the AIS product. Questions pertaining to using the operating system, network, or hardware were categorized as environment problems. Finally, inquiries about fundamental accounting concepts (e.g., What type of account is land?) comprised the last category, accounting problems.

Further analysis of the accounting software category provided a glimpse into the types of problems students encountered. Table 3 provides a summary of the frequently occurring problems. The total frequency of 53 represents 82% of the accounting software problems. Questions that occurred only one or two times are not included in the table. In almost every case questions asked by accounting students (Table 3) could have been answered with a glance at the 1-2 page handbook.

After completing and turning in the assignments for Monopoly games 1 and 2, students in the accounting class were asked to complete a questionnaire concerning the AIS. The day the questionnaire was given, 28 students were present. Questionnaire responses are summarized in Table 4 below (n=28).

After entering game 1 data in the presence of IS students, accounting students were required to go to the lab on their own to finish entering game 1 (if necessary) and to enter data from game 2. Overall, they were able to do this without assistance. Two persistent problems were encountered, however. One was a computer glitch, where the trial balance simply did not balance, even though all the entries were entered correctly. Only the trial balance was incorrect; the financial statements were accurate. (Students were told not to worry about the trial balance being out of balance; just to print it and turn it in. Although not a good lesson in accounting, it served the purposes of this assignment and students understood it was a software error.) A second recurring complaint occurring during this portion of the assignment was the "we can't go back and correct" complaint. If an error were made, students had to reverse it out of the system and post it correctly, just as they would if this were a real-world accounting information system. They did figure out how to make any required corrections, they just wished there had been an "easier way".

All students were able to enter their transactions and produce printouts. Almost every accounting student who turned in game 1 and game 2 computer printouts received full credit on the assignment. Six students did not turn in some of the required parts (e.g., they forgot to print the financial statements before they closed the books); so they had a few points deducted. Overall, their output was excellent.

DISCUSSION: WERE PROJECT OBJECTIVES MET?

Accounting students. The accounting students did gain some experience working with technology. They felt it was a useful exercise (an average response on this question was 4.04 out of 5; plus 4 students responded in the open-ended comment section of the questionnaire that the assignment should be used in the future). Only one student commented that the software was too simplistic.

Secondly, accounting students felt that they that learned the general ledger package. Questions 2a-2c on the questionnaire addressed this issue, and answers ranged from 4.07-4.25. Additionally, scores on the assignment reflected their mastery of the material.

Whether or not the AIS assignment met the third objective, improved problem-solving skills, however, is more questionable. This is discussed in the following paragraph.

IS Students. The first IS project objective was for students to write effective user documentation. The intent of the training session log was to measure effectiveness by providing the IS students with feedback regarding the completeness of their handbooks. The instructor assumed that accounting students would only ask questions when handbook directions were not clear, as they had been told. If this had been the case, the logs would have contained only items where the handbooks were unclear or deficient. Instead, as many users do when help is readily available, the accounting students asked questions before looking at the handbook. As a result, the logs do not really reflect deficiencies in the training handbooks. They simply confirm human tendency to look for the easiest solution to a problem. Thus, the first IS objective, while it may have been met, was not measurable as planned. In future semesters more detailed information must be gathered from the users on the adequacy of the IS documentation. While this semester the instructor provided written feedback during evaluation of the handbooks, having more specific information from the accounting students would also be useful. Additionally, because accounting students many times simply asked IS students when a question arose, it is questionable whether the objective of "enhancing problem-solving skill" of accounting students was met.

Feedback from the accounting students regarding satisfaction with the written and oral instructions indicates the IS students successfully communicated the information needed to use the AIS software (see Questions 1a-1c, Table 4), as desired in the second IS project objective. Team teaching is a good exercise, and in this project it gave IS students experience in explaining a system to and being available for system users.

IS students were responsible for (1) detecting several problems with the accounting software, (2) determining the basic operations needed to post transactions and close accounts, and (3) reconciling report results. All these activities required a solid understanding of accounting transaction processing and there is an implicit assumption that working with material and explaining it to others enhances understanding, thus meeting the third IS project objective. A future research direction would be to take pre and post measures of the IS students' accounting knowledge and compare their improvement to students taught in a more traditional manner.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, accounting students learned the system and were able to complete the remaining assignment (game 2) without any supervision or help. It was good for them to get some exposure to accounting information technology and they felt, and their grade reflected, that they had learned the system. What is not clear is whether this approach aided in "improving problem-solving skill", as so many rudimentary questions were asked of the IS helper assigned. If anything, the accounting students seemed more likely to take the path of least resistance, i.e., just ask the helper when they had a question rather than put the effort into exploring the documentation, system, or their brains for answers!

Overall, IS students were able to learn and understand the AIS and to write effective documentation. At least, the instructor who graded the assignment felt the documentation was thorough, clearly presented, and had the potential to be effective. The accounting students indicated satisfaction with the written documentation (Question 1b, Table 4). However, with so many verbal questions asked which could easily have been answered by referring to the documentation (Table 3) there is some doubt as to whether it was used.

Responses by the accounting students indicated satisfaction with the help provided by IS students (Table 4). Only two complained that the "helpers should be more knowledgeable" this serves as an indication that the IS students did learn the AIS and were able to communicate their knowledge to the accounting students. Overall, we feel this project met its objectives.

As mentioned previously, business faculty and employers are often frustrated by students' inability to integrate concepts across courses as well as their lack of good communication skills. In this project, the AIS provided the focal point that bound together fundamental accounting and IS concepts. In essence, it was a natural vehicle for integrating the two courses. This project also offered an opportunity for students to work on their interpersonal communication via group interaction.

SUGGESTIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

For readers contemplating using this approach, we would suggest the following:

1. Determine your objectives up front. In this exercise, we unintentionally had competing objectives. That is, we wanted the accounting students to work on their "problem-solving skills" by figuring out how to work the system referring to documentation only. We also expected the IS students to have the opportunity to enhance their communication skills by (1) learning where weaknesses in their documentation were, based on questions by accounting students and (2) verbally answering questions that their documentation did not adequately answer. As it turns out, we may have expected too much. If a knowledgeable student is available to help and is sitting next to a student with a question, chances are the student will simply ask the question of the other student and not refer to documentation. Therefore, we recommend the following: if an instructor wants to emphasize interaction/personal communication skills of the IS students, send the IS teams to the lab with the accounting students. Or, if the emphasis is on "problem- solving skills" of accounting students and effective user documentation, we recommend sending the accounting students to the lab with only the documentation.

2. Collect more specific feedback from the accounting students on documentation quality. If the IS students are not present during data entry, then the accounting students would be required to engage more in the learning process and consult the documentation when they had questions. A practical advantage of this approach would be avoiding having to schedule both the accounting and the IS classes at the same time. If this approach is used, we suggest creating a form that rates the adequacy and clarity of the documentation, providing feedback for both the IS students and for the IS teacher who evaluates his/her students.

3. Conduct pre and post tests with IS students. Give IS students a test of basic accounting concepts before their first experiences with the AIS software and after the training session is complete. This can be used to determine if the project actually enhances understanding of basic accounting principles.

Several possibilities exist for adapting the current project. First, a logical extension of this project would be to assign the creation of an on-line help system to the IS programming class, and have this used and evaluated by the accounting students. Second, the complexity of the project could be extended by having accounting and IS students build a management reporting system. If this is too complicated for two introductory classes, the project could be replicated with intermediate or advanced classes. Second, the same project could be repeated with a different AIS, allowing students the opportunity to compare and evaluate the performance of similar software packages.

After using this project in one or two more classes, the authors plan to conduct the same project in an experimental setting. The objective will be to determine whether team participation and integrated content have a measurable effect on students' learning in the areas of the project objectives stated above.

REFERENCES

American Accounting Association Committee on the Future Structure, Content, and Scope of Accounting Education (1986). Future accounting education: preparing for the expanding profession. Issues in Accounting Education, 1(Spring): 168-195

Big 8 White Paper (1989). Perspectives on education: capabilities for success in the accounting profession. New York: Arthur Andersen & Co., Arthur Young, Coopers & Lybrand, Deloitte Haskins & Sells, Ernst & Whinney, Peat Marwick Main & Co., Price Waterhouse, and Touche Ross.

Cohen, Eli B. and Boyd, Elizabeth C. (1996). Teaching techniques that work: college teaching of information systems. Paper published on-line through the Global Information Systems Education Web page, http://acm.org/~eli_cohen/active.htm, accessed: 8/30/96.

Cottell, Jr., Philip G. and Millis, Barbara J. (1993). Cooperative learning structures in the instruction of accounting. Issues in Accounting Education, 8(Spring): 40-59.

Dudley, Sid C., Dudley, Lola W., Frank L., Payne, Stephanie (1995). New directions for the business curriculum. Journal of Education for Business, 1995(May/June): 305-310.

Gillan, Paul. 1995. Strange new world: the skills crisis in corporate IS. Presentation at the Information Systems Education Conference, ISECON '95, Charlotte, NC. Lau, Richard and Rans, D. Lynn (1993). They can add but can they communicate? Business Forum, 18(3): 24-26.

Magletta, Joseph (1996). IS schools: need improvement, Computerworld, (February 19): 78-83.

Porter, Lyman W. and McKibbin, Lawrence E. (1988). Management Education and Development: Drift or Thrust into the 21st Century, New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Siegel, Gary and Kulesza, C.S. (1996). The coming changes in management accounting education, Management Accounting, (January), 43-47.

Beth H. Jones, Western Carolina University

Lynn R. Heinrichs, Western Carolina University

Table 1: Project Objectives

Group: Objectives:

Accounting students Gain experience working with technology in
 the classroom
 Learn a general ledger software package
 Improve problem-solving skills

IS Students Write effective user documentation
 Improve interpersonal skills
 Improve understanding of transaction
 processing systems and general accounting
 principles

Table 2: Problem Categories

Type of Problem Number of Requests % of Total

Accounting software 65 84%

Environment 6 8%

Accounting concepts 6 8%

Total 77 100%

Table 3: Most-Asked AIS Questions

Type of Problem Frequency

Correcting/changing transaction date 10

Recording journal entries 10

Correcting journal entries after posting 10

Printing reports 9

Saving file 7

Adding new accounts 7

Total 53

Table 4: Accounting Students' Responses

Question Average Response
 5 = yes, completely
 1 = no, not at all

1. Concerning the IS student(s) who assisted you:

a. Were they able to answer 4.32
 your questions satisfactorily?
b. Were you satisfied with the 4.29
 WRITTEN instructions?
c. Were you satisfied with the 4.14
 VERBAL instructions?
2. Concerning the accounting software:

a. Were you able to key in your 4.07
 entries without problems?
b. Are you confident you can 4.11
 enter Game 2 data?
c. Overall, did you find the 4.25
 acct. software easy to learn?
d. Do you think this assignment 4.04
 should be given next year?

Open-ended Comments Made: Number Comment

Regarding IS assistance: 3 Positive comments about
 instruction
 2 Helpers should be more
 knowledgeable
 1 Incomplete written
 instructions
Regarding the software: 8 Can't go back and change
 entries made
 3 Difficulty of changing the
 transaction date
 2 General positive comments
 2 General negative comments
 1 Trial Balance out of
 balance
 1 Unexplained problem
 1 Too basic/simplistic
Regarding the assignment: 5 Use again next year
 2 The data entry is too
 tedious

Figure 2: Sample Journal Entries from Monopoly Transactions

 Debit Credit

1/97 Cash
 Capital, Beth Jones 1,500
 Started new real estate business 1,500
 with 1,500 investment
2/97 Land (Boardwalk) 400
 Cash 400
 Rolled 7, landed on Boardwalk and
 bought it
2/97 Cash
 Rent revenue 50
 Lynn landed on Boardwalk; paid rent 50
 to my company