Mahendra R. Gujarathi
Bentley College
Abstract: Accounting educators have long experimented with the use of instructional technology to increase the efficiency of education and to better prepare students for the professional world they will enter upon graduation. While the use of technology serves several purposes, evidence in the literature on whether such a use promotes the understanding of accounting concepts is mixed. This paper reports the results of the use of technology in an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) environment on the conceptual understanding of the accounting cycle in an intermediate accounting course. Students performed a variety of accounting tasks using Great Plains Dynamics, ERP software used by more than 30,000 small and medium enterprises. Although the users were significantly removed from the identification of debits and credits, or the making of journal entries, their understanding of the accounting cycle improved significantly after the ERP-based exercise. Responses to a questionnaire also indicate a high level of student satisfaction with the ERP exercise.
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