INSIDE

By Roger A. Gee

San Diego Mesa College
Email: rgee1@san.rr.com

My astrological sign is Taurus. Too bad that is the sign of the bull. I’m more like a bulldog than like a bull. When I get hold of a belief, I don’t let go. One of my principle beliefs is teaching manual accounting is as worthless as giving piano lessons on a cardboard keyboard. Students have to learn all over again when placed in front of a real keyboard.

After attending the AAA meeting in New Orleans, my principle belief now has a corollary: teaching students computer accounting using spreadsheet templates is like giving piano lessons on a player piano. They see the results (or hear the music) without having to develop the skills.

The principle belief was reinforced when I was asked to create and teach a Computer Accounting Applications course about six years ago. In the beginning, most students forgot accounting principles, rules of debit and credit, and account valuation methods when they sat down in front of computers. They had to relearn accounting theory as they solved problems using spreadsheet and integrated accounting software. A few students could think while using computers. They had learned computer skills on the job before enrolling in accounting classes at our community college.

The foundation for the corollary was established four years ago when I included plug-and-print template assignments one semester. I quit once I read my students’ comments—I wasted their time. Their exams showed that using plug-and-print templates did not improve their comprehension of accounting theory. Since they also did not learn a computer skill, I had little justification to continue them.

Another instructor at my college tried using academic general-ledger software. This preparer-oriented approach did not fit our user-oriented textbooks. She had little justification to continue with that software. The software did not match the integrated accounting packages that are used in actual practice. Most students were not accounting majors, anyway.

Bulldog that I am, I just can’t let go of the idea that my students should learn computer skills as they learn accounting theory. I got the chance to test another approach on my 1998 summer school students. The homework projects that I assigned in a financial accounting course required students to create their own spreadsheet templates. An accounting lab in a room full of computers was offered to students who had little experience using spreadsheet software. About half of the students signed up for the one-unit lab.

I compared the exam scores of the summer session students with the scores from previous classes where accounting theory was reinforced with manual homework problems. The exam scores were not significantly higher among the students who did the projects at home on their own computers. The scores were slightly higher for the students who took the accounting lab (I’m not sure why). All exams were created from the test bank that came with the textbook.

A real difference appeared in the students’ comments. They complained about the time that the homework projects took, but they said the time was well spent. They said that they learned a skill along with the accounting theory. One student said, “I have a skill that I can use to make myself more marketable.” Another student said that the best parts of the course were “the hands-on projects.” Another comment regarding the projects was, “I can learn everything step by step.”

I was hoping to see significantly higher exam scores, but they did not materialize. I couldn’t prove that using spreadsheet software improves knowledge of accounting theory. My students did get a summer school bonus—a computer skill. They will use that skill in other classes and on the job.