1 Use of Portfolios in Accounting to Improve Instruction by Gary T Harper A Master s Project for Ed 7999 Submitted to the office for Graduate Studies Graduate Division of Wayne State University Detroit Michigan In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN TEACHING June 2003 Major Business Education Approved by 2 Dr Bob Pettapiece Date 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One Introduction 1 Chapter Two Review of Related Literature 6 Chapter Three Methodology of the Study 11 Chapter Four Findings 14 Chapter Five Conclusions and Recommendations 18 References 21 Appendix A Portfolio Submission Form 24 Appendix B Student Attitudinal Pre Portfolio Survey 26 Appendix C Student Attitudinal Post Portfolio Survey 28 Appendix D Student Attitudinal Portfolio Survey Data Table 30 Due to the merging of files the page numbers may be off by 2 4 i 5 Chapter One Introduction The Situation For years accounting has been taught using didactic repetitive teacher directed methods Beginning and intermediate accounting courses focus on orderly processes and procedures As a result students often view accounting as a boring course in which the only reason for taking it would be to satisfy an entry requirement for a business school The very definition of accounting the recording analyzing and interpreting of financial data Ross Glbertson Lehman Hanson 2000 sounds like it lends itself to an orderly teacher based teaching methodology In reality accounting courses can offer a variety of options to educators in regards to instructional methods used to teach accounting Every year in the United States thousands of accounting jobs remain unfilled due to a lack of qualified accounting graduates Accountants are in high demand and advance degree holders have more earning potential than ever before Chronicle Guidance Publications 2000 If this statement is correct then why can t universities attract enough accounting majors A recent study stated that in 60 of accounting courses being taught in the United States that there was no group work case based oral presentation peer assessed work or alternative assessment being undertaken Adler 1998 In today s fast paced society children want to be active learners taught by a 6 variety of instructional deliveries In an attempt to improve accounting education and the future of the profession the International Federation of Accountants has laid down guidelines for educators suggesting that students should be provided with a broad range of learner centered teaching methods Curriculums should include activities for students to use work groups case studies and portfolios in an effort to encourage students to learn on their own and to become active participants in the learning process Adler 1998 The Need In most school systems in America accounting falls under the vocational education umbrella being taught in a high school or a vocational career center building As an elective course the accounting teacher needs to generate interest in the course within the student body Students need to want to take the course One way to encourage enrollment is to remove the boring stigma associated with accounting by changing the way accounting is being taught Using a variety of delivery methods and continually showing relevance of subject matter to students will help encourage interest in the program New interest can be generated through curriculum change Curriculum change is often inhibited by strong content oriented accounting teachers Secondary educators teaching business curriculums are limited by the lack of educational research being conducted at the university level in business The reward structure in academics gives primary recognition to research productivity particularly in academic journals that publish scholarly research related to a particular discipline area Street Baril 1994 The natural result of this reward structure is a strengthening of faculty interest in discipline oriented research as compared to educational research and teaching methodology Stevens Stevens 1992 found that only one of 400 faculty 7 members at the top twenty U S universities has written his or her dissertation on a teaching subject Also 44 of 75 universities offering accounting doctorates neither require nor offer any training or teaching in educational research Herring III 2000 A study of intermediate accounting textbooks found the text to have a strong discipline orientation which provides the user with a well organized exposition of technical subjects that lends itself to traditional technically oriented teaching This goes against a movement in business education to use a more broad based outcome oriented approach to the curriculum Herring also points out that the problem may not be with the text as much as the desire for accounting teachers to continue to teach in a manner in which they have become accustomed The need for a broad range of assignments and material designed to facilitate the use of higher order thinking in accounting education should be at the forefront of research in accounting curriculum Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study is to try a new classroom activity which will supplement instruction to promote active learning in accounting courses Most research on the uses of portfolios in the classroom reflects on portfolios as an assessment tool This project is focused on improving course development and classroom instruction through the use of portfolios which will be used to achieve course and chapter objectives and improve of student outcomes This study tries to correlate the value of students keeping portfolios as an improvement to instruction over previously used instructional methods in accounting while collecting students reflections on the effectiveness of the portfolio process This study may lead to a change in curriculum and how we currently use authentic assessment in accounting at the secondary level 8 This study begins by examining the value of portfolios use as an instructional tool According to Adler 1997 active student learning includes learning tasks which promote generic skills and attitude development as well as the acquisition of knowledge base in which students take control and responsibility of their own learning p 65 Portfolios can be a highly flexible instructional and assessment tool adaptive to diverse curricula and age levels They also involve students in their own education so they take charge of their personal collection of work