educational design research in accounting education

EdMedia 2015 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada, June 22-24, 2015

Learning technologies in developing contexts: educational design research in accounting education Geoffrey Lautenbach Department of Science and Technology Education University of Johannesburg, South Africa [email protected] Abstract: This paper reports on how an educational intervention assisted in finding a place for learning technologies in accounting education. Guided by a design-based methodology, this paper firstly verifies the problems associated with accounting education within a developing country context. Educational design research (EDR) is then discussed as an emerging methodology within the field of accounting followed by an account of how it was used to derive design principles for a planned series of interventions and an implementation model that can address the perceived gap between accounting education and real-life accounting practice. Findings manifest in design principles that are presented for each stage of the EDR process that was followed in this inquiry.

Are manual accounting systems still the way to go? Accountants in private practice in developing contexts have needed to keep pace with the ever changing technological environment, adopting and adapting emerging technologies within an ever growing technological arena. Over twenty years ago, and speaking about the developing country context, Johnson and Johnson (1995) already highlighted the changing role of financial specialists towards a greater reliance on technology. Their study of 1465 newspaper advertisements of accounting-related positions over a period of twenty years showed that over half of the positions already required the applicant accountant to have information and communications technology (ICT) skills. An informal analysis of job advertisements from the local Sunday Times Newspaper in September 2006 found that 76% of a sample of 159 accounting-related job advertisements required a measure of ICT skills and literacy. In March 2010 a similar analysis was conducted on 297 accounting-related job advertisements published in the JobMail (number 8/2010). 62% of the advertisements were very specific on the need for general ICT skills and working knowledge of accounting software. It is evident from these advertisements that ICT skills were, even then, a crucial aspect to consider. At present, in 2015, the demand for ICT skills in all spheres of industry is clear. It seems that technology and accounting have melted together in industry to the extent that a focus on manual accounting systems has become insignificant. However, in the developing higher education context described in this paper, the accounting curriculum has not changed over the past three decades. Manual accounting systems are still a major part of the accounting syllabus. Professional accounting bodies have recognized this ‘significant gap’ in accounting education curriculum since 2004 (Wessels, 2004, p. 229). Regardless of the technological revolution in industry, accounting education has continued to focus on a traditional manual accounting system with little integration of accounting software or other learning technologies (Kalman & Ellis, 2004). It seems that curriculums are too narrow, outdated and /or irrelevant” and that accounting education is focused on content to the detriment of skills development. It appears that an accounting graduate would be more useful and employable in an accounting position with the necessary ICT skills in place. The problem in accounting education is, therefore, to deliver competent accountants who have the ability to function in a technologically changing business environment (Wessels, 2006). In fact, Wessels, (2005) already highlighted the need for an accountant to have an understanding of the workings of an accounting package and the ability and skill to use the latest technology in performing daily business tasks. I contend that the use and the understanding of accounting software packages should be integrated into the whole learning experience for the accounting student. This would add value to both the graduate and industry, closing the gap between theory and practice. The problem is that technology is constantly changing and there are too many options available to accountants in practice at any one time. In 2006, Wessels found that,

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EdMedia 2015 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada, June 22-24, 2015 86% of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) used Accpac due to its excellent flexibility and functionality (Wessels, 2006). In 2006. The Windows operating system dominated the developing market with a total of 71% of installations and 73% of SMEs used the accounting software Pastel (Wessels, 2006). In a later survey of these enterprises it was found that Pastel had 66 % of the market, QuickBooks 12% and Accpac 10%. In 2006 Wessels recommended Pastel as the main accounting package for training students (Wessels, 2006). I contend in this paper that the tool itself should not become the focus of the activity of teaching accounting. Although I feel that the training of students should keep pace with the trends in the business sector, I do not prescribe any one software package for this purpose. In order to train graduates who can step into the profession as competent accountants with all the necessary technological skills I argue that the focus in training accountants should rather be on the learning activities that are carried out with the software package simply acting as the tool or mediating artifact. As one example regarding training of accountants in a developing higher education context the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) has recognized a need to review the effectiveness of the current education and training model with a view of aligning accounting education and technology without compromising education standards (Cloete, 2006). It appears that the coming together of these disciplines in the real world requires education to keep abreast with change and to educate students in both the theory of accounting and in current ICT developments in accounting. In the current developing world context, many undergraduate students enter university with more exposure to learning technologies than in previous years and readily embrace them as an integral part of their studies. Berger and Cretchley (2005) found that even students with the least access to computers “welcome the opportunity to learn to use technology, rather than fear it, and feel empowered by their experience”. Many studies show that learning technologies are also able to enhance student motivation, interest and attention to classroom activities (Tozoglu & Varank, 2001 and even help students shift from passive to active learning (Reganick, 1994). On the other hand, Amiel and Reeves (2008, p.29) claim that educational technologies “do not guarantee big leaps in educational achievement”. They argue that learning technologies should rather be used to better facilitate a process and is not an end in itself and once this is acknowledged as a process, the aim of technology in education will be clear (Amiel & Reeves, 2008). As mentioned earlier, technology in education should not be seen as the goal or object of the activity, but should remain a facilitation tool in the process of teaching and learning (see also Engeström, 1999). To this end, educational design research (EDR) provides an approach to address the issue of innovative educational research (Reeves, 2000; Amiel & Reeves, 2008, p.30) within a real life educational context.

Educational Design Research (EDR) as an emerging methodology EDR supports both qualitative and quantitative studies in education (Barab & Squire, 2004; Kelly, 2003; Design Based Research Collective, 2003) and is a methodology which accommodates more than just descriptive accounts of a phenomenon or confirmation of arguments. It facilitates active and innovative research in education (Kelly, 2003). Greyling (2007) claims that EDR steered her study on its journey to the research goal and pulled together the aims of interpretivism, critical theory and social constructivism for her to better understand the elements of educational transformation. In this paper EDR offers the opportunity to address the methodological issue of “goodness of fit” (Merriam, 2009; Creswell, 1994; Denzin & Lincoln, 2003). Characteristics of EDR have been proposed by various researchers over the years (Edelson, 2002; BannanRitland, 2003; Design Based Research Collective, 2003; Kelly, 2003; Barab & Squire, 2004; Wang & Hannafin, 2005; Barab, Arici & Jackson 2005; Reeves, Herrington & Oliver, 2005; Amiel & Reeves, 2008; Hakkarainen, 2009; and McKenney & Reeves, 2014). EDR characteristics relevant to this paper in particular are summarised below. The EDR in this project involved real-life settings. A Planned Series of Interventions (PSIs) was designed to facilitate a learning experience for lecturers teaching diploma students at the university. The PSIs involved multiple dependent variables including the environments of accounting, education and learning technologies. The focus was on characterizing the situation in all its complexities and included all practical considerations within the Commercial Accounting Department. It involved flexible design revisions through rigorous and reflective inquiry to test and refine the innovative learning environments. In the iterative design


EdMedia 2015 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada, June 22-24, 2015 described in this paper there are four cycles that facilitate the refinement of the PSIs and the integration model that emerged from the study. The first cycle was the focus groups and interviews together with the literature review and exploration of the real-life accounting practice and ICT worlds in the developing world context. The second cycle was the refinement of the emerging design principles through feedback forms from the staff buy-in workshop. The third cycle was the further refinement of design principles from the pilot PSI workshop, and the final cycle was the validation cycle when all of these design principles were validated. This EDR involved complex social interactions which were analysed using Engeström’s expanded activity theory model as a heuristic. Throughout the study I explored multiple aspects of the design and developing a profile that characterized the design in practice thereby creating a bridge between universities and accounting practitioners. This involved intensive collaboration among researchers and practitioners especially in the analysis phase of cycle 1, the staff buy-in workshop, and the pilot PSI staff workshop. It was also my aim to commit to constructing some form of sharable theory while solving real-world problems. Lastly, I tried to involve not only one approach but a series of approaches. EDR facilitates the confluence of a series of approaches with the intention of effecting change. The changes are implemented through new theories, artifacts and practices to potentially impact learning and teaching in its naturalistic context. At the heart of this methodology are the design and the ecology of learning with both the pragmatic and theoretical orientation being evident (Cobb, Confrey, diSessa, Richards, & Schauble, 2003). Also emphasized are the iterative, interventionist, innovative, design-based and theory-orientated characteristics. Specifically referred to is the pragmatic orientation by saying the theories developed ‘do real work in practical educational contexts’ (Cobb et al., 2003, p. 13). Design principles distilled from this research included considerations of both the practical and theoretical implications of teaching and learning with the aim to have the maximum potential to effect change. The iterative, interventionist, innovative, design-based and theoryorientated characteristics of EDR were needed to shape and model the design principles. The Design Based Research Collective, (2003, p. 8) iterate four prospects of EDR in education and the four areas where I see EDR to have the most promise in the reform of accounting education are as follows: Firstly in exploring possibilities for novel learning and teaching environments. EDR has opened the opportunity to understand the real-world demand on the evolution needed in accounting education. Secondly in developing contextualized theories of learning and teaching, EDR is closing the gap between accounting education and accounting practice. Thirdly, constructing cumulative design knowledge links these theories to applied understandings in other contexts for the advancement of accounting education. Lastly, EDR i ncreases human capacity for innovation. The design of the interventions has already provided opportunities for the exchange of expertise across disciplines. I also believe that there will be further opportunities for further innovation in the dynamic fields of education, learning technology, and accounting practice. Based on these prospects I, therefore, consider that the reform of accounting practice in education can be best facilitated through EDR.

The journey: EDR addressing accounting education The design of this inquiry is suited to the complex real-world context of accounting education where development goals are focused on solving teaching and learning problems guided by theoretical design principles. These developmental goals aim at building a stronger connection between educational research and the real-world problem (Amiel & Reeves, 2008; Reeves, 2000; Edelson, 2002 p.106). The two innovations that were proposed to close the gap between the integration of accounting education and accounting practice. The first was the design of a planned series of interventions (PSIs) for the lecturing staff in the Department of Commercial Accounting at the university. The second innovation was an integration model (a combination of accounting education tools and essential rules and principles which govern any accounting software). The iterative design that Reeves (2000) and Amiel and Reeves (2008) proposed as development research included four phases. The first phase was the analysis of the practical problem in collaboration with practitioners. The second phase was a commitment of the researchers to develop the solution to the practical problem within a theoretical framework. The third phase of this basic iterative design was called the evaluation and testing phase, and the fourth and final phase was the documentation phase to produce the design principles. Each phase was linked to the previous and subsequent phase in a cycle of refinement in order


EdMedia 2015 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada, June 22-24, 2015 for the solution to be the best possible solution set in context to the practical problems analyzed in the first phase. This design has been adopted and adapted for this study. The four main phases provide a directional map from problem identification to verification and documentation of the PSI and integration model. The phases were sequential and each phase was linked together with a cycle of informing the next phase as well as itself being refined and validated as the study progresses. Phase one included a needs analysis including two focus groups with lecturers in the department of Commercial Accounting, an interview with an ICT lecturer, and various interviews with an accounting software practitioner in industry. Phase one was the primary source of preliminary design principles that fed into phase two. Phase two was the convergence of data collected in phase one and design principles derived from relevant literature. Phase three was firstly to get staff buy-in into the process of accounting education reform and the subsequent evaluation of the integration model. This was conducted as a staff workshop where feedback forms were analyzed. The second staff workshop was then used as a pilot study for the PSI and the subsequent refinement of the PSIs. The fourth and final stage was the combination of all design principles into a validated practical PSI and integration model for the improvement of teaching and learning in accounting education.

CHAT as a heuristic and analytical tool Cultural Historical and Activity Theory (CHAT) has been identified as an “integral road map for educational research and practice” (Roth & Lee, 2007) and as having the most “profound potential … to overcome problems” in educational theory and practice. The expanded activity system as conceptualized by Engeström (1999) recognizes all interrelated forces and associations and will help accounted for in this complex naturalistic environment in which both EDR and CHAT have the potential to effect change. The activity system in this enquiry includes the accounting diploma environment where colleagues (subjects), engage with the integration programme (the object of the activity) through activity mediated by ICTs (the tool) for the transformation of their skills and knowledge in accounting practice (the outcome). The reform of educational practice in the accounting community also includes many rules or policies, as well as hierarchical structures on both vertical and horizontal planes that manifest as divisions of labour. The successful design of the integration programme in this research project would not have been possible without collaboration and shared learning experiences. However, recognition must be given to cultural and historical backgrounds when engaging with ICT (Lautenbach & van der Westhuizen, 2005) and it is important to present ICT matters as a meaningful whole, within a healthy community of practice. It is through this lens that the following design principles were distilled.

Findings The design principles are presented here in the same order that was followed in this study. The “gap” was verified before the model was constructed, and the planned series of interventions were designed before the implementation was planned. I believe that there are generic properties to these design principles that could be applied to other environments in which a gap has been identified. The generic nature and characteristics of these design principles are such that they can be applied as standalone principles or in any combination to work together as a process for the management of change. The design principles derived from each stage of the EDR process are: Stage 1: Design principles for gap verification and validation The first issue to clear up is whether there is a gap or need between the relevant environments? If yes, then what is the extent of the gap? If the gap is extensive, is there any value to be attained in closing the gap? If the closing of the gap would be beneficial then the final step would be to find or create an opportunity to close the gap. The four design principles are, therefore: recognize the gap, recognize the extent of the gap, recognize the value in closing the gap, and recognize the opportunity to close the gap. Stage 2: Design principles for the integration model


EdMedia 2015 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada, June 22-24, 2015 Design principles that emerged in this cycle include: Enrich knowledge with skills; Support other tried and tested educational tools; Maintain authenticity and relevance; Make it friendly, appealing, inviting, and accessible; Empower the user; Maintain acquired skills (‘use it or lose it’); Support the cognitive process; and Support the knowledge developmental process. Stage 3: Design principles for the planned series of interventions During the interventions it became evident that participants had a number of fears. The first fear was expressed as that of the unknown, as the staff members were uncomfortable with the idea of dealing with issues that might arise with a classroom of students and computers. The second fear was that of a lack of support in this new teaching environment. The third fear identified was that of making the jump from the acquisition of a skill to teaching it. The design principles that emerged to address these fears include: Commit and engage; Promote active involvement and collaboration; Direct the tasks to achieve the goals or to solve the problems; Provide activities with real life evidence; Respect experience and integrate new knowledge and skills; Recognize evidence of integrated learning; Provide flexible design; and Provide a safe and supportive environment. Stage 4: Design principles for implementation The final four design principles form this cycle include: Recognize need for support by management; Recognize need for support by industry; Recognize need for careful planning of implementation cycles; and Recognize need for all the above support during implementation

Discussion The higher education arena in accounting education falls short in meeting the needs of industry with regard to well-trained accounting graduates. Industry has embraced new learning technologies including accounting software but the education system has not kept pace with changes. The curriculum will need to change for the integration of accounting software to become a reality. At the time of writing certain changes in the curriculum of the Diploma in Accounting have now been accepted for implementation at the university. These changes can be directly linked to the findings of the first phase of this inquiry. The potential to close the gap in accounting education through integration of ICT in the teaching of the diploma students has now taken a step closer to becoming a reality. I argue that the characteristics of EDR have been necessary to effect changes in the design of the PSI and integration model. The iterative, interventionist, innovative, design-based and theory-orientated characteristics of EDR were needed to shape the design principles that informed the cycles that led to the distillation of the design principles. These design principles have the potential to impact learning and teaching in the Department of Commercial Accounting thereby ensuring a better skilled and more knowledgeable graduate. I believe that there are generic properties to these design principles that could be applied to other environments in which a gap has been identified. The generic nature and characteristics of these design principles are such that they can be applied as standalone principles or in any combination to work together as a process for the management of change. It was demonstrated in this study that these design principles, when woven together, formed a process that was practical and feasible for implementation. I contend that it supported the management of change in the implementation process.

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