Toward More Effective Development of Professional Competencies: A Research Agenda for Cognitive Development in Accounting

Transcription

1 Toward More Effective Development of Professional Competencies: A Research Agenda for Cognitive Development in Accounting Susan K. Wolcott, PhD Working Draft: January 5, 2011 ABSTRACT With the recent launch of the Pathways Commission and the acceleration in quantity of technical knowledge (such as IFRS) to be taught in accounting programs, accounting education is at a crossroads. Accounting courses and programs are currently being revised and perhaps even overhauled, making this an opportune time to also rethink educational approaches. This reexamination necessarily includes consideration of the effectiveness and efficiency of educational methods. One recommendation that has been made repeatedly in the accounting education literature is for educators to consider students levels of cognitive development as they attempt to design more effective learning experiences. This paper provides an overview of specific recommendations from the developmental psychology literature and offers a series of potential research questions and related issues that accounting educators. The purpose is to provide guidance for future educational research. INTRODUCTION With the recent launch of the Pathways Commission and the acceleration in quantity of technical knowledge (such as IFRS) to be taught in accounting programs, accounting education is at a crossroads. Accounting courses and programs are currently being revised and perhaps even overhauled, making this an opportune time to also rethink educational approaches. This reexamination necessarily includes consideration of the wide range of competencies needed for entry to the accounting profession, as well as the effectiveness and efficiency of educational methods. One recommendation has been made repeatedly in the accounting education literature: Professors should consider students levels of cognitive development as they attempt to design more effective learning experiences (e.g., Wolcott et al., 2002; AICPA, 2002; Wolcott and Lynch, 2002 and 1997; Wolcott, 2000 and 1998; Cunningham, 1996; Francis et al., 1995; 1

2 Kimmel, 1995; Rodgers. 1992; Amernic and Enns, 1987; and Wyer, 1987). This recommendation has usually been made in the context of developing critical thinking skills. However, cognitive development affects most if not all of the competencies students need for entry to the accounting profession. Cognitive development refers to the changes that occur in the form and structure of students thinking as they progress through the accounting program and encounter challenges and support for more complex thinking. College students typically exhibit fairly low levels of cognitive development, hindering their ability to adequately perform tasks such as the following (e.g., Wolcott and Lynch, 2002): Effectively apply technical knowledge to realistic business scenarios Alter the tone and content of business memoranda for different audiences Recognize and carefully analyze multiple perspectives in an ethical dilemma Use knowledge from economics, finance, organizational behaviour, or other subjects when addressing an accounting problem Evaluate the quality and relevance of audit evidence Identify and assess risks associated with business decisions Reflect on learning experiences and engage in continuous learning Although accounting educators have been encouraged to help students achieve higher levels of cognitive development, little progress seems to have been made. A small number of studies have documented improvements in student performance after implementing course and/or curriculum changes that are consistent with a greater focus on cognitive development (e.g., Springer and Borthick, 2007, and Stone and Shelley, 1997). However, most accounting education publications have focused on identifying the types of competencies accounting students need (e.g., AICPA, 1999 and 2002), describing student characteristics (an important 2

3 precursor to designing effective educational interventions, e.g., Wolcott and Lynch, 1997), or providing students or others perceptions of development (e.g., Jackling and De Lange). Few studies have attempted to directly measure whether cognitive development is improved by specific educational practices. Given this lack of empirical evidence, it is difficult to motivate accounting educators to consider making significant changes to the way they teach courses or organize accounting curricula. Additional empirical research regarding the effectiveness of specific educational practices for enhancement of cognitive development is needed. This paper first clarifies the link between accounting competencies and cognitive development. The often-cited reflective judgment model of adult cognitive development is summarized, and key concepts from developmental psychology are reviewed in the context of recommendations for accounting education. Then a series of potential research questions are identified, along with comments about potential directions and research issues. ACCOUNTING COMPETENCIES AND EDUCATOR RESPONSIBILITY Differences of opinion exist regarding the detailed competencies that an accountant should possess. Professional organizations such as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA, 1999, 2002), The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA, 2009), The Society of Management Accountants of Canada (CMA Canada, 2010), and the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada (CGA, 2009) have developed detailed descriptions of desired competencies. International efforts have also arisen (e.g., International Federation of Accountants, 2010). Regardless of the differences across detailed descriptions of competencies, accounting educators tend to think of what they teach as falling into two broad categories: (1) technical knowledge of accounting methods and practices and (2) professional 3

4 attributes, which include qualities and skills such as communication, critical thinking, leadership, ethical behavior, professional demeanor, and teamwork. 1 These two broad categories of competencies are sometimes seen as distinguishing the responsibilities of accounting courses (technical knowledge) from the responsibilities of nonaccounting courses (professional attributes), leading to recommendations that accounting students need more liberal arts education. However, two major arguments exist for accounting educators to assume responsibility for both technical knowledge and professional attributes. First, accounting educators may be unable to ensure adequate development of professional attributes when this aspect of education is assigned to non-accounting courses, especially to liberal arts courses (e.g., Willits, 2010). Second, the developmental psychology literature suggests that students require significant amounts of time and effort to develop professional attributes, which rely on enhancement of students cognitive development within the context of the discipline (e.g., Fischer and Pruyne, 2003). ROLE OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN ACCOUNTING EDUCATION Accounting educators might have been misled about student development of professional attributes based on early work done in the field of developmental psychology. Prior to the 1980s, most developmental psychologists believed that cognitive development ended in adolescence (Demick and Andreoletti, 2003b, 599). This belief discouraged faculty in higher education from attempting to alter students cognitive abilities; students were seen as either having or not having professional attributes. However, during the past 35 years the field of 1 Other common terms for technical knowledge include: formal knowledge, explicit knowledge, declarative knowledge, professional knowledge, content knowledge, traditional knowledge, functional competencies, specific competencies, and technical and functional skills. Other common terms for professional attributes include: procedural knowledge, tacit knowledge, conditional knowledge, soft skills; pervasive qualities and skills; generic skills; employability skills; personal competencies; professional capability; distinguishing characteristics, professional skills; professional abilities; core skills; key skills; fundamental skills and values; professional values, ethics and attitudes; intellectual abilities; behavioral skills; and personal, intellectual, and interpersonal skills. 4

5 positive adult development has emerged to address increasing evidence that changes in cognitive capabilities can occur throughout the lifespan. Research now focuses on the contexts in which change occurs (see, for example, Demick and Andreoletti, 2003a, and Hoare, 2006). Many ideas from this literature have been introduced to accounting education. Although accounting education literature increasingly points to ways in which courses and other educational activities can be designed to enhance students cognitive development, many accounting courses and programs have remained largely unchanged over the past 35 years. Accounting educators seem to have failed to take advantage of recent theories and evidence. For example, achievement of higher-level cognitive skills is now expected to require considerable time and practice. Yet, leading accounting textbooks tend to focus on lower-level cognitive skills (Gupta and Marshall, 2010). Accounting educators may believe that their job is to focus on technical knowledge, which tends to leave the development of professional attributes to chance. More importantly, accounting professors may not recognize ways in which students low-level cognitive skills impair learning of technical knowledge. Consider the following example. Introductory financial accounting courses typically include the basics of accounting for bad debts. This topic introduces students to the use of accounting estimates, the mechanics of contra-asset accounts, and the effects in subsequent time periods of changes in accounting estimates. Many students in introductory accounting courses even at the MBA level operate at the lowest level of adult cognitive development (e.g., Wolcott and Lynch, 1997 and 2002). At this cognitive level, students do not recognize the inability of managers or accountants to accurately know which customers will ultimately pay their bills versus those who will not. To these students, a good manager or accountant always knows which customers will pay and 5

6 which customers will not pay, so credit should be extended only to customers who will pay. 2 Not surprisingly, these students cannot grasp the idea that bad debts must be estimated or that estimates may change in the future. While the technical details of accounting for bad debts can be daunting, students are incapable of learning this topic beyond pure memorization if they cannot understand the underlying business transaction or the idea of risk in a world of uncertainty. For this reason, recommendations have been made for educators to help students learn technical knowledge in introductory accounting courses by also focusing on uncertainties and risks (e.g., Wolcott, 1998 and 2000). Before delving further into the educational recommendations from developmental psychology, the section below will provide a description of one of the most commonlyreferenced models of cognitive development. This description will help to clarify the underlying basis for educational recommendations. REFLECTIVE JUDGMENT MODEL OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT This section introduces details for King and Kitchener s reflective judgment model of cognitive development and demonstrates how it applies to professional competencies for accountants. The reflective judgment model is selected because: 3 The reflective judgment model is seen by developmental psychology experts as noteworthy for the extent of its descriptions especially for higher cognitive levels, specification of epistemological assumptions (i.e., beliefs about knowledge) used 2 Ignoring the recent financial disaster arising from bank s incentives regarding credit default swaps! 3 The most widely-known alternative model is Perry s forms of intellectual and ethical development (e.g., Perry, 1970). Piaget s theory of cognitive development (e.g., Piaget and Inhelder, [1969] 2000) is not as relevant because Piaget focused on development only through adolescence. Perry and King and Kitchener extended Piaget s work to adult development. Additional comparisons of cognitive development models can be found in Kurfiss (1988), Pascarella and Terenzini (1991 and 2005), and Francis et al. (1995). 6

7 in reasoning at each level, and validation with both longitudinal and crosssectional data from male and female subjects (Hofer and Pintrich, 1997). Fischer has applied skill theory to the reflective judgment model (e.g., Fischer and Pruyne, 2003), providing guidance for teaching and learning. Reflective judgment influences thinking in a broad range of contexts, including ethical reasoning (e.g., King and Kitchener, 1994, ) The reflective judgment model has already been applied to accountants professional competencies, as discussed more fully later in the paper. The reflective judgment model consists of a developmental progression of seven qualitatively different sets of assumptions about knowledge that people use to address openended problems. Open-ended problems have more than one reasonable solution because they may be difficult to define, involve uncertain outcomes, and often generate disagreement among experts even after a solution is reached (Wood, 1983). 4 Accountants professional competencies consist largely of skills for addressing open-ended problems, consistent with the open-ended nature of work that practicing accountants perform (e.g., Abdolmohammadi, 1999). Exhibit 1 provides the following for Stages 2 through 7 of the reflective judgment model: (1) key epistemological assumptions and (2) general approach to open-ended problems. Stage 1 is omitted from this table because it describes beliefs ascribed to childhood. 4 King and Kitchener (1994, pp ) use the term ill-structured problems, and Springer and Borthick (2007) use the term cognitive conflict tasks. Synonyms include unstructured, ill-defined, and multilogical problems. This paper uses the term open-ended problems because it is less likely to suggest connotations that differ from the intended meaning, and it its use with students helps convey the idea that thinking needs to expand. In addition, the term illstructured problems has sometimes been used to describe difficult problems having a single correct solution (e.g., Phillips 2001 and 1998). 7

8 Exhibit 1 Reflective Judgment Model: Key Epistemological Assumptions and General Approach to Open-Ended Problems Stages 2 and 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 Stage 6 Stage 7 Key Epistemological Assumptions Knowledgeable persons or experts know or will find correct answers to all problems Uncertainty either does not exist or is merely temporary Until experts can agree, opinions are equally correct or equally biased guesses It is sufficient to view problems without attention to realistic ambiguities and complexities Uncertainty is due only to specific limitations such as lost or incorrect reporting of data, limited resources, or inability to correctly predict the future Conflicting points of view for which evidence can be provided are equally valid Criticizing an argument is the same as criticizing the person who makes the argument Experts are biased persons who are simply promoting their own agenda It is sufficient to simply stack up evidence that supports one s opinion Endorsing one alternative denies the legitimacy of other alternatives Problem solutions may be justified only within a given context or from a given perspective, making it very difficult to endorse and justify a solution as the best alternative There are no overarching criteria by which to choose among competing evidencebased interpretations or solutions Points of view about specific situations may be judged as better than others only in a very tentative way based on one s evaluations of experts positions or the pragmatics of the situation at hand There are no generalized principles or procedures that can be used to further investigate one s resolution to the problem Learning is a life-long process, and generalized principles of inquiry can be employed in that process As a result of careful inquiry and knowledge building over the course of a single lifetime and across generations, substantial improvements can be made in quality of life and professional practice Taking reasonable risks associated with moving toward desired changes is necessary General Approach to Open-Ended Problems Provides no evidence beyond expert opinions Seeks a single, correct answer Offers partially reasoned conclusions and ignores potentially important information Focuses on own point of view Qualitatively evaluates evidence and describes problems from multiple perspectives Does not adjudicate across perspectives to reach a single supportable position (i.e., may reach no conclusion or provide little support for conclusion) Adjudicates across perspectives and describes mechanisms for reaching a conclusion in light of multiple perspectives Acknowledges but does not address limitations of conclusion Argues convincingly using complex, coherent discussion of own perspective, including strengths and limitations Uses systematic process of critical inquiry Source: Wolcott (2010); adapted from King and Kitchener (1994, pp ) and Kitchener and King ([1985] 1995). Stage 1 is omitted from this table because it describes beliefs ascribed to childhood. Stages 2 and 3 are combined in this table because educational recommendations for the two stages are similar. 8

9 King and Kitchener (1994, 19) point out that the epistemological assumptions not only affect how individuals will approach the task of defending a judgment but also how they will respond in learning environments... For example, students who believe it is the job of experts to solve a problem (Stages 2 and 3) are likely to search textbooks and class notes for answers to an open-ended problem rather than attempt to apply their own judgment. Students who believe that it is sufficient to stack up evidence to support their own position (Stage 4) are likely to misunderstand or ignore instructions to provide a balanced discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of alternatives. In other words, students beliefs about knowledge influence how they go about a task. Typical Student Performance What levels of reflective judgment should accounting educators expect to observe among students in their courses? Exhibit 2 summarizes non-accounting data about mean reflective judgment levels from 20 studies in different U.S. educational institutions. The data demonstrate two major characteristics. First, most students, even at the master s level, operate at low to moderately-low cognitive levels (averaging between reflective judgment Stages 3 and 4 during undergraduate years and advancing only about one-half stage for master s and early doctoral students). Second, only a small amount of development tends to occur during an Exhibit 2 Mean Reflective Judgment Levels Traditional-Aged Undergraduate Master s to First Year Last Year Early Doctoral Mean Standard deviation n Source: King and Kitchener (1994, p. 161). Based on data collected using the Reflective Judgment Interview in 20 studies during 1978 to 1993 involving different institutions and educational programs. 9

10 undergraduate program. These findings are consistent with research using other models of cognitive development and also during more recent years (e.g., Pascarella and Terenzini, 1991 and 2005). In the absence of assessment data for students in a particular program or course, it is reasonable to assume that most undergraduate students operate at the average level i.e., reflective judgment Stage 4. But especially in introductory courses, there may be a fairly large subset of students operating at reflective judgment Stage 2 or 3. Because different stages have quite different implications for teaching and learning, accounting educators interested in maximizing student development may wish to gather data about the complexity of thinking exhibited by their own students, perhaps as part of a program-wide effort to analyze students thinking. Development of Reflective Judgment Given the small increase in average reflective judgment levels shown in studies from different educational institutions, it is natural to ask whether students reflective judgment (or other forms of cognitive development) can be developed in educational settings. The opportunity for development exists in what Fischer (1980) called the developmental range, or the gap between the optimal level at which an individual is theoretically capable given brain development and support for higher performance, and the functional level at which an individual operates in a given situation without support, practice, or familiarity with the subject. 5 For an average traditional-aged university student, the developmental range is estimated to be approximately two reflective judgment stages meaning that performance could theoretically be increased from about Stage 4 to about Stage 6 through sufficient support, practice, or familiarity with the issue (Fischer and Pruyne, 2003, 187). Although most research has been concerned 5 Vygotsky used the term zone of proximal development instead of developmental range (Haenen et al., 2003). 10

11 with documenting the stages for different populations or the development over long spans of time, a few studies have demonstrated that reflective judgment performance can be improved over shorter time frames through educational support and opportunities to practice skills (e.g., Kitchener et al., 1993). Additional studies are needed. Although this section has focused on the reflective judgment model, other cognitive models provide similar descriptions of cognitive levels and underlying beliefs about knowledge. The next section addresses the major implications and educational recommendations from these models. MAJOR DEVELOPMENTAL IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The field of developmental psychology has generated numerous recommendations. Below are some of the key recommendations and their applicability to accounting education. Recognize That Level of Cognitive Development Affects Performance Thinking and practicing within a discipline such as accounting involves using single concepts as well as coordinating multiple concepts. Individuals operating at higher levels of cognitive development have better skills for effectively using and integrating concepts, as required for high-level performance of accounting competencies. The earlier story about student difficulties with bad debts illustrated low-level complexity thinking. Students exhibiting lowlevel complexity tend to focus exclusively on memorization and become confused by tasks that require anything else. Because research demonstrates that most students operate at fairly low levels of cognitive development, mastery of professional competencies may be achieved by only a small proportion of students. Consistent with the findings in other disciplines, accounting education researchers have found a positive association between cognitive development and 11

12 student performance (Phillips, 2001 and 1998; Jones and Davidson, 1995; Amernic and Beechy, 1984; and Shute, 1979). Design the Curriculum for a Progression of Cognitive Skills Models of cognitive development are hierarchical; they describe a progression from less complex skills to more complex skills. In addition, each of the lower cognitive levels lays the foundation for the next-higher level. Accordingly, educational efforts are most likely to be successful if attention is paid to the sequence of cognitive skills, especially across the span of a degree program. To help educators clarify the complexity of skills for accounting competencies, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) published a Taxonomy of AICPA Core Competencies. In the taxonomy, a developmental model was used to organize the elements for each core competency into four cognitive levels. Exhibit 3 illustrates the taxonomy for the Measurement competency. Wolcott (2010) used a similar approach to organize competencies for the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) UFE Candidates Competency Map, as illustrated in Exhibit 4. Organizing competencies into cognitive levels provides educators with a roadmap for student development. Early courses can focus on lowerlevel cognitive skills, progressing to higher-level skills toward the end of the degree program. To avoid overwhelming students with tasks that are too far beyond their functional levels, professors in introductory courses might focus on well-defined knowledge plus skills for reflective judgment Stage 4, as illustrated in Exhibit 5. Intermediate and advanced undergraduate courses would continue to focus on the lower levels, but would also focus on skills for reflective judgment Stage 5. The shift from Stage 4 to Stage 5 is likely to be difficult for most students, so two years of significant effort may be needed for students to achieve stable performance at Stage 5. Then Stage 6 could be the focus in a master s or post-undergraduate pre-certification program. 12

13 Exhibit 3: Taxonomy for the AICPA Core Competency: Measurement Examples of Elements for: Measurement Less Complex Elements More Complex Elements Level 1 Identifying Level 2 Exploring Level 3 Prioritizing Level 4 Integrating Identifies what needs to be measured Describes uncertainties about data and how items should be measured Appropriately applies a given measurement method Describes the pros and cons of alternative methods of measurement Describes the implications of ambiguities when estimates are required Determines an appropriate, relevant and reliable measure for the intended use Presents the measurement results objectively using applicable standards of disclosure or reporting Recognizes changing circumstances and reconsiders measurement methods and estimates as appropriate Source: AICPA, Taxonomy of AICPA Core Competencies, New York: AICPA. Available on AICPA s Educational Competency Assessment (ECA) Website at Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4 in the AICPA taxonomy correspond to reflective judgment model stages 4, 5, 6 and 7. For more details see the document titled, Levels of AICPA Core Competencies, on the AICPA s Educational Competency Assessment (ECA) Website at 13

14 Exhibit 4: Example of Developmental Progression for CICA Competency IV-2.3: Identifies and Evaluates Opportunities and Risks Demonstrate Well-Defined Knowledge CICA Level C: Correctly recites (or summarizes, depicts, paraphrases) professional literature or other resources regarding: o Risks and opportunities and relation to external and internal environment o The need to evaluate an entity s risks and opportunities o Stakeholder risk tolerance o Information to help manage risk o Environmental shifts and relationship to risk, opportunities, and capacity to fulfill strategies Correctly describes (or explains, summarizes, depicts, paraphrases) unambiguously-presented evidence regarding risks and opportunities Demonstrate Skills for Addressing Open-Ended Problems Reflective Judgment Stage 4 Reflective Judgment Stage 5 Reflective Judgment Stage 6 CICA Level B: In a normal but ambiguous situation: Identifies risks associated with an entity s: o External environment o Internal environment Identifies opportunities associated with an entity s: o External environment o Internal environment Identifies an entity s stakeholders Identifies information that is relevant to risk management Identifies relevant techniques such as SWOT analysis that are relevant for assessing an entity s risks and opportunities Distinguishes between well-defined and ambiguous aspects of assessing an entity s risks and opportunities CICA Level B: In a normal but ambiguous situation: Uses relevant techniques such as SWOT analysis to evaluate risks and opportunities in relation to an entity s external and internal environment Analyzes multiple possible risk tolerance profiles for an entity s stakeholders Analyzes the relationship for an entity between stakeholder risk tolerance and strategic management Evaluates alternative ways to balance stakeholders risk tolerance with opportunity Evaluates the usefulness of different types of information to help manage an entity s risk Evaluates the effects of an environmental shift on an entity s exposure to risk, its opportunities, and its capacity to fulfill its strategies Analyzes information to identify and evaluate environmental shifts or other risks CICA Level A: In a normal but ambiguous situation: Draws conclusions about or makes recommendations that incorporate an entity s most significant risks and opportunities Draws conclusions about or makes recommendations regarding an entity s stakeholders risk tolerance and its balance with opportunity Weighs factors to develop and effectively communicate a plan for obtaining information to help manage an entity s risk Identifies significant environmental shifts and assesses their implications for an entity s exposure to risk, its opportunities, and its capacity to fulfill its strategies CICA Level A: Applies several techniques to thoroughly analyze an entity s risks and opportunities for a particular purpose Source: Wolcott (2010, Exhibit 6) 14

15 Exhibit 5: Progression of Skills in an Accounting Program Source: Wolcott (2010) Adjust Complexity of Learning Experiences to Appropriate Levels The developmental psychology literature has for many years recommended that professors consider students levels of cognitive development as they attempt to design more effective learning experiences (see, for example, the review in McAuliffe, 2006). This recommendation is based on evidence that students are likely to develop new skills more readily if they are given intellectually-challenging tasks that are not too far above their current abilities. Tasks that are at or below current ability provide insufficient opportunities to learn, whereas tasks that are too far above current ability are overwhelming. For this reason, King and Kitchener (1994, ) encouraged professors to be aware of the complexity of skills required by coursework and to recognize how educational goals interact with student characteristics. As an example, Exhibit 6 provides recommendations for developmentallyappropriate learning activities. 15

16 Activities to Encourage Transition to Stage 4: Identify and describe uncertainties/ ambiguities/risks Read about conflicting opinions Identify open-ended problems (i.e., those having no single correct solution) List available information and identify which information is relevant for a given problem List potential issues, points of view, and solutions Form own opinion/thesis and use evidence/arguments to support it Exhibit 6 Developmentally Appropriate Learning Activities for Reflective Judgment Stages Stages 2 and 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 Stage 6 Activities to Encourage Activities to Encourage Transition to Stage 5: Transition to Stage 6: Identify and attempt to control for own Identify most important issues, risks, or biases evidence Identify stronger/weaker responses to Justify selection of assumptions an open-ended problem Prioritize and clarify values used to Identify and analyze for alternatives: judge across alternatives pros/cons, advantages/disadvantages, Establish plan for communication/ strengths/weaknesses implementation/action that adequately Discuss strengths and weaknesses of addresses concerns/needs of others evidence Identify and analyze assumptions Explore different viewpoints/ perspectives Compare and contrast theories/ perspectives Organize information into meaningful categories Activities to Encourage Transition to Stage 7: Prioritize and address solution limitations Systematically reinterpret information over time Develop viable strategies for generating new knowledge Engage in life-long learning Source: Wolcott (2006, page 3-2) Note: Research on brain growth suggests that Stage 7 may not emerge as an optimal level until years of age (Fischer and Pruyne, 2003, 187). Therefore, most accounting educators should ignore the far right-hand column in this table. However, the activities listed for transition to Stage 7 may be appropriate for training after several years of work experience, especially in doctoral programs. 16

17 Because the reflective judgment model focuses on epistemological beliefs that determine how students respond to a task, Schwartz and Fischer (2003) recommended that professors engage students in discussions to clarify what students believe and why. Such discussions provide information about students underlying beliefs in relation to the technical content being learned. By gaining an understanding and addressing students underlying beliefs, professors can design more effective coursework, encourage greater student acceptance of assignments, and maximize the likelihood of providing students with feedback that promotes development. Provide Support for New Skills An individual student s way of thinking when engaged in a learning activity is a function of the student s skill within and across relevant content areas, as well as the nature of the particular task and the level of support provided. To provide students with opportunities to move from their typical (i.e., functional) performance toward their optimal performance, strong support is needed. According to Fischer and Pruyne (2003, ), strong support might include: Clearly defined tasks Use of familiar materials Memory aides Cues Opportunity for practice Most educators tend to use one or more of these types of support. However, the tendency is to remove support too quickly. As task complexity increases and/or support decreases, student performance is likely to deteriorate. Considerable time and practice may be needed before students are able to perform well at a new, more complex level without support (i.e., to achieve a new functional level of performance). 17

18 Help Students Make Connections Across Content Areas Most students do not automatically make connections across content areas; they tend to see each new subject as unrelated to other subjects. However, educators expect students to make connections across content areas. For example, we expect accounting students to apply economic theory to performance measurement, or to recall income tax regulations when learning about deferred income tax accounting. As argued by Howieson (2003, 91), courses and curricula should place the content firmly within a realistic context and avoid the trap of treating each topic as though it is unrelated to any other topic. Anticipate Unstable Performance The web shown in Exhibit 7 illustrates potential levels of development for an accounting task that requires integration of ideas from accounting and ethics, plus the ability to apply critical thinking e.g., to make sense of the information provided, recognize the nature of the decision required, analyze alternatives, and reach a well-founded conclusion. Individuals generally do not perform at just a single level, but instead may perform at many different levels depending on the content areas involved and other circumstances such as support provided for high-level performance. Before new skills for addressing a particular type of complex task are fully developed and become stable, individuals tend to repeatedly regress to lower levels (i.e., move toward the left side of Exhibit 7, in which fewer connections are made). Even after new, morecomplex skills have been developed, individuals often revert to lower-level skills when placed in a new or emotion-laden situation (e.g., Fischer and Pruyne, 2003; Hofer and Pintrich, 1997, p. 122). In other words, students do not necessarily achieve a particular level of skill and then demonstrate it consistently. Stable performance of high-level competency may require considerable time including practice in multiple contexts (e.g., courses and topical areas) and 18

19 guidance to create generalized approaches to apply in new situations. Accordingly, educators should (1) avoid assuming that students will continue to demonstrate newly learned skills and (2) anticipate periodic drops in performance, especially as students move from one course the next. Exhibit 7: Developmental Web for a Task Requiring Use of Concepts from Accounting, Ethics, and Critical Thinking Adapted from Fischer and Pruyne (2003, p. 171, Figure 10.1) 19

20 PRELIMINARY IDENTIFICATION OF MAJOR RESEARCH QUESTIONS How can future accounting education research contribute to our understanding and ability to identify and implement useful ideas from developmental psychology? What might this research agenda look like? What are some of the important research questions, and how might these questions be addressed? What major problems need to be resolved? This final section of the paper provides a preliminary list of major research questions that need to be addressed regarding the implication of developmental psychology for accounting education. This list is by no means complete. However, it is quite substantial, highlighting the need for significant research to be done in the future. Is there a gap between students competencies at the time of graduation and the skills needed for entry into the profession? Undergraduate student performance tends to stall at reflective judgment Stage 4, suggesting that there is likely to be a large gap between the skills of students at the time of graduation from most accounting programs and the necessary level of cognitive complexity expected by the accounting profession. However, studies to date have looked primarily at perceptions rather than at actual student skill levels. In addition, research is needed to determine whether the expectations of the profession are reasonable. For example, are most accounting students capable of achieving reflective judgment Stage 6 at the end of a 150- hour program (the educational requirement for CPA qualification throughout most of the U.S.)? Do higher levels of student cognitive development lead to better preparation for the accounting profession? Prior accounting education research has found that students operating at higher levels of cognitive development perform better on coursework. It seems reasonable to 20

21 expect this same relationship to hold in the workplace. However, no research seems to have addressed this question. 6 Can educational practices lead to higher levels of student cognitive development? If so, how do various types of educational approaches (including tasks and support) affect development? What educational approaches are more effective for students at different levels of cognitive development? These are broad questions, which have been addressed in only small ways in both the accounting education and broader higher education literature. Because so many different educational recommendations have been made and continue to be made a large body of research is needed on these topics. However, research efforts are hampered by cognitive assessment methods. For example, the primary measurement method used in reflective judgment model research is the Reflective Judgment Interview, which must be conducted by certified interviewers and rated by certified raters, making the research method cumbersome and costly for large numbers of students. In recent years, King and Kitchener have developed the Reasoning About Current Issues (RCI) objective instrument (Kitchener et al., 2006). Unfortunately, the RCI is recommended for use only to analyze group rather than individual student performance, significantly reducing its usefulness in research studies. Another approach is to formally assess carefully-crafted essays (Wolcott and Lynch, 1997; Wolcott, 2006). An alternative is to focus on assessing specific skills rather than stage of cognitive development (e.g., Stone and Shelley, 1997), which might reduce generalizability. Wood and Kardash (2002) offer comments about the design of assessment methods used in studies involving the reflective judgment and similar models. They point out that many of the methods tend to lack power for isolating changes in student thinking and that studies often have 6 I have been told by partners in Big 4 firms that they are concerned that plaintiffs may use the findings from this type of research as evidence in lawsuits against auditors. 21

22 sample sizes that are too small and omit relevant third variable explanations. Wood et al. (2002) describe additional considerations for the design and evaluation of an objective-style measure. Do cognitive skills develop within the accounting discipline according to the sequence predicted by models of cognitive development? We know very little about how students develop skills within the accounting discipline. There is no reason to believe that skills develop in a different sequence than in other disciplines. However, research on this topic would be useful not only to verify the applicability of cognitive development models for accounting education, but also to engage accounting educators in careful study of how learning takes place in accounting. Studies in other disciplines have found that educators often use approaches that are inappropriate given students ways of thinking about the subject (e.g., Nathan and Koedinger, 2000). Do all competencies develop at the same pace, or do some competencies such as those involving ethical reasoning or integration with broader business subjects require more practice and support? This question has implications for the design of accounting curricula. Because students do not readily apply skills learned in one content area to other content areas, the development of some competencies might lag others. How might the recommendations from developmental psychology be implemented in (1) individual courses and (2) design of degree programs? Most of the recommendations regarding educational approaches for cognitive development seem to focus on the individual educator and individual course. However, individual educators may have little effect on student development because of the long timeframe in which development is likely to occur. Nevertheless, some evidence exists that progress made in a single course might affect student performance in a subsequent course (Springer and Borthick, 2007). More research is needed to 22

23 help individual professors make decisions in their courses. Research is also needed about ways in which degree programs might be modified to take advantage of multi-course efforts. What are the roadblocks to implementation of recommendations from developmental psychology? What training or other resources would accounting educators need to increase their focus on student cognitive development? If the recommendations from developmental psychology could lead to improved student learning, then the roadblocks to implementation need to be identified and addressed. For example, educators have been disappointed by the lack of development achieved by approaches such as problem-based learning (see discussion in Springer and Borthick, 2007, 2) and may be unwilling to invest time in new approaches. Or, accounting faculty may have insufficient time or other resources to make the necessary changes to their courses and programs, especially in light of impending state budget cuts. Or, accounting faculty may have insufficient knowledge about how learning of accounting takes place and do not realize that learning can be achieved more efficiently. In addition, many accounting educators are likely to be concerned that greater focus on cognitive development would reduce student learning of technical knowledge (Pincus, 1997). Theoretically, however, students with stronger cognitive skills, including epistemological beliefs that are consistent with higher levels of reflective judgment, are better able to learn new material on their own than students with weaker cognitive skills. Several studies in accounting have found results consistent with this idea (Schleifer and Dull, 2009; Springer and Borthick, 2007; and Phillips 2001 and 1998), but more research is needed to better understand the interactions among use of course time, development of cognitive skills, and learning of well-defined technical knowledge. How well do current textbooks support developmental efforts? Given the reliance of educators on textbook materials, it may be necessary to analyze how well textbooks support a 23

24 cognitive developmental approach to student learning. As mentioned earlier in the paper, research indicates that the most widely-used accounting textbooks focus on relatively low-level cognitive skills (Gupta and Marshall, 2010). However, prior studies have used Bloom s Taxonomy (Bloom, et al., 1956) to analyze complexity. Given concerns about the lack of hierarchy in Bloom s Taxonomy (e.g., Marzano and Kendall, 2007, 8-9), a more valid approach would involve use of a model that more clearly delineates cognitive levels, such as the reflective judgment model. In addition, future research should look at both types of potential errors in complexity too high and too low. For example, introductory textbooks might spend insufficient time developing low-level cognitive skills such as students ability to recognize why managers cannot fully anticipate which customers will pay their accounts which in turn affects students abilities to recognize the need to estimate bad debts. Perhaps the biggest hindrance to progress on the research questions outlined above is the ad hoc nature of accounting education research. Many studies focus on individual educational techniques without providing evidence that might be useful within a larger context such as the cognitive development of accounting students. Few researchers systematically design and conduct a series of studies aimed at addressing major accounting education questions. In addition, most research has focused on small samples within individual institutions. More crossinstitution studies are needed to increase the power of statistical tests and to enhance generalizability. 24

25 REFERENCES Abdolmohammadi, M. J., 1999, A comprehensive taxonomy of audit task structure, professional rank and decision aids for behavioral research, Behavioral Research in Accounting (11), Amernic, J. H. and T. H. Beechy, 1984, Accounting students performance and cognitive complexity: Some empirical evidence, Accounting Review (59:2), Amernic, J. H. and R. J. Enns, 1987, Levels of cognitive complexity and the design of accounting curriculum, in W. T. Anderson, E. K. St. Pierre, and R. L. Benke Jr. (Eds.), Essays on Accounting Education (pp ), Harrisonburg, VA: Center for Research in Accounting Education. American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). 1999; Core Competency Framework for Entry Into the Accounting Profession. New York, NY: AICPA. Available online at Bloom, B. S., M. D. Engelhart, E. J. Furst, W. H. Hill, and D. R. Krathwohl (Eds), 1956, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals, Handbook I: Cognitive Domain, New York: David McKay. Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA), 2009, The UFE Candidates Competency Map: Understanding the Professional Competencies Evaluated on the UFE, 2009 Effective for the 2010 UFE, Toronto: CICA. Certified General Accountants Association of Canada (CGA) CGA Competency Framework: 2010 Academic Year. Burnaby, BC: CGA. Cunningham, B. M., 1996, How to restructure an accounting course to enhance creative and critical thinking, Accounting Education: A Journal of Theory, Practice and Research (1:1), Demick, J. and C. Andreoletti (Eds), 2003a, Handbook of Adult Development, New York: Springer. Demick, J. and C. Andreoletti, 2003b, Future research directions in adult development, in Demick, J. and C. Andreoletti (Eds), Handbook of Adult Development ( ), New York: Springer. Fischer, K. W., 1980, A theory of cognitive development: The control and construction of hierarchies of skills, Psychological Review, 87, Fischer, K. W. and E. Pruyne, 2003, Reflective thinking in adulthood: Development, variation, and consolidation, in J. Demick & C. Andreoletti (Eds.), Handbook of Adult Development (pp ), New York: Springer. 25

26 Francis, M. C., T. C. Mulder, and J. S. Stark, 1995, Intentional Learning: A Process for Learning to Learn in the Accounting Curriculum, Accounting Education Series Vol. 12, Sarasota, FL: Accounting Education Change Commission and American Accounting Association. Gupta, S. And L. L. Marshall, 2010, Congruence between entry-level accountants required competencies and accounting textbooks, Academy of Educational Leadership Journal (14:1). Haenen, J., H. Schrijnemakers, and J. Stufkens, 2003, Sociocultural theory and the practice of teaching historical concepts, in A. Kozulin, B. Gindis, V. S. Ageyev, and S. M. Miller (Eds.), Vygotsky s Educational Theory in Cultural Context ( ), New York: Cambridge University Press. Hoare, C. (Ed), 2006, Handbook of Adult Development and Learning, New York: Oxford University Press. Hofer, B. J. and P. R. Pintrich, 1997, The development of epistemological theories: Beliefs about knowledge and knowing and their relation to learning, Review of Educational Research (Spring), Howieson, B., 2003, Accounting practice in the new millennium: Is accounting education ready to meet the challenge? The British Accounting Review (35:2), International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) Handbook of International Education Pronouncements. New York: IFAC. Available at Jackling, B. and P. De Lange, 2009, Do accounting graduates skills meet the expectations of employers? A matter of convergence or divergence, Accounting Education (18:4-5), Jones, S. H. and R. A. Davidson, 1995, Relationship between level of formal reasoning and students performance in accounting examinations, Contemporary Accounting Research (12:1), Kimmel, P., 1995, A framework for incorporating critical thinking into accounting education, Journal of Accounting Education (12:3), King, P. M. and K. S. Kitchener, 1994, Developing Reflective Judgment: Understanding and Promoting Intellectual Growth and Critical Thinking in Adolescents and Adults, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Kitchener, K. S. and P. M. King, ([1985] 1996), Reflective Judgment Scoring Manual with Examples, New Concord, KY: Reflective Judgment Associates. Kitchener, K. S., P. M. King, and S. De Luca, 2006, Development of reflective judgment in adulthood, in Hoare, C. (Ed.), Handbook of Adult Development and Learning (73-98), New York: Oxford University Press. 26