Application of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in Accounting

Araya Debessay, University of Delaware

1
The Search For Innoatie Pedagogical Approaches!
The call for introducing new pedagogical approaches has been persistent, loud, and clear.
The American Accounting Association (Bedford Committee eport !"#$%, the Big &ight
accounting firms (The 'hite (aper, !"#"%, the Accounting &ducation Change
Commission (A&CC% !""), and the A*C(A (Core Competency +ramewor, for &ntry into
the Accounting (rofession, -..!%, have all urged accounting educators to devise
innovative educational reforms to e/uip accounting graduates with the s,ills and abilities
necessary to meet the challenges of the ever growing and increasingly comple0
professional career.
The Bedford eport (!"#$, p. !#1% recommends2 3+aculties should design educational
e0periences for students that re/uire them to be active, independent learners and problem
solvers rather than passive recipients of information.4 There was also a similar call for
reform in undergraduate education at the 5une !"") 'ingspread Conference that was
organi6ed to discuss the /uality of undergraduate education. The conference developed
the following list of important characteristic of /uality performance of college and
university graduates ('ingspread, !"")%2
7igh8level s,ills in communication, computation, technological literacy, and
information retrieval to enable individuals to gain and apply new ,nowledge and
s,ills as needed.
The ability to arrive at informed 9udgments : that is, to effectively define
problems, gather and evaluate information related to those problems, and develop
solutions
Ability to address specific problems in comple0, real8world settings, in which the
development of wor,able solutions is re/uired.
'ith the A&CC;s role as a catalyst for change, several schools have introduced
curriculum and pedagogical changes, but there are also many others who are still relying
on the traditional methods of teaching. Albrecht and <ac, have lamented, 3&0cept in a
few schools, these warning signals : warnings about the future viability of accounting
!
Araya Debessay, (rofessor of Accounting, Department of Accounting and =*<, at the University of
Delaware, is currently serving as the Chair of the (edgagogy Committee of the Teaching and Curriculum
(T>C% <ection of the AAA. (rofessor Debessay is an Advanced +ellow of the *nstitute to Transform
Undergraduate &ducation (*TU&% at the University of Delaware. The University of Delaware has promoted
(roblem8Based ?earning in several disciplines and has achieved an international recognition in the use of
problem8based and active8learning strategies in the classroom. (rofessor Debessay has used @roup8base
Active *nteractive and Collaborative ?earning Approach in his accounting classes. As an Advanced +ellow
of *TU&, he is trained in the application of (B? and has used (B? in his *ntermediate Accounting course.
7e has also served as a reviewer of (B? cases in Accounting for the University of Delaware based (B?
Clearinghouse.
education 88 have largely gone unheeded. *n too many respects, accounting education is
being delivered the same way today as it was -. or A. years ago4 (Albrecht and <ac,,
-..., p. -%. This situation should not continue. *t is incumbent upon accounting educators
to e0plore ways that will prepare students better for the challenges of the -!
st
Century.
Accounting educators who are still relying on the traditional, lecture8based way of
teaching are being 3critici6ed for spending too much time on content mastery and too
little time and effort to helping students to develop s,ills that will enrich their lives and
ma,e them successful4 (Albrecht and <ac,, p. BB%. The concern with the traditional,
lecture8based teaching is that students are primarily 3engaged in rote learning, which
entails the ac/uisition of facts that have little staying power4 (Duch, et al, -..!, p. A!"%.
The Carnegie +oundation;s report, Reinventing Undergraduate Education: A Blueprint
for Americas Research Universities (!"##% stated that 3traditional lectures and note8
ta,ing were created for a time when boo,s were scarce and costly and lecturing to large
numbers of students was an efficient means of transferring ,nowledge.4 CDuch page BD
The persistent call is for pedagogical approaches that will help professionals develop
their problem solving s,ills, their analytical ability and their ability for collaborative
wor, as well the ability to continue to learn on their own. *n urging accounting educators
to devise new pedagogical approaches, Albrecht and <ac, argue2 3<tudents forget what
they memori6e. Content ,nowledge becomes dated and is often not transferable across
different types of 9obs. En the other hand, critical s,ills rarely become obsolete and are
usually transferable across assignments and careers.4 (Albrecht and <ac,, p. BB% *n order
to address the concerns raised by Albrecht and <ac,, accounting educators need to
3design educational e0periences for students that re/uire them to be active, independent
learners and problem solvers rather than passive recipients of information.4 (Duch, et al.,
-..!, p. )%
The purpose of this writing is to urge accounting educators to seriously consider
(roblem8based ?earning ((B?%, as a pedagogy that will better prepare accounting
professionals for the challenges of the -!
st
Century.
"hat is Problem-based Learning (PBL)#
(B? is a group8based active interactive and collaborative learning approach. (B? has its
roots in the medical education. (B?, at the present, has achieved wide popularity in a
variety of disciplines in undergraduate education! The -..! A*C(A Core Competency
+ramewor, for &ntry into the Accounting (rofession has listed (B? as one of the
recommended 3strategies and classroom techni/ues4 for the development of re/uisite
competencies for accounting professionals. The A*C(A is urging Academics to embrace
the 3paradigm shift from a content8driven to a s,ills8based curriculum,4 by adopting (B?
among other pedagogical approaches. (http$%%&&&!aicpa!org%edu%boardof!htm%
The uni/ue feature of (B? is the fact that it is a problem driven, student8centered
learning approach where the student assumes ma9or responsibility in the learning process
and the role of the instructor is that of a facilitator and a discussion leader (<chwart6, et.
'
al. p. -%. 'hile there are different versions of what constitutes (B?, it is not the same as
problem8solving activities that are typically found in accounting te0tboo,s. 3*n the
problem8based approach, comple0, real8world problems are used to motivate students to
identify and research the concepts and principles they need to ,now to wor, through
those problems.4 (Boud > +eletti, p. -%

(hilip Cottell has developed several accounting cases for application of (B? in
accounting. *n e0plaining the difference between (B? cases and the problems in
traditional accounting te0t8boo,s, Cottell states that unli,e the traditional te0tboo,
accounting problems, a (B? case is 3an unfolding problem ... in that the problem itself
does not contain sufficient information for the student to solve it. *n the initial stage, the
problem has a vague and broad re/uirement. As students wrestle with the problem they
first must determine what information they must obtain to fulfill the re/uirement. The
problem Funfolds; as students are given additional information that allows them to engage
the problem at an increasingly concrete level. As the students wor, together on the
several stages of the problem, they simultaneously learn both course8related concepts and
problem solving s,ills. 3 (Cottell, -..-%
The (istor) of PBL
(B? was first introduced at =c=aster =edical <chool in Canada in the late !"$.s
(<chwart6, et. al. p. -%. <ince then, (B? is being widely used in a variety of disciplines
with some variations. Ene of the originators of (B?, 7.<. Barrows, has said that (B?
3does not refer to a specific educational method. *t can have many different meanings4
(Barrows, !"#$ /uoted in <chwart6, et. al. p. -%. <ince the early !"".;s, The University
of Delaware has promoted (roblem8Based ?earning in several disciplines and has
achieved an international recognition in the use of problem8based and active8learning
strategies in the classroom. The University of Delaware has created a Clearinghouse,
which is believed to be the first online (B? 9ournal. <everal accounting cases that have
been specifically developed for use in (B? environment are available to accounting
educators through the University of Delaware (B? Clearinghouse.
(http2GGwww.udel.eduGpblc%
The Benefits of PBL
The motivation to adopt (B? in the medical education was the desire to help medical
professionals to cope up with e0plosion of ,nowledge that proved the traditional rote
learning seriously deficient. (&vensen > 7melo, !% @iven that Accounting professionals
are facing similar problems, (B?, which has proven effective in the medical profession,
can also be successfully applied in educating accounting professionals. Ene of the
compelling reasons why accounting educators should adopt (B? is because it is
becoming increasingly clear that it is difficult to include all the ,nowledge that the
accounting professionals will need to prepare them for their professional career.
=oreover, it is a waste of valuable time to e0pect accounting students to learn material
that in many instances proves obsolete before they graduate. 'hat is needed in educating
accounting professionals is to help them ac/uire the s,ills that will enable them to 3learn
/uic,ly, effectively and independently when they need it.4 (Boud and +eletti, p. )%
*
(roblem8based instruction is designed to help students develop the following abilities2
Thin, critically and be able to analy6e and solve comple0, real8world problems
+ind, evaluate, and use appropriate learning resources
'or, cooperatively in teams and small groups
Demonstrate versatile and effective communication s,ill, both verbal and written
(Albanese > =itchell, !""A, in Duch et. al, -..!%.
To sum up, the benefit of (B? is to help accounting students to develop the ability for
self8directed learning in order to cope with ever changing and increasing body of
,nowledge they will need to succeed as professionals. (Boud and +eletti, p. !1%
+eferences$
Albrecht, '. <teve and <ac,, obert 5, (-...% Accounting Education: Charting the
Course through a Perilous Future, Accounting &ducation <eries, Holume Io. !$.
American Accounting Association (AAA%, Bedford Committee, Committee on the +uture
<tructure, Content, and <cope of Accounting &ducation (The Bedford
Committee%. (!"#$%. 3+uture Accounting &ducation2 (reparing for the e0panding
profession.4 ssues in Accounting Education (<pring%2 !$#8!"B.
American *nstitute of Certified (ublic Accountants. (-..!% Core Competenc! Frame"or#
for Entr! into the Accounting Profession!
(http$%%&&&!aicpa!org%edu%boardof!htm)
Arthur Andersen, et. al. (!"#"$. Perspectives on Education: Capa%ilities for &uccess in
the Accounting Profession. ('hite (aper%.
Boud, D. and +eletti, @. (&ds% (!""1% 'he Challenge of Pro%lem(Based )earning. -
nd
&d.
Jogan (age, ?ondon. UJ
Cottell, (hilip (-..-% : Blan,ley Corporation Case. (B? Clearinghouse, University of
Delaware (B? 'eb <ite! (http$%%&&&!udel!edu%pblcl)
Duch, B. 5., @roh, <. &., and Allen, D. &. (&ds.% (-..!$. 'he Po"er of Pro%lem(Based
?earning. <terling, HA2 <tylus (ublishing, <terling, HA.
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Perspective on )earning nteractions. ?awrence &rlbaum Associates, I5.
<avin8Baden, (-...% Pro%lem(%ased )earning in *igher Education: Untold &tories.
Epen University (ress, Buc,ingham, UJ
<chwart6, (., =ennin <., 'ebb, @. (&ds.% (-..!% Pro%lem(Based )earning: Case &tudies,
E+perience and Practice. Jogan (age, ?ondon, UJ.
'ilerson, ?., @i9selaers, '. 7. (&ds% (!""$% Bringing Pro%lem(Based )earning to *igher
Education: 'heor! and Practice. 5osey8Bass (ublishers, <an +rancisco.
'illiams, Doyle K. and @ary ?. <undem, (!""!%3@rant Awarded for *mplementing
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