Assessing the success of a discipline-based communication skills development and enhancement program in a graduate accounting course

Abstract

In this paper we present results of the impact diagnostic testing and associated context-specific workshops have on students' written communication skills in a graduate-level accounting course. We find that students who undertook diagnostic testing performed better in their first semester accounting subject. This improvement is positively associated with student attendance at context-specific writing skills-based workshops. When we extend the analysis to examine the long-term benefits of participation in the academic development program, there is evidence that diagnostic testing has led to sustained improvement in students' writing ability within their final semester accounting subject.

Keywords:

• academic outcomes
• accounting education
• collaborative teaching
• communication skills
• graduate attributes
• writing skills development

Acknowledgements

The authors thank participants at the Accounting Education Special Interest Group of the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand Annual Conference, Adelaide, for their valuable suggestions. Comments and suggestions from Michael Scorgie are also gratefully acknowledged.

Notes

These other mechanisms include: an increase in the minimum standard of English language suitable to enter the degree at IELTS Band 7, the introduction of a compulsory ‘Critical thinking and communications’ subject in the first year of the program and a comprehensive skills development program during orientation, which addresses issues such as research skills, note taking and essay writing.

A post-graduate accounting conversion course provides students who have completed an undergraduate qualification in an area other than accounting the requisite skills and knowledge to meet accounting professional body requirements for membership. It covers the same core curriculum requirements as an undergraduate accounting degree.

Information about these mechanisms is also likely to be of value to other professional programs where similar issues are faced. It is of particular issue in accounting due to the larger than average proportion of EAL students enrolled in post-graduate accounting courses and the profession's concerns about accounting graduates' business communication skills.

ADEPT is an acronym representing Academic Development and Enhancement Program for Tertiary Study. A pilot program was trialled in Introductory Accounting in 2006, with the full program being offered from 2007.

The program was embedded into the three subjects in the financial accounting stream across the MPA, providing the opportunity to scaffold and increase the complexity of skill development as students progress through their studies.

An example of the specific diagnostic task is available from the authors upon request.

Non-accounting students may undertake Introductory Accounting as an elective and are not required to study Advanced Financial Accounting.

Parametric testing is justified because: (1) boxplot analysis indicates student marks are normally distributed and (2) even if the assumption of normality is violated, literature asserts that parametric testing remains more robust than non-parametric testing (Sheskin, 2007, p. 108).

In unreported results, alternative partitioning of the sample into those students who attempt both diagnostics and attend either one, or both, workshops achieve significantly higher marks in the mid-semester test, the final examination and overall for Introductory Accounting compared with those students who do not take the diagnostics (all at p < .001, two-tailed).

Many students in our cohort find transition to study challenging. Some are studying in a foreign country far from family, and others are studying for the first time after many years in the workforce. These affect attendance of students in their first semester of study.

Of the 228 students, 182 students sat both diagnostics (79.8%).