Adopting appropriate teaching models to develop knowledge and skills to academic standards in the accounting discipline

Abstract

Cooperative learning models of teaching are the most suitable teaching models for the development of professional accounting competencies in the accounting discipline. Currently, the role of accountants has changed from being a technical job to more client-oriented job. The teaching and learning of accounting has been changing to match the challenges of this new accounting role. Universities are searching for a number of strategies to teach the professional accounting competencies that are required. The Australian accounting teaching and learning standards provide a thorough set of criteria for determining what is necessary in accounting education. Joyce, Weil, and Calhoun categorised a wide variety of teaching models into four families including: information processing, behavioural, personal, and social models. This paper applied the Australian accounting teaching and learning standards criteria to the models of teaching by Joyce, Weil and Calhoun to evaluate which teaching and learning model would be most appropriate to teach future accountants. The findings indicate that the social interdependence theory and the cooperative learning model are the most appropriate to test for teaching accounting in the accounting discipline.