Project Discovery
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PREFACE
This document is intended for use primarily by undergraduate students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), especially current accountancy majors, those contemplating a major in accountancy, and students majoring in other fields who will take accountancy courses. This document also may be of interest to various non-student groups -- business and accountancy organizations, accountancy faculty at other colleges and universities, and prospective employers of our graduates -- who have an interest in learning more about accountancy education at UIUC. The UIUC accountancy faculty is proud of the innovative accountancy curriculum, "Project Discovery," which is described in this document, and trusts that the information contained herein will communicate the faculty’s vision for accountancy education. The faculty is presently developing a 150-hour accountancy program. As information about that program becomes available, it will be posted on the Department of Accountancy Home Page.
BACKGROUND
The Department of Accountancy of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) has significantly revised the undergraduate accountancy curriculum. Although the UIUC accountancy program is one of the country's top-ranked programs, we felt the need to reexamine and improve the curriculum in order to increase the value to and of our students. This effort is called "Project Discovery" because a central theme of the accountancy curriculum is learning by discovery. In addition, the Project Discovery curriculum emphasizes not only accounting knowledge but also skills necessary to the success of accounting professionals, such as the skills of inquiry, analysis, judgment, and decision making.
Accounting Education: The Problems
Accounting education, developed over the past quarter century, has been structured primarily by traditional accounting functions (i.e., external reporting, internal reporting, information systems, auditing, taxation). We contend that such accounting education is problematic primarily because:
"... accountancy education does a poor job of instilling the requisite skills of discovery (problem identification, information search and evidence evaluation) that are critical to successful professionals in today's complex environment (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Accountancy, Project Discovery: A Prototype for Education in Accountancy. A proposal submitted to the Accounting Education Change Commission, November 1990, p. 1)."
We further believe that numerous characteristics of existing accountancy education contribute to this state of affairs:
- A lack of integration of general and specialized education;
- Disjointed treatment of accounting's functional application areas;
- An exceedingly narrow, procedural introductory accounting course;
- An over reliance on passive learning;
- An under development of various oral and written communication skills;
- Too limited an emphasis on conceptual understanding of accounting issues;
- Too little synergy between the teaching and research missions;
- Insufficient involvement of accounting practitioners.
Project Discovery: The Solution
To address these deficiencies, we created, via Project Discovery, "... an innovative curriculum prototype that can be implemented at many universities around the country (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Accountancy, Project Discovery: A Prototype for Education in Accountancy, p. 1)."
Project Discovery has these salient features:
- Active learning methods that enhance development of critical thinking abilities. The Project Discovery curriculum places much greater emphasis on methods and skills of inquiry, analysis, judgment and decision making.
- Accountancy courses that better integrate and reinforce general education requirements. The Project Discovery curriculum integrates, by extension and reinforcement in the major field, the content and skills learned in basic courses (e.g., English, Psychology, Economics).
- Introductory courses that are more interesting and broadly-based. The Project Discovery sophomore, two-course, sequence provides a broader introduction to business and an expanded understanding of the role of information in business and society.
- A conceptual framework that cuts across functional areas. Accounting courses in the Project Discovery curriculum are organized with an integrated conceptual structure common to all aspects of the discipline. This conceptual structure emphasizes the utility of information, together with information production and dissemination given various uses.
- Better development and improvement of students' interpersonal and communication skills. These skills are reflected in the fabric of the curriculum through the use of team projects and written and oral reports.
- Greater integration of research findings into the curriculum. Project Discovery courses include knowledge gained through current research and related implications for the practice of accountancy.
- A working partnership between academe and practice. The goal is to enable a continuous focus on the practical relevance of the educational process as well as a richer and more contemporary flavor to the content of course materials.
THE PROJECT DISCOVERY CURRICULUM
The Project Discovery curriculum consists of three types of required accountancy courses.
- A two-course introductory component (part of the Business Core):
- A five-course concepts component (part of the required accountancy courses):
- A one-course skills component (part of the required accountancy courses):
In addition, there is an elective component of Project Discovery. This elective component, as explained in more detail later, consists of a minimum of one three-hour accountancy course and a maximum of three three-hour accountancy courses.
Each of these components of the accountancy curriculum is described in Exhibit 1. Exhibit 2 contains information about the sequence of courses in the curriculum.
We have assessed and will continue to assess the impact of the Project Discovery innovations. To date, the evidence paints a very positive picture of Project Discovery. We are able to significantly enhance both students' perceptions of their knowledge, skills, and attitudes and their actual knowledge, skills and attitudes as measured by various testing instruments. All of these outcomes have been achieved without a diminution in students' technical accounting knowledge and their performance on the Uniform CPA Examination.
Administrative Issues
- Since the fall semester of 1997, the only curriculum for a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accountancy at the UIUC is Project Discovery.
- The standard University and College of Commerce and Business Administration catalog requirements and rules continue to apply to UIUC accountancy majors. However, note that the printed (1995-97) and on-line Programs of Study statements are not (as of August 1, 1998) up to date with respect to the description of the accountancy program and the specification of accountancy courses. The new versions of the Programs of Study booklets will contain the following statement:
Organizations are a nexus of contracts, implicit and explicit, among resource owners who contract with each other to the benefit of all. In most complex organizations, these contracts specify who has the knowledge, and thus the rights, to make decisions about the use and control of the contracted resources. The effectiveness and efficiency of decisions regarding initiation, execution and monitoring of organizations’ contracts depend on the quantity and quality of information available. The accountant assists in the development, accumulation, evaluation and dissemination of the information necessary for contracting parties to make effective and efficient contracting decisions. Organizations, in turn, contract with various segments of society such as labor unions, capital markets, regulatory agencies and governments. The accountant assists in the development, accumulation, evaluation and dissemination of the information necessary for ensuring that organizations comply with the terms of their social contracts.
Study in accountancy is designed to prepare individuals for entry into the accountancy profession independent of subsequent specialization. This preparation includes knowledge of the activities of organizations, businesses, and accounting practices; intellectual, interpersonal, and communication skills; and personal capabilities and professional attitudes. Areas of specialization in accountancy include financial accounting, management accounting, accounting information systems, taxation and auditing. Specialization in an accounting field requires additional graduate education and practical experience.
Minimum requirements in the major for the Bachelor of Science Degree in Accountancy are:
| Course | Hours |
|---|---|
| Accy 300- Professional Development Workshop | 3 |
| Accy 301- Accounting Measurement & Disclosure | 3 |
| Accy 302- Decision Making for Accountancy | 3 |
| Accy 303- Accounting Institutions & Regulation | 3 |
| Accy 304- Accounting Control Systems | 3 |
| Accy 305- Assurance & Attestation | 3 |
| Accy 3??- Elective | 3 |
| TOTAL | 21 |
Accountancy courses may not be taken on a credit-no credit basis unless all requirements of the major have been satisfied. A limit of 33 hours of accountancy courses (including Accy 201 and Accy 202) may be counted toward the 124 total hours required for the Bachelor of Science Degree in Accountancy.
Note that the 21 hours specified above includes one three-hour elective and that these 21 hours are in addition to the six hours of accountancy (Accy 201 and Accy 202) taken as part of the business core requirements.
EXHIBIT 1
Accountancy Course Components of the UIUC Undergraduate Program
Business Core: The Introductory Courses
During the sophomore year, all Commerce and Business Administration students take two accountancy courses (Accy 201 & Accy 202) as part of their business core. These courses, which are aimed at placing accounting in a broad context, count toward the maximum of 33 hours of accountancy courses, out of the 124 total hours required for the Bachelor of Science Degree. Accy 201 & Accy 202 (Accounting and Accountancy I and II, respectively) provide introductions to business concepts and practice and to the role of accountants and accounting in society. These courses also provide a conceptual foundation for subsequent components of the curriculum. A key aspect of the conceptual foundation is an introduction to the concept of contracting. Accountancy is presented as a discipline that facilitates contracting among members of society by developing, accumulating, evaluating, and disseminating contract-relevant information. Contracts involve two or more parties and these parties must make decisions regarding contract initiation, fulfillment, and enforcement. These decisions, in turn, depend on information and accountants play key roles in development, accumulation, evaluation and communication of this information.
Required Accountancy Courses
The required accountancy courses are Accy 300 - Accy 305. Collectively, these courses provide 18 of the minimum of 21 hours of 300-level accountancy courses required for the major. In contrast with present accountancy education, which is organized around accounting functions (e.g., financial reporting, internal reporting, taxation), most of these courses are conceptually oriented and organized around pervasive features of accountancy. Each of these courses is described below. Refer to Exhibit 2 on page 9 for information relative to the place of each course in the curriculum.
Professional Development Workshop (Accy 300): Recognizing that students who intend to pursue careers in accountancy must develop numerous skills and capabilities and that some will not be sufficiently developed during the introductory and concepts courses, we have created a free-standing course entitled the Professional Development Workshop (Accy 300). This one-hour continuing course (taken for three semesters) develops and improves skills required of a full-functioning professional including:
- Oral and written presentation/ communication skills;
- Teamwork and leadership skills including organization, negotiation and conflict resolution;
- Time management, stress management, and interviewing;
- Coverage of topics such as discrimination and other social issues of the workplace, cultural diversity and how to conduct business in a global marketplace.
Accounting Measurement And Disclosure (Accy 301). This course focuses on capturing data underlying accounting information, manipulating, and presenting those data so that they meet the needs of contracting parties. Unlike present accountancy courses in which measurement and disclosure are presented in context-specific settings, this course adopts a context-neutral conceptual orientation thereby explicating how different settings affect the selection of measurement and disclosure techniques. Major objectives of this course include:
- Introducing measurement concepts including properties of measures, scales, allocation, aggregation and estimation;
- Identifying objectives of accounting information, including qualitative characteristics;
- Understanding valuation principles and alternative valuation techniques as they apply to both stock and flow measures;
- Understanding the relation between accounting measures and decision objectives arising from explicit and implicit contracts.
Decision Making For Accountancy (Accy 302). An important function of accountancy is to provide information to support informed judgments and decisions. Increasingly, accountants must comprehend the complexity, uncertainty, and risk inherent in their professional activities while maintaining their role as effective facilitators of economic decision making. In this course, students learn to examine the decision making implications of a variety of accounting issues using ideas from economics, statistics, and psychology. Key course objectives include:
- Introduction to the various uses of accounting information in decision making;
- Understanding the information needs of decision makers both inside and outside organizations;
- Development of judgment and problem-solving skills, particularly related to decision making in the face of uncertainty and ambiguity;
- Providing an integrated framework for structuring and using analytic models to assist judgment and decision making, including concepts useful in the construction of automated decision aids in accounting settings;
- Understanding both quantitative and intuitive approaches to decision making, emphasizing their complementary strengths and weaknesses.
Accounting Institutions And Regulation (Accy 303). This course is focused on the institutions that regulate the specification and application of accounting methods for different purposes. These institutions that are both governmental (e.g., Securities Exchange Commission [SEC], Internal Revenue Service [IRS]), and private (e.g., American Institute of Certified Public Accountants [AICPA], Financial Accounting Standards Board [FASB]), create regulatory and legal environments that have a widespread influence on accounting. Students must have a knowledge of these institutions and an understanding of how the accounting rules, standards, and practices they promulgate can be used to address professional accounting problems. Other key objectives of this junior-year course include:
- Understanding the economic aspects of regulation;
- Examining regulation of accounting procedures with respect to external reporting, including the activities of the FASB, the SEC, the AICPA, and, to a lesser extent, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Committee;
- Considering the regulation of accounting procedures for rate-setting and other purposes by governmental agencies and state public utility commissions;
- Examining regulation of accounting procedures for taxation including consideration of the US Congress, the IRS, and foreign governments.
Accounting Control Systems (Accy 304). This course focuses on the mechanisms by which parties plan, execute, and monitor their contracts. The course includes coverage of the design of accounting information systems for facilitating and monitoring the set of implicit and explicit contracts that control the activities of individuals and organizations. Key course objectives include:
- Developing an understanding of conflicting interests implicit in contracting settings;
- Examining controls (e.g., planning, transaction) which can be employed and considering factors that affect selection;
- Analyzing information technology and cost/benefit considerations in control system selection;
- Developing an understanding of information controls including those that assure completeness, reconciliation of independent sources, monitoring and verification via audit trails.
Assurance and Attestation (Accy 305). This course is concerned with the lending of credibility by a non-contracting party to the assertions one contracting party makes to other contracting parties. The conditions which give rise to the demand for this service are studied and it is noted that they exist in numerous "places" within our society, including the arena of financial reporting. The emphasis in this course is on attestation concepts including evidence, ethics, and control. Other topics covered include risks that the attester can reduce and those that the attester bears. Key objectives of this course include:
- Developing an understanding of the role of assurance and attestation in a market-based economy, including the potential subject matters of assurance and attest services;
- Examining concepts and issues of assurance and attestation, including assertions, risks, and verification;
- Developing an understanding of verification procedures, including the scientific method and the role of evidence;
- Developing an understanding of ethical dilemmas in assurance and attestation settings and an awareness of alternative standards and criteria for coping with these dilemmas.
Accountancy Electives
While the choice of elective courses rests with the student, we offer the following observations as a guide:
The accountancy courses specified on page 4, in concert with the required sophomore accountancy courses (Accy 201 & Accy 202) will provide the minimum 27 hours of credit
required for a Bachelor of Science degree in Accountancy at UIUC. Thus, at a minimum, students will take one three-hour accountancy elective course. At a maximum, given that no more than 33 hours of accountancy may be counted toward the degree, three three-hour accountancy elective courses may be counted toward the Bachelor of Science degree in Accountancy.
Relative to traditional accountancy courses, Project Discovery core courses are considerably less tied to the current rules of accountancy practice as promulgated in professional accountancy standards. While this altered orientation is purposeful, students will want to acquire an understanding of the current rules of practice and a facility with the professional standards/literature sufficient to solve real-world accountancy problems. Instilling such an understanding and creating that facility are the primary goals of three of our accountancy electives:
Financial Accounting Reporting Standards (Accy 310)
Taxation Rules And Regulations (Accy 312)
Auditing Standards And Practice (Accy 315).
We recommend that as many of these elective courses as possible be taken by students planning to sit for the Uniform CPA exam.
EXHIBIT 2
Project Discovery: Illustrative Four-Year Program
| First Year | |
| Composition I Linear Algebra Microeconomics I Introduction to Computers Foreign Language (if needed) General Ed. Courses |
Speech Communication Calculus Macroeconomics I Foreign Language (if needed) General Ed. Courses |
| Second Year | |
| Accounting and Accountancy
I Microeconomics II Economic Statistics I Composition II Foreign Language (if needed) General Ed. Courses |
Accounting and Accountancy
II Business Financial Management Economic Statistics II General Ed. Courses |
| Third Year | |
| Decision Making for
Accountancy Accounting Measurement & Disclosure Professional Workshop Marketing Legal Environment of Business Elective |
Accounting Control
Systems Accounting Institutions & Regulation Professional Workshop Management & Organization Behavior Electives |
| Fourth Year | |
| Assurance & Attestation Professional Workshop Elective-Tax Rules & Regulations Elective-Accounting Standards Electives |
Elective- Auditing
Standards Business Policy Elective-Business Law Electives |
Note: Project Discovery courses are shown in bold italic.
For further information, please contact:
Ira Solomon
Head, Department of Accountancy
R.C. Evans Endowed Chair in Commerce
isolomon@illinois.edu
University of Illinois
College of Business
Department of Accountancy
1206 S. Sixth Street
Champaign, Illinois 61820
(217) 333-0857
Fax: (217) 244-0902
