DOI: 10.4018/IJWLTT.2020070103

International Journal of Web-Based Learning and Teaching TechnologiesVolume 15 • Issue 3 • July-September 2020

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Using Deming’s Cycle for Improvement in a Course:A Case StudyAnil K. Aggarwal, University of Baltimore, USA

ABSTRACT

Theboundariesbetweenaccountingandtechnologyisbecomingfuzzierasaccountingcompaniesarebecomingconsultingcompanies.Digitaleconomiesarechangingbusinessmodelsandcompaniesthatdonotadeptcanbecomeobsoleteveryfast.Evenprofessionalorganizationsarerecommendingusingtechnologytomodernize,automateandexpediteaccountingdiscipline.Therefore,itisnecessarytotrainpersonneltobecomecompetentinbothtechnologyandaccounting.UniversitiesarefulfillingthisrequirementbyofferingcoursessuchasAccountingInformationSystems,dataanalytics,bigdata,etc.ThisarticleusesDeming’sPlanDoCheckAct(PDCA)cycleforlongitudinalassessmentandimprovementoftheAIScourse.Insteadofre-inventingthewheel,instructorscanlearnfromourexperience.Thisarticlewouldbeusefulforinstructorstryingdifferentandemergingapproaches.Inaddition,thisarticlewouldbeusefulforinstructorstryingtoengagestudentsandtotrainthemforfuturechallenges.

KeyWoRDSAccounting Information Systems, Case Study, Longitudinal Assessment, PDCA Cycle

INTRoDUCTIoN

Astechnologydiffusesacrossorganizations,functionalboundariesarebecomingblurred.Accountingfirm, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL), advertises themselves as offering technologyservices,“Todaybusinessandtechnologyareinextricablylinked…keepingpacewiththeemergingtechnologylandscapecanbedifficultforeventhemosttech-savvyleaders.”Businessesarerecognizingtheevolvingnatureoffastpacedtechnologiesthatischangingclientrequirements.Clientsareaskingforacompleteseamlesssolutiontotheirproblems.Itisnotonlytax,auditorbalancesheets,butitis“off-the-shelf”totalpackagetheyaredemanding.BigaccountingcompaniesaretransformingasAccountingInformationSystemsServices(AISS)companiesbyprovidingnotonlytaxandauditconsultation,butalsoITrelatedadvicetotheirclients.AccordingtoaPathwayCommissionReportonAccountingEducation,(2012):

…businesses are processes, not buckets of accounting information. If the accounting community continues to concentrate on the financial accounting system and not understanding the technology

Thisarticle,originallypublishedunderIGIGlobal’scopyrightonJuly1,2020willproceedwithpublicationasanOpenAccessarticlestart-ingonJanuary28,2021inthegoldOpenAccessjournal,InternationalJournalofWeb-BasedLearningandTeachingTechnologies(con-

vertedtogoldOpenAccessJanuary1,2021),andwillbedistributedunderthetermsoftheCreativeCommonsAttributionLicense(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)whichpermitsunrestricteduse,distribution,andproductioninanymedium,providedtheauthorof

theoriginalworkandoriginalpublicationsourceareproperlycredited.

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and dynamic business processes that run companies of the 21st century, the accounting profession has the potential to become obsolete. While this may be a bit strong, the point was made loud and clear: Our students and faculty need to adapt to the speed of change of technology and business practices.

Advances in technologydemandcompleteandseamless training thatgoesacross functionalareas.Ascompaniesprovidewholesolutions,itbecomesmoreimportantnotonlytocomplywithregulationsliketheSOX,HIPPA,etc.,buttoaccomplishthemefficientlyandintheshortesttimepossible.Technologyistheretoassistinthisendeavor.UniversitiesarefulfillingthisknowledgegapbyofferingcoursessuchasAccountingInformationSystemAIS),DataAnalytics inAccountingetc.).Universitiesmusttrainstudentstobetterunderstandthedata,processesandtechnologythatcangeneratedesiredreportsandinsightstosatisfyorvalidatecompliance.AISisamovingtargetsincetechnologyischangingrapidly.ItisimportantnotonlydevelopanAIScoursebutalsotoimproveitcontinually.Thispaperaddressesonesuchcourse,namelyAIS,andstudiesitscontinuousimprovementusingPDCAcycleproposedbyDeming.ThisstudyshouldbebeneficialtofacultyplanningtoengagestudentsandcontinuallyimprovetheAIScourses.Insteadofreinventingthewheel,thisstudyprovidesanexcellentstartingpointforcontinuousimprovementandtheassessmentprocess.

Nextsectiondiscussescurrentliterature,followedbytheexperiment.

LITeRATURe ReVIeW

AIS is becoming a critical part of all businesses. Özdoğan (2017) noted that technology-basedaccounting start-ups with both accounting professionals and entrepreneurs having an expertiseon information technologieswill come togetherandwill increase in the future,andcloud-basedaccounting initiativeswill shape the futureof theprofession.Adler et al. (2016)noted that it isimportant to train student in real-world understandings of accounting. Describing the currentresearch in accounting, Sangster (2015) noted “accounting faculty publish top-quality researchonaccountingregulation, financialmarkets,business finance,auditing, internationalaccounting,managementaccounting,taxation,accountinginsociety,andmore,butnotonwhattheydointheir‘dayjob’–teachingaccounting.”Borthicketal.(2017)alsoshowedimportanceofdataanalysisindecisionmaking.SeveralothersliketheDTTreport(2015),PWCreport(2015)havealsostressedtheimportanceoftechnologyandaccounting.FollowingSangster,AdlerandBorthickthispaperfocusesonanevolvingaccountingcourse-accountinginformationsystems.AISisoneareathatisfusingdifferentdisciplineslikeaccounting,informationsystems,law,databaseanddataanalyticstonameafewanduniversitiesarepreparingstudentsfortheseemergingchallenges.ThoughPDCAwasprimarilyusedinmanufacturing,severalauthorsrecentlyhaveusedittoimprovetheircourse,programsandskills.Sharifetal.(2000)usedPDCAcycletostudyAccountinginformationsystemprogramandrevisedtheirprogramsbasedonseveraliterations.Theireffortswere,however,weredirectedondevelopinganAISprogramratherthanimprovinganAIScourse.Knightetal.(2012)employedDeming’sPDCACycleofcontinuousimprovementasasystematicproceduretoassessPublicRelationsWriting.Afterseveralcyclestheyconcludedpublicrelationswritingisafundamentalskillforstudents’successandpedagogythatteachesstudentstowritenewsreleases.Taniguchietal.(2018)studiedaProjectManagementInformationSystems(PMIS)courseusingPDCAcycle.Authorsconcluded,“thecontinuousimprovementonthereportingqualityofPMISwasfoundtobeeffectiveinachievingqualityofPMISoutputinformationtohelpmanagersindecisionmaking,planning,organizingandcontrollingtheproject.Itwasalsoeffectiveinpositivelyinfluencingprojectmanagementsuccess in termsof thefollowingthreeprojectmanagementdimensions:Doing theprojectattheacceptabletime;Observingthebudget(cost)andMeetingthequalityspecificationsoftheproject.”ThoughabovestudiesusedPDCAapproachbutwerenotdirectlyrelatedtoanAIScourse.Inthisstudy,resultsfromdirectmeasurementsareusedtoevaluateandimprovethecourse.Specifically,threesemesterresultsarecomparedforstudentperformance.Whiletheresultsshow

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improvement,thecourserequirescontinuousimprovementtomeetcurrentchallenges.Inaddition,webrieflylookatthefuturedirectionofanAIScourseandhowitisintegratedwithbusinessintelligenceandcomputersciencedisciplines.

ThenextsectiondescribestheAIScourseandthelatersectionsthatfollowdescribethestudy.

Accounting Information System (AIS)AISisdefinedasacoursethat:

combines the study and practice of accounting with the design, implementation, and monitoring of information systems. Such systems use modern information technology resources together with traditional accounting controls and methods to provide users the financial information necessary to manage their organizations. (Henson, 2009)

Otherauthors(Romney&Steinbart,2015;Gelinas&Dull,2015)havealsoprovidedsimilarexplanations.Giventhesedefinitions,theAIScoursehasthefollowinglearningobjectives:

• Identifytheprimarymethodsofcollectingandprocessingdataaboutanorganization;• Illustratetheuseofadatabasemanagementsystem;• Identifyandillustratesystemdevelopmentanddocumentationtechniques;• Explaincomputer-basedinformationsystemscontrol;• Understandandillustratetheuseofaccountingforensicsinafraudsituation;• Identifysystemdevelopmentandsystemanalysistechniques;• UnderstandtheXBRLimportanceandevolvingtechnologies.

As evidenced by the course objective, AIS includes information systems with accountingapplications.Thiscourseisanatypicalaccountingcoursesinceoutcomesmaybeapproximate(ormany)ratherthanabsolute.Thenextsectiondescribesthemethodologyandthehypothesis.

MeTHoDoLoGy AND HyPoTHeSIS

WeuseDeming’sP(plan)D(do)C(heck)A(act)cyclethathasbeenusedextensivelyinmanufacturingforqualitycontrol(Deming,1986;Juran,1989)andcontinuousimprovement.LatelyPDCAhasalsobeenusedineducationresearchforcontinuousimprovementandqualityassessment(Taniguchietal,2018;Knightetal,2012;Aggarwaletal,2006).

Thiscycletypicallyinvolves:

PLAN:Planningthestudy(selectlearningobjectives)DO:Conductingthestudy,(developthestudy)CHECK:Checkingtheresultsandidentifyingweaknesses,identifytreatmentACT:Implementthetreatment

Onceaplanismadeandstudyisdeveloped,weaknesses,ifany,areidentified(check),thentreatmentsareidentified(act)tomitigateoreliminatethoseweaknesses.Figure1showsthemappingoftheAIScourseintoPDCAcycle.PDCAcycleiscontinuous,howeveronlyonecycleisshownforillustrationpurposes.

Planninginvolvesselectionofalearningobjectivethatresearcherswanttostudy.ThecurrentAIScoursehasseveralLOandweselectedthe“explaincomputer-basedinformationsystemcontrols”asthelearningobjectiveforthisstudy.Acaseassignmentwasusedtostudystudentperformance,withstudentshavingthefollowingtasks:

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1. Identifyatleastfoureventsorthreatsthatmayconfrontthisstartup;2. Estimatethelikelihoodofeachthreathappening.YoumayhavetogototheInternetforthis

part.(Ifnotfound,usesubjectiveassessment);3. Estimatetheimpact(maybesubjectiveassessment);4. Identifycontrolstoguardagainsteachthreatidentifiedin1;5. Estimatecost/benefitanalysis;6. Suggestacourseofaction(reduce,avoid,shareoraccept);7. Identifyanyethicalandcontrolissueswiththecase.

Figure 1. Mapping of AIS course into PDCA cycle

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TheaboverequirementsweremappedinBloom’staxonomyascomprehension,analysisandapplicationcompetencies(seeTable1).Thismapping“Comprehensive,AnalysisandApplication”reinforcesseveralaspectsofoveralllearningobjectivesoftheaccountingprogram.

Develop RubricsRubricsaretypicallyusedtoassessperformance.Manyauthorshaverecommendedusingrubricstomeasurelearningobjectivesinvariousdisciplines(deKlerketal,2016;Brooks,2013;Shepherd&Mullane,2011;Ravenscraftetal,2005).Forexample,Schaferetal.(2016)usedrubrictoassessstudentachievementofthreelearninggoals:accountingmeasurement,research,andcriticalthinking.Cascinietal.(2007)usedrubrictoassessproblemsolvingskillsofaccountingstudents.Accordingtoseveralresearchersandorganizations(Stegeman,etal,2016;Andrade,2010;rubistar,2008),arubricspecifiesthelevelofperformanceexpectedforseverallevelsofquality.Arubricrequiresidentifyinglevelofratingsandqualityindicators.Weusedrubricasawayofmeasuringstudent’ssystemcontrolapplicationskills.Firststepwastoselectqualityindicators.Oncequalityindicatorsweredeveloped,ameasurementcriterionwasdevelopedandforsimplicity’ssakeitwasdecidedtousethesamescaleastheonesusedintheclassroom,i.e.,A,B,CandF.NoteDandFwerecombinedasFsinceDisnotapassinggrade.Anactualrubricforproblemsolvingcompetencywasdevelopedusingrubistar’smodel.RubricforsystemcontrolsrelatestoBloom’staxonomyofsystemcontrols(seeAppendix).

AnassessmentapproachwasdevelopedtoidentifyA,B,CandF.Followingcriterionwasused:

“A” was given if the student was able to comprehend, analyze and apply the concepts correctly on one hand and an “F” was given if the student did not do any of the part correctly.Since the first two parts (plan and do of the PDCA cycle) are defined to some extent, we will concentrate on the last two parts: check and act.

Check:

• Assessingresults• Identifyingweaknesses

Act:

• Diminishtheweaknesses• Repeatthestepsuntildesiredresultsaremet

Table 1. Information system controls in terms of Bloom’s Taxonomy

Comprehension •Analyzethecasesituation

Analysis•Identifycomponentsothreatsocontrols

Application

•DevelopoCost/benefitanalysis•ApplyoCourseofaction(control)oEthicalIssues

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Thestudyinvolvesthreesemesters(threesemesters):

Semester 1:Initialassessment(semester1)/checkandact.Semester 2:Comparethefirsttwosemesters/checkandact.Semester 3:Comparethelasttwosemesters/checkandact.

Onceresultsarecheckedandtreatmentused,itisexpectedwiththetreatmentthatstudentswouldperformbetterinthenextsemester(semester).Hence,thefollowinghypothesiswasdeveloped:

H1:Studentsinsecondsemesterperformbetterthanthefirstsemester.H2:Studentsinthethirdsemesterperformbetterthanthesecondsemester.

Studentlearningwasmeasuredbytheirscoreinthecontrolassignmentandadifferenceinmeanstestwasusedtotestthishypothesis.Thenextsectiondescribesthecase.

The Case StudyThestudyinvolvesanundergraduateclassinanAIScoursethatisrequiredofallaccountingmajorsatamid-Atlanticuniversity.Studywasconductedinhybridandweb-basedclasses.Hybridclassesusedwebextensivelyforbothtextualandsoftwareknowledge.Atypicalclasshas12to50studentsdependingonthesemesteranddeliverymode.Thecoursehasmanyinformation-relatedcomponentsandsoftwarecompetenciesareneededtosuccessfullycompletethiscourse.Therewere63studentsinsemester1,53studentsinsemester2and28studentsinsemester3.Thetypicalstudentintheseclassesiseitherafreshmanorsophomoreanddoesnothaveaformalbackgroundininformationsystems.Studentpopulationhasnotchangedovertimeintermsoffunctionalorsurfaceleveldiversityremovingage,gender,raceorfunctionalexpertiseimpactonthetreatmentanditsoutcome.

Severalauthors(Xuetal.,2015;Smithetal.,2016;Mancinietal.,2016)haveidentifiedimportantfactorsliketechnologyandcontrolforasuccessfulAIS.TheAIScourseconsistedofthefollowingthreeassignments:

• Database• QuickBooks• Controls

An assignment on controls was used for this study. This assignment was selected due tocompetencyrequirementsbothinaccountingandintechnology.Abriefdescriptionofassignmentisincludedhere.

The assignment involved a startup food delivery business created by three students, “Threecollegefriends,Johnny,Mesi,andFordareplanningtostartajointventureFood_r_us.Eachofthemiswillingtoput$50,000forthisnewventure.Therearemanyrisksinsuchastartupandtheyrealizeifthebusinessfailstheycouldloseitall.Probabilityofthishappeningis20%.”Theywereprovideddetailsofoperationsandhiringissues,suchas,“TheywillrunthebusinessfromJohnny’sbasementto minimize facility costs.Food_r_us, however, needs to fill twomajor positions, awebmasterandanaccountant.Ms.Lee,afriendofMs.MesiisapossiblewebmastercandidateandMr.Petty,youngerbrotherofJohnnyisapossibleaccountantcandidate.Ms.LeeisworkingasawebmasterforeBayhasacomputersciencedegreeandMr.Pettyisworkingasasalesmanatalocalcardealerandhashighschooldiploma.IfMs.Leeishired,shewouldhavetoresignfromeBay.Thefollowingdeliverableswererequired:

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Part A

1. Identifyatleastfoureventsorthreatsthatmayconfrontthisstartup;2. Estimatethelikelihoodofeachthreathappening.Youmayhavetogototheinternetforthispart.

Ifcannotfinditjustifyandusesubjectiveassessment);3. Estimatetheimpact(maybesubjectiveassessment);4. Identifycontrolstoguardagainsteachthreatidentifiedinpart1;5. Estimatecost/benefitanalysis(mayhavetoestimatesomecostsandbenefits;useinternet);6. Suggestacourseofaction(reduce,avoid,shareoraccept).

Part BDiscussanyethicalandinternalcontrolissuesthatmayarisewiththehiringofMs.LeeandMr.Petty.IfMs.LeeandMr.Pettyarehiredtheywillleavetheircurrentjobs.

Thefollowingsectiondiscussestheresults.

ANALySIS AND ReSULTS

Oncethestudywasconductedresultswereanalyzed.Studyitselfwasconductedoverthreesemestersandeachsemester(stage)isdescribedbelow.AllstatisticalanalysiswasperformedinSPSS.

Semester 1Check/ActWelookedatthegradedistributionforthecontrolassignmentforthefirstsemester.Table2showstheresults.Weusedthefollowingscaleforgrades:90+forA;80+forB,70+forCand<70forF.

It isclearfromTable2thatstudentsdidnotperformwell,asalmost45%gotCorlessandalmost28%failedtheassignment.Themostdisturbingresultwasthatalmost20%didnotattemptorperformedpoorlyintheassignment.Thisrequiredfurtherexamination.

Assignmenthadfourdeliverables(threat,control,cost/benefitandethicalissues).Theanalysisrevealedstudentswerehavingtroubleidentifyingthethreatssincethiswasanopen-endedassignment.Studentswerenotclearaboutthecaseanditsrequirements.However,thosewhoidentifiedthreatswereabletorecognizetheappropriatecontrols.Studentshadproblemswithcost/benefitanalysisandethicalconcerns.Studentcommentssuggestedtheywouldlikebetterassignmentexplanationandmorehands-onexercises.Somestudentsmentionedambiguityoftheassignment.Forexample:

I would like him to explain assignment better.

Table 2. Class performance: Semester 1

Grade Frequency Cumulative Percent

A 17 27%

B 18 28%

C 10 17%

F 18 28%

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Anotherstudentmentioned:

He should show students how it is done (project).I would include more graded assignments.

Basedonstudentinput,itwasdecidedtouseadditionalin-classexercisesforcontrolandethicalissues.WefollowedWilkin’s (2014)approach tousecases toenhance learning.Several in-classexercisefromthetextbookswereusedtoidentifythreats,appropriatecontrolsandpossibleethicalissues.AvideoclipofthemovieErinBrockovichwasusedtodiscussgeneralbusinessethics.Inaddition,weclarifiedthelanguageofthecase,butstillkeptitasanopen-endedassignment.Next,westudytheimpactoftheseactions(treatment).

Semester 2Welookedatthedifferencesinperformancefromsemester1tosemester2.SPSSwasusedtoanalyzetheresultsfordifferenceinthemeans.Tables3(a)and3(b)summarizetheresults.

Tables3(a)and3(b)revealthattreatmentdidimproveperformanceby25%fromsemester1tosemester2.WeseestrongsupportforourhypothesisH1atα=.05level,implyingthatthetreatmentmadeasignificantdifferenceinstudentperformanceonthisassignment.However,about18%of

thestudentsstillreceivedaCgradeorbelow.Becauseitisapassinggrade,a“C”wasconsideredsatisfactoryfrommostperspectives,butwewantedtoimproveitfurtheranddetermineifwecouldeliminatefailures.Studentsinbothgroupsweresimilarwithrespecttogender,raceandothersurfacelevelcharacteristics.

Check/ActSemester2analysisrevealedthatmoststudentswereabletoidentifythreatsandappropriatecontrols,butwerestillhavingproblemsidentifyingethicalissuesandestimatingcost/benefitsofeachcontrol.To reduce the impactof the repeateduseof a case,original casewasmodifiedwith adifferentscenariobutsimilarrequirements.Thistime,however,weadoptedaroleplayingapproach.Jordietal.(2016)havesuggestedusingdigitalgamestoimprovestudentperformance.Inaddition,Riley

Table 3a. Group statistics

Semesters N Mean Std. Deviation

Assgn32 53 19.7830 6.06575

1 63 15.8095 9.50527

Table 3b. Independent samples test

t-Test for Equality of Means

t df Sig. (2-Tailed)

Assgn3Equalvariancesassumed 2.626 114 .010

Equalvariancesnotassumed 2.724 106.733 .008

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etal.(2017)reportedactivelearningenhancesstudent’sperformanceinanaccountinginformationsystemscourse.Studentswereaskedtoplaypartsrelatedtoacaseondigitalmedia(likeCSIondigitaldevice)andidentifythreats,controlsandethicalissuesemergingfromthosethreats.GroupswereformedandeachgroupselectedtheircasefromTV.Eachstudentplayedarolebasedontheepisodeselected.Studentswereencouragedtomapselectedepisodestepstotheissuesrelatedtothecase.Theroleplayinghasdualpurpose,toidentifyethicalissuesrelatedtoaccountingforensicsandstepsinaccountingforensicsitself.Thisresultedinbetterstudentengagementsincestudentcouldrelatecasetotopicsoftheirinterest.Inaddition,studentswereencouragedtouse“IDEA,”anaccountingdatabasesoftwareforanyadditionalanalysis.ItwasassumedsincestudentswerealreadytrainedinACCESS,adatabasesoftware,IDEAsoftwareimplementationwouldbeeasy.However,wefoundthatwasnotthecase.Softwareskillportabilitywasnotobserved,asstudentsneededextrainstructionsonIDEAsoftware.Onceinstructionswereprovidedstudentswereabletouseit.

Semester 3Welookedatthedifferencesinperformancefromsemester2tosemester3.SPSSwasusedtoanalyzetheresultsfordifferenceinthemeans.Tables4(a)and4(b)summarizetheresults.

Check/ActTables4(a)revealsthattreatmentdidimproveaverage(mean)performanceby17.7%fromsemester2tosemester3.Also,allstudentsreceivedCorbetterintheassignment.Table4(b)providesstrongsupportforhypothesisH2.Thisisjustbeginningofassessmentloopsincetechnologyisdynamicandtherefore,thecourseassessmentshouldalsobedynamic.Thenextsectionlooksattheresultsandprovidessuggestionsforfuturecourseenhancements.

Post AnalysisWewantedtolookattheoverallresultsofthisstudy.Table5summarizesthethreesemestersofPDCAcycleresults.Table5summarizestheresultsandFigure2providesgraphicalrepresentationofthestudyovertime.

ItisclearthatthePDCAcycleapproachandcorrespondingtreatmentshelpedindesigningandimprovingtheperformanceofstudentsinoneofthelearningobjectivesoftheAIScourse.Figure2 summarizes the average scoresby semesters.Asnoted inTable5, in the third semester therewerenofailures.Studentcommentsalsosuggestedthatstudentslikedthisapproachasonestudent

Table 4a. Group statistics

Semester N Mean Std. Deviation

ass3grade3 28 23.286 3.0654

2 53 19.783 6.0658

Table 4b. Independent samples test

t-Test for Equality of Means

t df Sig. (2-Tailed)

ass3gradeEqualvariancesassumed 2.863 79 .005

Equalvariancesnotassumed 3.452 78.911 .001

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mentioned,“Ilikedtheapplicationofassignments.”Anotherstudentcommented,‘Instructorusedmanyactivitiestoteach.”This,ofcourse,isnotanenditself.Technologyisconstantlyevolvingsoisorganizationalstructure.AsTornow(2015)noted,“soonthenew-hiredataentrypositionwillbeobsoleteascomputerstakeoverandthewholeprocessbecomesautomated;thususheringaccountingintotheageofanalysisandforecastingasopposedtobookkeepinganddataentry”.Educationshouldcontinuouslyevolvetokeepcurrencyofcoursesandstudent’sskills.

Act/FutureThoughwedidachieveourgoa,theAIScourseisamovingtarget.Technologyisrapidlyevolvingandcoursemustevolvewiththetechnology.Researchershaveemphasizedtheimportanceofdata,which in the21stcenturyalso includesunstructureddata.Tornow(2015)discussed theneedsoftoday’sstudentsandconcluded,“studentsshouldbeexposedtoamultitudeofdifferentaccountingsoftwaresothattheylearntomovebeyond“pointandclick”toastageofanalysisthatwillallowthemtoadapttowhateversystemstheyseelaterintheircareers.Dillaetal.(2015)wentastepfurtherandsuggestedteachingdatavisualizationtodetectfraud.Businessintelligenceisbecomingimportantsinceaccountingdealswith rawdata.There is abundanceofdata, students should learnhow toanalyzeandextract“intelligence”,beittodetectfraudortoimproveprocesses.Ina2014AICPAsurvey,researchersfoundelectronicdataanalysis(bigdata)wasnumberoneissueforForensicandvaluationprofessionals.BusinessintelligenceandDataminingareemergingrapidlyandrecentlymanyresearchers(Sivarajahetal.,2017;Richinetal.,2016;Dillaetal.,2015;Vasarhelyietal.,

Figure 2. Longitudinal study results

Table 5. Summary of longitudinal study

Grade Semester 1 % Semester 2 % Semester 2 Semester 3 % Semester 3

A 17 27 14 26 10 37

B 18 28 28 53 10 37

C 10 17 6 11 8 26

F 18 28 5 10 0 0

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2015;Warrenetal.,2015,etc.)havestartedfocusingonthemandtheirimportanceforaccountingprofession.FuturePDCAiterationsmustincludetheseimportantareas.

Followingsectiondiscusseslessonslearned,ingeneral,andpitfallstobeavoided.

Lessons Learned

• Clearlyidentifyallsoftwaretobeusedinthecourseatthestartofthecourse;• Measurestudentcompetenciesinsoftwareandinternetingeneral(forwebandhybridcourses).

Wenoticedseveralstudentslackedcoursemanagementfamiliarity(SAKAIinthiscase)anddidnotknowhowtopostfilesornavigatethroughthecourse.Itisnecessarytoprovidethisexpertisebeforetheystarttheassignment;

• Providehands-onpractice(training)andpoststreamingvideosofsoftwareusedintheclass;• Havecontinuousonlinesoftwaretrainingtoavoiddisappointmentsandfrustrations;• Createstudent’ssoftwareaccountsandallowpreclassaccesstosoftwareforstudentswhowant

topracticeitbeforeclassesstart;• Provideinformationontechnicalsupportforonlinestudents;• Keepcyberhoursforonlinestudentstoprovideanswerstoassignmentquestions;• Ifroleplayingisusedtoteachaconcept,provideearlystartonthecase.Studentsneedtimeto

understandtheconceptofroleplayingandcollaborationandstagingtakestime.

Pitfalls to Avoid

Skill PortabilityDonotassumeoncestudentslearnasoftwaretheycanport it toanothersoftware.Forexample,studentswholearnedACCESSwerenotabletolearnIDEAontheirownorwithlittleguidance.

TimeManagement:Manystudentsdidnotstarttheassignmentbeforeadayortwotheduedate.Thiscauseslastminutepanic.Reinforcementoftimemanagementisnecessaryforassignments.

LIMITATIoNS

ThisstudyprovidesalongitudinalassessmentofanAIScourseandfutureofAIScourse.Theresults,however,shouldbeinterpretedwithcaution.Thisstudyusedonelearningobjectiveofthecoursetoassessprogress.However,theAIScoursehasseverallearningobjectivesthatshouldalsobetested.Futureresearchshouldreplicate thePDCAcyclefora largersamplesize. Inaddition, itmaybedesirabletostudyalternativetreatmentsasmanystudentsshyawayfromroleplaying.Rebeleetal.(2015)surveyedaccountingresearchandconcludedaccountingresearchhasbecomestagnant.Theyarguemostresearchisbasedonsurveysandtendtoignoreimportantareas.Theysuggeststudies(orevenquasi-studies)methodstoconductresearch.

CoNCLUSIoN

Accountinginformationsystemsareevolvingwiththetechnology.Technologyandbehavioralissuesaremakingitmoretemptingandeasiertocommitfraud.Itisimportantforaccountingstudentstogobeyondtheirdisciplineandlearnaccountingdataminingandinterrogationtechniques(Arnold,2018).Thiswouldhelpthemunderstandhowdataanddocumentsmove,howcontrolscanbeplacedintheprocessandhowfraudcanbedetected.Informationtechnologyhasbothagoodandabadside.Studentsmustbetaughttousetechnologyfor“good”,andtoavoidanddetectthe“bad”ofitsusage.Asoundknowledgeofdataprocessingisessentialforstudentstodetectfraudandethicalviolations.AISisachallengingsubjectsinceitisimpossibleforoneindividualtohaveexpertisein

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manydiscipline-orientedareas.However,wemustfindwaystoteachstudentsthewaystounderstandandmineaccountingdatatopreventanddetectfraudandtofindopportunities.BigdataandbusinessintelligencearethefutureofAISanditisimportantourstudentsshouldunderstandbigdataanditsimplicationforaudit,fraud,etc.(Mancinietal,2016).Thispaperisanattemptinthatdirection.

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Anil Aggarwal is a Professor in the Merrick School of Business at the University of Baltimore. Dr. Aggarwal was a Fulbright scholar and held Lockheed Martin Research and BGE Chair at the University of Baltimore. He has published in many journals, including Computers and Operations Research, Decision Sciences, Information and Management, Production and Operation Management, e-Service, Decision Sciences - Journal of Innovative Education, Journal of Information Technology Education: Innovations in Practice, Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, eService, International Journal of Web-Based Learning and Teaching Technologies and Journal of EUC and many national and international professional proceedings. He has published four edited books -- web-based education (2), cloud computing (1) and Big Data (1). His current research interests include web-based education, business ethics, Big Data, virtual team collaboration, and Cloud computing.

APPeNDIX

Table 6. Rubric for control assignment

Category A B C F

Threat

Studentwasabletocomprehendandidentifyatleastfourthreats

Studentwasabletocomprehendandidentifynomorethanthreethreats

Studentwasabletocomprehendandidentifynomorethantwothreats

Studentwasnotabletocomprehendanddidnotidentifyanyissueorwasnotabletoidentifymorethanoneissue

Control StudentwasabletoidentifyControls

Studentwasabletoidentifymostofthecontrols

Studentwasabletoidentifysomecontrolscorrectly

Studentwasnotabletoidentifycontrolscorrectly

Cost/BenefitStudentwasabletoperformmostcost/benefitanalysis

Studentwasabletoperformsomecost/benefitanalysis

Studentwasabletoidentifysomecostsandbenefitsandwasabletoperformlittleanalysis

Studentwasabletoidentifysomecost/benefitsbutwasnotabletoperformcost/benefitanalysis

Controls(application)Studentwasabletoapplyappropriatecontrols

Studentwasabletoapplysomecontrols

Studentwasabletoapplyfewcontrols

Studentwasnotabletoapplyappropriatecontrols

EthicalStudentwasabletoapplymostethicalissues

Studentwasabletoapplysomeethicalissues

Studentwasabletoapplyfewethicalissues

Studentwasnotabletoapplyissues