Fostering Professional Research Skills in the Undergraduate Accounting Curriculum

Abstract

Creating a mindset for research, including the development of professional research skills and critical thinking, is of the utmost importance in preparing students for the business world. To help faculty with this mindset, we discuss novel approaches for incorporating professional research and interactions into the undergraduate classroom, although the recommendations can apply to the entire curriculum. We describe three scenarios where our recommendations might apply – research/financial, tax, and accounting information system courses. Using a professional accounting research course and a financial course as examples, we start out broadly discussing a practitioner-coauthored professional case study approach that is applicable to any course, at any level. We then present a capstone undergraduate tax research course followed by an introduction of a specific project in an accounting information systems course. We include suggested syllabi, projects, and assessment rubrics throughout the discussion.

Citation

Churyk, N.T., Ndicu, M. and Pearson, T.C. (2023), "Fostering Professional Research Skills in the Undergraduate Accounting Curriculum", Calderon, T.G. (Ed.) Advances in Accounting Education: Teaching and Curriculum Innovations (Advances in Accounting Education, Vol. 27), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 29-57. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1085-462220230000027002