What Is the Business Activity Model?

The Business Actrivity Model gives students a leg up in accounting

The business activity model is an alternative method to teaching college level intermediate accounting developed by Catanach, Croll and Grinaker. Changes in learning styles among students in general, coupled with a new certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam, prompted a review of the way they presented intermediate accounting, and led to this new interactive model.

Purpose

The model's authors wanted to motivate students to strongly consider accounting as a viable career option, and develop both technical skills and critical thinking needed in accounting. The Business Activity Model emphasizes financial disclosure and technical research, and can be used in conjunction with traditional Intermediate Accounting texts.

History

Catanach in particular wanted to overcome three "educational maladies" identified by Lee Shulman: amnesia (forgetting class material), fantasia (persistent misconceptions of what was taught), and inertia (failure to apply class lessons). Students attending lectures didn't keep much of the material taught to them, and were ill prepared for the new CPA exam with its emphases on research, analysis, judgment, and communication, as well as its format of using simulations to test acumen with spreadsheets.

Benefits

Students taking intermediate accounting class with the business activity model will be better equipped to handle the complexity and ambiguity they will encounter in the workplace. Furthermore, students come to grips with the fact that accounting uses more than just bookkeeping and arithmetic; it requires research, critical thinking and an understanding of a broad spectrum of accounting and finance principles. It also combats the stereotype of the reclusive accountant, by emphasizing interaction with team members outside the classroom.

Approach

Catanach, Croll and Grinaker developed a CD-ROM program centering on a fictional company, Hydromaint, which starts out as a service company before growing into a manufacturing and construction firm. Students must obtain information from Hydromaint's staff, manage entries, conduct analytical reviews and draft financial statements and note disclosures that become more complex as the company grows.

Features

Rather than delivering the material via textbook and lecture, students wrestle with accounting issues in settings that more closely mimic what they would encounter in the workplace. As they work in teams, they must use skill sets not stereotypically associated with accounting, like oral communications or report writing. The simulation also exposes students to business aspect beyond finance. The model also helps professors and departments integrate the coursework with other finance classes. Although the model helps prepare students for the new CPA exam, there is no overt focus on the exam itself. And as the course centers on a CD-ROM, content can be more easily updated and revised to reflect changes in accounting principles promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB).

References

• The Business Activity Model: An Experiment in Self-Learning