Decision Trees Impact Learning: An Empirical Study Using Exchanges of Nonmonetary Assets

Abstract

In this study, we demonstrate the benefits of using a decision tree to learn the rules for exchanges of nonmonetary assets. Our results indicate that students using a decision tree performed significantly better on both true/false questions and an open-ended application problem than students who were not provided the decision tree. Most notably, lower-performing students who used the decision tree were able to bridge the gap with their higher-performing peers on the true/false questions. Furthermore, the results for the survey of usefulness show that lower-performing students valued the decision tree marginally better than other students. The success of this graphic organizer implies that similar decision trees should be adopted or created to engage meaningful learning within other accounting topics. Overall, our findings indicate that lower-performing students benefit the most from integrating decision trees in the accounting curriculum.