Mind the Gap: Accounting Information Systems Curricula Development in Compliance With IFAC Standards in a Developing Country

Abstract

The authors examine the consistency between the current practices in designing and teaching accounting information systems (AIS) curricula and the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) requirements for International Education Practice Statement 2 and International Education Standards 2. Utilizing a survey and interviews data in Jordan, the results show several issues that contribute to the inconsistency of IFAC's requirements, including a lack of Arabic textbooks, qualified staff, training, computer laboratories, and faculty support and finance. This is the first study to provide a model curriculum and course learning outcomes of an AIS course. There is urgent attention required from local and international policymakers.

Accounting Curricula in Universities and Market Needs: The Jordanian Case

“…The current AQACHEI's methodology leaves no room for Jordanian universities to enhance the structure of their study plans. Furthermore, despite the presence of high-quality education standards for professional accountants issued by International Federation of Accountants (IFAC; 2015), literature on accounting education in Jordan (e.g., Aleqab et al, 2015;Al-Khadash, 2013;Matar et al, 2015) suggests that such standards are not employed by Jordan. A deeper look at the AQACHEI's standards by authors reveals that such standards were not taken into account when AQACHEI standards were developed for accounting curricula.…”

“…Literature to date has cited many skills and competences that are required by the market, but not emphasized in the accounting curriculum of universities. Information technology is identified as one of the most important skills that accounting graduates should have (Aleqab et al, 2015;Amirul et al, 2017;Laing & Perrin, 2012;Senik & Broad, 2011;Tan & Ferreira, 2012). Teamwork is found to be important from the perspective of employers (Crawford et al, 2011;Parham et al, 2012;Reyad et al, 2019;Riebe et al, 2017;Watty et al, 2013).…”

Accounting Information System Courses: Developing a Hybrid Syllabus in the Era of Digitization

“…Based on Biggs's (1989) model (see Figure 2), the learning process is an interacting system of four sets of variables: the learning environment, students' characteristics, students' approaches to learning, and learning outcomes. The course learning outcomes are considered the main element with which to maintain a continuous quality assurance process, provide the instructor with insights about what the course intended to offer, and guide the matching assessment tools to measures these learning outcomes (Aleqab et al, 2015). The discussion in the focus panel was fruitful and produced some unexpected discussion points about Bloom's taxonomy (Krathwohl & Anderson, 2009) and best practices to develop learning objectives for a course on the one hand, and for a program, on the other hand, and the increasing need to focus on ethical issues, as the Guragai et al (2017) study revealed that AIS and ethics are at a crucial crossroads.…”

“…Moreover, Daigle et al, (2007) used case study in the course AIS to explain how instructors uses case study to focus on skills based rather than content based competencies which included in the AICPA Core Competency Framework (2006) for the Accounting Information Systems course AIS learning potentials and then assessing student learning outcomes relative to these potentials and to obtain educational objectives. Aleqab et al (2015) pointed out that classical assessment is not enough in covering the theoretical content rather than technical content; we need to enhance the traditional assessment to include the appropriate practical application and IT Knowledge according to (International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), 2010, p. 136). Following the leads from Aleqab et al (2015), the below assessment tools are proposed.…”

“…Aleqab et al (2015) pointed out that classical assessment is not enough in covering the theoretical content rather than technical content; we need to enhance the traditional assessment to include the appropriate practical application and IT Knowledge according to (International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), 2010, p. 136). Following the leads from Aleqab et al (2015), the below assessment tools are proposed.…”