Writing Across the Accounting Curriculum: An Experiment

Abstract

To improve the writing skills of accounting students, we developed a structured writing effectiveness program across three junior level courses in the accounting major: tax, cost, and financial accounting. Writing counted for approximately five percent of the grade in each course and accounting professors discussed grammar, sentence structure, and word choice. A consulting expert on writing also con tributed to the program. We tested the results of our program empirically through both a pretest/posttest design and a control/treatment group comparison. The results provide evidence that our writing across the curriculum project significantly improved the students' writing skills.

Web-based practice and feedback improve tax students’ written communication skills

“…In a second quasi-experiment in the same article, Mohrweis holistically scored a student writing assignment and found the treatment groupÕs posttest scores were 22.2 percent higher than their pretest scores and that the treatment group outperformed the control group on the posttreatment assignment by 13.2 percent. In pretest/posttest and control/treatment group analyses of student scores from correcting a business letter, student participants in Riordan et al (2000) showed writing improvement of 16 and 5.5 percent, respectively. Ashbaugh et al (2002) averaged scores from holistically graded memos that students composed and the results from a multiple choice writing quiz.…”

“…In summary, Ashbaugh et al (2002), Mohrweis (1991), and Riordan et al (2000) reported aggregate improvement rates ranging from 5.5 to 22.2 percent, reflecting a host of sentence structure issues (e.g., grammar, spelling, punctuation, passive voice, wordiness, and parallelism). In comparison, we show improvements in three specific sentence structure areas that the literature identifies as important.…”

“…Ashbaugh, Johnstone, and Warfield (2002), Mohrweis (1991), and Riordan, Riordan, and Sullivan (2000) conducted pretest-posttest experiments using control and treatment groups. Each study demonstrated significant improvement in writing skills through a combination of such aids as writing guidelines, in-class lectures, consultation with writing experts, and detailed feedback on written submissions.…”

“…So, like Mohrweis (1991) and Riordan et al (2000), we reused the same instrument to obtain post-treatment measures of writing ability during the semesterÕs sixth week. Using the same quizzes provides measurement consistency but may introduce a learning effect.…”

“…Mohrweis reported that lectures, graded written assignments receiving detailed feedback, and the opportunity to meet with a writing consultant improved studentsÕ writing skills. Riordan et al (2000) measured writing ability using student scores from correcting a business letter with 26 grammar, syntax, and organization errors. Students in the treatment group bought writing guides for accountants, listened to in-class writing lectures, submitted writing assignments that the professor and an outside writing consultant graded, and revised and resubmitted writing assignments for higher grades.…”