CONCEPT MAPPING - POTENTIAL USES IN ACCOUNTING EDUCATION

8/7/2019 CONCEPT MAPPING - POTENTIAL USES IN ACCOUNTING EDUCATION

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P e r g a m o nJournal o[ Accountin,q Education, Vol. 16, No. l, pp. 123 138 , 1998,() 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All righ ts reserved.Pr inted in Gre at B rita in.0748 5751/98 $19 .00+ 0,00P l h S0 7 4 8 - 5 7 5 1 ( 9 8 ) 0 0 0 0 6 - 2

C O N C E P T M A P P I N G : P O T E N T I A L U S E S I NA C C O U N T I N G E D U C A T I O N

B r u c e A . L e a u b y a n d P a u l B r a z in aL A S A L L E U N I V E R S I T YAbstract: M a j o r c h a n g e s a r e u n d e r w a y i n a c c o u n t i n g e d u c a t i o n , i n p a r t b e c a u s e o f t h e e n c o u r -a g e m e n t o f th e A c c o u n t i n g E d u c a t i o n C h a n g e C o m m i s s i o n ( A E C C ) . T o e x t e n d l e ar n in g b e y o n dt h e fo r m a l c u r r i c u l u m , t h e A E C C a d v o c a t e s t h a t a c c o u n t i n g e d u c a t o r s h e l p s t u d e n t s d e v e l o pt h e a b i li t y t o ' l e a r n h o w t o l e ar n ." A l e a r n i n g t e c h n i q u e c a l l e d c o n c e p t m a p p i n g , w i d e ly a c c e p t e di n sc i en c e e d u c a t i o n , i s d e s c ri b e d i n t h i s p a p e r . C o n c e p t m a p p i n g a l l o w s s t u d e n t s t o u n d e r s t a n dh o w t h e y l ea r n a n d h o w n e w k n o w l e d g e is c o n s t r u c t e d . S t u d e n t s c a n t h e n u s e t hi s t e ch n i q u e t o' l e a r n h o w t o l e ar n " a n d c a r r y k n o w l e d g e a b s o r p t i o n b e y o n d t h e i r c o l le g e e x p e r i e n c e . ( 1 99 8E l s e v i e r S c i e n c e L t d . A l l r i g h t s r e s e r v e d

I N T R O D U C T I O NT h e A c c o u n t i n g E d u c a t i o n C h a n g e C o m m i s s i o n ' s ( A E C C ) fi rs t p o s i t io n

s t a t e m e n t p r o v i d e s a r o a d m a p t o a c h i e v e o b j e c t iv e s f o r t h e f u t u r e o f a c c o u n t -i n g e d u c a t i o n ( A E C C , 1 99 0 ). T h e s t a t e m e n t s t re s se s t h a t a c c o u n t i n g e d u -c a t o r s s h o u l d p r e p a r e s t u d e n t s t o become p r o f e s s i o n a l a c c o u n t a n t s b ys h o w i n g s t u d e n t s h o w t o l e a r n o n t h e i r o w n . M o s t c o l le g e s t u d e n t s d o n o tr e al iz e u n ti l a f t e r g r a d u a t i o n t h a t t h e y w e r e e x p o s e d t o o n l y a l i m i te d b a s eo f i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t m u s t b e e x p a n d e d t h r o u g h o u t t h ei r c a re e rs . T h u s , l e a rn -i n g t o l e a r n i s c r i t i c a l t o s u c c e s s s i n c e a c c o u n t a n t s h a v e t o m a i n t a i n c o m -p e t e n c y i n t h e i r o w n c h o s e n s p e c ia l ty , a s w e ll as a b s o r b t h e e v e r - e x p a n d i n gi n f o r m a t i o n b a s e o f c o m p u t e r t e c h n o l o g y , l e ga l re g u l a t i o n s , fi n a n c ia l in s t r u -m e n t s , i n t e r n a t i o n a l i n fl u e n ce s a n d o t h e r b u s i n es s t o p i c s.A s d e f i n e d b y t h e A E C C , t h e ' l e a r n i n g - t o - l e a r n ' c o n c e p t i s d e s i g n e d t os h if t e d u c a t i o n f r o m t h e t ra d i t io n a l m e t h o d o f ' tr a n s f e r o f k n o w l e d g e ' t o am e t h o d b y w h i c h e d u c a t o r s c a n c r e a t e a n d d e v e l o p t h e s t u d e n t s "" . . . m o t i v a t i o n a n d c a p a c i t y t o l e a r n o u t s i d e t h e f o r m a l e d u c a t i o n a l e n v i r o n -m e n t ' ( A E C C , p . 3 1 0) . T h i s p a p e r p r e s e n t s a l e a rn i n g m e t h o d o l o g y t h a tc a n b e u s e d t o d e v e l o p s t u d e n t s ' c a p a c i t y t o l e a r n i n d e p e n d e n t l y t h r o u g h at e c h n i q u e c a ll ed ' c o n c e p t m a p p i n g . ' A l t h o u g h c o n c e p t m a p p i n g h a s its r o o t si n s c ie n c e e d u c a t i o n , i t is e a s i ly a d a p t a b l e t o t h e f ie l d o f a c c o u n t i n g .

I n it s s i m p l es t f o r m , c o n c e p t m a p p i n g is a s c h e m a t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o fm e a n i n g f u l r e l a t io n s h i p s b e t w e e n c o n c e p t s in th e f o r m o f p r o p o s i t i o n s . P r o p -o s i t i o n s a r e m e r e l y t w o o r m o r e c o n c e p t la b e ls l in k e d t o g e t h e r b y w o r d s i n as e m a n t i c u n i t . F o r e x a m p l e , ' a c c o u n t i n g s y s t e m p r o v i d e s f i n a n c i a l i n f o r -m a t i o n ' w o u l d r e p re s e n t a si m p le c o n c e p t m a p t h a t f o r m s a v a li d p r o p o s i t i o n

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a b o u t t h e c o n c e p t s ' a c c o u n t i n g s y s t e m ' a n d ' f i n a n c i a l i n f o r m a t i o n . ' S i n c et r a d i t i o n a l e x p l a n a t i o n s i n t e x t b o o k s h a v e b e e n d e s c r i b e d a s d i f f i c u l t t oc o m p r e h e n d ( A d e l b e r g & R a z e k , 1 98 4) , c o n c e p t m a p p i n g p r o v i d e s a v is u ala i d t h a t m a k e s t h e i n f o r m a t i o n e a s i er f o r s t u d e n t s t o u n d e r s t a n d a n d i n vi te sf u r t h e r in d e p e n d e n t e x p l o r a ti o n .

I n c o r p o r a t i n g t h i s l e a rn i n g t e c h n i q u e in t o a c c o u n t i n g c o u r s e s b en e f it s b o t ht h e t e a c h e r a n d s t u d e n t . C o n c e p t m a p p i n g p r o v i d e s a n e w p e r s p e c t i v e o nd e v e l o p i n g c o u r s e m a t e r i a l , t h e r e b y a l l o w i n g i n s t r u c t o r s t o i m p r o v e c o u r s ec o n t e n t , c h a l l e n g e p r i o r c o n v i c t i o n s a n d b e c o m e m o r e e f f ec ti v e e d u c a t o r s .M o r e i m p o r t a n t l y , s t u d e n t s a r e e n c o u r a g e d t o a c c e p t r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r t h e i ro w n l e a r n i n g , d e v e l o p i n t e l le c t u a l c u r i o s i t y a n d a c q u i r e a n e f f e c ti v e l e a r n i n gs t r a t e g y t h a t w i ll s e rv e t h e m f o r t h e i r l i fe t im e .

L E A R N I N G A B O U T M E A N I N G F U L L E A R N I N GA l t h o u g h t h e l e a r n i n g - t o - l e a r n c o n c e p t is re l a ti v e ly n ew t o a c c o u n t i n g , t h e

c o n c e p t a n d i t s m e t h o d o l o g y h a v e l o n g b e e n c o n t r o v e r s i a l t o p i c s i n t h ee d u c a t i o n f i el d. N o v a k & G o w i n ( 19 8 4 ) h a v e s p e n t s e v e r al d e c a d e s r es e a r c h -i n g a n d d e v e l o p in g e d u c a t i o n a l t h e o ri e s a n d t h e y fo u n d c o n c e p t m a p p i n g t ob e o n e t o o l t h a t g r e a t l y e n h a n c e s t h e l e a r n i n g p r o ce s s .

N o v a k a n d G o w i n d e f i n e concepts ' a s a r e g u l a r i t y i n e v e n t s o r o b j e c t sd e s i g n a t e d b y s o m e l a b e l' ( N o v a k & G o w i n , 1 98 4, p . 4) . T h e l a b el s u s e d i ne v e r y d a y l a n g u a g e t o c o m m u n i c a t e w i t h o t h e r s w h o s h a r e a s i m i la r e x p e r i e n c el ev e l c a n b e e a si ly u n d e r s t o o d a n d r e s u lt i n a n e f fi ci en t m e t h o d o f c o n v e r -s a t i o n . F o r e x a m p l e , m o s t p e o p l e a s s o c i a t e t h e l a b e l ' c h a i r ' w i t h s o m e t h i n gt h a t w e s it o n , w h i c h h a s l e gs , a s e a t a n d p e r h a p s a b a c k . A s l i fe e x p e r i e n c e se v o l v e , l a b e l s c o n t i n u e t o b e u s e d i n c o m m u n i c a t i o n ; h o w e v e r , t h e s e l a b e l st a k e o n d i f f e r e n t m e a n i n g s a n d d i f f e r e n c e s i n i n t e r p r e t i n g l a b e l s a r e r e l a t e dt o p e r s o n a l e x p e r ie n c e s . 2 T h e t e r m ' c h a i r , ' f o r i n s t a n c e , m a y a l so b ea c q u a i n t e d w i th a c o m m i t t e e o r d e p a r t m e n t h e a d .

N o v a k a n d G o w i n b a s e t h ei r r e s ea r c h o n A u s u b e l ( 1 96 3 )'s t h e o r y o f e d u -c a t i o n a l c o n c e p t s a n d p r o p o s i t io n s . A u s u b e l ' s p r i m a r y c o n c e p t is meaning/ullearning a s c o n t r a s t e d w i t h r o t e l e a r n i n g . T o l e a r n m e a n i n g f u l l y , A u s u b e ls u g g e s t s t h a t o n e m u s t r e l a t e n e w k n o w l e d g e t o r e l e v a n t c o n c e p t s a n d p r e -v i o u s ly a c q u i re d p r o p o s i t io n s . R o t e l e a rn i n g m a y o n l y r e q u ir e m e m o r i z a t i o no f in f o r m a t i o n t h a t i s i n c o r p o r a t e d i n t o a p e r s o n ' s k n o w l e d g e s t r u c t u r e w i t h o u tb e i n g r e l a te d t o w h a t is a l r e a d y t h e r e . F i g u r e 1 s h o w s h o w l e a r n i n g c a n v a r yf r o m r o t e t o h i g h l y m e a n i n g f u l . C o n c e p t m a p p i n g i s d e s i g n e d t o i n c r e a s e

~See AI-K unifed & W andersee (1990) for references o 100 sources related to conc ept mappingthat show variou s applications and results of edu cational research.21n turn, Nov ak and Go win define education as a process of actively seeking.. ' to change themeaning of experience'[No vak & Go win , 1984, p. 5].


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Concept Mapping: Potential Uses in Accounting Education 125

M E A N I N G F U L C l a r i f i c a t i o n W e l l d e s i g n e d S c i e n t i f i c r e s e a r c hL E A R N I N G o f r e la t io n s h i p s a u d i o - t u t o r i a l N e w M u s i cb e t w e e n c o n c e p t s i n s t r u c ti o n o r a r c h i t e c t u r e

L e c t u r es o r M o s t r o u t in em o s t t e x t b o o k " r e s e a r c h " o rp r e s e n t a t i o n s i n t e l l e c t u a lp r o d u c t i o n

S c h o o ll a b o r a t o r y

work

R O T E M u l t i p l i c a t io n A p p l y i n g f o r m u l a s T r i al a n d e r r o rL E A R N I N G t a b le s t o s o lv e p r o b l e m s " p u z z l e " s o l u ti o n s

R E C E P T I O N G U I D E D A U T O N O M O U SL E A R N I N G D I S C O V E R Y D IS C O V E R YL E A R N I N G L E A R N I N GF i g u r e 1 . T y p i c a l f o r m s o f l e a rn i n g .

S o u r c e : N o v a k a n d G o w i n ( 1 9 8 4 , p . 8 ) .meanin gful learning by allowing students to learn about the structure ofknowled ge and ab out the process by which know ledge is produced . 3

Concept map ping is not an educa t ional panacea; i t will not produce over-night results for even the best students. Research has shown that i t takes timefor a studen t to inc orpo rate all the ideas und erl yin g a process into a newway of think ing about learning. Thus, i t may be necessary for students toexperim ent with concept map pin g in more than a single course.

Previous Research on Visual Aids in Teaching Account ingPark (1989) and Duffy (1990) have suggested that using visual rep-

resentat ions in accounting courses can improve s tudent underst anding.4

~Figure 1 also shows a dimension to learning labeled as "discovery learning," a process throughwhich the learner selects information to be learned. Although discovery learning should bcencouraged in certain situations, Ausubel (1963) argues that this technique alone does notincrease meaningful learning, while concept mapping does.4For example, Park expands the normal two dimensional profit-cost-volume model displayshown in textbooks into a three dimensional figure so that students can better understand therelationship of income to volume of sales and production under different product costingmethods. Duffy shows how visuals can improve the conceptual understanding of interest capi-talization.


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However, neither of their approaches use any of the ingredients of conceptmapping.In an empirical test o f the usefulness of visual aids, Schadewald & Limberg

(1992) use pictorial models in an introductory tax course to determine whether'routine' and 'novel' problem solving skills improve. Their results show thatstudents who were provided pictorial information along with normal textinformation outperformed the text-only students in routine problem solving,but not in novel problem solving. While this study suggests that using pictorialeducational material can help improve classroom performance, Schadewaldand Limberg cast doubts on whether these visual aids help students developmore elaborate and abstract analogical mental models in which underlyingconcepts are applied to more difficult unstructured problems. Nevertheless,even this elementary use of visual models did immediately improve routineproblem solving and results of the study provide support for further exper-imentat ion with this type of educational method. Experimenting with moreelaborate visuals that follow the concept mapping format may producehigher-level skills needed to address more complicated issues.

In this context, it is noteworthy that the visuals used by Schadewald &Limberg (1992) were designed by the instructors and passively used by thestudents. In contrast, the greatest benefits of concept mapping are gainedwhen students get actively involved in their own learning process and con-struct and modify their own concept map. Also, Schadewald and Limbergperformed their experiment as part of a class exercise during the first weekof the course. Previous research indicates that a longer time frame may beneeded to measure the benefits of concept maps and related learningapproaches (Novak & Gowin, 1984).

Among the many successful applications of concept mapping in education(Abayomi, 1988; Cliburn, 1990 and Wallace & Mintzes, 1990), Wallace &Mintzes (1990) documented and explored conceptual change by comparingsuccessive concept maps of junior-level elementary education majors in auniversity biology class. The results of pre- and postinstruction scores showimproved knowledge structure by the experimental group as demonstratedby increased hierarchy levels and improved branching based on the maps.The authors conclude that.. 'concept mapping offers a valid and useful mech-anism for looking at changes in cognitive structure.' They also state thatconcept mapping is the only approach that they have found that addressesboth what students know and how students organize their knowledge.

CONCEPT MAPPINGAs noted earlier, a concept map is a schematic device for representing a setof concepts embedded in a framework of propositions. Figure 2 shows aconcept map developed for a meat science course. The graphic display bringstogether the key concepts for the students, allowing them to focus more


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can

gras l gra

F i g u r e 2 . E x a m p l e o f c o n c e p t m a p u s e d i n m e a t s c i e n c e c o u r s e .S o u r c e : N o v a k a n d G o w i n ( 1 9 8 4 , p . 3 8 ) .

specifically on their learning process. This visual map shows the connectionsthat should be made and the underlying concepts that make or support theproposition.

Pedagogically, concept maps could be used before or after a topic has been


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a s s ig n e d o r d i sc u ss e d. T h e b e f o r e - t o p i c a p p r o a c h c a n b e u s e d a s a r o a d m a p ,o r o v e r v i e w o f th e t o p ic . T h e s e i n t r o d u c t o r y c o n c e p t m a p s t e n d t o b e l es sd e t a il e d t h a n t h e f in a l c o n c e p t m a p s . A f t e r c o m p l e t io n , t h e m a p p r o v i d e s as c h e m a t i c s u m m a r y o f w h a t s t u d e n t s s h o u l d h a v e l e a rn e d . T h i s r e i n f o r c e m e n to f l e a r n i n g s h o u l d n o t b e r e s t r ic t e d t o l e a r n i n g s p e ci fi c c o n c e p t s in i n d i v i d u a lc o u r s e s ; i t s h o u l d b e u s e d t o s h o w s t u d e n t s i n t e r r e l a t e d c o n c e p t s a m o n gc o u r s e s i n a n e n t i r e c u r r i c u l u m .

M e a n i n g f u l l e a r n i n g t a k e s p l a c e m o s t e a s i l y w h e n b r o a d e r c o n c e p t s a r ep r e s e n t e d f i r s t a n d d e t a i l e d o n e s t h a t p r o v i d e s u p p o r t a r e f u r n i s h e d l a t e r .S u c h a n a p p r o a c h is i m p o r t a n t i n t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e c o n c e p t m a p s in c eh i g h e r - o r d e r c o n c e p t s a r e p l a c e d a t t he t o p o f th e m a p a n d m o r e s p ec if ico n e s s h o w n b e n e a t h . T h i s h ie r a r c h i c a l a p p r o a c h a l s o b l e n d s n ic e ly w i t h th es t r u c t u r e o f i n f o r m a t i o n c o n t a i n e d in th e a c c o u n t i n g d i s c ip l in e ( e.g ., w h e nt e a c h i n g t h e c o d e o f p r o f e s s i o n a l e t h ic s in a u d i t i n g i t is c o m m o n t o p r e s e n tb r o a d p r i n c i p le s w h ic h a r e th e n s u p p o r t e d a n d e x p a n d e d b y th e m o r e d e t a il e dr u le s o f c o n d u c t , i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s a n d e t h i c a l r u li n g s) .

C o n c e p t m a p s e x t e rn a l iz e c o n c e p t s a n d p r o p o s i t i o n s a s u n d e r s t o o d b y a ni n d i v i d u a l, b u t s i n ce p e r s p e c t i v e s m a y c h a n g e o v e r ti m e , th e m a p s c o n s t a n t l yc h a n g e . T h e r e i s n o o n e c o r r e c t m a p a t a n y p o i n t i n t i m e . T h i s f a c t m a yd i s c o u r a g e s o m e s t u d e n t s b u t m o s t w i l l w e l c o m e t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o b e c r e -a t i v e a n d p e r h a p s t o f i n d n e w l i n k a g e s t h a t t h e y n e v e r b e f o r e v i s u a l i z e d .C e r t a i n l y t h e f i r s t a t t e m p t a t a c o n c e p t m a p , w h e t h e r b y t e a c h e r , i n d i v i d u a ls t u d e n t , o r a g r o u p o f s t u d e n t s , w i ll n o t b e as g o o d a s t h e s e c o n d o r t h i rda n d h e r e i n l i es t h e s e c r e t t o t h e s u c c e s s o f t h e c o n c e p t m a p . A f t e r t h e f ir s tc r e a t i o n o f a c o n c e p t m a p , t h e r e s h o u l d b e a p e r i o d o f re f le c ti o n w h e r e i d e a sc a n b e e x c h a n g e d a b o u t w h y c e r t a in r e l at io n s h i p s w e r e o r w e re n o t v a l id .T h i s p e r i o d o f r e fl e c ti o n c a n a l s o b e u s e d t o d i s c o v e r m i s s i n g li n k a g e s . T h el in k a g e s s t u d e n t s d e v e l o p a r e v a l u a b l e s te p s t h a t s h o w w h e t h e r t h e y h a v em a j o r m i s c o n c e p t i o n s a b o u t a n a r e a . I f t h e y d o, t h e i n s t ru c t o r c a n e a si lyi n t e r v e n e a n d h e l p s h o w t h e m h o w t o f in d th e p r o p e r r e l a t io n s h i p . R e c r e a t i n gt h e c o n c e p t m a p s a l l o w s p a r t i c i p a n t s t o b u i l d a m o r e w e l l - r e a s o n e d , i n t e l -l e c t u a l l y s o u n d d i a g r a m t h a t d e m o n s t r a t e s a g r o w t h i n k n o w l e d g e a n d a nu n d e r s t a n d i n g o f th e t op i c. T h i s a p p r o a c h m i r r o r s t h e m u l t i p le d r a f t s n e e d edt o c o m p o s e a q u a l i ty p a p e r .

Introducing Students to Concept MappingT h e r e a r e t h r e e b r o a d g o a l s t h a t a r e i n t e g r a l to t h e s u cc e s s o f c o n c e p t

m a p p i n g . F i r st , s t u d e n t s m u s t g e t a se n s e o f h o w t h e c o n c e p t s t h e y n o w h o l dh a v e b e e n c h a n g e d t h r o u g h t h e i r l if e e x p e r ie n c e s . S e c o n d , s t u d e n t s n e e d t ou n d e r s t a n d t h e d i s t i n c t i o n b e t w e e n c o n c e p t s a n d l i n k i n g w o r d s . N o v a k &G o w i n ( 1 9 84 ) , [ p. 3 4] s t r e s s t h a t t h e l i n k a g e s b e t w e e n c o n c e p t s a r e a n e s s e n t i a la s p e c t o f t h e i n s t r u c t io n p r o c e s s a n d w a r n t h a t n o t g i v in g c ar e f u l c o n -s i d e r a t i o n t o t h e li n k i n g w o r d w i ll t o t a l ly c h a n g e t h e c o n n o t a t i o n o f t h e m a p .


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N o v a k a n d G o w i n ' s e a r l ie r r e s e a r ch e f f o rt s d i d n o t i n c l u d e li n k i n g w o r d sa n d a f t e r m u c h s t u d y , t h e y f o u n d t h e l i n k ag e s t o b e o f s i g n if i ca n t v a l u e :T h i r d , s t u d e n t s n e e d t o u n d e r s t a n d h i e r a r c h i c a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s a m o n gc o n c e p ts . S t u d e n t s s h o u l d n o t m e m o r i z e c o n c e p t m a p s o r t ry to r e p r o d u c et h e m i n t h e e x a c t w a y t h e y w e r e p r e s e n t e d . C o n c e p t m a p p i n g d o e s n o te n c o u r a g e t h i s t y p e o f le a rn i n g . I n s t e a d , s t u d e n t s s h o u l d u s e c o n c e p t m a p st o d e v e lo p t h e ir o w n w a y o f u n d e r s t a n d i n g a n d o r g a n i z in g i n f o r m a t i o n .

W h a t f o l lo w s is a d i s cu s s i o n o f st ep s a n d p r o c e d u r e s t h a t c a n b e u s e d t oa c h i e v e t h e s e g o a l s .1. U s e t h e b l a c k b o a r d o r o v e r h e a d p r o j e c t o r t o c re a t e t w o li st s w i t h w o r d s

t h a t r e p r e s e n t o b j e c t s a n d e v e n ts . F o r e x a m p l e , o b j e c t w o r d s c o u l d b e a ni n c o m e s t a t e m e n t , a n i n v o i c e , b a l a n c e s h e e t a n d p a y c h e c k . E v e n t w o r d sc o u l d b e p a y d a y , r e p o r t i n g , b u s in e s s m e e t i n g s a n d t h i n k i n g . S t u d e n t s a r er e q u i r e d t o d i s t i n g u i s h b e t w e e n t h e t w o l i s t s a n d a f t e r s o m e d i s c u s s i o n ,t h e i n s t r u c t o r c a n s h a r e t h e s e c r e t a n d l ab e l t h e ob je c t a n d t h e e v e n t i t e ms .

2 . D e s c r i b e a n o b j e c t w o r d a n d a s k t h e s tu d e n t s t o d e s c r ib e w h a t t h e y t h i n ko f w h e n t h e y h e a r t h e w o r d . F o r e x a m p l e , ' b a l a n c e s h e e t ' c a n b e u s ed .E a c h s t u d e n t m a y d e s c r ib e s o m e t h i n g d i f f er e n t, a n e x p e c t e d o u t c o m e s in c em o s t p e o p l e p e r c e i v e t h i n g s i n d i f f e r e n t w a y s . T h i s e x e r c is e i n t r o d u c e s t h ec onc e p t o f h o w w e s ee th i n gs a n d d e m o n s t r a t e s w h y p e o p l e s o m e t i m e sh a v e p r o b l e m s c o m m u n i c a t i n g w i t h o n e a n o t h e r .

3. D i s p l a y a n o t h e r l is t o f w o r d s o n t h e o v e r h e a d p r o j e c t o r : f o r e x a m p l e , are ,where , the , is , then, with. H a v e t h e s t u d e n t s t r y t o i m a g i n e w h a t m e n t a li m a g e is a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e s e w o r d s . T h e s t u d e n t s w i ll l ik e l y h a v e d i f fi c u l tyw i t h t h i s t a s k s i n c e t h e s e a r e n o t c o n c e p t w o r d s ; t h e y a r e l i n k i n g w o r d s .L i n k i n g w o r d s a r e n e e d e d t o m a k e c o n n e c t i o n s b e t w e e n c o n c e p ts .

4 . T a k e t w o c o n c e p t w o r d s ( o b j e c ts o r e v e n t s ) a n d l in k t h e m t o g e t h e r toc o n s t r u c t a s i m p l e i l l u s t r a t i o n s h o w i n g h o w t h e s e c o m b i n a t i o n s a r e u s e dt o c o m m u n i c a t e m e a n in g s . F o r e x a m p l e , li nk re por t in9 w i t h f i n a n c i a ls t a t e m e n t s . H a v e t h e s tu d e n t s e x p e r i m e n t a n d c o n n e c t c o n c e p t w o r d s w i t hl i n k i n g w o r d s , p e r h a p s w i t h a t o p i c i n w h i c h t h e y h a v e a g r e a t i n t e r e s t( e. g ., a h o b b y o r s p o r t ) . T h i s s i m p l e e x e r c is e d e m o n s t r a t e s t h e f i rs t s t e pt o w a r d c o n s t r u c ti n g a c o n c e p t m a p .

Beginning Exercises for Concept MappingO n e o f t h e m a j o r p r o b l e m s f o r a l l t e a c h e r s i s t o d e t e r m i n e t h e l e v e l o f

k n o w l e d g e o f a n e w c la ss . A u s u b e l , N o v a k & H a n e s i a n 1 97 8) s u g g e s t t h a t~Two anonymous reviewers of this paper suggest that concept mapping can be viewed as anextension of flowcharts and decision trees, and we agree that the graphical presentations of thethree tools appear somewhat similar. However, when Novak and Gowin discuss flowcharts(defined as a means of showing a sequence of activities) and other visual presentation methods,they stress that these types of visuals are not 'based on the theory of learning and theory ofknowledge that underlie concept mapping strategies and their applications to education.'.


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t h e s i n g l e m o s t i m p o r t a n t f a c t o r i n f l u e n c i n g l e a r n i n g i s w h a t t h e l e a r n e ra l r e a d y k n o w s . T h u s , i f t h e i n s t r u c t o r c a n i d e n t i f y a r e a s o n a b l e l ev e l o f t h ec l a s s 's k n o w l e d g e , e f f o r t s c a n b e i n i t i a t e d t o b u i l d o n t h i s b a se . I f , f o r i n s t a n c e ,c o n c e p t m a p p i n g w il l b e u s e d i n a n u p p e r - l ev e l c o u r s e , th e n a f o u n d a t i o ns h o u l d a l r e a d y e x i s t f r o m p r e v i o u s c o u r s e s .

A s s u m i n g t h e s t a r t in g p o i n t h a s b e e n e s t a b li s h e d , t h e f o l lo w i n g is o n ea p p r o a c h t o t h e u se o f c o n c e p t m a p p i n g .1. S e l ec t m a t e r i a l f o r t h e s t u d e n t s t o r e a d . T h e s e l e c t io n c o u l d b e a j o u r n a l

a r t ic l e , a c h a p t e r i n a t e x t , o r s o m e t h i n g w r i t t e n e s p e c i a l l y f o r t h i s e x e r c i se .A f t e r t h e y h a v e r e a d t h e m a t e r i a l, a s k t h e s t u d e n t s t o s e le c t a n d d e s c r ib et h e m a i n c o n c e p t s .

2 . S e t u p t h e h i e r a rc h y o f th e c o n c e p t m a p b y h a v i n g t h e s tu d e n t s r a n k t h ec o n c e p t s , w i t h t h e m o s t i n c l u s i v e o r c o m p r e h e n s i v e c o n c e p t r a n k e d h i g h -e st . E x p e c t d i f f e re n t r a n k i n g s b a s e d o n t h e p e r c e p t i o n o f t h e p e r s o n w h oc o n s t r u c t s t h e m a p .

3. B e g in to c o n s t r u c t t h e c o n c e p t m a p b y m a k i n g c e r ta i n t h a t a p p r o p r i a t el i n k i n g w o r d s a r e i n c l u d e d i n t h e h i e r a r c h y . N o r m a l l y , s e v e r a l r e v i s i o n sa r e n e e d e d b e f o r e a g o o d r e p r e s e n t a t io n o f p r o p o s i t i o n a l m e a n i n g s c a nb e d i s p l a y e d .

A n o t h e r a p p r o a c h t o p re s e n ti n g c o n c e p t m a p s is t o h a v e t h e i n s t r u c t o ri n t r o d u c e h i s o r h e r c o n c e p t m a p t o t h e c l as s a s a w a y o f d i s cu s s i n g c e r t a i nt o p i cs . B y s h o w i n g d i f f e r e n t v e r s i o n s o f t h e m a p , s t u d e n t s c a n s ee t h a t o n ea t t e m p t i s n o r m a l l y n o t s u f f i c i e n t t o c r e a t e a n a c c e p t a b l e p r o d u c t a n d t h a te v e n s u b j e c t m a t t e r e x p e r t s n e e d t o r e v is e th e i r w o r k .

Actual Use of Concept M apsC o n c e p t m a p s c a n b e u s ed b y e d u c a t o r s t o p r e s en t m a t e r ia l o r b y s t u d e n ts ,

e i t h e r i n d i v i d u a l l y o r i n s m a l l g r o u p s , a s o u t - o f - c l a s s a s s i g n m e n t s o r i n - c l a s se x e r c is e s . S i n c e t h e g o a l is t o g e t s t u d e n t s a c t i v e l y i n v o l v e d i n t h e i r l e a r n i n gp r o c e s s, s t u d e n t s s h o u l d p r e p a r e t h e i r o w n c o n c e p t m a p s a s o f t e n a s p o s s ib l e -a p r o c e s s t h a t e n c o u r a g e s f r e q u e n t u s e o f c r it ic a l t h i n k i n g . T h u s , t h e a u t h o r sh a v e s t u d e n t s c r e a t e c o n c e p t m a p s a n d d e v o t e si g n if ic a n t t i m e t o t h e i r m o d i -f ic a t io n . F i g u r e s 3 a n d 4 a r e t w o f a c u l t y - d e v e l o p e d c o n c e p t m a p s c o n s t r u c t e df o r i n t r o d u c t o r y a c c o u n t i n g a n d a u d i t i n g c la ss es . T h e s e m a p s h a v e b e e n u s e di n a v a r i e t y o f w a y s ; h o w e v e r , s t u d e n t s u s u a l ly c r e a t e t h e i r o w n v e r s i o n b e f o r et h e y a r e s h o w n t h e i n s t r u c t o r ' s w o r k .

B e f o r e F i g u r e 3 i s p r e s e n t e d t o t h e i n t r o d u c t o r y c l a s s , t h e s t u d e n t s a r ep l a c e d f o r 1 0 m i n u t e s i n t o g r o u p s o f f o u r a n d a s k e d t o d i sc u ss t h e p u r p o s eo f a c c o u n t i n g , c o n c e n t r a t i n g o n a u s e r p e r s p e c t iv e o f fi n a n ci a l st a t e m e n t s . I nt h e n e x t c la s s, s t u d e n t s a r e t h e n r e q u i r e d t o s u b m i t a o n e - p a g e n a r r a t i v e o ft h e d i s c u s s i o n . T h i s o u t - o f - c l a s s a s s i g n m e n t i s c o u n t e d a s a q u i z . A f t e r t h ei n s t r u c t o r h a s g r a d e d t h e s e s u b m i s s i o n s, 2 0 m i n u t e s o f cl as s t i m e is s p e n t


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Concep t M apping: Potential Uses in Accoun ting Edu cation 131

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F i g u r e 3 . E x a m p l e o f c o n c e p t m a p u s e d i n i n t r o d u c t o r y a c c o u n t i n g c o u r s e .

d i s c u s s i n g t h e a s s i g n m e n t . T o f a c il it a te t h e p r e s e n t a t io n , t h e i n s tr u c t o r d r a w sa 'r o u g h ' c o n c e p t m a p o n t h e b o a r d . F i g u r e 3 is d i s tr i b u t ed i n th e n e x t c la s sm e e t i n g a s p a r t o f a 1 5 - m i n u t e g r a p h i c a l o v e r v i e w o f th e a s s i g n m e n t , w h i c ha l lo w s f o r fu r th e r e x p l a n a t i o n o f t h e p r o c e s s o f c o n c e p t m a p p i n g .

T h e p r e c e d i n g e x e r c is e a l l o w s s t u d e n t s t o s ee th e ir o r ig i n a l k n o w l e d g e b a s ed i s p l a y e d i n b o t h a w r i t t e n a n d g r a p h i c a l f o r m . M o r e i m p o r t a n t , i t a l l o w st h e m t o le a v e c la s s w i t h a n e x p a n d e d k n o w l e d g e b a s e a u g m e n t e d b y n e w l yl ea r n e d co n c e p t s . T h e s t u d e n t s a l s o h a v e a n e l e m e n t a r y u n d e r s ta n d i n g o fh o w t o co n s t r u c t a c o n c e p t m a p a n d f u t u r e a s s ig n m e n t s , w h e t h e r i n -c la s s o rn o t , a l l o w s t u d e n t s t o e x p e r i m e n t w i t h t h is n e w l e a r n i n g d e v i ce .


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F i g u r e 4. E x a m p l e o f c o n c e p t m a p u s e d in a u d i t in g c o u r s e .

A u d i t i n g c l a ss e s u s e a si m il a r a p p r o a c h w h e n s h o w i n g s t u d e n t s t h e c o m -p o n e n t s o f a n u n q u a l i f i e d a u d i t r e po r t. A n a d v a n t a g e o f u s in g c o n c e p t m a p -p i n g i n t h is u p p e r - l e v e l c o u r s e i s t h a t s t u d e n t s w h o p a r t i c i p a t e d i n th e c o n c e p tm a p p i n g e x e rc is e s i n t h e in t r o d u c t o r y c o u r s e s a r e a w a r e o f t h e re la t ed p r o -c e d u r e s a n d t h o u g h t p r o c e s s e s . I d e a l l y , t h e g r o u p s a r e s tr u c t u r e d w i t h a t l e a s to n e s t u d e n t w h o h a s b e e n e x p o s e d t o c o n c e p t m a p p i n g , t h e re b y a l l o w i n ge x p e r i e n c e d s t u d e n t s t o h e l p o t h e r s l e a r n t h e p r o c e s s .

A f t e r r e v i e w i n g a n d u n d e r s t a n d i n g F i g u r e 4 , s tu d e n t s a r e a s k e d t o c r e a te


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a c o n c e p t m a p f o r t h e o t h e r t y p e s o f a u d i t r e p o r t s ( i. e., q u al if ie d , a d v e r s e a n dd i s c l a im e r ) . F i g u r e 5 s h o w s t h e i n i t ia l c r e a t i o n b y a j u n i o r - l e v e l s t u d e n t : i t isw e a k l y c o n s t r u c t e d a n d c o n t a i n s s o m e t e ch n i c a l f la w s. F o r e x a m p l e , u n d e rt h e q u a li fi e d o p i n i o n s e c ti o n , th e m a p i n c o r r e c t l y i n d i c at e s t h a t a n a d d i t i o n a lp a r a g r a p h w ill i d e n ti fy w h y t h e a u d i t o r d i d n o t c o m p l y w i th G A A S . A f t e r ac r i t i c a l r e v i e w b y t h e i n s t r u c t o r , t h e s t u d e n t s a r e g i v e n t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t os u b m i t i m p r o v e d v e r s i o n s . F i g u r e 6 , t h e f o u r t h a n d f i n a l v e r s i o n s u b m i t t e db y t h e s a m e s t u d e n t , s h o w s s u b s t a n t i a l i m p r o v e m e n t i n u n d e r s t a n d i n g a n dp r e s e n t a t i o n .

Evaluation of Concept M apsW h i le s o m e c o n c e p t m a p s a r e p r e p a r e d s o l el y f o r t h e i r l e a rn i n g i m p l i-c a t i o n s , o t h e r s r e p r e s e n t a n a s s i g n m e n t t h a t w i l l c o u n t t o w a r d a s t u d e n t ' s

g r a d e . E v a l u a t i n g c o n c e p t m a p s is u n i q u e t o e a c h c o u r se , b u t c e r t a i n a t t ri -b u t e s s h o u l d b e p r e s e n t i n m a p s o f a ll k in d s . M e a n i n g f u l r e l a ti o n s h i p s s h o u l de x i s t b e t w e e n c o n c e p t s a n d t h e s e c o n c e p t s s h o u l d h a v e a p p r o p r i a t e l i n k i n gw o r d s t h a t c o n n e c t e a ch o t h e r . A h i e r a r c h i c al f o r m a t s h o u l d b e d i s p la y e d inw h i c h e a c h c o n c e p t s h o u l d b e m o r e s p ec if ic t h a n t h e c o n c e p t t h a t p r e c e d e sit .

I n e v a l u a t i n g c o n c e p t m a p s , W a l l a c e & M i n t z e s ( 1 9 9 0 ) u s e a s c o r i n gm e t h o d t h a t l o o k s a t f i v e d i f f e r e n t c r i t e r i a a n d a s s ig n s O n e p o i n t f o r e a c h v a l id r e la t i o n s h i p , F i v e p o i n t s f o r e a c h v a l i d le v e l o f h i e r a r c h y , O n e p o i n t f o r e a c h v a l id b r a n c h , T e n p o i n t s f o r e a c h v a l i d c r o s s l in k ( e. g ., c o n n e c t i n g c o n c e p t s i n o n e p a r t

o f th e m a p w i t h c o n c e p t s in a n o t h e r s e g m e n t o f t h e m a p ) a n d O n e p o i n t f o r e a c h v a l id g e n e r a l - to - s p e c i f i c e x a m p l e .T h e s e g u i d el in e s s h o w t h a t t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t a t t r i b u t e s f o r e v a l u a t i n gc o n c e p t m a p s a r e t h e le v e ls o f t h e h i e r a r c h y a n d c r o s s l i n k i n g . C r o s s l i n k i n gis w e i g h t e d m o r e h e a v i l y b e c a u s e i t o f t e n r e fl e c ts c r e a t i v e t h i n k i n g , w h i c hs h o u l d b e e n c o u r a g e d ( N o v a k & G o w i n , 1 98 4, p , 3 6).

S T U D E N T R E A C T I O N S T O C O N C E P T M A P P I N GS i n c e c o n c e p t m a p p i n g w a s f r e q u e n t l y u s e d in a n a u d i t i n g c o u r s e , th e

i n s t r u c t o r w a s i n t e r e s t e d i n l e a r n i n g m o r e a b o u t s t u d e n t s ' r e s p o n s e s t o t h i se d u c a t i o n a l m e t h o d . A n o p e n - e n d e d s u r v e y r es u l te d in t h e f o l l o w i n g c o m -m e n t s r e l a te d t o t h e a d v a n t a g e s o f c o n c e p t m a p p i n g : ' [A l l o w s y o u to ] g r a s p m a t e r i a l e a s i e r t h a n r e a d i n g . " ' F o r c e s y o u to c o n c e n t r a t e a n d o r g a n i z e b e t te r . ' "A ll c o n c e p t s o n o n e p a g e m a k e s i t e a s i e r t o s t u d y ."


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Concept M apping: Potential Uses in Accounting Education 135

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F i g u r e 6 . E x a m p l e o f s t u d e n t - p r e p a r e d c o n c e p t m a p : f o u r th r e v i s i o n .

' F l o w is e a s i e r t o s e e. ' ' ! r e a ll y l e a r n b e t t e r w i t h v i s u a l i n f o r m a t i o n . 'S o m e o f th e p r o b l e m s c i te d i n c lu d e : " T o o t im e c o n s u m i n g . ' " F i r s t o n e i s d i ff ic u l t s i n c e I d i d n ' t k n o w w h e r e t o s t a r t. " ' O n c e I u n d e r s t o o d t h e d e f i n i ti o n s I w a s a b l e t o s t a r t t h e m a p . ' ' T o o m u c h i n f o r m a t i o n o n o n e c o n c e p t m a p i s c o n f u s in g . 'A s s h o w n b y th e s e c o m m e n t s , i n t r o d u c i n g a n ew l e a rn i n g t e ch n i q u e m a yc r e a t e s o m e f r u s t r a t i o n . H o w e v e r , a s j u d g e d b y th i s l im i t e d s a m p l e , c o n c e p tm a p s h e l p s t u d e n t s t o b e t t e r s ee t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p a m o n g c o n c e p t s ( e. g., 'f lo w ,"' o r g a n i z e b e t te r , ' 'a l l c o n c e p t s o n o n e p a g e ' ) a n d t h e r e b y s u p p l e m e n t o t h e r ,m o r e t r a d i t i o n a l l e a r n i n g a p p r o a c h e s ( e . g . , r e a d i n g ) . O n e c o n t i n u i n g p r o b l e mw a s t h a t w e a k e r s t u d e n t s d i d n o t u n d e r s t a n d t h e m a t e r i a l b e f o r e t h e ya t t e m p t e d t h e m a p , c o n s t r u c t e d p r o j e c ts p o o r l y a n d p r o d u c e d i ni tia l n e g a ti v ef e e d b a c k . H o w e v e r , s u cc e ss iv e a t t e m p t s o n t h e p a r t o f b o t h s t u d e n ts a n d t h ei n s t ru c t o r m a d e c o n c e p t m a p p i n g a m o r e a c c e p t a b l e t ea c h in g t o o l a s w e


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136 B.A. Leauby and P. Brazina

progressed throughout the semester. Also, sharing concept maps amongstudents was an effective small group exercise because those who readilyadopted the technique and were somewh at proficient at using it, were willingto help others.This past semester, one instruc tor allowed students to use concept mappingto answer any essay on examinations in place of the traditional narrativeresponse. Approximately 40% of the students took the challenge and usedconcept maps in the second and final examinations. The majority of thesestudents tended to demonstrate a more detailed understanding of the subjectmatter than those who wrote narrative explanations. Employing the finalexam as a benchmark, those students who used concept mapping scored8.5% higher on the essay portion of the examination-where overall averagetest results for the two groups were almost identical. These results suggestthat concept maps may have helped the lower-performing students do better.(Cau tion should be used in evaluating these results since this experiment wasnot rigorously designed.)

Benef i t s o f Concept MappingThe most obvious benefits of concept mapping are as follows:

1. To learn meaningfully, students must connect their preexisting conceptswith the newly introdu ced concepts. By explicitly seeing these concep ts onmaps and developing new maps based on expanded or new information,students are able to see how they learn and how individuals construct newknowledge.

2. Concept maps force students to identify, extract and link concepts inprinted material. Students often pe rform very well in one class, but some-times have trouble connecting what they learn in one class with materialspresented in another. Concept maps can help in making better connectionsamo ng courses. 6

3. Concept maps present students with a way to visualize concepts andthe hierarchical relationships between them. Students admitted to collegetoday have been raised with Nintendo and other graphical games and,thus, are comfortable with this medium.

4. Concept mapping builds on the previous knowledge base of the student,thereby recognizing the value of prior knowledge to acquiring new knowl-edge.

6Novak & Gowin (1984) have shown that concept maps are quite valuable in helping to structurea well-designed curriculum. It may be appropriate to have the entire accountingfacultyconstructconcept maps to help students see the connections among different offerings. An overall conceptmap might also show department deficiencies and overlaps in subject coverage, which could bechanged to provide students with a more efficient and effective educational experience.


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Concept Mapping: Potential Uses in AccountingEducation 137

5. Bloom's taxonomy Bloom (1956) of educational objectives outlines sixlevels of objectives in education including: knowledge, comprehension,application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Traditional testing doesnot always determine whether new knowledge has been analyzed, syn-thesized and evaluated by students. One way to ove rcome this difficulty isto use concept maps since all six levels must be performed in this oneeffort. Thus, incorporating concept maps in some form of evaluation willreveal whether students truly und erstand the implications of interrelationsamo ng various concepts. 7

6. Developing and modifying concept maps requires making connections,being creative and finding new visual links. Concept maps thus offers aunique learning opportunity based upon the new perspectives gained. Thisgain may be especially beneficial for educators who use these proceduresin developing new classroom material.

7. Concept m apping works well in small class groups. As advoca ted by theAECC, group work involves active participation by students and parallelswhat students will be doing when they enter the profession.

8. Finally, students who find writing a pape r intimidating because they can-not organize their points will find concept mapping a useful tool to gatherideas and present them in a logical manner.

CONCLUSIONSince educational research has shown that concept mapping is an effective

tool to help students develop a framework for learning-how-to-learn, mapsmay be an appropria te strategy to adopt for accounting education. However,the effectiveness of mapping needs to be explored further , more specifically,in different accounting courses. A longitudinal research effort should bepursued to determine the extent to which this new learning tool improvesperformance both in school and in careers.

REFERENCESAbayomi, B. 1. (1988). The effects of concept mapping and cognitivestyle on scienceachievement.

Dissertation Abstracts International, 49, 1420A.Accounting Education Change Commission. (AECC) (1990). Objectives of education foraccountants: Position statement number one. Issues #1 Aeeountin.q l-ducation, 5, 307 312.Adelberg, A. & Razek, J. (1984). The cloze procedure: A methodology for understanding theunderstandability of accounting textbooks. The Aceountin,q Review, January, 109 122.

:Wallace & Mintzes (1990) support using maps as a form of evaluation since concept mappingis one vehicle that captures not only what a student knows, but also how the student organizesthat information.


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1 38 B . A . L e a u b y a n d P . B r a z i n a

A I - K u n i f e d , A . & W a n d e r s e e , J . H . ( 19 90 ). O n e h u n d r e d r e f er e n c es r e la t e d t o c o n c e p t m a p p i n g .Journal o f Research In Science Teaching, 0, 1069-1075.

Ausubel , D. P. (1963) The psychology o f meaningful verbal learning. N e w Y o r k : G r u n e &S t r a t t o n .

A us ube l , D . P . , N ova k , J . D . , & H a nes i an , H . (1978) . Educational Psychology: A Cognitive View( 2 n d e d n .) . N e w Y o r k : H o l t , R i n e h a r t a n d W i n s t o n .Bloom, B. S. (1956). Tax ono m y o f Educational O bjectives: The Classification o f Educational

Goals, Handbook I: Cognitive Domain. N e w Y o r k : M c K a y .C l i b u r n , J . W . (1 99 0) . C o n c e p t m a p s t o p r o m o t e m e a n i n g f u l le a r n i n g . Journal o f Science Teach-

ing, Fall, 212 217.D uffy , W . (1990 ). A g raph i ca l an a ly s i s o f i n t e re s t cap i t a l i za t i on . Journal o f Accounting Education,

8, 271-284.N ovak , J . D . , & G ow in , D . G . (1984 ) . Learning ho w to learn. N e w Y o r k : C a m b r i d g e U n i v e r s i t y

Press .P a r k , H . ( 19 89 ). A t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l g r a p h i c d is p l a y o f t h e im p a c t o f i n v e n t o r y c h a n g e s o n

a b s o r p t i o n a n d d i r e c t c o s t i n g i n c o m e s . Journal of Accounting Education, 7, 279 292.Schadew a ld , M. & Limberg , S . (1992 ) . U s ing p i c to r i a l mode l s t o t each complex t ax ru l e s : A n

e x p e r i m e n t a l i n v e s t i g a t io n . Journal of Accounting E ducation, 10, 131 149.W al l ace , J . D . & M in t zes , J . J. (1990) . The con cep t m ap a s a re sea rch t oo l : Exp lo r ing conce p tua l

chang es i n b io logy . Journal of Research In Science Teaching, Winter, 1 0 3 3 1 0 5 2 .

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