Using Accounting Software for Teaching and Learning in a Second-Year Accounting Course

The aim of this paper is to report students' perceptions on whether the use of accounting software enhances their understanding of the accounting cycle, and improves their information technology skills. Kolb's experiential learning cycle is used to argue that offering a concrete learning experience increases effective learning. The study uses survey research to determine students' perspectives of the usefulness of using accounting software in enhancing their understanding of the accounting cycle in a real business environment. The results show that students perceived the accounting example they used in the accounting software training to have some benefits in helping their understanding of the accounting cycle, and that it had improved their information technology skills. This paper adds to extant literature, where the accounting literature on information technology use in teaching accounting is relatively scarce. The findings are useful to teaching faculty, who may be considering adding a more practical element to their teaching.