Accounting educators are responding to challenges made by the accounting profession to change the content and delivery of their programs. Currently, introductory accounting programs in higher education lack the assessment tools needed to evaluate each program's performance and effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to develop a model that can be used by faculty to design and validate a cognitive instrument that would assess the knowledge obtained by students from a particular course or program. In this study the model was used to profile the development and initial validation of a cognitive tool to assess the knowledge obtained from an introductory financial accounting course taught at a large southeastern community college.
Evidence in the review of literature indicates that student learning and development are derived from cognitive, behavioral, and affective domains. Assessment of acquired accounting knowledge within the cognitive domain requires making judgments of various skills including: (a) interpersonal, (b) problem-solving, and (c) knowledge skills. The instrument developed in this study is limited in scope to the measurement of cognitive accounting knowledge taught in an introductory financial accounting course.
The creation of this instrument involved the use of a nine-step criterion-referenced test design using a "unified approach." This approach entails gathering construct, content, and criterion-related evidence that valid and reliable inferences concerning cognitive achievement can be derived from the instrument's score. Through the use of the unified approach, the Accounting Achievement Assessment Tool was developed and validated.
In accordance with the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA/APA/NCME, 1999), the development of the Accounting Achievement Assessment Tool followed a nine-step sequential criterion referenced test design, based on the Hambleton (1984) model. This model was adapted for use in this study to promote the flexibility to design an instrument that would fit the unique curricula needs of an institution, and thus could be used to develop assessment instruments for courses and programs at all cognitive development levels.
The Accounting Achievement Assessment Tool is a cognitive instrument containing 53 structured-response questions to assess the knowledge obtained from an introductory accounting course (i.e., Financial Accounting, ACG 2021). Since the study was limited to the development and initial validation of the instrument, the validation process should continue and be expanded through the participation of other institutions possessing similar curricula.
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