Automated vs. manual simulations in high school accounting: The effects on student achievement, perceptions and time required to complet

The purposes of this study were to (a) determine if there are differences in accounting achievement and perceptions about the accounting class for students completing a manual accounting simulation and students completing an automated accounting simulation and (b) determine if there is a difference in the time required to complete a manual accounting simulation compared with an automated accounting simulation.;The population for this study consisted of 82 students enrolled in four sections of a high school Accounting I course. The treatments were administered by an accounting instructor and student teacher during the second nine-weeks of the 1989-90 school year. Upon completing textbook material on the accounting cycle for a service business, the Accounting Achievement Test (pre-achievement) was administered, and students were asked to complete the Perceptions About the Accounting Class Questionnaire (pre-perceptions). Upon completing the pretest, students in each of the four sections were randomly assigned to either the manual accounting simulation group (Treatment Group A) or the automated accounting simulation group (Treatment Group B). Students in Treatment Group A completed the accounting simulation by hand. Students in Treatment Group B completed the accounting simulation with the aid of a microcomputer. In addition, students were asked to log the amount of time spent working on the accounting simulation. At the conclusion of the treatments the Accounting Achievement Test (post-achievement) was administered, and students were asked to complete the Perceptions About the Accounting Class Questionnaire, as well as submit their completed Accounting Simulation Log Sheets.;No significant difference was found for students completing a manual accounting simulation and students completing an automated accounting simulation for the dependent variables: (a) accounting achievement and (b) perceptions about the accounting class. A significant difference existed in the mean completion time between students completing a manual accounting simulation and students completing an automated accounting simulation. The mean completion time for students completing the manual accounting simulation was 842.25 minutes (approximately 14 hours). The mean completion time for students completing the automated accounting simulation was 458.53 minutes (approximately 7.6 hours).