Active Learning: An Empirical Study of the Use of Simulation Games in the Introductory Financial Accounting Class‪.‬

ABSTRACT One of the major criticisms of accounting education today is that it is too oriented toward memorization and procedure. Employers and others complain that it produces graduates that are incapable of critical thinking and independent evaluation. The traditional lecture based delivery of material, followed by exercises in recording data, is thought to exacerbate this problem. This paper compares the use of the traditional lecture format using debit/credit journaling to the use of an active learning format using case analysis and a simulation game. The author's hypothesis is that the active learning format encourages higher level skills on Bloom's taxonomy which involve critical thinking. If this is true, it could help point the way is which accounting educators could address the needs of future graduates.