Nurturing the social construction of knowledge in advanced financial accounting: the use of asynchronous discussion forums to facilitate case-based learning

This paper describes the implementation of an online discussion forum as a means of facilitating case-based learning in an Advanced Financial Accounting course. The paper commences with a review of case-based learning literature (Campbell and Lewis, 1991; Wines, Carnegie, Boyce and Gibson, 1994; Hassall, Lewis and Broadbent, 1998; Boyce, Williams, Kelly and Yee, 2001; Milne and McConnell, 2001; Weil, Oyelere and Rainsbury, 2004) and the use of asynchronous discussions as a delivery platform (Shaw, 2001; Moore and Marra, 2005; Pena-Shaff, Altman and Stephenson, 2005), linking these pedagogical approaches to the emerging needs and learning styles of the current generation of 'digital' students (Sheahan, 2005). The paper then describes the context in which the research takes place, including the nature of the course, its learning objectives and its educational philosophy and describes the rationale for the implementation and usage of the online discussion forum. Survey data were collected and analysed from a single student cohort to assess student perceptions of the benefits and limitations of case studies and online discussion groups to augment case-based learning. The findings suggest that students perceive numerous benefits associated with case-based online discussions, including being exposed to other students' opinions, improving the ability to critically review case information, motivation to consult additional non-course related material and the convenience of the technology utilised.