A critical analysis of students' perceptions of the usefulness of the case study method in an advanced management accounting module: The impact of relevant work experience

Recently there has been increased emphasis on the development of accounting students' generic skills, including communication, written, critical, problem-solving and analytical skills. Such skills, it is argued, are enhanced through the adoption of the case study method. When considering the inclusion of case studies in academic accounting curricula to represent ‘real world’ situations, an important factor to consider is that accounting students may have worked in a related area, and that this experience may affect their attitudes to using case studies in class. This paper addresses this issue and adds to the accounting education literature by reporting no significant differences in the perceived benefits of using case studies in an advanced management accounting module between students with relevant work experience and those without. In the context of this study, the findings provide evidence that accounting academics should not tailor the use of case studies to take account of students' relevant work experience.