The Effect of Constructive Alignment in Course Design on Accounting Students’ Development of Written Communication Competence

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Constructive Alignment
(CA), that is aligning learning outcomes, learning activities and assessment tasks, on

students’ development of competence in written communication. A counterbalancing two-
phase experimental design was adopted. Third-year undergraduate accounting students in

an advanced auditing course were randomly assigned into two groups. In phase 1, Group 1
received the constructive alignment intervention, and Group 2 studied in a traditional
learning situation. In phase 2, the order of intervention was reverse, where Group 2 received
the intervention, and Group 1 did not receive the intervention. Participants’ written
competency was measured before and after each phase by using an auditing writing test.
Qualitative comments were also collected in group interviews. The study found that in the
phase when students received constructive alignment intervention, they write better than
the students who did not receive constructive alignment intervention. This finding indicates
that constructively aligning learning outcomes, learning activities, and assessment tasks
around writing help improve accounting students’ written communication competence. For
decades, accounting practitioners and employers have been lamenting over the inadequacy
of accounting students’ written communication competence. Results of this study provide
useful and positive evidence to accounting educators on the importance of aligning
components in course design to develop students’ communication competence as required
by the profession. Educators who intend to develop students’ competence in written
communication can be encouraged to redesign their courses according to the constructive
alignment framework.