The Effects of Collaborative Simulation on the Development of Students' Confidence in Managerial Accounting Skills

This paper examines the effects of practice through collaborative simulation on the development of students' confidence in critical managerial accounting skills not commonly covered in traditional lecture courses. We assign students to teams that complete a large-scale integrative business simulation (LSIBS), the CAPSIM Foundation's Business Strategy Simulation Game, which serves as a collaborative learning experience. The semester-long project requires students to practice the managerial accountant's job through phased assignments where they make individual assessments, collaborate to set strategies, make decisions that align with the strategies, and report on the results of the decisions. We use a quasi-experimental methodology to examine the efficacy of the project for improving students' confidence across a set of competencies defined by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). The findings show that using a collaborative simulation experience in a managerial accounting course can promote the development of students' confidence in critical managerial accounting skills.