This course provides an introduction to behavioural accounting research and, more specifically, judgement and decision making research in accounting. The literature in this area is extensive, and encompasses disciplines including auditing, financial accounting and management accounting. As part of this course, you are expected to develop an appreciation and understanding of how behavioural research is conducted. Individuals' decisions are affected by accounting information, and judgement is the cornerstone of auditing. BUSN8200 is designed to introduce you to some concepts related to judgement and decision-making and apply these concepts to the broader accounting and auditing contexts.
 
This course is only available to students enrolled in the Doctoral program in the Research School of Accounting, ANU College of Business and Economics. Enrolment must be approved by the Convenor of the program.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate an appreciation of the cognitive processes, individual characteristics, contextual factors and environmental variables on judgement and decision-making.
2. Critically evaluate empirical research in this area.
3. Develop a behavioural research question, design an appropriate behavioural experiment to examine the question, conduct appropriate analysis, and write a research paper.

Research-Led Teaching

This is a research-based course, predominantly drawing on journal articles to illustrate concepts relevant to judgement and decision making. 

Required Resources

There is no prescribed textbook for this course. Course readings will be assigned during class.

Staff Feedback

Students will be given feedback in various ways in this course, including verbal or written feedback on the return of assessment tasks, during class discussion, or during consultation with the course convenor.

Student Feedback

ANU is committed to the demonstration of educational excellence and regularly seeks feedback from students. Students are encouraged to offer feedback directly to their Course Convener or through their College and Course representatives (if applicable). The feedback given in these surveys is anonymous and provides the Colleges, University Education Committee and Academic Board with opportunities to recognise excellent teaching, and opportunities for improvement. The Surveys and Evaluation website provides more information on student surveys at ANU and reports on the feedback provided on ANU courses.

Other Information

ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS

As a further academic integrity control, students may be selected for a 15 minute individual oral examination of their written assessment submissions.

Any student identified, either during the current semester or in retrospect, as having used ghost writing services will be investigated under the University’s Academic Misconduct Rule.

COMMUNICATION

Email and Forums on the Wattle Course Website

Email and the Wattle course website are the preferred ways of communication. Student forums are set up on Wattle for each topic and can be viewed by all enrolled students and teaching staff. Students are encouraged to post any questions they have in the appropriate forum.

If necessary, the lecturer for this course will contact students on their official ANU student email address. Students should use this email address when contacting staff as spam filters used by ANU may not allow other email addresses to be received. Information about your enrolment and fees from the Registrar and Student Services' office will also be sent to this email address.

Announcements

Students are expected to check the Wattle site for announcements about this course, e.g. changes to timetables or notifications of cancellations. Notifications of emergency cancellations of lectures or tutorials will be posted on Wattle.

Class Schedule

Week/Session	Summary of Activities	Assessment
1	Course administration. Introduction to the course. Experimental research designs.
2	Judgements and decisions.
3	Public Holiday Monday Individual student consultation on research project.
4	Cognitive biases (1).
5	Cognitive biases (2).
6	Social dimensions. Short presentations of proposed research project.	In-class feedback on research experiment
7	Development and refinement of research project.	20 April - Essay
8	Public Holiday Monday Individual student consultation on research project.
9	Individual variables.
10	Task variables.
11	Environmental variables.
12	Student presentations on research project.	3 June - Research Project

Assessment Summary

Assessment task	Value	Due Date	Return of assessment	Learning Outcomes
Seminar Reports	30 %	22/03/2021	28/05/2021	1,2
Essay	30 %	20/04/2021	03/05/2021	1,2
Research Project - Experimental Design and Analysis	40 %	03/06/2021	01/07/2021	1,2,3

* If the Due Date and Return of Assessment date are blank, see the Assessment Tab for specific Assessment Task details

Policies

ANU has educational policies, procedures and guidelines, which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and implement them. Students are expected to have read the Academic Misconduct Rule before the commencement of their course. Other key policies and guidelines include:

• Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure
• Special Assessment Consideration Policy and General Information 
• Student Surveys and Evaluations
• Deferred Examinations
• Student Complaint Resolution Policy and Procedure

Assessment Requirements

The ANU is using Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website. In rare cases where online submission using Turnitin software is not technically possible; or where not using Turnitin software has been justified by the Course Convener and approved by the Associate Dean (Education) on the basis of the teaching model being employed; students shall submit assessment online via ‘Wattle’ outside of Turnitin, or failing that in hard copy, or through a combination of submission methods as approved by the Associate Dean (Education). The submission method is detailed below.

Moderation of Assessment

Marks that are allocated during Semester are to be considered provisional until formalised by the College examiners meeting at the end of each Semester. If appropriate, some moderation of marks might be applied prior to final results being released.

Examination(s)

There are no examinations in this course.

Assessment Task 1

Seminar Reports

Due Date: The due date listed in the assessment summary above indicates the earliest possible submission date. There are two seminar reports and the submissions dates for these reports will be provided during Week 2 of semester.

The reports will relate to an assigned research paper (or research papers) relating to a particular topic area. Your report will take the form of a written summary and critical analysis of the paper(s) assigned to you. This report must not exceed four (4) pages in length, excluding any references. Please submit your report via Turnitin.

For each seminar report, students will also be asked to present their assigned research paper (or research papers) in class that week. You may wish to prepare a small number of PowerPoint slides or handouts to highlight key points so that the class has a copy for later reference. There is no mark associated with this presentation. As PhD students, you will often need to make presentations and answer questions about your work as you progress in your studies. This class activity provides you with an opportunity to gain practice in presenting and responding to questions from the audience.

Assessment Task 2

Essay

You will be required to complete an essay on an issue pertinent to behavioural research in accounting. Details and requirements for this essay will be provided in lectures and on Wattle no later than Week 5 of semester. Submission of this essay is via Turnitin.

Assessment Task 3

Research Project - Experimental Design and Analysis

Due Date: 3 pm, 3 June 2021, via Turnitin.

As part of this course, students are required to develop a research project to examine a behavioural issue in accounting or auditing, using a true experimental design. This project will require you to develop a research question, investigate your issue using a true experimental design, conduct the experiment (i.e., administer it and analyse the data), and write it up as a research paper.

Ideally, this research project should be related to your PhD topic. Within this topic, you can decide on the behavioural issue you wish to examine and the specific research question. Note that marks will be awarded for originality and potential contribution to the literature. Further details and guidance will be provided.

You will present your work as a research paper. This research paper should follow the style of a journal article, including all sections that you typically see in an article. Your research paper should follow the format guidelines of The Accounting Review.

To assist you in this task, you will be expected to provide a short presentation of your proposed research during class in Week 6. While marks are not awarded for this presentation, it is an important part of the learning process as you will receive feedback on your proposed research. To gain the most benefit from this session, you should aim to cover all of the following points in your presentation, with emphasis on the research question or hypothesis and the research method:

-         aim(s), motivation, and contribution

-         (brief) literature review

-         research question or hypothesis

-         research method (including overview of experiment design and data analysis)

-         expected results

The more detail you can provide on your experimental design, the more feedback you can receive.

You are also asked to present your work-to-date during class in Week 12. The presentation and the discussion that occurs should assist you in revising and improving your research paper. It is the research paper that is graded, not the presentation, so use the presentation as an opportunity to “fine tune” your research paper.

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a core part of the ANU culture as a community of scholars. At its heart, academic integrity is about behaving ethically, committing to honest and responsible scholarly practice and upholding these values with respect and fairness.

The ANU commits to assisting all members of our community to understand how to engage in academic work in ways that are consistent with, and actively support academic integrity. The ANU expects staff and students to be familiar with the academic integrity principle and Academic Misconduct Rule, uphold high standards of academic integrity and act ethically and honestly, to ensure the quality and value of the qualification that you will graduate with.

The Academic Misconduct Rule is in place to promote academic integrity and manage academic misconduct. Very minor breaches of the academic integrity principle may result in a reduction of marks of up to 10% of the total marks available for the assessment. The ANU offers a number of online and in person services to assist students with their assignments, examinations, and other learning activities. Visit the Academic Skills website for more information about academic integrity, your responsibilities and for assistance with your assignments, writing skills and study.

Online Submission

You will be required to electronically sign a declaration as part of the submission of your assignment. Please keep a copy of the assignment for your records. Unless an exemption has been approved by the Associate Dean (Education) as submission must be through Turnitin.

Hardcopy Submission

For some forms of assessment (hand written assignments, art works, laboratory notes, etc.) hard copy submission is appropriate when approved by the Associate Dean (Education). Hard copy submissions must utilise the Assignment Cover Sheet. Please keep a copy of tasks completed for your records.

Late Submission

Late submission of assessment tasks without an extension are penalised at the rate of 5% of the possible marks available per working day or part thereof. Late submission of assessment tasks is not accepted after 10 working days after the due date, or on or after the date specified in the course outline for the return of the assessment item.

Referencing Requirements

Accepted academic practice for referencing sources that you use in presentations can be found via the links on the Wattle site, under the file named “ANU and College Policies, Program Information, Student Support Services and Assessment”. Alternatively, you can seek help through the Students Learning Development website.

Returning Assignments

Wherever possible, assignments submitted during term time will be returned during classes. At the end of the semester, students should follow the course convenor’s instructions regarding where to collect assignments from. Please note that afterwards these assignments will be securely destroyed by the School Office. 

Extensions and Penalties

Extensions and late submission of assessment pieces are covered by the Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure. Extensions may be granted for assessment pieces that are not examinations or take-home examinations. If you need an extension, you must request an extension in writing on or before the due date. If you have documented and appropriate medical evidence that demonstrates you were not able to request an extension on or before the due date, you may be able to request it after the due date.

Resubmission of Assignments

Assignments cannot be resubmitted in this course.

Privacy Notice

The ANU has made a number of third party, online, databases available for students to use. Use of each online database is conditional on student end users first agreeing to the database licensor’s terms of service and/or privacy policy. Students should read these carefully. In some cases student end users will be required to register an account with the database licensor and submit personal information, including their: first name; last name; ANU email address; and other information.
In cases where student end users are asked to submit ‘content’ to a database, such as an assignment or short answers, the database licensor may only use the student’s ‘content’ in accordance with the terms of service – including any (copyright) licence the student grants to the database licensor. Any personal information or content a student submits may be stored by the licensor, potentially offshore, and will be used to process the database service in accordance with the licensors terms of service and/or privacy policy.
If any student chooses not to agree to the database licensor’s terms of service or privacy policy, the student will not be able to access and use the database. In these circumstances students should contact their lecturer to enquire about alternative arrangements that are available.

Distribution of grades policy

Academic Quality Assurance Committee monitors the performance of students, including attrition, further study and employment rates and grade distribution, and College reports on quality assurance processes for assessment activities, including alignment with national and international disciplinary and interdisciplinary standards, as well as qualification type learning outcomes.

Since first semester 1994, ANU uses a grading scale for all courses. This grading scale is used by all academic areas of the University.

Support for students

The University offers students support through several different services. You may contact the services listed below directly or seek advice from your Course Convener, Student Administrators, or your College and Course representatives (if applicable).

• ANU Health, safety & wellbeing for medical services, counselling, mental health and spiritual support
• ANU Diversity and inclusion for students with a disability or ongoing or chronic illness
• ANU Dean of Students for confidential, impartial advice and help to resolve problems between students and the academic or administrative areas of the University
• ANU Academic Skills and Learning Centre supports you make your own decisions about how you learn and manage your workload.
• ANU Counselling Centre promotes, supports and enhances mental health and wellbeing within the University student community.
• ANUSA supports and represents undergraduate and ANU College students
• PARSA supports and represents postgraduate and research students