Engaged pedagogy: a study of the use of reflective journals in accounting education

This paper provides a report on a study of innovation in postgraduate education in which a reflective learning journal was used for formal assessment purposes in a management accounting course. Prompted by the discourse on the shortcomings of accounting education in terms of learning processes, learning experiences and learning outcomes, the reflective journal was designed to address concerns related to poor uptake of teaching and learning innovations in the discipline and recognised deficiencies in the generic competencies of accounting graduates. Utilising action research methods, the incremental approach to the implementation of the assessment activity is described and evaluated based on an analysis of 73 journal submissions across a five-year period. The results, while based on a sample of limited size, indicated a dichotomy in surface versus deep approaches to learning in reference to the assessment task, but with improvements in student performances and learning outcomes when more radical change to the learning journal assessment item was introduced.