Introducing a Writing Skills Intervention into an Undergraduate Financial Accounting Course

This paper describes how integrating a research project into an undergraduate business school core accounting course provides opportunities to develop critical writing skills while reinforcing ethics as part of the business school curriculum. The paper discusses an end-to-end process from the overall goals and details of the assignment to assess student skills. After researching an ethical topic in business, students are challenged to complete a research paper examining the issue and stating and supporting their opinion and views of the issue. While writing courses or assignments are not unusual in business program, the unique approach described in this paper includes an intervention early in the student’s academic career and a summary of the measurable learning outcomes and criteria for meeting performance expectations. The program addresses the both the instructional tools used for the assignment and assurance of learning for faculty interested in implementing a similar program