Experimental Evidence on the Benefits of Using 'Writing to Learn' Activities in Accounting Courses.

Abstract The importance of writing in accounting courses has been well documented in the literature. However, the majority of these studies exclusively addressed the issue of helping students learn to write. In contrast, this paper presents evidence concerning the benefits of using writing assignments to help students learn accounting-the writing to learn approach. Accounting students in three different courses completed informal writing assignments (freewrites) regarding class topics. Exam scores were compared against those in sections of the courses not completing the writing assignments. Multivariate Analyses of Covariance on exam scores were insignificant. However, qualitative analyses of exam scores and student evaluations of the assignments indicate that the assignments helped the students learn in a variety of ways.