Abstract This study examines the usefulness of an expert system for teaching complex accounting issues, which require the application of numerous rules to a particular set of economic transactions. The process for selecting the appropriate rule is modeled by an expert system. At each step, the expert system provides a rule, explains unfamiliar terms to the user, asks the user to supply the necessary data, and shows the results of an application of that rule. Two classes of students were required to solve leasing problems, one with the aid of an expert system, and the other with standard textbook material. Students using the expert system made substantially fewer errors in classifying leases as capital or operating leases than students who used standard textbook material; although those using the expert system reported the assignment was less useful than students who used standard textbook material.
Böer et al. (Thu,) studied this question.