Erasmus School of Economics (ESE)
The Netherlands
Type
University
Started in
2018
Location
The Netherlands
Erasmus School of Economics is a part of Erasmus University Rotterdam, a renowned institution with an international reach that offers top-level programs in all major areas of Economics and Business.
For this use case, we interviewed Dr. Jeroen Suijs, a Full professor at the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE).
Erasmus School of Economics faced a significant challenge in teaching accounting, particularly financial accounting, due to the specific nature of accounting exercises like journal entries, T-accounts, and financial statement overviews.
Traditional online platforms considered by the teaching staff lacked customizable templates to create these specific types of exercises. As Jeroen Suijs explained:
“Our main challenge was that we did not find platforms allowing us to test accounting skills in the appropriate way.”
Another teaching challenge is that students really need consistent and significant practice to master their basic accounting skills. Therefore, the staff sought ways to stimulate students’ practice.
Moreover, students did not receive immediate feedback when practicing with textbooks. Their only feedback opportunities were during tutorials, which took place only once per topic. This hindered their ability to reinforce core accounting skills, and the student’s performance was unsatisfactory.
SOWISO collaborated with ESE to develop customized question templates for accounting exercises. This allowed the university to digitize and expand its accounting curriculum. As Jeroen recalls:
“When we got in touch with SOWISO in 2018, they were willing to develop custom templates for us. That was the major benefit for us—having the templates that met our needs.”
The platform’s extensive randomization capabilities played a crucial role in enhancing student engagement by allowing the randomization of text variables (like company names or products), numbers, and transaction types. For example, they could just program an exercise that randomly shows a transaction that students would have to journalize.
The randomized nature of the exercises ensures that, on the one hand, students cannot simply copy answers and, on the other hand, they can get endless practice opportunities. In Jeroen’s words:
“You only have to program one exercise, but students can generate many different versions of it, giving them unlimited possibilities to practice.”
SOWISO can also break problems down step by step, giving personalized feedback and more guidance at every point of the exercises.
When ESE developed an extensive bank of practice materials, they began incorporating mandatory homework into SOWISO. Students were required to complete a fixed set of exercises by a specific deadline and achieve a minimum score of 90%. They could attempt the exercises as often as needed, allowing them to practice until they mastered the material. However, this approach encountered too many practical and administrative challenges, such as students missing deadlines (sometimes for valid reasons) or joining the course late.
In response, two years ago, the team shifted to a new approach: biweekly online tests. Students were required to complete these tests every two weeks, and the new system proved more effective. Scores consistently ranged between 75-80% across all three tests, and final exam grades mirrored these scores. This consistency demonstrated that students engaged with the practice materials, effectively building their accounting skills.
It also might confirm that the biweekly tests are a reliable indicator of final exam performance, as the outcomes remained uniform throughout the course. However, they want to see this year’s results to draw conclusions about this method.
The ESE team found that there is a time and place also for exercises that aren’t randomized. They continued to develop case exercises that were identical for all students. This way, everyone could see the same variables during tutorial discussions. Even if these cases are not real-world scenarios, they are more realistic and offer more possibilities than the more stylized randomized exercises. This blend of randomized and case-based exercises allowed for more interactive tutorials and a better comprehension of how accounting concepts apply in a real-world scenario.
The faculty at ESE is highly satisfied with the SOWISO platform but also emphasizes the effort required to integrate it fully into a course. “I think you shouldn’t underestimate how much work it is to develop the materials and exercises to the quality level you’d like.” However, as Jeroen also points out:
“Creating a simple question using text and multiple variables is relatively easy to program for journal entries. You can easily duplicate these questions and make slight modifications to the text and transactions. However, programming becomes more complex if you want to utilize randomization fully. Putting in the effort will allow you to test many things with just one exercise, which can pay off in the long term.”
Apart from offering an authoring environment, SOWISO offers ready-made plug-and-play exercises. We are expanding our scope in social sciences, including accounting, and have a wide range of content in other subjects.
SOWISO is a working community of practice that fosters collaboration between authoring users. Accounting is one area that is growing to share exercises, best practices, and other knowledge products. Participating in a community of practice should also simplify the work of all parties and have a greater impact.
The implementation of SOWISO led to a significant improvement in student performance. Over the years of working with this platform, the university developed a comprehensive set of exercises covering the accounting curriculum for years 1 and 2 in the bachelor program. By 2023, pass rates had increased substantially compared to 2018, when the course relied solely on textbook exercises. As Jeroen recalls:
“In 2018, passing grades were around 50-55% in midterms and maybe 60-65% after resits. Last year, we had steady pass rates of 75-80% in the three online tests and the final exam. That’s a big improvement, showing students are mastering the material.”
The university thinks this success could be attributed to the increased opportunities for practice and the structured testing schedule, although they still need to see this year’s grades. SOWISO’s flexibility has allowed the team to evolve the course structure continuously. As one Jeroen reflects,
“SOWISO offers great opportunities in the accounting field, and we haven’t run into major constraints anymore.”
Looking ahead, the university plans to further enhance its use of SOWISO by incorporating theory directly into the platform. This would eliminate their reliance on textbooks and allow them to tailor content more closely to the specific needs of their students. Moreover, they are considering implementing more adaptive practice opportunities to enable the students to follow a more customized path that fits their skills level.
In conclusion, SOWISO has transformed how accounting is taught at the Erasmus School of Economics, providing students with a more engaging, practical, and effective learning experience. By leveraging customized templates, randomization, and continuous testing, the platform has significantly improved student outcomes.
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