How much help, is too much help? An experimental investigation of the use of check figures and completed solutions in teaching intermediate accounting

Accounting educators have several choices regarding the amount of assistance to provide students for completing their homework, including no solutions, check figures, and completed solutions. Existing literature suggests that these alternatives may have differing impacts on students’ learning and attitudes. This article reports the results of an experiment, using junior-level intermediate accounting students, that tested the association between providing no solutions, check figures, or completed solutions on students’ knowledge gains and perceptions of learning and satisfaction. No significant difference in test score improvements across experimental conditions was found. Consistent with expectations, however, students who do not receive homework solutions or check figures are the least satisfied with their assistance and report the greatest frustration while completing their homework problems. These same students perceive the greatest amounts of learning and have the highest levels of satisfaction with their posttest grade. These findings are of interest to educators as they formulate a homework assistance strategy to meet their pedagogic goals for students’ learning and learning satisfaction.