The development and evaluation of a team-based audit simulation in the introductory auditing course

For more than a decade, leaders in the accounting profession have been calling for changes to both the content and delivery of accounting courses. Three key concerns identified by these leaders are failure to incorporate in our courses: active learning activities, cooperative learning activities, and real-world examples. We address these concerns by designing a team-based audit simulation for use in the introductory auditing course. This paper describes not only the simulation, but also the evaluation of it using three measures: student response, practitioner response, and faculty response. All respondents judge the simulation as realistic. Further, students rated their learning and team experiences in working on the Proli simulation more favorably than they had anticipated ex ante, suggesting the active and cooperative learning features of the simulation are well-received by students. Practicing auditors assessed the simulation as a useful learning tool and confirmed the importance of the team experiences inherent in Proli. Given these results coupled with the adaptability of the simulation, we believe Proli makes an important and noteworthy contribution to accounting education in the new millennium.