MEMAHAMKAN AKUNTANSI DENGAN PENALARAN DAN PENDEKATAN SISTEM

Abstract

Accounting equation is a useful tool for teaching accounting. However, its
inappropriate use at the beginning of introductory accounting course tends to inhibit
students' understanding of and reasoning for accounting process. It is difficult for
students to link the accounting equation as an abstraction of reality with the real
world counterpart it represents. This difficulty is likely to block students' reasoning
for accepting further materials presented to them. To avoid such a dysfunctional
behavior, an alternative approach that makes more sense should be introduced in
accounting teaching and learning.
In this article, to round up the earlier one (Suwardjono, 1999), the author
proposes and describes a system approach to introducing accounting to beginners.
This alternative approach brings students to follow logically and conceptually a step
by-step process of developing accounting systems from the simplest or embryonic to
the most sophisticated and computerized ones. In each step, the underlying concepts
and reasoning for refining the systems are discussed along with the teaching
strategies and techniques of explaining them to students. The author believes that this
approach will give more benefits to students especially to non accounting major
students.