Student-led and teacher-led case presentations: empirical evidence about learning styles in an accounting course

Educators and employers alike have made repeated calls for developing graduates who are active, interdependent, and independent learners. While the use of business case studies has been a frequently promoted method for achieving this objective, there is a dearth of information about how best to use the case study method, i.e. should the method be student- or teacher-led? The findings from this study suggest that the choice is far from trivial. Teacher-led cases, which were associated with low levels of student involvement in and responsibility for the case study, resulted in poorly balanced learners. According to learning style theory, these students are less capable of carrying out plans and tasks and show less proclivity for becoming involved in new experiences. Such a finding reinforces Libby's (Issues in Accounting Education 6(2), 193-213, 1991) view that the presence of cases is not the panacea to enhancing generic learning skills. Rather, it is how the case studies are used and the level of student involvement that is of vital importance.