Abstract:

Over the years the methodology used for teaching accounting in at Polytechnic of Porto - ISCAP, Portugal has always been based on traditional lecturing. ISCAP is a century-old institution and one of the leading higher education institutions in the area of accounting and administration. At the moment the Accounting and Administration degree has about 1100 students, and every year nearly 220 students attend the course of Business Simulation Project (BSP). In 2003, the "learning by doing" teaching methodology was introduced in the degree of Accounting and Administration through BSP course. This course allowed students to apply the knowledge and skills acquired throughout their degree. Fourteen years later we thought it would be important to obtain feedback from lecturers from BSP course and study the benefits of introducing this methodology in the acquisition and solidification of new skills by students. Therefore, interviews were conducted among BSP lecturers during the academic year 2016-2017. One of the interviewees was the tutor of the course. The feedback from lecturers was very positive, and soft skills were enhanced as very developed by students during the BSP course. The practical application of the knowledge by students was from areas such as financial accounting, management accounting, taxation, business law, labour law, ethics and financial mathematics. The BSP course is also relevant for students as it is an alternative to the curricular internship that is required by the Order of Certified Accountants, which is the organization that regulates the activity of Accountancy in Portugal.

Keywords:

Learning by doing, teaching methodologies, business simulation.