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Impact of Guided Discovery Instruction on Students’ Problem-Solving Skills in Management Accounting among Nigerian University Students

Abstract

Management accounting is an important area of accounting education because it equips students with the knowledge and skills required for planning, cost control, budgeting, performance evaluation, and managerial decision-making. However, students may experience difficulties solving management accounting problems because many topics require the integration of numerical procedures, analytical reasoning, interpretation of financial information, and selection of appropriate decision-making techniques. Conventional teacher-centred instruction may provide limited opportunities for students to investigate problems, develop alternative solutions, evaluate evidence, and apply accounting concepts independently. Guided Discovery Instruction provides a learner-centred approach in which students are presented with structured problems, relevant information, guiding questions, clues, examples, and learning activities that enable them to discover relationships and solutions with appropriate lecturer support. This approach may strengthen students' analytical reasoning, independent thinking, problem-solving ability, and application of management accounting knowledge. Against this background, this study investigates the impact of Guided Discovery Instruction on students' problem-solving skills in management accounting among Nigerian university students. The study will be anchored on Constructivist Learning Theory, Bruner's Discovery Learning Theory, and Cognitive Learning Theory. Constructivist Learning Theory emphasizes the active construction of knowledge through learners' prior knowledge, interaction, exploration, and meaningful problem-solving experiences. Bruner's Discovery Learning Theory emphasizes guided exploration, inquiry, pattern recognition, problem-solving, and the discovery of relationships, with appropriate instructional support provided by the teacher. Cognitive Learning Theory focuses on how learners process, organize, retain, retrieve, and apply information when solving problems. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how Guided Discovery Instruction may influence students' problem-solving skills in management accounting. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental research design. The study population will comprise accounting education students enrolled in selected public and private universities across Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, universities, faculties or departments, levels of study, classes, and eligible students. Guided Discovery Instruction will be assessed using indicators such as problem presentation, guided inquiry, structured discovery tasks, guiding questions, instructional prompts, clues, hints, worked examples, partial solutions, accounting scenarios, case-based activities, problem exploration, identification of relevant information, pattern recognition, formulation of relationships, comparison of alternative solutions, hypothesis generation, testing of solutions, cost-analysis activities, budgeting investigations, variance-analysis tasks, cost-volume-profit problems, relevant-costing activities, decision-making scenarios, peer discussion, lecturer guidance, progressive task difficulty, corrective feedback, individual exploration, collaborative investigation, reflection, explanation of discovered solutions, application of discovered principles, repeated practice, and opportunities to solve unfamiliar management accounting problems. Students' problem-solving skills will be assessed using indicators such as problem identification, interpretation of management accounting information, identification of relevant data, selection of appropriate accounting techniques, formulation of solution strategies, cost classification, cost behaviour analysis, budgeting, budgetary control, marginal costing, absorption costing, standard costing, variance analysis, cost-volume-profit analysis, break-even analysis, relevant costing, make-or-buy decisions, product-mix decisions, pricing decisions, performance evaluation, capital investment decisions, numerical accuracy, logical reasoning, calculation accuracy, interpretation of results, justification of decisions, comparison of alternative solutions, identification and correction of errors, application of management accounting principles to unfamiliar problems, ability to complete multistep accounting problems, and ability to explain the reasoning behind solutions. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, standardized management accounting problem-solving tests, practical accounting exercises, case studies, scenario-based questions, guided discovery tasks, observation checklists, competency-based assessment rubrics, and pre-test and post-test assessments. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize students' demographic and academic characteristics, exposure to Guided Discovery Instruction, learning experiences, and levels of management accounting problem-solving skills. Inferential statistical techniques, including paired and independent t-tests, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the impact of Guided Discovery Instruction on students' problem-solving skills in management accounting. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, students' problem-solving scores before and after exposure to Guided Discovery Instruction may be compared with those of a control group receiving conventional management accounting instruction to determine changes associated with the intervention. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that Guided Discovery Instruction has a significant positive impact on students' problem-solving skills in management accounting among Nigerian university students. Students exposed to structured and appropriately guided discovery activities are expected to demonstrate stronger problem identification, analytical reasoning, calculation accuracy, solution development, and decision-making ability than students receiving conventional instruction. Guided problem presentation may encourage students to examine management accounting problems carefully before attempting to calculate solutions. Guiding questions may help students identify relevant information and determine the appropriate accounting concepts or techniques required to solve a problem. Clues and instructional prompts may provide sufficient support to prevent students from becoming overwhelmed while still allowing them to develop solutions independently. Cost-analysis activities may help students discover relationships between costs and activity levels and apply those relationships to practical problems. Budgeting investigations may encourage students to examine financial information, identify relevant variables, and develop appropriate budget solutions. Variance-analysis activities may enable students to investigate differences between standard and actual results and determine possible causes and implications. Cost-volume-profit and break-even problems may help students discover relationships among sales volume, costs, contribution, and profit. Relevant-costing and decision-making scenarios may strengthen students' ability to distinguish relevant from irrelevant information when evaluating alternatives. Make-or-buy, product-mix, and pricing problems may provide opportunities for students to apply management accounting information to practical managerial decisions. Comparison of alternative solutions may encourage students to evaluate the advantages and limitations of different approaches. Peer discussion may expose students to alternative reasoning processes, while lecturer guidance and corrective feedback may help students identify and correct errors. Progressive task difficulty may gradually strengthen students' ability to solve increasingly complex management accounting problems. Repeated practice may improve students' ability to transfer problem-solving strategies to unfamiliar situations. Reflection and explanation activities may require students to articulate the reasoning behind their solutions, thereby strengthening conceptual understanding and analytical thinking. However, inadequate prior knowledge, poorly designed discovery tasks, insufficient lecturer guidance, large class sizes, limited instructional time, inadequate learning resources, excessive cognitive demands, students' unfamiliarity with independent learning, and ineffective feedback may reduce the effectiveness of Guided Discovery Instruction. The study therefore expects structured, well-guided, problem-focused, curriculum-aligned, and feedback-supported Guided Discovery Instruction to contribute significantly to improved problem-solving skills in management accounting among Nigerian university students. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on Guided Discovery Instruction, management accounting problem-solving skills, constructivist learning, Bruner's Discovery Learning Theory, cognitive learning, inquiry-based learning, active learning, accounting education, management accounting instruction, analytical reasoning, decision-making, learner-centred education, accounting pedagogy, practical accounting education, and university education in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the National Universities Commission, universities, accounting education departments, accounting educators, curriculum developers, professional accounting bodies, and policymakers regarding strategies for improving students' problem-solving skills in management accounting. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for integrating Guided Discovery Instruction into management accounting education programmes, developing structured discovery tasks for complex accounting problems, using realistic business cases and managerial decision-making scenarios, incorporating guided budgeting and cost-analysis investigations, providing effective instructional prompts and feedback, strengthening students' independent analytical reasoning, combining guided discovery with practical accounting exercises, training accounting educators in guided discovery techniques, developing competency-based assessments of management accounting problem-solving skills, and aligning accounting education with the analytical, numerical, decision-making, and problem-solving competencies required in contemporary accounting practice in Nigeria.

Keywords: Guided Discovery Instruction, management accounting, problem-solving skills, accounting education students, Constructivist Learning Theory, Bruner's Discovery Learning Theory, Cognitive Learning Theory, inquiry-based learning, analytical reasoning, decision-making, active learning, accounting pedagogy, practical accounting education, Nigerian universities, Nigeria.