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Impact of Professional Skepticism Education on Financial Information Evaluation Skills among Accounting Education Students in Nigerian Polytechnics

Abstract

Professional skepticism is an important competence in accounting education because accounting professionals are expected to critically examine financial information, question unusual or inconsistent evidence, identify potential errors, and make informed judgments before relying on financial records. Accounting Education students require adequate professional skepticism to evaluate financial information objectively and recognize situations that may require further investigation. However, students in Nigerian polytechnics may have limited opportunities to develop professional skepticism through practical learning activities, potentially affecting their ability to critically evaluate accounting information. Professional Skepticism Education provides students with structured opportunities to question assumptions, examine evidence, identify inconsistencies, assess the reliability of financial information, and exercise professional judgment. Such education may strengthen students' ability to critically evaluate financial information and prepare them for accounting responsibilities in professional environments. Against this background, this study investigates the impact of Professional Skepticism Education on financial information evaluation skills among Accounting Education students in Nigerian polytechnics. The study will be anchored on Experiential Learning Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, and Theory of Planned Behavior. Experiential Learning Theory explains how students develop professional competencies through practical experience, reflection, conceptualization, and active experimentation. Social Cognitive Theory emphasizes learning through observation, modelling, guided practice, feedback, and self-efficacy. The Theory of Planned Behavior explains how students' attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and behavioural intentions may influence their willingness to question financial information and apply skeptical judgment. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how Professional Skepticism Education may influence students' financial information evaluation skills. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental research design. The population will comprise Accounting Education students enrolled in selected Nigerian polytechnics. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select states, polytechnics, departments, levels of study, classes, and eligible students. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, professional skepticism assessment scales, financial information evaluation tasks, accounting case scenarios, practical judgment exercises, evidence-evaluation tasks, observation checklists, scoring rubrics, and pre-test and post-test assessments. Professional Skepticism Education will be assessed using indicators such as questioning attitude, critical thinking, independent thinking, alertness to potential misstatements, recognition of contradictory evidence, examination of unusual transactions, assessment of management assertions, consideration of alternative explanations, evidence verification, source-document examination, information corroboration, analytical review, identification of inconsistencies, identification of missing information, recognition of unusual financial trends, assessment of information reliability, consideration of potential bias, fraud awareness, error awareness, professional judgment, professional curiosity, willingness to investigate, resistance to unsupported assumptions, evaluation of management explanations, consideration of conflicting evidence, recognition of risk indicators, assessment of accounting estimates, evaluation of accounting policies, examination of transaction authenticity, verification of supporting documentation, identification of irregular documentation, consideration of materiality, risk assessment, audit-trail examination, internal-control awareness, ethical awareness, accountability, objectivity, independence, professional responsibility, reflective practice, case-based learning, practical demonstrations, guided questioning, scenario analysis, group discussions, individual assignments, role-play activities, repeated practice, lecturer feedback, peer assessment, self-assessment, and progressively challenging financial-information evaluation scenarios. Students' financial information evaluation skills will be assessed using indicators such as ability to examine financial documents critically, verify accounting information, assess the reliability of evidence, identify inconsistencies, recognize unusual transactions, identify potential errors, detect missing information, identify contradictory evidence, question unsupported explanations, evaluate management assertions, compare information from multiple sources, corroborate financial information, examine source documents, assess transaction authenticity, evaluate supporting documents, identify documentation irregularities, recognize potential misstatements, identify unusual financial trends, assess accounting estimates, evaluate accounting policies, consider alternative explanations, assess potential bias, recognize fraud-risk indicators, recognize error-risk indicators, investigate questionable transactions, evaluate conflicting evidence, apply professional judgment, assess materiality, evaluate financial risks, examine audit trails, assess internal controls, apply ethical principles, maintain objectivity, demonstrate independence of judgment, document evaluation procedures, communicate findings, justify conclusions, demonstrate analytical ability, demonstrate critical thinking, demonstrate professional curiosity, demonstrate decision-making ability, demonstrate attention to detail, demonstrate skepticism toward unsupported information, and overall financial information evaluation competence. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize students' demographic and academic characteristics, exposure to Professional Skepticism Education, practical experiences, and financial information evaluation skill levels. 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 Professional Skepticism Education on students' financial information evaluation skills. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, financial information evaluation scores before and after participation in the educational intervention may be compared with those of a control group receiving conventional classroom 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 Professional Skepticism Education has a significant positive impact on financial information evaluation skills among Accounting Education students in Nigerian polytechnics. Students exposed to structured professional skepticism education are expected to demonstrate greater ability to critically examine, verify, question, analyze, and evaluate financial information before accepting it as reliable. Questioning-attitude activities may strengthen students' willingness to examine information rather than accept unsupported claims. Critical-thinking activities may improve students' ability to analyze accounting information systematically. Independent-thinking exercises may strengthen students' ability to form judgments based on available evidence. Alertness-to-misstatement activities may improve students' ability to recognize possible errors or inaccuracies. Contradictory-evidence exercises may strengthen students' ability to identify information that conflicts with other evidence. Unusual-transaction activities may improve students' ability to recognize transactions requiring further investigation. Management-assertion activities may strengthen students' ability to evaluate claims made by those responsible for financial information. Alternative-explanation activities may improve students' ability to consider different reasons for unusual financial results. Evidence-verification exercises may strengthen students' ability to confirm information before relying on it. Source-document examination may improve students' ability to trace financial information to original records. Information-corroboration activities may strengthen students' ability to compare evidence from different sources. Analytical-review activities may improve students' ability to identify unusual patterns and relationships. Inconsistency-identification exercises may strengthen students' ability to detect conflicting financial information. Missing-information activities may improve students' ability to recognize incomplete evidence. Unusual-trend exercises may strengthen students' ability to investigate unexpected changes in financial information. Reliability-assessment activities may improve students' ability to determine whether evidence is sufficiently credible. Bias-assessment activities may strengthen students' awareness of factors that could influence financial information. Fraud-awareness activities may improve students' ability to recognize indicators of potentially fraudulent financial information. Error-awareness activities may strengthen students' ability to identify possible recording or reporting mistakes. Professional-judgment exercises may improve students' ability to make reasoned accounting decisions. Professional-curiosity activities may encourage students to seek additional information when circumstances appear questionable. Investigation exercises may strengthen students' willingness to obtain further evidence. Unsupported-assumption exercises may improve students' ability to avoid accepting claims without adequate support. Management-explanation activities may strengthen students' ability to evaluate explanations against available evidence. Conflicting-evidence activities may improve students' ability to resolve inconsistencies through additional investigation. Risk-indicator exercises may strengthen students' ability to recognize circumstances requiring greater professional attention. Accounting-estimate activities may improve students' ability to critically assess assumptions underlying estimates. Accounting-policy evaluation may strengthen students' understanding of the implications of different accounting treatments. Transaction-authenticity activities may improve students' ability to determine whether transactions are genuine and properly supported. Supporting-document verification may strengthen students' ability to assess the adequacy of financial evidence. Irregular-documentation activities may improve students' ability to recognize unusual or incomplete records. Materiality activities may strengthen students' ability to determine the significance of identified issues. Risk-assessment activities may improve students' ability to identify areas requiring greater scrutiny. Audit-trail examination may strengthen students' ability to trace transactions through accounting records. Internal-control activities may improve students' understanding of how control weaknesses may affect financial information reliability. Ethical-awareness activities may strengthen students' commitment to objective financial-information evaluation. Accountability activities may improve students' sense of responsibility when evaluating accounting information. Objectivity and independence exercises may strengthen students' ability to avoid inappropriate personal or external influence. Professional-responsibility activities may improve students' willingness to support conclusions with appropriate evidence. Reflective activities may help students recognize weaknesses in their own evaluation and judgment processes. Case-based learning may expose students to realistic financial-information evaluation problems. Practical demonstrations may provide models of skeptical inquiry. Guided-questioning activities may help students develop systematic approaches to evaluating evidence. Scenario-analysis activities may improve students' ability to respond to uncertain accounting situations. Group discussions may expose students to alternative interpretations of financial information. Individual assignments may strengthen independent evaluation skills. Role-play activities may simulate professional accounting situations requiring skeptical judgment. Repeated practice may improve students' accuracy, confidence, analytical ability, and consistency when evaluating financial information. Lecturer feedback may help students recognize weaknesses in their judgments. Peer assessment may expose students to alternative approaches to evidence evaluation. Self-assessment may encourage students to reflect on their level of professional skepticism. Progressively challenging scenarios may prepare students for increasingly complex financial-information evaluation responsibilities. However, the effectiveness of Professional Skepticism Education may be constrained by inadequate accounting laboratories, limited access to realistic financial records, insufficient exposure to professional accounting cases, large class sizes, limited practical training periods, inadequate lecturer supervision, insufficient professional accounting resources, outdated instructional materials, limited access to contemporary financial-reporting examples, inadequate feedback, low student participation, weak collaboration between polytechnics and accounting firms, and inadequate integration of professional skepticism into Accounting Education curricula. The study therefore expects realistic, structured, evidence-based, practical, case-oriented, and adequately supervised Professional Skepticism Education to contribute significantly to improved financial information evaluation skills among Accounting Education students in Nigerian polytechnics. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on Professional Skepticism Education, financial information evaluation skills, Experiential Learning Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, Theory of Planned Behavior, accounting education, practical accounting education, professional skepticism, critical thinking, professional judgment, financial information analysis, evidence evaluation, financial reporting, accounting errors, financial misstatements, fraud awareness, risk assessment, management assertions, source-document verification, information corroboration, analytical review, internal controls, audit trails, ethical judgment, objectivity, professional responsibility, accounting decision-making, workplace readiness, employability skills, professional competence, Accounting Education students, Nigerian polytechnics, and Accounting Education in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the National Board for Technical Education, polytechnic administrators, Accounting Education departments, accounting educators, curriculum developers, professional accounting bodies, accounting firms, employers, industry partners, and policymakers regarding strategies for strengthening students' critical evaluation and professional judgment competencies. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for integrating Professional Skepticism Education into Accounting Education programmes, incorporating realistic financial-information evaluation cases, strengthening evidence-verification and critical-thinking activities, providing students with practical exposure to financial-reporting scenarios, improving access to authentic accounting documents, strengthening collaboration between polytechnics and professional accounting organizations, providing structured feedback and repeated practical exercises, and aligning Accounting Education programmes with the professional judgment and financial-information evaluation requirements of contemporary accounting practice in Nigeria.

Keywords: Professional Skepticism Education, financial information evaluation skills, professional skepticism, critical thinking, professional judgment, evidence evaluation, financial reporting, financial information, accounting education, fraud awareness, error detection, risk assessment, internal controls, practical accounting education, Accounting Education students, Nigerian polytechnics, Nigeria.