Teaching Joins: The Fruit Stand Method

• In Event: Breakfast with Research Round Table Forum
  In Workshop: Table 5

Abstract

One of the most important, yet difficult, topics in data analysis is joins. As we know, joining tables correctly provides the power for auditors to test for mistakes and fraud. However, with my previous teaching techniques and guidance, students got answers that were completely incorrect because they didn’t select the correct join procedure in the program; either ACL or IDEA. Before last year, I always used the traditional Venn diagram approach to teach joins. I think many of the students had trouble understanding the different types of joins when just looking at overlapping circles and file names. “The Fruit Stand Method” was designed to make teaching the topic as simple as possible. At least on an anecdotal basis this method has worked better for students than the typical Venn diagram approach. We plan to further research the psychological reasons why using types of fruit in diagrams that look much like Venn diagrams (as you will see on the PowerPoint presentation) work better than traditional Venn diagrams and further develop the technique and then test it in a behavioral experiment.

Author

• Barbara Waddington Ross, Eastern Michigan University