Students’ Use of Note Sheets on Accounting Exams

Abstract

Students’ use of note sheets (or, “cheat sheets”) during exams is an instructional design choice for
accounting instructors. We find that accounting students invest significant effort in the preparation of note sheets before exams and that they increase this investment for a subsequent exam. We conclude that students perceive value in and increase the quality of note sheets with succeeding exams. Student gender and prior exam-performance appear to be significant factors. Our results could raise a question of equity for instructors who choose to include note sheets in their instructional design.