Developing essential skills through case study scenarios Adrian J. Sawyer *, Stephen R. Tomlinson, Andrew J. Maples University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand Accepted 25 October 2000 Abstract Society expects university graduates to demonstrate skills in communication, interpersonal relations and self-management, creativity, decision-making, and problem solving. Experiential learning is more likely to achieve these desired learning outcomes than traditional teaching methods. To provide an experiential learning environment we developed case studies for taxation students to represent a typical client engagement. Students are required to identify and research taxation issues, provide written advice to their client, complete and ®le an application for a binding private ruling, and consult with the `IRD's Adjudication and Rulings Unit' to negotiate the most favorable outcome for their client. Students' responses about their learning experience through the case studies indicate that the skills we attempt to develop are appropriate given the objectives of the course, and that the case study experience is eective in helping to develop those skills. Our case studies can be adapted for use in teaching taxation in the United States and other countries. # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Tallantyre (1989) found that society expects graduates to develop a range of transferable skills in communication, interpersonal relations and self-management, creativity, decision-making, and problem solving. Additionally, the importance of creating explicit links between the skills students develop in the classroom and what they may be doing when they enter the workforce is being recognized by a growing number of educators (for example, in the UK, see Saunders, 1995). Traditional teaching methods, which draw heavily on lecturing to transfer knowledge and for- mal examinations to assess understanding, are generally not eective in developing and assessing these skills (Weinstein & Bloom, 1998). Experiential learning is, however, more likely to be eective for developing skills that students will need after gradua- J. of Acc. Ed. 18 (2000) 257±282 www.elsevier.com/locate/jaccedu 0748-5751/01/$ - see front matter # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S0748-5751(00)00019-1 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +64-3-364-2617; fax: 64 3 364-2727. E-mail address: a.sawyer@a®s.canterbury.ac.nz (A.J. Sawyer).