**Yining Zhou**

*Article*

Sydney City School of Business, Top Education Institute, Eveleigh, NSW 2015, Australia; yining.zhou@top.edu.au

Received: 10 March 2019; Accepted: 16 May 2019; Published: 21 May 2019

**Abstract:** This study contributes to both accounting and concept mapping literature through the depiction of a concept tree based on the Accounting Theory curriculum, which has undergone recent and rapid expansion of its knowledge and has hence outgrown the previous limited mapping work. This tree-shaped concept map not only accounts for a particular mapping approach little studied and scarcely exemplified in literature, but also signifies a creative model that graphically interprets the sophisticated system of accounting theories and concepts as well as their complex interrelationships. In teaching practices, this concept tree has attested a potential to promote curriculum development, as evidenced in sequence and cohesion of topics and by being linked meaningfully to exam design.

**Keywords:** concept map; concept tree; accounting theory; accounting education; curriculum development
