Becoming a Better Teacher: The Case of Principles of Financial Accounting

• In Event: Reception with ELS and Research Interaction Forum Posters
  In Poster Session: Research Interaction Forum

Abstract

Many introductory business courses—including management and accounting—are taught by temporary lecturers or adjunct faculty who are overloaded with teaching duties. These duties allow little time for innovation and experimentation. Based on a pre- and post-attitudinal survey of a total of 439 students in Principles of Financial Accounting spanning three semesters (spring 2012, fall 2012, and spring 2013), this study provides suggestions for how all business instructors can supplement their teaching approach to create a more positive, 21st century learning environment. These suggestions are based on the five most important categories in creating such an environment: course content, classroom mechanics, teaching techniques, student involvement in class activities, and a positive learning atmosphere (Stice and Stocks, 2000). Results suggest that students were most favorably inclined to:
• Using course content that is primarily Internet-based, rather than hard copy, textbook-based;
• Learning in small groups of three or four, with one member of the group identified as the Excel spreadsheet leader (based on self-reported Excel spreadsheet skills of 6 or more out of 10);
• Using “assessment-as-learning” techniques to evaluate peers’, and their own, learning;
• Interacting frequently with the professor via a class listserv; and
• Utilizing visual, “play-acting” techniques to teach the fundamental accounting equation, debits and credits, and time value of money.
These findings, while limited to just one instructor over the course of three semesters, can be helpful to business faculty who are seeking direction in implementing techniques that can lead to a more positive learning—and teaching—environment. This is especially true in an era when class sizes are growing, and technology tools are changing both course content and delivery.

Author

• Curtis Lynn DeBerg, California State University-Chico