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Background: In 2005, I was an associate professor teaching finance and project management at DeVry University. In February of that year, I was informed that in two weeks I would be teaching financial and managerial accounting classes for a professor that had just given his two-week notice. I couldn’t spell debit or credit and was understandably terrified. I spent the next two weeks cramming and the next semester one page ahead of my students. I am now a CPA, but the methods I created to self-teach myself I still use in my classes with great success. The “Feel the Love” method of teaching basic debits, credits, and transaction analysis has been a favorite among my students, who use it even into their advanced accounting courses.
Problem: In an entry-level financial accounting course, graduate and undergraduate students are presented with chapters packed with information on the rules of debits and credits and how each account is affected in transaction analysis. The best texts attempt to simplify these topics by breaking them into smaller, transaction-based bites which, predictably, leads to increasingly longer chapters and more detailed explanations for the students to wade through. Unable to see a defined pattern to these individual transactions, students strain to memorize the steps for each transaction independently, and as a result, often feel overwhelmed and discouraged.
Solution: Enter, stage-right, the “Feel the Love” method of learning transaction analysis! With no more than a whiteboard, any professor can teach debits, credits, and transaction analysis using visualization techniques. This method starts with the Balance Sheet equation and demonstrates how, using a “heart” symbol, students can see, at a glance(!), which accounts should be debited and which credited for any transaction. The few exceptions to the “heart” rule are identified with a catchy phrase as well (“EXceptions are EXpenses!”). The method will be presented step-by-step on a poster board, augmented with a flipchart (if possible), and demonstrated via a short laptop video for those interested.
Effectiveness: I introduced the “Feel the Love” method at all levels of accounting from entry to CPA-exam preparation. The collective but informal feedback from students has been that “things finally made sense.” Its strength lies in its simplicity and use of patterns. The method resonates with those who learn best either visually, or with a combination of inputs, such as visual with audio or practical application.