CPE SESSION 18 - Wednesday, 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Brain-Friendly II: Making Constructivism and Active Learning Work

This session has been CANCELLED.

Description/Objectives:
Vivid learning is brain-friendly. The more vivid the initial learning experience the less practice is required to finally anchor the topic. Brain-friendly learning uses recent research to focus on how people learn to teach Accounting using active learning and a constructivist approach.

This includes such topics as the role of story telling, pre-existing knowledge or brain scaffolds, vivid learning anchors, episodic learning or story-telling, active learning, multiple intelligences, share-pair, chunking, the role of short-term vs. long-term memory, formative vs. summative testing, and effective learning filters.

The second half of the seminar will demonstrate and apply these principles to the teaching of Accounting. These examples have been class-tested for over three years. References to related research will be addressed and citations given throughout the seminar as the issues are addressed.

Not required, but readings of interest:
Bransford, J. D., A. L. Brown, and R. R. Cocking, eds. 1999. How People Learn: Brain,
            Mind, Experience, and School. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
Sylwester, R. 1995. Celebration of Neurons: An Educator's Guide to the Human Brain.
            Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Format/Structure:
The workshop will use a lecture format combined with interactive share/pair teaching as applied in Accounting classes to introduce the literature related to brain-friendly learning. Virtually all this material is supported by research citations from the previous two books. The second part of the seminar will demonstrate how I have applied these concepts to teaching. Example and illustrations used in the classroom will cover, among others, the following topics:

a. Contrasting Financial (hard data) with Managerial Accounting needs.
b. Variance analysis, Management by Exception and Responsibility Accounting.
c. Value Chain Analysis.

Intended Audience:
Accounting instructors wishing to find more effective ways to teach Accounting and help their students to learn. To reach a larger audience and teach Accounting more efficiently accounting instructors need to be aware of proven, more brain-friendly approaches to instruction.

Presenter:
Jim Mackey, California State University, Sacramento
Institute of Management Accountants

* Denotes special requirements or prerequisite