American Accounting Association

An International Meeting of
the American Accounting Association

2005 Annual Meeting

August 7–10, 2005
San Francisco, California

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Effective Learning Strategies Forum
Monday, August 8, 2005

Session 27
SPUDs: A Skills-Based, Computer-Assisted Project for Use in Financial Accounting Courses

Presenters:
Mark H. Bezik, Idaho State University
Ken Smith, Idaho State University

Description:
Core Competency Framework enumerates many skills that are expected from those entering the accounting profession upon graduation. Three professors at Idaho State University have developed a class project, used in Intermediate Accounting, to develop many of these skills and to address historical deficiencies in accounting education. The project, entitled "SPUDs," requires teams of students to work with a "shoebox" of source documents to develop a set of financial reports for a company that has just completed its first month of business. Computer software allows students to receive feedback and hints to complete the process and provides grading information to the professor.

The goals of this project are as follows:

  1. To simulate a "real world" experience.
  2. To review and understand accounting concepts.
  3. To review the basics of the accounting cycle and the preparation of financial statements, including necessary disclosures through footnotes
  4. To develop the ability to handle complexity that comes from missing, erroneous and/or unstructured data, and to develop the ability to think "outside the box" so that the student will look beyond the information that has simply been provided.
  5. To develop the skill of interviewing others to obtain information.
  6. To develop information research skills.
  7. To develop a systematic approach to planning and documenting a project or client engagement.

During this session, two of the project developers will outline the project and illustrate, using specific examples and documents that are included in the project, how the above-listed goals of the project are achieved and how the project can be used in a variety of financial accounting courses.

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