Sharpen Your Teaching Skills Sessions

May 3, 2019

10:45 am - 12:00 pm
Session 1.01: Successes and Opportunities - Experiences by Recent Alumni
Moderator: Jacob C. Peng, Robert Morris University, Pittsburgh
Panelists: Barbara Donatien, KPMG, Jordan Frazier, PwC, Jessica Gernhart, EY, Heather Vizino, Grossman, Yanak & Ford, LLP, Kenneth (Doug) Wilson, BDO USA, LLP
In a rapidly changing work place, how do recent accounting graduates embrace their life after they leave campus? In this session, recent graduates in accounting who started their careers in accounting firms, corporations, and government agencies will share their experiences and observations of peers from other schools.

1:45 pm - 3:25 pm
Session 2.01: Introduction to Blockchain in Business and Accounting
Presenter: Clinton E. White, University of Delaware
"Blockchain" is on everyone's radar - along with a lot of hype and misinformation. This session is designed to introduce blockchain to accountants and accounting educators. Cutting through the hype and misinformation, "blockchain" is a new technology for validating, recording, and storing transaction data in a secure and immutable chain; in this sense it is an accounting technology. Developed as the technology foundation for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, it has morphed into a technology with applications across business and accounting; including financial services, supply chains, and health care. The objective of this session is to introduce blockchain to accounting educators in a non-technical way. Topics will include blockchain for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, applications in business and accounting, and the potential changes and implications for accounting and auditing.

3:55 pm - 5:35 pm
Session 3.01: Introduction to Financial Accounting First Week Book-Free Activity and Assignment
Presenter: Janice E. Rummell, Shippensburg Univeristy
College students often call the first week of classes "syllabus week" and don't necessarily expect to learn much in those first few class meetings. One of the challenges instructors face in motivating students to work early in the course is a delay in student purchase of textbooks and other course materials. A second challenge is the efficient deployment of icebreaker activities to allow the students to become familiar with the instructor and their classmates, and lead to increased engagement in the classroom. In this session, attendees will participate in a simulation of a first week activity in the introductory financial accounting course that introduces many important financial accounting concepts without the use of textbook resources, while engaging students in an individual and group activity. A follow up assignment that can be used to assess student learning after the activity is presented. Session attendees will be provided with a synopsis of the activity and an implementation and teaching guide to use in their own introduction to financial accounting course.

May 4, 2019

9:05 am - 10:45 am
Session 4.01: Incorporating Emerging Technologies in Accounting Courses
Panelists: Deniz A. Appelbaum, Montclair State University, Hussein Issa, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, John Peter Krahel, Loyola Univeristy, Maryland
Incorporate strategic and emerging technologies into your accounting courses! You don't have to teach systems to learn how to integrate emerging technologies that are already transforming business activity and make your students aware of their impact on accounting. This panel session features several accounting faculty in the region that are bringing emerging technology topics such as blockchain, robotic process automation, data analytics, and drone technologies into the classroom. We will provide you with teaching cases, handouts, and access links to data sets which can be used to prepare accounting students for the future. Attendees will learn how these technologies can be addressed in their financial accounting, auditing, and managerial courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

11:15 am - 12:30 pm
Session 5.01: The Financial Statement Comparison Project
Presenter: Amy J. Yurko, Duquesne University
The Financial Statement Comparison Project (FSCP), an innovative project that can be easily incorporated into any introductory accounting course. The FSCP is designed to link key accounting principles to real-world firm data to help facilitate learning and enhance understanding, while also responding to the AACSB call to incorporate data analytics into business (Standard B9) and accounting education (Standard A7). The FSCP requires that students evaluate publicly traded firms using Exel (developing their data analysis skills), interpret their findings and make a recommendation (developing their understanding of the accounting principles and critical thinking skills), and prepare and present a PowerPoint presentation with data visualizations (developing their communication and data analysis skills). The FSCP a comprehensive, real-world project that integrates core accounting principles and develops students' skills on many levels. A survey of students provides significant evidence that the FSCP helped to develop both student understanding of accounting and data analysis skills.