Teaching students ethical financial accounting practices and decision making can be complicated and challenging at good times. It requires the students to have a deep level understanding of the accounting requirements and professional values to be able to make fair and ethical judgements. However, for students who have no or little work experience making professional judgements without authentic contextual awareness and understanding may hold little significance (Mintz, 2019). Moore (2013) elaborates that for students to develop financial reporting professional judgment proficiency they need to experience practical business world scenarios and learn to question and think as a professional financial accountant. He further argues that is imperative to develop these skills as these are pre-requisites for subsequent units of study and a graduate attribute expected by professional accounting bodies and employers. In this session, we will discuss how we created an authentic and immersive case study for the students in collaboration with a professional accounting firm and other industry experts. We will discuss how authentic learning (Herrington, Reeves & Oliver, 2010) and heutagogic principles (Hase & Kenyon, 2000) were adopted in the design of the learning module to help develop critical thinking skills and understanding of connections within and implications from financial reporting professional judgements. References: Hase, S., & Kenyon, C. (2000). From andragogy to heutagogy. ultiBASE, 5(3).  Retrieved from http://ultibase.rmit.edu.au/Articles/dec00/hase2.htm Herrington, J., Reeves, T. C., & Oliver, R. (2010). A guide to authentic e-learning (connecting with e-learning). New York: Routledge. Mintz, S. (2019). A new approach to teaching ethical decision making to accounting students. The CPA Journal, Online.  Retrieved fromhttps://www.cpajournal.com/2019/10/14/a-new-approach-to-teaching-ethical-decision-making-to-accounting-students/ Moore, T. (2013). Critical thinking: seven definitions in search of a concept. Studies in Higher Education, 2013, Vol. 28, No 4, 506-522.

From the rapid adoption of online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, learning communities have become abstract, disconnected, and failed to provide effective social interaction and connection opportunities (Martin, 2020). Mindful of the related impact on students’ intrinsic motivation and learning, a first-year accounting unit was reimagined and reinvented with a practical connection student centred teaching approach. A student-centred learning environment focused on students understanding the relationship of accounting information and its users, the business world and skilful accounting professionals. Teaching materials, assessment tasks and learning management system (LMS) were transformed to greatly enrich meaningful student connection, motivation, and deeper learning (Turner & Baskerville, 2013). This presentation will showcase aspects of the unit’s practical connection approach, specifically highlighting innovative use of technology enhanced learning in the unit to support student development and student voice through peer learning. To promote purpose, the unit’s LMS explains why each topic is studied, relevant connections to graduate attributes, business world and why each type of assessment is adopted (Tharapos, 2021). Assessment tasks were recreated to assist student’s development of disciplinary experience, critical thinking and problem solving, and integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity skills graduate attributes (Cloete, 2018). In-tutorial group work case study style discussion and practical Excel questions are used (Villarroel et al, 2018), constructively aligned exam questions adopted, linked reflective tasks developed and weekly topic quizzes, directly connected to lecture discussion, run before weekly tutorials. Lectures and tutorials are constructed as working relationships with educators and industry. Content is built on a real-world company’s financial statements, contain contemporary discussion and practical Excel spreadsheet and MYOB demonstrations that students concurrently work along with on their own and, throughout each lecture, students complete a lecture concepts worksheet.  Technology enhanced learning tools were effectively used to foster student to student collaboration and educator and student relationships. Using Padlet, students work in groups to collaboratively complete tutorial discussion questions. High quality answers are shared in an interactive Padlet on the unit’s LMS accompanied with a past student tip. To assist students with their first reflective task, a reflective activity on Menti is undertaken. Highly reflective exemplars are also shared on the unit’s LMS with further staff comments and feedback. Personalised emails were used to welcome students, individually reach out and support disengaged students during semester and to provide tailored mid semester feedback that directed students to specific homework and tutorial questions and lecture examples for self-reflection. Student voice was used as a narrative to promote student connection and collaboration (Matthews & Dollinger, 2022). Past students, as partners in learning, shared their unit experiences in conversation videos which were engrained into the unit’s LMS and tutorial activities. In addition, the staff voice was used to explain connective links to subsequent unit’s objectives and content. Early development of professional skills, graduate attributes, and readiness to understand business world transactions must start in a student’s initial university year. This informed many aspects of this exemplary first year accounting unit redesign. To promote purpose, the unit’s LMS explains why each topic is studied, relevant connections to graduate attributes, business world and why each type of assessment is adopted (Tharapos, 2021). Assessment tasks were recreated to assist student’s development of disciplinary experience, critical thinking and problem solving, and integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity skills graduate attributes (Cloete, 2018). In-tutorial group work case study style discussion and practical Excel questions are used (Villarroel et al, 2018), constructively aligned exam questions adopted, linked reflective tasks developed and weekly topic quizzes, directly connected to lecture discussion, run before weekly tutorials. Lectures and tutorials are constructed as working relationships with educators and industry. Content is built on a real-world company’s financial statements, contain contemporary discussion and practical Excel spreadsheet and MYOB demonstrations that students concurrently work along with on their own and, throughout each lecture, students complete a lecture concepts worksheet.  Technology enhanced learning tools were effectively used to foster student to student collaboration and educator and student relationships. Using Padlet, students work in groups to collaboratively complete tutorial discussion questions. High quality answers are shared in an interactive Padlet on the unit’s LMS accompanied with a past student tip. To assist students with their first reflective task, a reflective activity on Menti is undertaken. Highly reflective exemplars are also shared on the unit’s LMS with further staff comments and feedback. Personalised emails were used to welcome students, individually reach out and support disengaged students during semester and to provide tailored mid semester feedback that directed students to specific homework and tutorial questions and lecture examples for self-reflection. Student voice was used as a narrative to promote student connection and collaboration (Matthews & Dollinger, 2022). Past students, as partners in learning, shared their unit experiences in conversation videos which were engrained into the unit’s LMS and tutorial activities. In addition, the staff voice was used to explain connective links to subsequent unit’s objectives and content. Early development of professional skills, graduate attributes, and readiness to understand business world transactions must start in a student’s initial university year. This informed many aspects of this exemplary first year accounting unit redesign.

Preparing students for the expectations of the modern business world is a daunting task. For students, it involves developing critical thinking and analytical skills to reach valid conclusions for specific problems. Such skills are recognised graduate attributes, essential for complex professional business judgements and advice provided to clients (Camp & Schadner, 2010). For educators, the multifaceted nature of critical thinking and associated analytical skills are often poorly demonstrated and conveyed to students (Moore, 2013). Critical thinking is the product of self-direction, self-discipline, self-monitoring and self-correction through objectively assessing relevant information, openly considering alternative views and seeking feedback (Paul & Elder, 2008). By using the combination of technology enhanced feedback, relevant assignment scenarios that explore messy business world issues influential professionals face, experience of working with and feedback from practitioners, the assignment in a 2nd year undergraduate financial reporting unit was transformed into an authentic, collaborative, and self-regulated learning experience.   In consultation with a professional accounting firm, the assignment scenario and open ended questions were written about financial reporting implications associated with sustainability and industry change challenges many companies encounter. Working in self-selected groups, students considered the assignment’s questions and prepared a draft written response that was shared with the firm’s practitioner review team for feedback. A past students voice video, available on the unit’s LMS, guided current students on how to adopt and implement this feedback. Subsequently a final written response was submitted for grading.   Student were introduced to the practitioner review team via a video that explained importance of teamwork, seeking formative feedback, reflecting on it and how this information is used in the workplace. Utilizing the Student Relationship Engagement System (SRES) and the assignment’s marking rubric criteria as a framework, the practitioner review team provided individual formative feedback, suggestions for improvement and overall direction comments to each student through a personalised email. The SRES data metrics were also used to track and manage student engagement. Used in these ways, SRES was a highly effective learning platform that resulted in deeper student learning and relationships with educators. The presentation will discuss the significant impact on student learning and experience measured by overall assignment performance, change in performance between draft and final responses, and qualitative feedback from practitioner, peer and student perspectives. References: Camp, M. J., & Schnader, A. L., (2010). Using debate to Enhance Critical Thinking in the Accounting Classroom: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and U.S. Tax Policy. Issues in Accounting Education, Vol 25, No., 2010, 655-675. Moore, T. (2013). Critical thinking: seven definitions in search of a concept. Studies in Higher Education, 2013, Vol. 28, No 4, 506-522. Paul, R., & Elder, L., (2008). The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools, Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2008, CA Dillon Beach.