By: Merridee Bujaki, Associate Professor, Accounting, Sprott School of Business
T is for Technology – I have been teaching university accounting courses for almost 20 years now and every summer I rethink my classroom relationship with technology. Technology certainly makes it easier to communicate with the class and circulate materials – but recently I have been backing away from much of the digital technology in the classroom. This year I am keeping the number of slides on each chapter’s content to a minimum and leaving time in my upcoming auditing class to discuss problems and cases and focus on students’ professional judgment.
E is for Energy – September brings a new sense of energy back to campus. For those of us returning to campus there is a sense of renewal and the opportunity to begin again with a clean slate and a sense that all things are possible. I am hoping with Carleton’s new fall break that some of this energy can be maintained further into the semester.
A is for Attitude – I begin each new term with a mixture of enthusiasm and apprehension. Enthusiasm because maybe this term my time budget for each classroom activity will be realistic. Maybe this term I will find a more effective way to teach audit sampling. Maybe with the recent focus on auditing Senator’s expense accounts, students will appreciate the importance and relevance of auditing concepts. The apprehension comes from wondering if I am too optimistic in what I hope we can accomplish in class and whether this year’s innovations will have the desired impact – which brings me to C.
C is for Change – Every year I change my course outline – sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. This year it is a lot. I am teaching introductory auditing for the first time in several years and am experimenting with a new approach – to group work, class involvement, assignments and grading. Best case, every student learns more in this course than when I’ve taught it previously. Worst case, I revamp the outline for the winter term.
Finally, H is for Health – I have family, friends, colleagues and even students who struggle with physical and mental health concerns. When I prepare for a new term, I consider how to maintain and improve my health and I strive to design a course that supports students in living healthy lives themselves. Fortunately there are resources and facilities available on campus to help us all in living well-balanced lives. So there it is – preparing to teach is really about planning to take advantage of the opportunities and resources around us – the technology, the energy, the enthusiasm, the chance to experiment, the facilities – and planning to have a little fun doing it. Hopefully that sense of fun will be contagious – and my students will catch it.