My teaching

My teaching and courses: My courses are designed so that accountants and even non-accountant business majors can be successful, but not without your effort and work in and out of the classroom. 

I believe in autonomy in the classroom which most students seem to like - The way I see it is that you are only a couple of years away from being a professional and I am not here to be your babysitter. With that freedom, comes responsibility. In other words, you are responsible for your own learning and for doing the things that lead to learning. However, with that being said, I am here to help you and provide you with the resources and tools so that YOU can do the things you need to do. I also incorporate a number of teaching tools meant to MOTIVATE you to do what you are supposed to do. I put a lot of thought, commitment, and planning into my teaching preparation, so I expect my students to put in the effort to meet me in the middle. So, now it is up to you! 

Do you ever go to the gym and expect results without putting in any effort? A personal trainer at the gym cannot do everything for you if you want to see results... The same goes for my classroom - I am your "personal trainer" but you still need to do the heavy lifting! One thing to note about me is that I NEVER get frustrated with questions or with students who need help, but I DO get frustrated with laziness. (If you are asking me a question, think about whether or not you have the resources available to answer the question on your own: FIRST, try to find the answer with all the various materials I provide you, and THEN, you ask for help if you get stuck). You are allowed to be lazy, but you will likely not pass my course. The good news is that it's a choice you have control over!

I use a combination of the following to help you to learn:

• Lectures - This is where I do my part to summarize the material and explain important concepts. If you don't use this time to ask questions, then I will assume everyone understands the material as I move forward in the class. We cannot go through ALL material during the lectures due to time constraints, so you should be doing your own reading and note-taking too. 

• In-class practice - Here is where we will apply the material in a workable format that is more closely related to your homework and exams. You cannot successfully learn accounting without an abundance of practice, there is no way for me to get around this.

• Discussion - This is intended to break up the mundane nature of lectures and to get you making outside connections to the material. These are also very intentional because learning is best transferred to long-term memory when you can fit new material into existing mental models in your brain. 

• What did you learn? discussion boards - These are intended to ensure you are keeping up with the material and hopefully doing some reading/review on your own (time only allows lectures to be a summary of material). Again, these are ALSO intended to get you making outside/real-world connections to the material. 

• Applied activities and gamified groupwork - It is your turn to try the material on your own/with your neighbors! These are intended to make class more fun and motivational which will lead to learning. These activities are reflective of the real world and show how we can apply the material to a business. In part, these participation points are also intended to boost your grade for efforts even if you are not the best test-taker. 

  • ACC 202 theme: Dr Baaske's Dance Club (DBDC) (see below)

  • ACC 203 theme: Continuation of Dr. Baaske's Dance Club (DBDC); and the DB Sandwich Shop

• Opportunity quizzes - These are meant to facilitate group interaction and motivation to come to class prepared, backed by research published by Westerman and Thibodeau (2016).  If you come to lecture and it is the first time you are hearing the material, you won't learn it as well. 

• Solo practice - You also cannot expect to learn, especially a topic that can be as difficult as accounting, without some of your OWN TIME spent on individual background work, such as reading, homework practice, and quizzes. These requirements are very intentional because learning is best transferred to long-term memory when you practice memory retrieval on your own and it helps you gauge the areas you need more independent practice with. 

A message to my students: I hope to get to know each of you as individuals not only because I am a "people person," but also so that I can cater to your learning needs. I make myself as available as possible for course help, career questions, and whatever else might be on your mind related to school! Let's make this a great semester :)