The American Institute of CPAs has recognized eight accounting educators with its 2020 Effective Learning Strategies Awards.

Co-sponsored by Grant Thornton and the Federation of Schools of Accountancy, the annual awards highlight college and university educators who have implemented unique education tools for introductory, upper and graduate coursework. Award recipients were also determined by the AICPA Academic Executive Committee’s Teaching Innovation Task Force, based on presentations during the American Accounting Association’s annual meeting, held in August 2019 in San Francisco.

“This year’s winners have created new paths for developing students, improving learning outcomes, and deepening their engagement in the classroom,” said Jan Williams, program chair of the Effective Learning Strategies Educator Awards and professor at the University of Baltimore, in a statement. “They are redefining how accounting is taught and having an enormous influence on future generations of CPAs.”

“These educators are finding creative solutions to inspire students and cultivate their skills,” said Steve Matzke, AICPA director of faculty and university initiatives, in a statement. “It is exciting to see how accounting education is adapting and evolving to meet the future demands of the profession.”

Recipients of the Effective Learning Strategies Awards, as well as honorable mentions, include:

Bea Sanders/AICPA 2019 Teaching Innovation Award:

• Winner: “The Cookie Company Project,” Alesha Graves, Asbury University. Students learn how to apply managerial accounting concepts, tools and techniques by forming a company and estimating costs, sales targets and income.

George Krull/Grant Thornton 2019 Teaching Innovation Award:

• Winner: “Cybersecurity isn’t just for Techies: Incorporating Cybersecurity into the Accounting Curriculum,” Scott Boss, Bentley University; Joy Gray, Bentley University; Diane Janvrin, Iowa State University. A series of six, open-ended case studies where students learn how to address various cybersecurity issues, including disclosure of issues in financial reporting, the impact of a cybersecurity breach in an audit, and calculating the cost of cybersecurity breaches.
• Honorable Mention: “Finding the Fraudster: A Problem-Based Learning Activity for the Auditing Classroom,” Christie Novak, Le Moyne College. Students engage in role-playing and problem-based learning to understand fraud and internal controls as a client.

Mark Chain/FSA 2019 Teaching Innovation Award:

• Winner: “Evaluating a Proposed Balanced Scorecard and Applying Data Analytics to Monitor Police Department Performance,” Maureen Mascha, Purdue North West; Diane Janvrin, Iowa State University; Laurie Burney, Baylor University. Students learn how to acquire data, develop data visualization skills, and analyze data to help a fictitious police department analyze its response to crime.

Materials from this year’s submissions will be posted to the AICPA Accounting Professors’ Curriculum Tool. For more information on the awards, head to the AICPA’s site here.