I continue to teach this course which is taken by first semester freshmen. It is an opportunity for me to revise their preconceived notions that accounting is just boring number crunching. I expose them to the idea that accounting is vital to capital markets in that it provides INFORMATION to give people the confidence to invest their money in new ideas.
This course taken by juniors and seniors majoring in either accounting or finance was the bedrock of my teaching for my first nine years at Carlson. The course takes a deep dive into accounting for assets and revenue recognition and creates the foundation of accounting knowledge that students will build on for the rest of their careers.
I spent three years serving as the Faculty Honors Coordinator for Minnesota Carlson. To graduate with honors students have to complete a senior thesis. This course supports that journey by helping students identify an interesting research question, find a data source they can use to test that question, and think critically about how to analyze that data and interpret the results of that analysis. During this time I helped over 60 students complete their thesis and graduate from the U of MN with Honors.
I have taught several different PhD seminars to our students and always enjoy the experience. I always try to teach them critical thinking skills, which is always easier said than done. Some of my favorite sessions are when we focus on tips and tricks for writing and presenting better, as I feel both skills are quite valuable but under emphasized in many PhD programs (ours included).
I only taught this course once and it gave me a whole new appreciation for the art that is financial statement analysis and for all of you out there who teach the subject.