Discipline & AI Literacy

The gap between what students expect and what the profession actually demands is what led me to build a Discipline Literacy module for ACCT 2301, Principles of Financial Accounting. The module launches before any traditional content begins. Its job is to help students make a mindset shift before the material gets hard and before they quietly decide that accounting is not for them.

Objectives

There are a few key components to this module:

The Expert Lens: Defining what discipline literacy means in accounting.
Science of Studying: Stating that accounting can not be crammed and tips on how to effectively study using the textbook and video resources.
AI and Digital Literacy via EY ARC (the experience lab): This is a free resource offered by the Big 4 Accounting firm EY. Students will complete a series of AI and digital literacy assignments to introduce AI and its ethical use in the accounting profession.
Closing Reflection: The module closes with a structured reflection activity. Students write about where they currently sit in their own cognitive development, what surprised them, and what they want to be more intentional about as learners. Research on metacognition consistently shows that this kind of prompted self-examination improves learning outcomes, not just engagement. For many community college students, being explicitly invited to examine their own thinking as a skill is a genuinely new experience.

Results

This was developed in the Spring 26 semester and implemented for Summer 26 courses at two institutions in online asynchronous formats. One format was a 10-week course, and a modified version was a 5-week course.

One institution used the EY ARC assignments in the module, while the second institution had a modified version of the module with "pages" only. Overall, student assignment comments showed there was value in having a module to set course expectations of AI use, study habits, and provide broad contextual information about the accounting profession overall.

Module Assignment: for the course, using the EY ARC assignments, a choice board of 4 reflection activities was available. Students could create a video, audio, demonstration, or infographic about topics from the module to demonstrate their understanding. Many chose the audio version. Overall, the submissions were what I expected, but I realized it may not have provided value to the students. I am thinking about adjusting the topics, but I do like the idea of allowing multiple modalities of submission (audio, video, written, etc).

For the course using the modified "pages" version, the reflection assignment was a written explanation of their understanding of the module. I found this to be more insightful for the students' own thoughts and allowed me to provide better feedback. I don't believe the majority of submissions to be AI-generated; however, with the progression of various LLMs, several could have been.

A few of the most notable comments were about study tips for the course (how to read the textbook) and explaining AI use as a tutor vs an answer source.

I plan to continue using the module and tracking the assignment responses to identify trends across semesters. If anyone is interested in specifics on the module and assignments, I'd be happy to share. Contact me!

EY ARC

I have used EY ARC experience site since Fall 2025. It's a great tool not only for AI, but also for various accounting activities at all levels. I first came across this from an accounting PD webinar (I think it was AICPA?) with David Wood. He is one of the many who helps create and test various activities on the site and works closely with EY ARC team.

It's not difficult to set up an instructor account. Create a class and assign activities. There is a student registration sheet you can download and share in your LMS. I also share the FAQ page with students in case they have technical issues.

On a side note, David also showed us the TechHub.training site and tools during that PD session. Check it out too!

A few image examples of pages in the module:

Screenshot of the Discipline Literacy module introduction page showing the overall objective, a list of three topics covered (The Expert Lens, Mechanical Mastery, and AI Literacy), a table of four EY Arc assignments with professional focus descriptions, and a side panel introducing The Expert Lens with a section on Disciplinary Literacy and the three Habits of Mind.

Introduction Page for the module

Screenshot of the Expert Lens module page showing a Your Strategy for Success section with an infographic titled From Fact-Finder to Expert: The Accounting Student's Critical Thinking Roadmap, illustrating a progression from the Confused Fact-Finder stage through a 5-Step Thinking Engine to The Critical Thinker, alongside metacognitive tactics including the Shadow Method and 5-Sentence Summary. Below the infographic are three Expert Lens guiding questions on formulating, gathering, and considering implications.

Screenshot of a Google Sites page showing a caption reading Introduction Page for the module on the left and the Expert Lens page on the right, which includes the Critical Thinking Roadmap infographic and How to Use Your Expert Lens guiding questions. A caption below reads Expert Lens Page - Note this is an image and the video will not play.

Expert Lens Page - Note this is an image and the video willl not play.

How I set up my AI page for the module. If you would like to see the other pages, reach out for a demo!

Screenshot of the AI Literacy in Accounting module page, subtitled The Co-Pilot Not Auto-Pilot Rule, showing sections on My Expectations of AI, a Golden Rule callout box, a two-column Examples of AI Use comparison table contrasting bad use labeled Dependency with good use labeled Development, and a section introducing The Shadow Method for responsible AI use.

Screenshot of a module page showing The Socratic AI Prompt section with a sample active retrieval prompt for students to copy, a Recommended Study Companions grid listing NotebookLM, Gemini/ChatGPT, Claude, and Goblin Tools, and a closing Ready to Apply Your Expert Lens section directing students to transition to EY Arc Experiences.

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