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IFRS: Get Ready Seminar

To view a video of the presentations made at the IFRS: Get Ready seminar held on May 1, 2009, please click here.

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Important: The Chartered Accountants of Canada have developed IFRS related Academic Resources to assist during this time of transition. Here is a quick link to these resources: http://www.cica.ca/ifrs/academic-resources/index.aspx

To the Instructors—Facilitators of Student Success


As instructors, you and I know that the responsibility for student success lies ultimately with the student. Our role is to create an environment that fosters learning: we can present and demonstrate concepts in a variety of ways and then help students apply those concepts to new situations; we can be there (face-to-face or online) to respond to their questions with questions that help them find the answer; and we can direct students to a variety of tools to enhance their success.

To help with our role, we need quality tools to facilitate student success both in and out of the classroom. Fundamental Accounting Principles is still the core tool to achieve that end, and the Twelfth Canadian Edition—in response to instructor requests—has made three major changes that explicitly focus on students and their success.

First, the Student Success Cycle—Read–Do–Check–Apply—has been incorporated throughout the textbook. It is denoted by the symbol shown at left, and reminds students that to achieve success, they must read the textbook, do the exercises and problems to practise concepts, check their work (taking appropriate remedial action), and apply knowledge to demonstrate learning in contrast to memorization.

Second, the Student Success Cycle is linked to the new online Student Success Centre at www.mcgrawhill.ca/studentsuccess/FAP, where a detailed learning guide is provided to help students master introductory accounting concepts. Student success at the post-secondary level is not measured by how much knowledge a student has acquired but rather by how well a student can use or apply knowledge . . . a concept also known as critical thinking! If students compartmentalize knowledge, they are challenged when they have to engage in the activities of application, analysis, synthesis, or evaluation—the higher-level competencies.

We can help students develop higher-level skills by introducing them to a model for critical thinking. Instructors typically give students formulas to perform calculations such as amortization and interest; why not provide them with a formula for thinking as well?!

And that leads to the third innovation: on the inside cover of this textbook is an outline of a basic model for teaching/learning critical thinking skills. To foster the development of critical thinking proficiency, analysis-type questions have been added to many exercises and problems in the Twelfth Canadian Edition. In addition, a new problem series—Critical Thinking Mini Cases—has been introduced.

Education is a continuous journey and by giving students a model and tools for both successful learning and critical thinking, the Twelfth Canadian Edition of Fundamental Accounting Principles is, once again, the standard-setter in the study of accounting. However, it is only because of the contributions of dedicated accounting instructors across Canada that this textbook is able to continually improve. I am truly privileged to have had the opportunity to work with so many of you in this regard; you have my sincerest appreciation. I would also like to thank and acknowledge Phil Paradis of NAIT, who planted the seed for a student success and critical thinking focus.

Take care,

Tilly Jensen