School of Business

In an effort to increase interactivity in his Introduction to Financial Accounting class, Mike Kennedy has begun incorporating a series of short video accounting teaching cases that put students in the role of consultant. Cases have been developed around the financial statements of the Acadia Students’ Union, Acadia University, and Canadian Tire (which is currently lead by Stephen Wetmore, Acadia class of ’76). Each case is designed to heighten student’s abilities to ask critical questions about financial statements, develop a better understanding of organizations they interact with on a regular basis, and build a more engaging learning experience. To view the video for a case about the Acadia Students’ Union, click here.

Humour in Teaching

"Admittedly, accounting is not always regarded as the most exciting topic," says Kennedy, a CPA CA who has worked across the private, public and NGO sector since earning a BBA from Acadia in 2005. "Opening up the class with an upbeat, humour-infused video helps to breath new life into financial statements, budgeting and more." Over the coming weeks, he will be focusing his efforts on the development of social media-supplemented cases that will focus on where accounting and finance intersect with social impact. "It is crucial that our students are able to think critically about the numbers organizations are using to measure their success in terms of both financial and social impact. I look forward to using social media to help me drive home this message and to make each student’s learning experience a memorable one."