This one hour course from the Finance Learning Academy, consists of five videos, the first of which is a short introduction to the course. The remaining videos are: 1) Debits and Credits (22.05), 2) Journal Entries (20:52), 3) Posting to the Trial Balance (12:52), and 4) Preparing Financing Statements (14:17).
Type of Material:
Presentation
Recommended Uses:
These videos should be used outside of class as supplementary material.
Technical Requirements:
Browser and video viewer
Identify Major Learning Goals:
To provide quick overview of the accounting process leading to financial statement preparation including:
debits and credits
recording journal entries including debits and credits.
posting to the ledger, and
preparing a trial balance and financial statements.
Target Student Population:
High school, college, or new business owners interested in learning introductory accounting.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
A basic understanding of business is required.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
Content is clearly and concisely presented. Content is mostly accurate and relevant for a principles of financial accounting course. Concepts are well integrated and summarized. Each successive video presentation reviews the prior presentation to segue to the new content. The box model with color coding used throughout to represent the accounting equation is excellent. It enables novices to see how the accounting equation truly is kept in balance throughout the recording process. The bucket analogy for the chart of accounts is novel. Tying recording journal entries to the use of accounting software links theory to the real world. The use of Excel to demonstrate recording journal entries, posting to the ledger, and preparing the financial statements is also well done.
Concerns:
The math indicated that is required to do accounting is oversimplified. Gives one the impression accounting never makes use of more math than addition and subtraction which while true for these elementary sessions, is not true in terms of the profession.
One does not realize the sole proprietor approach is being used until 13:25 minutes into the first video.
Advertisements are interspersed throughout the video, which can be annoying.
In the posting to the ledger presentation, interpreting credits as negative numbers and debits as positive numbers may be somewhat troublesome. While it works given the context of the spreadsheet illustration, students might literally consider all debits to be positive numbers and credits to be negative numbers which is not the case.
Also, mention is made that amounts can be combined from several transactions for posting purposes which is not correct as we would lose our audit trail.
Dividends is not paid from retained earnings, it is paid with cash. However, the retained earnings account must have a positive balance in order for dividends to be paid. This concept is not explained well.
While not necessarily a weakness, these videos do not cover adjusting entries or closing entries.
To understand the financials of a Fortune 500, as promised, requires a more complete demonstration of the concept.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
Objectives are explicitly stated at the beginning of each lecture. Concepts are introduced progressively and build on prior concepts while demonstrating concepts among them. The presentation is very concise given the number concepts covered. It would serve as an excellent review for someone already familiar with the accounting cycle. The videos are worth viewing by teachers, to learn of a novel way to present concepts to students, particularly the color-coded box model developed for the accounting equation.
Concerns:
Based on the personal preferences of instructors, some of the concerns under quality of content may impact effectiveness as a teaching tool. The claim that "anyone can prepare financial statements" particularly in an hour, is simply not true.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
The presentation and video are of a professional quality. Graphics are excellent. Objects appear and disappear to add emphasis as needed. Zooming is used effectively to direct the viewer's attention and maintain engagement. Layout and design are outstanding. Verbal pacing is good. Rhetorical questioning is used to add an element of engagement.
Concerns:
The website is somewhat confusing, in that it is not clear where to begin. The music in the background of the introductory video is a distraction. Also, one can inadvertently have more than one video running at the same time.
Creative Commons:
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