LEARNING AND TEACHING ACTIVITIES & STRATEGY

This unit is structured as a participation subject as part of the Capstone and PACE requirement. It integrates the materials that you covered in three years of accounting studies, applying this material to an environment where accounting graduates become a professional in an environment that is contemporary, global and technologically driven. 

 The objectives of the unit are to consolidate and investigate the factors and contextual issues that influence the competitive business environment for an accountant.  It addresses the role of an accounting professional in the application of governance structures, accountability regimes, professional development, skill enhancements, and continuous awareness of self-positioning and self-renewal in terms of professional and personal competency. The unit is not only reflective and integrative but also future-focused, offering opportunities for the ‘real world’ preparatory experience in the accounting profession. The class is conducted through workshops and discussions where students learn to develop personal and professional skills in sustaining a professional profile in business and the profession. 

The unit provides opportunities for students to engage with the community through panels from professional accounting bodies, community groups, NGOs, MQ alumni, public sector and commercial organisations, and others. The unit requires students to interact with the industry partners in order to complete a major research project under the supervision of a faculty member. The project includes topics that are valued by industry partners and are mutually beneficial to both Macquarie University students and industry partners. While the project attempts to bridge the gap between students and the accounting profession, it also provides an opportunity for students to clarify and refine their understanding of the accounting profession through discussion with industry partners and peers. Group work engages students in the challenges of interpersonal communication, task allocation, coordination, and control. Cohesive and systematic presentations from a range of industry partners also provide students an opportunity to think critically about the accounting profession. Through these presentations, students will gain an insight into organisations and be able to contextualise their graduate capabilities into the main project. By reflecting on industry partners’ presentations students will be able to identify what they have learned about the accounting profession and how they have learned. This will result in a greater sense of ownership which, in return, will help students to develop valuable career and leadership skills, improve their job prospects and make a difference to the business and the community for which they work. Further, students are exposed to case studies that present realistic, complex, and contextually rich situations and involve dilemmas, conflicts, and/or problems accountants face in the profession, which will allow students to understand emergent issues for the accounting professionals.

The unit comprises 13 seminars that include lectures, presentations by industry partners, case studies sessions, students’ presentations, discussions, and a feedback session. The components of the unit are structured as follows:

Introduction/Orientation: One seminar each week to provide students with a strong orientation to the University expectations and academic requirements for this PACE/Capstone unit and addresses pragmatic concerns (group formation, communication, and other logistical requirements). The first seminar includes a session on “Skills Audit”. This session uses Self Understanding Module along with other skills audit activities that are available. This is embedded in the iLearn for ACCG3015 and also includes a workbook that students need to print and fill in as part of the audit. The objective of this session is to make students rate themselves on a variety of key employability skills and also find evidence to support their ratings. (Skills include: Creativity and Innovation, Relationship Building, Problem Solving, Technology, Communication, Teamwork, Planning & Organising, Research).  In order to give this skills audit context within the framework of the course structure, each industry partner will discuss 3 to 5 skills they feel are essential for the accountants to possess. 

The experience: Students are required to complete a session long “Accounting Profession” project. The project expects that students identify information needs, acquire the necessary information by consulting the information provided by industry participants, interpret the information and use it as the basis for recommendations. In order to complete this project, students are required to attend seminars presented by industry partners including professional accounting bodies; Big 4 accounting firms; Commercial, financial and manufacturing firms; NFP; public sector and SMEs. The presentations from industry partners will help students become familiar (from multiple perspectives and viewpoints) with regulatory, cultural, technological and business environment issues that affect accounting and the accounting profession.

Assessment tasks: Knowledge and understanding are assessed by a mixture of assignments and presentations. The assessments include reflection, essay, a group project report with an individual oral presentation. Oral presentations will take place in seminars judged by a panel comprising industry partners and academics.

Final Wrap-up/Debrief: One seminar to review conclusions from the projects and evaluate findings. Industry partners will provide feedback on the students’ findings. This seminar will also provide an opportunity for students to network with industry partners and discuss around a specific and current accounting themes, which will further their understanding of the actual work context of their studies and enhance their skills. This seminar will also give an opportunity to network with students who can help tackle challenging projects. Through this seminar industry partners will also gain recognition for involvement in education, collaborate with academics, develop new networks with other organisations and gain access to potential future graduates.

EXPECTATIONS AND WORKLOAD

Students are expected to spend 150 hours working on this unit. 

Please refer iLearn for weekly schedule.