This is the third of a three-part series of articles to provide teachers with an overview of how to integrate resources from the IFAC Global Knowledge Gateway into their syllabi, research for projects and papers, and provide some ideas for out-of-the-box lessons to help inspire students to experience the accountancy profession in different ways.
Practically speaking, there are at least three ways teachers can use the Gateway to supplement their syllabi. First, the Gateway is a tool for gathering research and information. It is a large, interactive archive containing more than 40 featured Viewpoint articles, 180 Discussion articles, 2,200 resources from 450 unique sources, and 3,250 news stories from 660 unique sources. Second, the Gateway can help students acquire a general overview of the global accountancy profession—a bird’s eye view of the topics that comprise the profession—and orient themselves accordingly. Third, the Gateway is a tool for constructing scenarios where students can apply their ideas and knowledge. How can teachers and students put this all into action?
1. Enrich the Scope of Research Papers and Essays
Students can take advantage of the hundreds of articles, interviews, reports, and websites included on the Gateway to source research for their term papers and/or dissertations. With its topic areas, the Gateway provides an efficient way to query broad areas of knowledge with simple phrases and keywords. The easy-to-read descriptions of each item will help users quickly narrow down their search. Teachers can also use the Gateway to develop ideas for term papers, exam questions, or essays.
2. Technical Application: From Principle to Practice
Because the Gateway provides descriptive links to four of the international standard-setting boards of the accountancy profession, students have guided access to the standards, guidance, and staff bulletins from these organizations, including the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board® (IAASB®), the International Accounting Education Standards Board® (IAESB®), the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants® (IESBA®), the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board® (IPSASB®), and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Students can access a variety of supportive materials on the professional standards.
3. Research Insights: Keeping Up with the Latest Scholarly Work
The Gateway recently launched a Research Insights Series, which invites scholars to submit brief summaries of their work, major implications, and relevance to the global accountancy profession. Research Insights helps students understand how scholars are conducting research using large data sets and statistical information to develop efficient market hypotheses, regulatory compliance, and other aspects of accountancy.
4. Comparison of Organizational Practices and Professional Procedures
The Gateway features contributions and resources from experts in organizations both small and large, global and local. As a result, it is a good place to find content for comparison and contrast. For example, students can compare the views of two or more experts’ or organizations’ approaches to accounting procedures, best practices, quality control, internal controls, risk management, and much more.
5. Comparison of the Accountancy Profession and Regulatory Frameworks of Different Jurisdictions
Students can also use the Gateway to contrast the profession in different regulatory environments and jurisdictions, and prepare themselves for practicing accountancy globally. The information on the Gateway covers a broad range of perspectives at both the jurisdictional and organizational levels. While most resources are in English, the resources and news are from many different nations and translated articles becoming available.
6. Scenario Exercises: Put Students in the Driver’s Seat
What better way to equip accounting students than to put them in the driver’s seat of an existing case study or scenario described by an expert or organization? On the Gateway, teachers are able to find practical examples of organizational problems and professional challenges which they can, in turn, modify for their students. The Gateway provides a range of content that lends itself to the design of such scenario exercises.
7. Tracking the Development of an Issue over Time
The Gateway contains an ongoing repository of news articles; using keywords and topic sections, students can source the trajectory of a particular issue. They can assess how a story developed and the factors involved. Conclusions can be drawn and students can be given the opportunity to consider why such developments occurred the way they did and how they might recur or continue to evolve in the future.
8. Financial Leadership in Action: Messaging, Prioritization and Exemplification
The Gateway features interviews, both text and video, of leaders in the global accountancy profession that reveal the types of messaging and communications styles different financial leaders use. They illustrate, to some extent, how issues are prioritized and exemplified by these leaders in their words. As a form of communications exercise, students can examine the style and content of such interviews to consider how they might plan for them in their own careers.
9. Modelling Professional Development: A One Year Projection
In the Events section of the IFAC website, teachers and students can see upcoming conferences, roundtables, open meetings, webinars, and webcasts pertaining to the global accountancy profession. A fun exercise for students is to allocate each one an annual budget for training, continuing education, and professional development. Based on their interests and learning preferences, they can model a professional development plan based on their selection of events.
Many More Possibilities—Reach Out for Guidance
Knowledge can be put into action many more ways on the Gateway. As it continues to be populated by new content daily, the possibilities grow. We encourage you to contact us for assistance at gateway@ifac.org.
