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=ACG 2021= toc For the summer of 2012 this course is being taught in a face-to-face fashion. Unlike the way this course has been taught for the past several years this course will be relatively small, capped at 75. Learning financial accounting can be quite difficult for many students and as a result I choose to provide various technological support tools in my class. Due to the considerable amount of content that needs to be taught (and more importantly learned) I have taught this course over the past several years using a method made popular by the Kahn Academy which "flips" the classroom experience. To that end I will not be lecturing during our class time, or to be more accurate I won't be lecturing for very long. Instead I expect that you will have put in whatever time is necessary to watch my lectures which are posted online (via WebCourses and mydebitcredit.com), read the text book and practice end-of-the chapter problems on your own time BEFORE class.

Now this is hard during a normal 16 week semester and can be even more challenging during a summer semester that only lasts 8 weeks. So if you plan on doing well in this course you need to plan on putting in the time necessary to do well. I will do everything else.

To aid in the understanding of the material in this course you will be expected to use various tools. MyAccountingLab is a tool that allows you to complete homework assignments and importantly gauge your understanding of the material - if you can't do the assignment or if it takes you a considerable amount of time, you don't understand the material well enough and this will usually be reflected in low exam scores. Having taught this course for many years, I have a perspective on the material that presents students with the most trouble and quite frankly that's the initial few chapters of our book (1-3). I have found that students who understand this material (Assets = Liabilities + Equity) and how the accounting equation works (Accounting System use of Debits and Credits) along with the Accounting Cycle (Journal entries, General Ledger balances, Trial Balances and finally Financial Statements) will do well in the course. Those students who do not understand this material will not do well in this course.

Understanding the importance of this material I have developed various technologies to help you during this critical part of the course. One of these utilizes a 3D virtual world environment called Second Life. In the past students who have used this and the tools available contained within the environment have outperformed students who did not use the tool - and in an important way. It was the difference between passing or failing the course. Understanding that using a virtual world to learn the basic concepts of accounting can be a challenge in and of itself, I have developed another tool with much of the same functionality that is accessible via multiple modes: Web, smartphone or tablet. We will be utilizing both of these tools throughout the semester and especially during the first few weeks.

If you have signed up for this course and are technologically-phobic, you should probably switch to the video-streaming section. If you are technologically-challenged, don't worry the tools are really not that hard to learn and since this is a small class I will be available to get you up to speed if need be.

I find one of the hardest things for students to do with this course sometimes is manage their time. So to that end I have created a timeline ( below) that provides a guide as to what you should be doing and have completed as the semester progresses. Note: The timeline hasn't been updated from last Spring 2011 yet so don't panic if you're looking at now.