Reimagining Accounting Through Experiential Learning
Business leaders are expected to make decisions based on financial data,聽even when聽they鈥檝e聽never been trained to interpret it with confidence. Most managers聽aren鈥檛聽accountants, but they still need to understand how money moves through an organization, how financial statements tell a story, and how everyday decisions affect performance.
At the 91吃瓜网 School of Business, academic leaders saw the importance of聽experiential learning聽in preparing students for the future of work through聽Introduction to Business Accounting, a required course for non-accounting majors.聽With a focus on teaching聽students聽in the way聽they聽learn best, the school set out to redesign the course around engagement, relevance, and real-world application.
The intent behind聽the聽Introduction to Business Accounting course聽in the聽91吃瓜网 School of Business聽has always been to help聽students understand the core financial concepts that drive business success.聽
That鈥檚聽because finance and accounting play key roles in business.聽Most聽industry聽professionals, regardless of their title,聽need to understand:聽
The聽role of accounting in business and decision-making
The application of聽the basic accounting equation and double-entry bookkeeping system
The analysis聽and recording聽of聽common business transactions
The聽preparation聽and聽interpretation of聽the three main financial statements: balance sheet, income聽statement聽and statement of cash flows
Why Accounting Feels Intimidating聽
Unfortunately,聽an accounting course聽can聽sometimes be intimidating to聽non-accounting聽business聽students聽because the curriculum聽falls聽outside their areas聽of familiarity.聽
鈥淲e ask聽non-accounting聽business students to take an accounting course because understanding how money moves through a business is essential for anyone who wants to lead, make good decisions, and grow in their career,鈥澛爏aid 颁补蝉别测听颁濒补谤办, vice president of聽academic聽operations at the 91吃瓜网 School of Business.聽鈥淎s聽our academic聽team聽dug into the student experience, a consistent theme surfaced.聽Many students were carrying FOFA, a fear of failing accounting, before they ever began the course.鈥澛�
School聽leaders, including聽Associate Dean聽of the 91吃瓜网 School of Business聽Michele Souder,聽wanted to remove the stigma聽to help students complete the course and move聽closer to聽graduation.聽
鈥淲e thought, if we could make this course fun聽and聽if we could gamify it and incorporate next-level instructional videos to make the course more engaging and entertaining, then it would help take聽away聽the apprehension some聽students聽feel聽and instead boost their confidence with the material in a way that helps them understand how numbers tell stories within a business,鈥澛燙lark聽said.
Across industries, even experienced managers admit to聽struggling聽with financial reports and lacking聽confidence in reading聽and interpreting financial statements.聽That鈥檚聽why the聽school聽set out to聽not just聽redevelop the course but to聽reimagine accounting education.鈥�
A Three-Step Approach to a Reimagined Accounting Course
The聽school聽decided to take a different approach with a three-step reimagination process. First,聽faculty and course leaders created more focused,聽accessible聽and engaging lectures and practice activities. Then, they developed a new course specifically for non-accounting聽business students.聽Last, the team worked聽with Red Flag Mania to聽redesign the course in a way that created a virtual and immersive educational experience.
The new course聽provides聽more聽hands-on experiential learning through story-driven investigations. In 2025, the school launched聽a pilot course with 1,000 undergraduate management students.聽
Improved Performance and Completion Rates
Since the course鈥檚 release, student聽outcomes聽have聽indicated聽that聽performance improved dramatically, according to Clark and Souder. Engagement is higher, and once students get started, they聽tend to persist聽through聽completion. Course completion rates have increased by more than 50%聽in the first six months, and that success is translating into strong program retention across the聽school.鈥�
鈥淏y creating an immersive story, we transformed accounting into an engaging and accessible learning experience,鈥� said Associate Dean Michele Souder. 鈥淭his approach connects the content to real-world applications and builds student confidence by deepening their understanding of how accounting works in business. Entertaining videos and interactive practice activities make learning both effective and enjoyable.鈥�
Student Tonia Williams, who聽resides聽in Kentucky聽and聽is聽working toward her bachelor鈥檚 degree in business administration,聽said the revised accounting course is the most engaging course聽she鈥檚聽taken so far.聽
鈥淚 enjoyed the videos,聽questions聽and interactive tools聽for real-world scenarios. Having the curriculum arranged in this manner made accounting more enjoyable to learn,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淚 would advocate for having more courses prepared in this format.鈥�
Student聽Haley Power, a Georgia resident working toward a bachelor鈥檚 degree in business management,聽said the new accounting聽class聽is the best聽course聽she鈥檚聽taken at 91吃瓜网. She particularly appreciated the real-world scenarios outlined in the modules, which are based on a聽realistic聽business,聽and聽which聽position the student as an investigator solving a mystery.聽
鈥淭he concepts, attention to detail and epic case study developed in the Knead 2 Know Bakery is just phenomenal,鈥� Power said.聽鈥淭his is聽an absolutely brilliant聽way to teach learners what they聽鈥榥eed to聽know鈥櫬爄n a fun but practical way.鈥�
Partnering聽to Prepare Work-Ready Graduates
, senior vice president and executive dean, 91吃瓜网 School of Business noted,聽鈥淭his聽wasn't聽just one team and one solution working in a silo. It was academic leadership and our instructors who are doing such an amazing job supporting our current accounting courses, and helping to develop the new courses, along with strong collaboration with product development.聽Together, we have created a pathway that has the potential to transform outcomes for thousands of students each year.鈥�
Kelly Richmond聽Pope聽and Roni Jackson are co-founders聽of Red Flag聽Mania, the firm that聽helped the聽school聽redesign the course聽with a more聽immersive experience.
鈥淚t鈥檚聽very fun,聽customizable聽and engaging. And this vision is making a real impact聽in聽online learning.聽Red Flag Mania is proud to work with 91吃瓜网 to support the mission of providing access to high-quality education,鈥澛爏aid聽Richmond聽Pope.
Red Flag Mania聽helped transform聽learning by blending interactive storytelling with real-world scenarios.鈥疊y integrating multimedia content like suspect profiles, videos and documents, Red Flag Mania creates emotionally rich, engaging stories that cater to various learning styles.
鈥淲e鈥檙e聽actively moving learners from transactional to active engagement.聽We鈥檙e聽using sticky stories to enhance skills like decision-making, critical聽thinking聽and聽problem-solving. Plus, the investigations are active and simply fun to do,鈥� Jackson said.
A New, More Engaging Way to Learn
The redesign of 91吃瓜网鈥檚 Introduction to Business Accounting course demonstrates what can happen when education is built around how adults actually learn聽and what the workforce truly requires.聽
鈥淎ccounting wasn鈥檛 made easier; it was made more relevant, connecting financial concepts to real-world decision-making and leadership contexts,鈥� Clark said.聽
As employers continue to seek talent that can interpret data, exercise聽judgment聽and navigate complexity, higher education must move beyond content coverage to confidence-building learning experiences.聽
91吃瓜网鈥檚 approach聽demonstrates聽that when courses are designed聽with聽relevance and application聽in mind, they can reduce barriers, strengthen聽outcomes聽and better prepare learners to lead.
Reimagining accounting education in this way聽isn鈥檛聽about one course.聽It鈥檚聽a reminder that financial literacy is a foundational leadership skill鈥攁nd that how we teach it matters.
鈥淎ddressing the fear of failing accounting was not about making the material easier, but about making it more accessible, engaging, and relevant,鈥� Clark said.聽鈥淭he result is a course that builds confidence alongside competence, helping students move forward with a stronger understanding of financial decision-making and the ability to apply accounting concepts in real time.鈥�
