June 13, 2013
Case study: Mastering Accountancy with Mind Mapping
In this case study, Alison Jones, Accountancy Lecturer for the Association of Accountancy Technicians (AAT) at Cardiff and Vale College provides an insight into the many ways iMindMap [Ayoa]* and Mind Mapping have enhanced the learning experience for her accountancy students.
In accountancy, there is a popular misconception that accountants are just number crunchers and yes, accountants do spend a large portion of their time on the preparation and analysis of financial figures. However, there is a lot more behind the scenes which is frequently overlooked. There are many rules and regulations to be taken into account and these theoretical areas often cause endless grief!
When teaching a logical subject such as accountancy, things are often black and white; either your sums add up or they don’t. However, this black and white attitude needn’t apply to teaching the subject. If anything, when teaching the more complex topics, the more colour and visual stimulation my students are presented with, the more likely they are to understand and remember the information.
Using Mind Mapping to prepare Financial Statements
When teaching a new topic to students, the less is more approach always works best as a starting point. I use iMindMap [Ayoa] to not only map out the key stages in the process and often accompany my Mind Maps with flowcharts as another useful visual technique. I have found that using Mind Maps in combination with other visual techniques enhances student learning, especially for those students who learn visually. Even my students who prefer ‘read-write’ learning found that their understanding of the process significantly increased as a result of maps which I created.
1 down and 21 to go…
Sometimes it is hard to convey all of the relevant information in a clear concise way and this is where Mind Mapping comes into play. It stops my students from succumbing to boredom and information overload and ultimately, makes their study time more productive. From my perspective, it can be hard to find imaginative ways to teach students the theories of accounting but iMindMap [Ayoa] certainly ticks the box. It has added colour and imagery to the more mundane topics and my students could not be more grateful.
For example, as part of the AAT course, students must learn about the International Accounting Standards (IAS). A monotonous topic at the best of time but one which has to be covered! My basic Mind Map below shows the rules for including inventory in financial statements and gives my students a good starting point when it comes to reading up on the topic.
Mind Mapping for Revision
At the end of every lesson, I give my students a pop quiz summarising the learning objectives and it’s a great way to find out who was actually paying attention! Although they may find these pop quizzes painful at the time, they thank me in the long run as they have keep sakes that can be revisited when exams are looming. At that stage, thorough preparation is the key to success. After all, fail to prepare and prepare to fail.
From my perspective, the process of creating handouts is much more enjoyable with iMindMap [Ayoa] as it gives me the opportunity to try new teaching strategies and get the students thinking.
Whether you use Mind Mapping as a teaching technique to display content or as a business analysis tool, the results speak for themselves. If you have a case study that you would like to share, get in touch at contact@ayoa.com to learn more about getting featured.
*iMindMap has now become Ayoa. Ayoa combines the best of iMindMap’s Mind Mapping capabilities with Task Management and Instant Messaging to help you do your best work. Find out more about Ayoa’s full features and pricing plans.
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