Principles of Accounting is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of a two-semester accounting course that covers the fundamentals of financial and managerial accounting. Due to the comprehensive nature of the material, we are offering the book in two volumes. This book is specifically designed to appeal to both accounting and non-accounting majors, exposing students to the core concepts of accounting in familiar ways to build a strong foundation that can be applied across business fields. Each chapter opens with a relatable real-life scenario for today’s college student. Thoughtfully designed examples are presented throughout each chapter, allowing students to build on emerging accounting knowledge. Concepts are further reinforced through applicable connections to more detailed business processes. Students are immersed in the “why” as well as the “how” aspects of accounting in order to reinforce concepts and promote comprehension over rote memorization.
Type of Material:
Open-Access Textbook
Recommended Uses:
Homework (foundational textbook readings and practice problems)
individual
self-paced
in-class
Technical Requirements:
Used Google Chrome, 64-bit, Version 89.0.4389.90 to access online and to download a PDF copy. Also accessed via the OpenStax app on iPhone 12 (also available on Google Play – not tested). Downloaded Kindle version also and accessed via Amazon Kindle computer and iPhone apps.
Identify Major Learning Goals:
Students will learn about the principles of financial accounting with this resource. It is a comprehensive resource covering all aspects of financial accounting.
Students will learn basic financial accounting concepts, including transaction analysis, accounting information systems, internal controls, and other relevant topics.
Students will recognize and explain basic terminology and concepts related to financial accounting such as standard financial statements.
Target Student Population:
Students in introductory or foundational accounting courses at the college level or in adult learning contexts.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
No prerequisite knowledge or skills needed in subject matter area. Basic computer and/or smartphone skills necessary to access and/or download via browser or app.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
The textbook includes coverage of topics such as accounting information systems and additional career paths at the intersection of accounting and information systems.
The text is written in a style that is easy to read and interpret at the introductory level and there is a good balance of visuals such as example statements, process flows, etc. to help explain key concepts.
Available materials for instructors include PowerPoint slide presentations and a solutions manual plus some institutional users have made Blackboard and Canvas LMS load modules available to others.
The concepts included in this open-access book are grounded in theory and presented in sufficient detail.
The content is complete regarding the topics that should be included in a financial accounting course.
The content is appropriate for collegiate-level learners and is appropriate for classes.
Concerns:
There are some topic areas such as the income statement and the time value of money where the content is limited and would require additional instructional materials from other sources to fully cover these topics even at the introductory level.
There are limited support materials available from the student perspective such as guided notes or homework exercises in formats that students would likely use for practice such as standalone documents with space for working mathematical problems. As is, each student or course instructor would have to print sections that then would not be easily submitted in online formats for grading.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
The textbook is written in a way that describes the relationships among concepts and the various formats (electronic, PDF, and Kindle) contain a significant number of embedded links that enable students to quickly navigate to related content for review.
The availability in multiple formats (at no cost in online, PDF, Kindle, and smartphone formats plus at low cost in printed formats) supports individual student preferences and learning styles as well as enabling broad access.
The learning goals are very clear for each chapter.
End-of-chapter materials are clearly presented, and teaching instructions are included.
Concepts are clearly presented and reinforced.
The items are highly usable for students to achieve their learning goals.
Concerns:
There are learning objectives present at the start of each chapter under the heading Chapter Outline. However, it may not be clear to students that these are the learning goals given the heading.
Although there is a separate solutions manual for instructors and answers to half of the chapter exercises and problems in the textbook, the lack of an electronic test bank and/or an online electronic platform for homework and automated grading as is typically supplied with paid publisher textbook selections in this content area shifts a significant burden for measuring student learning and progress to instructors.
Additionally, there are no software templates (typically Excel-based for this introductory course level) available for student use.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
The availability in multiple formats (at no cost in online, PDF, Kindle, and smartphone formats for iPhone and multiple phones using Google Play plus at low cost in printed formats) makes this textbook easy to use in almost any course setting.
The textbook is designed well in all formats. For example, reviewing the iPhone app version, the pictures and text were appropriately sized for viewing and reading on screen – no manual resizing was necessary.
The embedded links that enable students to quickly navigate to related topics in the textbook or that take them out to the web for more information (such as to the SEC website) help make the textbook interactive in relation to reading the content.
The site is easy to navigate, and the instructions are clear for teachers and students.
The site's layout is clear and consistent for its use.
The website is highly navigable, and links within the chapters work.
Concerns:
Although there are embedded links in the end of chapter exercises and problems to speed students’ navigation back to the related content, there are no interactive elements around problem completion such as being able to complete online and getting feedback on responses.
Additionally, there are no Excel templates for chapter exercises and problems which is the field standard for learning basic accounting concepts (which is a disadvantage in comparison to paid publisher materials and would shift the burden to instructors adopting this text).
Creative Commons:
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