06-09-2025
At the Daniels School of Business, we are constantly looking for ways to bridge the gap between the textbook and the real world. The sequence of MGMT 50400 Tax Accounting generally falls later in an accounting major’s plan of study. Most students in my class are imminently close to sitting across the table from a client to prepare tax returns professionally. I have been to numerous teaching and learning conferences and have spoken with many employers, all with a consistent rhetoric: Students need more soft skills.
One of my primary considerations for students in bringing them the best in-class experience is that they will soon be out of class. We want to prepare them for successful careers not by simply showing the answer; we want our students to understand the reasoning and path for determining the answer.
Students will soon no longer be answering a multiple-choice question. Rather, these young professionals have to learn how to pick up on clues of what technical question(s) should be asked (or not asked, in many instances). We generally refer to this teaching style as experiential. Analyzing, Evaluating and Creating are three of the components of Bloom's Taxonomy. These demand the high-order thinking skills that translate well into the practical application of knowledge.
Never once in 20 years of practice has a client walked into my office with neatly formatted and organized tax papers with multiple-choice questions. The demand in practice requires a fair amount of detective work to determine which tax questions should be asked of a client. The CPA exam has gone through an evolution in the past couple of years to testing a candidate’s aptitude through simulation as opposed to rote memorization. The need to guide students on critical thinking and application is more relevant than ever for an accounting program.
Content needs to be fresh and up-to-date with current tax laws (ever-changing) in order to combat the Chegg and ChatGPT effect. Thus, the modality in which the project is delivered needs to be hands-on with the instructor. In turn, students should receive immediate and valuable feedback to maximize the learning experience.
And would it be so much to ask that content be engaging?! Hypothetical business cases often revert to a widgets manufacturer. Students should be entertained in the learning process with high-production value material.
The objective was set: Design an engaging case study to emphasize core course learning objectives in an experiential environment with interactions designed for students to develop soft skills. Sure … but should we use some generic taxpayer akin to widgets manufacturing? It hit me one winter recess as I was watching Christmas Vacation for the millionth time: Utilize some classic pop culture!
J.T. Eagan is a clinical assistant professor in accounting at the Daniels School. He has almost 20 years of diverse tax experience and was voted the Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic years by Daniels School students. Next week, in part two of this three-part series, he’ll talk about bringing the iconic Griswold family to life to implement teaching lessons for his class.
