A New Way To Learn Management, Financial Accounting — Learning Perspectives

Does 007 secret agent remind you of a debt instrument? Are they reliable like him? Can you add new skillsets to your present self today to become a better version of yourself tomorrow? Is it the same for money?

Education revamped itself, Zoom, Microsoft teams and Google meet classes became the new normal and Zoom fatigue became real in this virtual world.

Worldwide Pandemic forced us to go within and ask existential questions. Learning during this time became challenging too. I started asking questions to my students that were on a different tangent. Some might call this Socratic method of teaching, but to me, it was all about storytelling.

COVID and Storytelling:

Storytelling in India dates back to the time of Vedas and Puranas as early as 3000 BC. Many complex concepts of spiritual nature are explained in these texts through stories and poems, making them easier to understand and digest.

Engaging students is a tricky subject but so is accounts and finance. While grasping the concepts of accounts and finance are easier for me, they are difficult to digest for a master’s students who hasn’t had much exposure to the subject. Hence, I decided to merge visual storytelling with the concepts of accounts and finance.

This was deeper than giving just a simple example of a movie. Hence in each class, I would show them a short movie scene relating to the concept of accounts and give them a background of that scene to help me connect it to the concept. Every time, when I would play a scene, I would ask my students, ‘why exactly did I show this to you?’

· This helped me build up their interest and attention as they would rack their brain to give me an answer.

· It almost forced the student to be attentive even in a virtual setting.

· It helped develop their critical thinking and

· Improved their listening abilities.

For instance, when explaining them the concept of assets, I would show them a scene from a movie called ‘Deewar’ (Bollywood movie), most of my students were confused but curious as to why I was showing them this particular scene.

This is a legendary scene where the two lead actors (brothers in the movie) are having a dialogue where one is a cop while other is a gangster. Gangster is quite proud of himself for all the material possessions he has acquired over the years.

During this conversation, he tries to demean his cop brother by revealing how much money he has earned, and how he owns bank and cash balance, properties, furniture, car etc. He clearly highlights current assets and fixed assets used in a business.

Listening to his banter, cop is still calm and composed and he responds by saying, I have mother (‘Mere pass maa hain’), which sounds more like goodwill. Goodwill is intangible in nature and shown in the balance sheet as a long-term asset. Even though mother is tangible, here actor is implying is that he is getting love of his mother while the other brother is not able to receive it.

This scene helped me not only relate the concept to the movie but students were able to retain the concept. Later, showing them a business’s balance sheet helped me drill down the concept in their minds.

Storytelling and Feedback:

After the course, I asked for feedback from students, and received close to 50 students’ responses, out of which almost 90% (74%+16%) understood the concepts clearly with the help of movie vignettes.

Given below is the definition of the numbers 1–5.

Directions: Complete the below feedback for your financial accounting course. This feedback help improves the Professor’s performance and understand the needs of the students deeply.

5 — Well above grade level/standard; truly exemplary work going above and beyond expectations

4 — Above average grade level/standard output; a good effort has been given

3 — At grade level/standard; standards have been met at minimum capacity

2 — Slightly below grade level/standard expectations; a stronger effort or remedial efforts and instruction may be needed

1 — Well below grade level/standard expectations; low effort has been given, or remedial instruction is needed, as the content at this point is proving too difficult.

Circumstances sometimes force us to shift our perspectives, as we incorporate these perspectives in our daily lives, we can also integrate them in our classrooms. Combining logic with creativity not only engages a class but also leads to higher retention level. As educators, focusing on providing safe, non-judgmental, engaging and playful environment for students provides opportunity for intensive classroom learning.

About Me

I work as an adjunct faculty with various Universities in India such as Stratford University, Amity University and Sunstone Eduversity. Working at Royal Bank of Scotland and Deloitte gave me exposure to practical aspect of accounts and finance. Passion for teaching led me down a different career path to pursue my life long dream. I make education simple, understandable and relatable.

Placing high value on constant learning and making education creative is my aim. I want to inculcate students with hope and inspiration to become a better version of themselves. Being passionate about teaching, I find my true calling in this noble profession.

At Learning Perspective, we see the world from a different lense. We believe Learning should not just correlate to earning. Learning should be done for the joy of it and earning would be a by-product.

Learning Perspectives offer courses on management, finance and accounts. These courses will not only make you smarter and sharper about the subject matter but also help in earning good grades and marks.

Our methodology combines cinema and education. Through visual story telling we make concepts easier to digest and retain able for an entire lifetime. We strive to make education delicious! Come and experience this new way of learning with us!!