Stephanie Rasmussen

Using Videos to “Flip” Managerial Accounting

Stephanie Rasmussen, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Accounting, College of Business, UT Arlington

Stephanie Rasmussen teaches undergraduate and master’s courses in managerial accounting in the Department of Accounting within the College of Business. Her research interests include financial reporting oversight and companies’ accounting-related choices. Some of her recent research studies examine firm cooperation with regulators during enforcement actions for financial misrepresentation, auditor choice by mutual funds, and the consequences of audit committee ineffectiveness.

Dr. Rasmussen is a Faculty Fellow in the LINK Research Lab. Her Professional Learning Communities (PLC) project for 2015-2016 involves flipping certain aspects of her undergraduate managerial accounting course through the use of pre-class video assignments.

Catherine Ortiz

Hi Stephanie,

After watching your video, I feel we are truly kindred spirits in terms of our projects: though the subject matter we teach is vastly different, we were both going for use of videos to enhance student performance.

I did not include very much detail in my video with the results, as right now I do not have enough detail to produce the very nice charts that you included, but I have come to similar conclusions: students really seem to appreciate the videos, although so far, their test results have not reflected a significant improvement. Of course, I am using mine for students who study 100% online, but I did find many similarities in their reaction. I have yet to poll them on whether they would have watched them if I had not offered compensation in terms of their grades if they watched them and completed the surveys on Blackboard, so we shall see!

Lastly: in Modern Languages (Spanish, at least), we also see a major difference between student performance in day vs. evening classes. Day students tend to score higher on exams, and I attribute this largely to the fact that many evening students work full time, and while they are highly motivated, they arrive exhausted to class after a full day’s work, and it is a huge effort for them to focus at all. Online students are another kettle of fish— and these are variables I will be testing out in the future as well.

Thanks for a very thorough presentation!
- Stephanie Binger Rasmussen
  
  Catherine,
  
  Thanks for your post! It is interesting to hear that your experience is similar to mine. I graded Exam 3 yesterday, and the average score was 80.6 vs. 79.9 in the fall. I view this as good news since the scores had been lower than the fall sections up until now.
  
  We should definitely keep in touch after the PLC ends to compare our experiences in future semesters with the videos!
  - Catherine Ortiz
    
    Yes, I would definitely be interested in tracking this with you! Progress is often very slow with these endeavors, but every little bit helps. Of course, we are always at the total mercy of the students who use what we provide. It is a shame that many would not do so if we did not throw out a carrot in return for their participation, but for now, I am O.K. with that if it helps us to track what works and doesn’t work. 😉
Kiva Harper

I was a bit surprised at the decline in test scores. Great job Stephanie! I will keep the student feedback in mind next time I flip a class.
- Stephanie Binger Rasmussen
  
  Kiva,
  
  As I noted in my response to Catherine, I did see a big increase in this spring’s exam average with Exam 3, and this night section is now on par with my day section in the fall. I’ll be interested to watch the grade distributions in the future as I continue to use the videos for the class.
nakiaspope

Nicely explained. The decline in test scores is puzzling, but (as you said) there are lots of confounding variables. Clearly, the students think the videos are valuable. I wonder if their general study habits changed at all as a result of the videos. Did they watch the videos instead of engaging in other study strategies? That might be interesting to find out.
- Kim Breuer
  
  I agree with the others that day/night does make a difference. Have you looked more closely at analyzing which particular questions (content-wise) they are doing more poorly on? It may be that you will want to provide a classroom activity utilizes that content as part of the flipped experience. I agree with Nakia, I wonder if habits changed for test prep. Have you surveyed them on their study strategies? This might also yield some insight.
  - Stephanie Binger Rasmussen
    
    Kim,
    
    I asked some general questions about study habits. I was concerned after Exam 1 that the students were just watching the videos and not actually working the problems themselves (either along with the video or after watching the video). I mentioned in class that they needed to also work the problems themselves and added a sentence or two at the start of the videos with similar information.
Regina Urban

Stephanie,

I agree that many things compete for our in-class time and attention. I think this is a great way to prioritize items for class time / time management. I think it is interesting that approximately 70% are reporting that it positively affected their engagement in the course. I also appreciate that you asked them about their willingness to participate whether or not you offered points for their engagement. Exam engagement can be influenced by so many things…I appreciate your discussion of the difference between the day and night sections and the frequency of use of the videos and when they use them.
- Stephanie Binger Rasmussen
  
  Thanks Regina!
Alex Hunnicutt

Your project is nicely focused and effectively explained. It is disappointing to see the test scores, but also difficult to attribute causation with complete confidence. It seems so obvious that giving them these video tool should improve understanding and yet your information suggests that it is nowhere near that simple and straightforward. Great project and eye-opening findings.
- Stephanie Binger Rasmussen
  
  Thanks Alex!