1. You want me to teach what? Dawn W. Massey & Joan Van Hise Fairfield University 6/5/08

2. Has this happened to you? Your department decides to offer a new course You get asked to develop & teach it

3. But…what do you do when the course is… …in an emerging area? …outside your area of expertise/formal training?

4. Possible answers: A.Run from the room screaming and type up your resignation letter B.Refuse…you’re tenured…phew! C.Re-assign the class to a junior colleague D. Research!

5. We chose D – research; and found: That our discomfort was not uncommon BUT There was no roadmap to help us navigate our way out of the discomfort zone! 

6. Meaning… There was no model course to follow AND We lacked formal training to develop one

7. Now what? What would you do next?

8. Possible answers: A.Run from the room screaming and type up your resignation letter B.Refuse…you’re tenured…phew! C.Re-assign the class to a junior colleague D. Research - even more!

9. We chose D – research more; Our solution: Draw on our (former) training as auditors; i.e., take a page out of the audit playbook

10. “Exercise due care in planning, performing...” Plan A: Amass “adequate technical training” Plan B: Bring in a competent expert to do the job

11. Plan A: Amass adequate technical training Read the literature Attend conferences Pursue a research agenda in the area

12. Plan B: Bring in an expert to Team teach (on a limited basis) Review and suggest course materials Guest lecture Observe our teaching

13. We’re glad we taught it because we… Overcame our discomfort zone Identified appropriate active learning techniques Expanded our circle of colleagues – across the globe and across the university BUT It took a lot of time

14. Students were glad we taught it because … “The reflections…were essential in tying it all together” “Discussion between class members was excellent” “Opened my eyes to aspects of the profession I had not normally looked at”

15. We think other faculty were glad we taught it because … We were invited to present our course at a national conference dedicated to accounting education Faculty at other schools seek our syllabus to serve as a model course for them to use

16. Take - aways Integration: teaching with colleagues from other areas can be a very positive experience Learning: Don’t be afraid to take on new preps, even if outside your comfort zone - they promote personal growth Community: when you integrate your teaching and learning with others outside your comfort zone, you enlarge your community