Graphical organizers in tax education

The purpose of this teaching note is to share with tax instructors several graphical organizers developed by the authors for use in teaching topics typically covered in undergraduate and graduate tax courses. Their use may be motivated by studies documenting improvements in student learning through improved text comprehension and memory when such displays are used, and also by studies concluding that students exhibit decreasing reliance upon textbook information and increasing reliance upon instructor provided communications in their learning and study processes. Additional motivation stems from the graphical organizers’ desirable attributes as instructional resources: ease of use, presentation efficiency and flexibility, and a facilitated ability to highlight cause-and-effect based conclusions inherent in tax law.

► Potential benefits of using graphical organizers in tax education are described.
► Use of best practices in creating and using graphical organizers is discussed.
► Common undergraduate and graduate tax topic graphical organizers are shared.