An instructional assignment for student engagement in auditing class: Student movies and the AICPA Core Competency Framework

Student engagement can improve any accounting class, including the auditing class. Auditing concepts are often abstract, difficult to learn, and even considered a bit boring for many undergraduate students. For the past six semesters student teams in my auditing classes have recorded short movies about auditing concepts and/or audit-related situations. The students have created humorous movies with various themes including Batman, Star Wars, Charlie’s Angels, families making moonshine, and Scooby-Doo. While the themes have varied, each of the movies has related to an auditing concept. As the students prepare the script, they learn the relevant auditing concepts well enough to rephrase them and write them into a situational comedy. Most importantly, this instructional assignment provides for student practice on many of the competencies found in the AICPA Core Competency Framework for Entry into the Accounting Profession ( AICPA, 2005).

► An assignment requiring students to produce a movie is presented.
► Assignment provides practice on core competencies for the accounting profession.
► Research discussing course activities that emphasize the AICPA CCF is reviewed.
► Enhanced exam performance accrues to students who work on script preparation.