Equipping future accountants with judgment, ethics, and AI-enabled decision-making skills
An instructional framework for teaching accounting emphasizes decision making over procedural execution. Rather than focusing on mechanical rule application, accounting topics are reframed around the judgments managers, investors, and other stakeholders actually face. The framework incorporates problem based learning and discussion of cognitive biases to highlight the role of judgment in real accounting decisions.
The approach also demonstrates how artificial intelligence can be integrated into teaching activities to support this model. In this structure, AI supports student decision making rather than replacing it. Students examine the limitations of AI and learn to use it as a tool rather than a substitute for human judgment.
Key questions around assessment in the age of AI are addressed alongside concrete examples of how AI can be incorporated into evaluation. Together, these strategies offer a practical way to maintain rigor while using AI to deepen student learning.
Mark A. Edmonds, PhD, CPA, is an assistant professor in the Department of Accounting and Finance at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He has taught principles and advanced accounting classes in face-to-face, flipped, and online formats. Dr. Edmonds began his career providing assurance services for the internationally recognized accounting firm Ernst & Young. At the conclusion of his professional service, he obtained his PhD from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He serves as the education adviser on the board of the Institute of Internal Auditors Birmingham Chapter. Dr. Edmonds's research focuses on alternative learning strategies and auditor decision making.
Chris Edmonds, PhD, is the Alumni and Friends Professor at the UAB Collat School of Business. Dr. Edmonds research interests include municipal debt pricing, the impact of organizational form on decision making, and accounting education. He has written numerous articles that have appeared in publications, including The Accounting Review, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Advances in Accounting, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Issues in Accounting Education, and Advances in Accounting Education. As an educator, Dr. Edmonds is renowned for his innovative approach to teaching and developing introductory accounting courses, both online and in person. He has been invited to speak at conferences and universities on best teaching practices and has delivered over 50 professional teaching workshops. He has also published four introductory accounting textbooks with McGraw Hill. Dr. Edmonds has received numerous awards for his dedication to teaching, including the UAB President's Outstanding Teaching Award, UAB Faculty Student Success Award, UAB Transformative Online Course Award, Collat School of Business Graduate Student Teaching Award, UAB Loudell Ellis Robinson Classroom Teaching Award, UAB Disability Support Recognition Award, and the Virginia Tech Favorite Faculty Award. He has also been nominated for the AAA/J Michael and Mary Anne Cook Award. Before entering academia, Dr. Edmonds worked as a software developer, creating solutions to put newspapers online. He obtained an MBA from UAB and a PhD in accounting from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Jennifer Echols Edmonds, PhD, is an associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Collat School of Business. Her primary teaching areas are financial and managerial accounting. She's experienced teaching in the undergraduate, MAC, and MBA programs and currently serves as a course coordinator for the managerial accounting sequence at UAB. She has received the UAB Loudell Ellis Robinson Classroom Teaching Award and UAB Provost’s Transformative Online Course Award. She has been awarded teaching grants from Deloitte, UAB, and Virginia Tech. She created teaching resources for incorporating International Financial Reporting Standards into intermediate accounting. The teaching resources were published online at the American Accounting Association. Dr. Edmonds is also active in the research community and serves as an associate editor of Advances in Accounting. She has published articles and prominent journals such as Journal of Accountancy and Public Policy, Advances in Accounting, Research and Accounting Regulation, and The CPA Journal. Dr. Edmunds received a bachelor's degree in accounting from Birmingham-Southern College and completed her master's and PhD degrees in accounting at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.