Applying a real-world fraud to multiple learning objectives: Considerations and an example from the systems course

Abstract

Abstract Well-designed and delivered teaching cases are of significant educational value. Additionally, a real-world situation described as an entertaining story holds student interest and increases attention. But turning such a story into an effective instructional case can be a daunting task for many instructors. This paper reports on an actual real-world fraud involving theft of almost half a million dollars from a familiar type of small business. The details of the situation provide a rich supply of content adaptable to not one, but numerous, major topics found in many accounting courses in systems, internal control, and even perhaps auditing. This supply of “raw material” can be utilized by instructors to create numerous educational cases tailored to the individual needs of their students and courses. The extensive literature on educational case usage contains sources providing suggestions to assist instructors in effective case development. Examples are also provided of how one instructor applied the fraud’s “story” to several learning objectives in an undergraduate AIS course to create a set of instructional cases, providing significant economies of scale for both instructor and student.