Student-authored IFRS teaching cases based on European Securities and Markets Authority reports: Experiences from case writing and subsequent classroom use

Abstract

Upper-level undergraduate and graduate financial reporting courses often rely upon teaching cases to help students refine their critical thinking, research, analysis, judgment and writing skills. This paper describes the rationale for and experience of students writing teaching cases within a graduate level International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) class over the past two years. The assignment relies on the reports of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), an excellent source of regulatory decisions regarding the appropriate application of IFRS. Four of the 24 cases developed in the course have now been effectively used in accounting classes. This paper details the assignment, identifies the ESMA basis for the cases, describes how students added to the enforcement decisions, and summarizes student evaluations of the case writing and case using experiences. The paper also provides suggestions for faculty planning to adopt this learning tool.