Accounting faculty in the Business & Technology Department leveraged their participation in the Writing in the Disciplines professional development seminar to find an innovative way to assist students in two Principles of Accounting I classes to explore and enhance their general writing and business writing skills. This work was in response to a recent Periodic Program Review that cited a lack of low-stakes writing in the Accounting Program, which creates challenges for students and faculty as students progress through the course sequence. Faculty used this initiative to help students explore writing within the context of the accounting discipline, thereby allowing students to dispense with the notion that accounting is 'only number-crunching'.

The use of social pedagogical practices and technology allowed faculty to make this initiative a challenging, yet stimulating experience for students. Students were paired across two classrooms via a community ePortfolio. ePortfolio is a technology used at the College to encourage student self-authorship, build connections, and showcase student work. Through a series of ePortfolio-based assignments, along with an in-class writing workshop conducted by faculty from the English and Business & Technology Departments, students were able to understand the importance of writing in the accounting discipline, explore their writing abilities, learn about different forms of business communication and apply them, and use analysis and problem-solving to document their responses to accounting inaccuracies. The semester concluded with students completing a written reflection and a survey to document and share their experiences.

During this presentation, faculty will share the structure, assignments and activities, and results of the writing-to-learn initiative. We will also discuss with participants how this work can be adapted and implemented throughout an accounting program as well as across disciplines.