2023 Network Awards – Teaching and Learning
Judges comments
The panel noted the depth of collaboration with CAANZ and multidisciplinary teams in the design and delivery of the foundations pathway. The panel was also impressed by the team’s innovative approach to technological integration with a B2B partner.
The success of the approach is demonstrated by student satisfaction ratings with the learning experience and enrolments exceeding projections in a challenging environment for business degree enrolments.
The initiative
In collaboration with Chartered Accountants ANZ, Deakin University undertook two significant initiatives:
- The development of a customisable pathway into the accounting profession for graduates without an accredited accounting major, known as ‘CA Foundations.’ This program was meticulously co-designed and built from the ground up.
- The creation of an online revision resource called ‘Assumed Knowledge’ to support over 6000 candidates annually who undertake CAANZ CA X professional level exams.
CA Foundations comprises 13 newly developed, accessible units prioritising active learning and social interaction at critical junctures. It provides a fully online andragogic learning experience, allowing students to choose either Australian or New Zealand business law and taxation components.
The program has established itself as an appealing route to achieve one or more of the Technical Competency Areas (TCAs) required by CA ANZ, enabling candidates to advance in their professional accounting journey.
Beyond its high-quality curriculum design, CA Foundations offers attractive features tailored to busy graduates. These include ‘start anytime’ enrollment with a flexible 12-month candidacy and six ‘opt-in’ assessment sessions per year, where students tackle examinations based on real-world problems.
An innovative B2B technological integration facilitates a seamless experience between CAANZ and Deakin. Students can enroll, make payments, access learning materials, take assessments, and receive results through CAANZ Single Sign On, reducing administrative burdens at Deakin. This solution is a sophisticated yet effortless model that can be adapted for other large-scale B2B professional learning or educational collaborations between universities and industry partners.
Successful partnership
Impact
Expanding upon a decade-long partnership, in 2020, CAANZ presented Deakin with an unprecedented opportunity to conceive and implement an innovative Foundations Pathway through a distinctive technological solution. The journey from November 2020 to the go-live date of 1 July 2021, saw a collaboration of over 100 professionals from various disciplines within Deakin University.
This collaboration was conducted under a formal project management framework sponsored by Anne Wyatt and led by Leanne Ngo.
In close cooperation with CAANZ teams, Deakin accomplished the following:
(a) Developed CloudDeakin interactive content through an ingenious milestone-based mapping approach.
(b) Designed and executed the solution architecture, which encompassed CAANZ Single Sign On, automated enrollment processes, intelligent agent-driven student communications, online assessment tools, access to library e-texts, results management, student administration, and reporting systems.
Milestone 1 involved mapping, reviewing, and refining the Technical Competency Areas (TCAs), topics, and Learning Outcomes (LOs).
In Milestone 2, the team meticulously designed content for each topic, integrating various learning design elements. Each topic was deconstructed into multiple concepts, featuring a balanced combination of discursive explanation (text) encompassing theory, application, illustrative examples, formative assessment materials for learning, as well as in-house produced video/animations, externally curated video resources, and interactive elements like H5P activities or D2L quiz tools.
Milestone 3 saw the construction of the required assets, following a thorough review of the designs developed in the preceding stage. Post-project approval and launch, a streamlined team led by the Program Manager has been dedicated to content updates and process refinement, aiming to optimise workflows and enhance the student experience.
The program garnered more than 1,000 unit enrollments within its first two months of operation, a notable achievement, especially considering that business degree enrollments in Australian higher education were simultaneously declining due to COVID-related factors.
The program’s exceptional success is further underscored by its consistently maintaining approximately 3,000 ‘start anytime’ unit enrollments per year, with a total of 5,893 enrollments in the fiscal years 2021-22 and 2022-23. Remarkably, despite the challenging environment, the program exceeded the University’s corporate and financial projections during its initial two years of operation.
Over two years, more than 1,600 individual students have demonstrated proficiency across nearly 4,600 Technical Competency Areas attainment through this highly accessible program, enabling them to progress to the CA X professional level with a pass rate exceeding 90%.
Student satisfaction ratings regarding the learning experience consistently rank high, surpassing the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) established between Deakin and CAANZ by an average of 5-7%. CAANZ has identified that students who have followed the CA Foundations pathway tend to achieve higher-than-average scores when they advance to the professional level (CA X), suggesting that the program may contribute to elevated levels of accomplishment in subsequent accounting studies.
Apart from CA Foundations, the Assumed Knowledge modules developed for CAANZ’s professional-level candidates are consistently utilised by 95% of the 6,000+ candidates taking CA X exams.
On average, CA X candidates dedicate approximately seven hours per term to these revision resources. This project has unequivocally demonstrated its exceptional educational value, catering to a diverse range of students seeking entry into the accounting field from various academic backgrounds.