Summer camps at the SMU School of Accountancy (SOA) have been around since 2017 and are popular with graduating college students and working professionals who are interested to know more about what getting an accounting masters at SMU is like. Over the course of a week, participants are given a taste of SMU’s progressive and interactive accounting curriculum, as well as innovative teaching style.
Because of the COVID-19 situation, however, this year’s camp had to be conducted as a virtual data camp instead of a physical one. This presented SOA with the challenge of how to translate SMU’s signature interactive pedagogy into a manner that would be equally effective in the online sphere.
Professor Yuanto Kusnadi, the main lecturer at this year’s camp and his team were, nevertheless, undaunted and gamely set out to turn the crisis period into a great learning opportunity. He said, “I was determined that despite the change in format, we would come up with an online camp where students would be eager and excited to participate in.”
Through the planning process, Prof Yuanto and his team continued to stay mindful of the challenges that came with a virtual data camp, such as managing online fatigue and ensuring that the sessions were not impersonal. Even for the experienced lecturer, who has been at SMU since 2013, it was a significant change transitioning from a physical classroom into a virtual learning environment. Not only did he have to ensure effective virtual engagement, but he also had to ensure that the course content would resonate with the diverse group of 60 participants hailing from across Asia.
Looking back at the concluded camp, kudos are certainly due to Prof Yuanto and his team, who managed to overcome all the various challenges by customising a programme using a whole range of online tools and apps. For example, to overcome the issue of reduced participant feedback during online lectures and classes, Prof Yuanto turned to apps such as Mentimeter to gain real-time feedback.
He also conducted online polls and used online game platforms such as Kahoot! to test and gauge participants’ pre-existing knowledge and level of absorption. For student presentations, an online Shark Tank session was held for camp participants to pitch their ideas and present what they had learnt to the lecturers and other participants.
Commented Prof Yuanto, “The experience was certainly novel. Thankfully, it went smoothly and ended up being a rewarding experience for the participants, as well as myself. We all managed to learn a lot from this.”
Indeed, this year’s camp was a huge success, as seen by the overwhelming amount of interest and incoming registrations, as well as active participation coming from attendees. Many of them gave positive feedback, such as how they enjoyed interacting with course mates coming from diverse backgrounds, gaining insights from former Masters programme alumni, and also picking up practical skills to strengthen their core competencies.
From the encouraging feedback received, it is clear that online data camps are by no means a compromise to physical camps, but rather a uniquely different experience that leverages technology to enhance learning. Hence, instead of being a one-off event, it's likely that we’ll see future camps taking a page from this year’s data camp.
[Participant Feedback Pull-Out Quotes]
“One week feels a little short. I wish it was longer.”
“It was a great opportunity to experience SMU’s special teaching method and cooperate with classmates from all over the world.”
”The teaching and organisation of this programme is very well-prepared. Through the programme, I learnt how to use Python to deal with financial problems. It was really very useful.”
“The programme gives good insights into accounting and data analytics.”
“It was great exposure to programming skills.”
“The teaching was very clear. I’m going to introduce this course to my friends.”
To find out more about the 2021 Winter Online Data Camp (29 January to 6 February), please email msa@smu.edu.sg.
SMU Accounting Masters applications for the 2021 academic year of MPA and MSA programmes are now open:
Master of Professional Accounting (MPA): smu.edu.sg/mpa/apply-online
Master of Science in Accounting (Data & Analytics) (MSA): smu.edu.sg/msa/apply-online