Professor Uses Monopoly To Teach Accounting

In a unique deviation from the academic norm, Professor Lindsey Howell’s accounting class at Cedarville University will trade textbooks for Monopoly boards, turning their review for the final exam, on Nov. 22, into a spirited financial game day. 

While playing Monopoly, students will create accounting journal entries of all the game’s business transactions as if they were keeping a real business account. This will give them the ability to apply their semester long accounting knowledge and prepare for the final exam.   

“I want them to see how the knowledge they learn in the classroom can be applied to real-life situations,” said Howell, assistant professor of accounting. “And in recalling the information, they can quickly implement those concepts in a fun yet practical way.” 

The emphasis on real-life learning is important to Howell. She wants her students to finish the semester understanding accounting concepts so they can apply their knowledge in real professional and personal settings. 

Howell believes the Monopoly game experience helps her students become more engaged as future professionals and cements the accounting concepts they learned in class. 

After the successful end-of-semester Monopoly review, Howell will integrate the game into her spring semester's accounting II class.  Her modified version of Monopoly will help students brush the dust off of the accounting skills that they haven’t thought about over Christmas break and integrate new learning concepts into the financial statements they’ve created. 

Cedarville University, a Baptist institution in southwest Ohio, offers undergraduate and graduate residential and online programs across arts, sciences, and professional fields. With 6,384 students, it ranks among Ohio's largest private universities and is recognized by the Wall Street Journal as being among the nation’s top three evangelical universities. Cedarville is also known for its vibrant Christian community, challenging academics, and high graduation and retention rates. Learn more at cedarville.edu.