Problem-based learning

Assessment and engagement in the age of AI

Assess the thinking, not the answer. Spend class time on problems, not lecture.

Mark Edmonds
University of Alabama at Birmingham · McGraw Hill Symposium, Salt Lake City
The Edmonds series

Overview of our texts

Three goals drive everything in the Edmonds series. Today we'll show you how AI is reshaping them, then put our newest resources in your hands.

🎯
Keep accounting relevantThe profession is changing fast, and the intro course needs to keep up.
🔓
Make accounting accessible to studentsProblems first, terminology second.
🎉
Make it easy and fun to teachResources that cut prep time and keep students engaged.
Survey of Accounting, 7e Fundamental Financial Accounting Concepts, 11e Introductory Financial Accounting for Business, 2e Fundamental Managerial Accounting Concepts, 10e
The Edmonds series · McGraw Hill
What you told us

Two challenges kept coming up

When you registered, we asked what topics and challenges matter most to you. Here's what this room said.

Student engagement
10 of 13
AI in the classroom
9 of 13
Share of registered attendees selecting each topic
“How do we assess student learning in a time when AI makes it so easy for students to get the correct answers?”
“Students using AI and not learning for themselves”
“Use of AI that doesn't circumvent learning objectives”
“Making the material relevant to the 80%+ of students who have no interest in accounting”
Source: self-reported registration responses, Accounting Educator Exchange, Salt Lake City (n=13). Quotes anonymized.
Today

Two questions this session answers

1
How do we assess students when AI can produce the answer?
Move assessment to where the thinking happens: in the room, step by step.
2
How do we make class time worth showing up for?
Move the lecture home so students spend class time applying what they learned to a real business problem.
The answers to both questions are already in Edmonds Hub.
The assessment problem

The answer is free now. The learning isn't.

Nearly every student uses AI, about half the time to get the answer, and the cost shows up in what they retain.

95%
use AI in their studies
94% use it on assessed work. AI text pasted straight into submissions went from 3% to 12% in two years.
~half
of conversations are “Direct”
“Solve this for me.” “Write this for me.” Finished answers with minimal engagement, across ~574K student conversations.
83%
couldn't quote their own essay
minutes after writing it with an LLM. MIT calls it cognitive debt: brain connectivity dropped with every layer of help.
If the graded thing is a final answer, we're grading the AI.
Sources: HEPI / Kortext Student Generative AI Survey 2026 (n=1,054); Anthropic Education Report (2025); Kosmyna et al., MIT Media Lab, arxiv.org/abs/2506.08872 (preprint, n=54)
Answer 1 · Assessment

Assess the thinking, not the answer

AI can hand a student a finished answer at home. It can't stand in for them in the room while they reason through a problem in front of you.

WHAT WE USUALLY GRADE
📝
The final answerCorrect or not, you can't tell who did the thinking.
🏠
Work done out of sightHomework is where AI does the most work and you see the least.
⏳
Feedback days laterBy the time it's graded, the misconception has set.
WHAT WE CAN SEE INSTEAD
🪜
Every step of the reasoningYou see exactly where each student's thinking broke.
👥
Done live, in the roomThe thinking happens where AI can't take it for them.
⚡
Feedback in the momentFix the misconception while the whole class is still on the problem.
Answer 2 · Engagement

Flip the time: lecture at home, problems in class

Every Edmonds text comes with a full video library, so students can learn the material at home. That frees class time for work that engages them.

AT HOME
🎬
Textbook video library
Survey of Accounting, 7eFundamental Financial Accounting Concepts, 11eIntroductory Financial Accounting for Business, 2eFundamental Managerial Accounting Concepts, 10e
→
IN CLASS
🧩
PBL cases
A student-life problem worked cold. Groups argue it out, and an AI pushes back.
✅
Interactive assessment
Students work problems step by step. You see where reasoning breaks.
Now for real

Let's run one. Live.

Phones out, a real room, and an AI counterpart that pushes back on whatever you decide.
Then we'll come back to the slides and unpack what happened.

Now running
Joint Ownership Inc.
live.edmondshub.com/joint-ownership
The debrief · Assessment

How that just assessed the room

Across 25 studies, the average PBL student out-scores ~86% of traditionally-taught peers on critical thinking
1
You saw the reasoning, not just the resultWhere the room's thinking broke, cell by cell, while it was happening.
2
Nobody could outsource itThe AI was arguing with the class, not doing the work for them. Students had to defend their own choices.
3
Feedback landed while it still matteredMisconceptions and cognitive bias got named in the moment, in front of everyone.
4
Understanding first makes AI useful instead of dangerousStudents can only evaluate AI output on problems they understand. That's the skill worth assessing.
Source: Li, Mustakim & Muhamad, “A Meta-analysis of the Effectiveness of Problem-based Learning on Critical Thinking,” European Journal of Educational Research (2025), eu-jer.com
The debrief · Engagement

How that just engaged the room

1
Everyone answered, not just the front rowEvery student had a decision to make and a reason to make it.
2
A problem they own beats a problem they're assignedNo jargon up front. Students reasoned about something they understood, and the accounting language came after.
3
Something talked backThe AI is cast to the lesson: a counterpart, a Socratic prompter, an analyst, even a live phone call. It reacts to what was typed seconds ago.
4
Being wrong, loudly, was the pointMistakes became the raw material for the lesson instead of a grade penalty.
The toolkit

Built for both problems, ready today

PBL cases and interactive assessments are free at edmondshub.com, with more shipping regularly. The video library comes with your Edmonds textbook.

🧩
PBL cases
Student-life problems with an AI cast to the lesson. Students decide, defend, and get pushed back on.
AssessmentEngagement
✅
Interactive assessments
Step-by-step problems worked in class. You see each student’s reasoning, not just the final answer.
Assessment
🎬
Textbook video library
Included with every Edmonds textbook. Students learn the content at home, so class time goes to problems.
Engagement
The debrief

The class session

One repeatable structure, droppable into any course, any topic.

🧩
1 · Open with the PBL case
A student-life problem, no jargon. Groups propose solutions cold.
→
🏷️
2 · Add the language
Introduce accounting terminology and the business version of the same problem.
→
✏️
3 · Work problems
In-class accounting problems, now anchored to a problem they understand.
Take one back with you

Pick the chapter you teach next month.
Run it cold, the way we just did.

Sign in at edmondshub.com, no cost, no phones required. We'd love to hear how it goes.

Thank you

Reach out.

Want the case materials, the slides, or to swap notes on what’s working in your classroom? We’d love to hear from you.

Mark Edmonds
medmonds@gmail.com
Scan to email Mark Edmonds
Appendix

Sources

Accounting Educator Exchange, Salt Lake City (2026). Self-reported registration responses (n=13): 10 selected student engagement, 9 selected AI. Quotes anonymized.

HEPI / Kortext Student Generative AI Survey 2026. Higher Education Policy Institute. 95% of students use AI; 94% on assessed work; 12% submit AI-generated text (3% in 2024). hepi.ac.uk/reports/student-generative-ai-survey-2026

Anthropic Education Report (2025). "How University Students Use Claude." ~574K anonymized conversations; four interaction patterns; ~47% Direct; CS 38.6% of conversations vs 5.4% of degrees. anthropic.com/news/anthropic-education-report-how-university-students-use-claude

Kosmyna et al. (2025). "Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task." MIT Media Lab preprint. n=54; EEG connectivity scaled down with external support; 83% of LLM users failed to produce a correct quote from their own essay in Session 1. arxiv.org/abs/2506.08872

Li, Mustakim & Muhamad (2025). "A Meta-analysis of the Effectiveness of Problem-based Learning on Critical Thinking." European Journal of Educational Research: 25 studies, overall effect size g = 1.08 (large), meaning the average PBL student scores higher than roughly 86% of traditionally-taught students. eu-jer.com

Appendix · Reference material

Same event. Two ways to teach it.

EVENT   During Year 1, Cato Consultants provided $84,000 of consulting services. The work is done and the bills are sent, but no cash has been collected.
THE TRADITIONAL OPENING MOVE
Memorize the entry
Accounts Receivable  84,000
    Revenue            84,000
Debits and credits on day one. Students can produce this. So can every AI tool they own.
THE USER-APPROACH OPENING MOVE
Ask what it means
1
What did this event do to the company's position?
BALANCE SHEET
Assets, liabilities, equity: read straight off the first columns of the model.
2
Did the owners win or lose?
INCOME STATEMENT
Revenue flows to net income, and the model shows it landing in retained earnings.
3
Where's the cash?
CASH FLOWS
Operating, investing, or financing, and the model shows when cash and earnings tell different stories.
Appendix · Reference material

The accounting cycle: what you drill matters

Every financial accounting course walks students through the full cycle a few times. Then the semester becomes drill, and the question is which step you drill.

Business
Event
→
Journal
Entry
→
Posting
→
Trial
Balance
→
Adjusting
& Closing
→
Financial
Statements
WHERE MOST COURSES DRILL
The first step: journal entries
A semester of reps on debits and credits, the mechanical step that every AI tool now performs instantly.
WHERE OUR TEXTS DRILL
The last step: financial statement impacts
Interpretation, judgment, and problem solving: the critical-thinking end of the cycle.
We still teach the full cycle. We just spend the drill time on the last step.
Appendix · Reference material

One event, every statement at once

Introductory Financial Accounting for Business
EVENT   During Year 1, Cato Consultants provided $84,000 of consulting services on account. Work done, bills sent, no cash collected.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT IMPACT
THE SAME EVENT, LEDGER VIEWAccounts Receivable  84,000
    Revenue              84,000
Balance Sheet Income Statement Stmt of Cash Flows
Cash+Accts Rec.=Liab.+Com. Stk.+Ret. Earn. Rev.−Exp.=Net Inc.
NA+ 84,000= NA+ NA+ 84,000 84,000− NA= 84,000 NA
Assets up, equity up. Claims on the customer are real value, even before cash arrives.
The owners are better off. Revenue flows to net income and into retained earnings.
No cash moved. Accrual vs. cash becomes intuitive, not a rule to memorize.
Toggle the journal entry on or off. FFAC teaches it alongside the model; IFAB can leave it out entirely.
Appendix · Reference material

Now a harder one: a deferral

Introductory Financial Accounting for Business
EVENT   On March 1, Year 1, Alvarado pays $12,000 cash to lease office space for one year, beginning immediately.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT IMPACT
THE SAME EVENT, LEDGER VIEWPrepaid Rent  12,000
    Cash            12,000
Balance Sheet Income Statement Stmt of Cash Flows
Cash+Prepaid Rent=Liab.+Com. Stk.+Ret. Earn. Rev.−Exp.=Net Inc.
(12,000)+ 12,000= NA+ NA+ NA NA− NA= NA (12,000) OA
An asset swap. Cash becomes a year of office space. Total assets unchanged, equity untouched.
No expense yet. The cost reaches the income statement month by month, as the space is used.
Cash left today. An operating outflow now. Students see the timing difference directly.
Later in the chapter, adjusting entries recognize the rent expense month by month as the space is used.
Appendix · Reference material

Two approaches to financial accounting

Both texts teach financial statement impacts, real-world examples, and data analytics. You choose when, or whether, to introduce debits and credits.

Fundamental Financial Accounting Concepts 11e
Fundamental Financial Accounting Concepts
✓ Financial statement impacts
✓ Real-world examples & data analytics
✓ Debits and credits throughout
Introductory Financial Accounting for Business 2e
Introductory Financial Accounting for Business
✓ Financial statement impacts
✓ Real-world examples & data analytics
✓ Delayed or no debits and credits
The approach is the same in both. The difference is when students meet the ledger.
Appendix · Reference material

Chapter by chapter: one difference that matters

FFAC
Fundamental Financial Accounting Concepts
1An Introduction to Accounting
2Accounting for Accruals and Deferrals
3The Double-Entry Accounting SystemCH 3 · EARLY
4Accounting for Merchandising Businesses
5Accounting for Inventories
6Internal Control and Accounting for Cash
7Accounting for Receivables
8Accounting for Long-Term Operational Assets
9Accounting for Current Liabilities and Payroll
10Accounting for Long-Term Debt
11Proprietorships, Partnerships, and Corporations
12Statement of Cash Flows
13Financial Statement Analysis (online in Connect)
IFAB
Introductory Financial Accounting for Business
1An Introduction to Accounting
2Accounting for Accruals
3Accounting for Deferrals
4Accounting for Merchandising Businesses
5Accounting for Inventories
6Internal Control and Accounting for Cash
7Accounting for Receivables
8Accounting for Long-Term Operational Assets
9Accounting for Current Liabilities and Payroll
10Accounting for Long-Term Debt
11Proprietorships, Partnerships, and Corporations
12Statement of Cash Flows
13The Double-Entry Accounting SystemCH 13 · LATE & OPTIONAL
14Financial Statement Analysis (online in Connect)
Same coverage, same order. The only structural difference is where the double-entry system lives: chapter 3 or chapter 13.
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