BLINN BUSINESS DEPT. HEAD USES MONOPOLY TO TEACH COST ACCOUNTING

  

Kwohn Whitaker, Blinn College District Business Department Head, found teaching inspiration in a popular board game.

Whitaker recently presented an innovative session at the Teachers of Accounting at Two-Year Colleges conference in Indianapolis, where he demonstrated how Monopoly can be used as an educational tool.

His session, “Accounting Monopoly: Teaching Job Order Costing through Game-Based Learning,” guided a national audience through a classroom activity in which students apply job-order costing principles by tracking direct materials, labor costs, and overhead for each job completed within the game. The objective was to manage resources strategically to achieve the highest net income by the end of the simulation, providing students with a hands-on understanding of cost accounting concepts.

“I wanted to create an engaging and innovative in-class activity that would show students that accounting can be fun and interactive,” said Whitaker, who joined Blinn in 2016 and has served as Department Head since 2022.

Whitaker was reflecting on new teaching strategies when he walked into his home office and saw Monopoly on the shelf.

“That’s when the concept clicked. I began thinking about how I could connect the mechanics of Monopoly to the principles of job order costing in a way that would resonate with students,” he said.

Whitaker spent two months refining the activity to ensure that it mirrored the process of managing a manufacturing business, including tracking direct materials and managing labor and overhead for each job completed.

“Just like real-world cost accounting,” he said.

At the conference, Whitaker presented his concept before a full house.

“Many were surprised and impressed by how seamlessly the game illustrated the concepts of job order costing,” he said.

After his presentation, several accounting instructors and representatives from McGraw-Hill, publisher of the Financial Accounting textbook used by Blinn, asked for copies of the concept.

“It was incredibly rewarding to see such a positive response and to know that this approach could inspire others to bring creativity into accounting education,” Whitaker said.

(Story courtesy Blinn Information)