Faculty Showcase - Disney: Measuring the Magic
ACC 4308, Advanced Managerial Accounting
Dr. Laurie Burney · Accounting, Business, Management · Undergraduate, upper division
The Core Change
Students now build their own analysis first. They then use AI to challenge and stress-test their reasoning, and decide for themselves how those challenges should shape their final recommendation.
AI Literacy Continuum
- Original assignment: Level 1, No AI Use
- Redesign: Level 1 for the Build phase (no AI), Level 3 for the Challenge phase (Collaborative AI Use)
Levels from the IWU 5-Level AI Literacy Continuum (Indiana Wesleyan University).
Before
In the original case, students evaluated eight investments, ran financial and sensitivity analysis, built a Balanced Scorecard and an Excel dashboard, and wrote an executive recommendation. The grading centered on the analytical work and deliverables. A stress test showed AI could do much of this well: evaluating initiatives, weighing trade-offs, spotting information gaps and drafting a polished recommendation. Students could have outsourced the reasoning the assignment was meant to develop.
After
The learning objectives haven’t changed. Students still apply the Balanced Scorecard, weigh financial and nonfinancial trade-offs, identify missing information and recommend under uncertainty. The redesign adds more weight on three stages:
- Build: independent analysis
- Judge: responding to challenge
- Recommend: defending professional judgment
AI’s role: a decision-challenge coach that stress-tests reasoning without making the decision. It is also a benchmark students must outperform or argue against, and a source of feedback on work in progress. AI is explicitly prohibited in parts of the task.
What stays human: the initial analysis, the preliminary recommendation, and the final judgment on whether to accept, modify or reject each AI challenge.
Documentation: students submit their numbered AI challenge transcript, a Challenge-to-Decision Record and an AI-Use Disclosure.
Workplace Readiness
- Competencies developed: critical evaluation of AI output; durable human skills
- In a first job: graduates can use AI without handing off professional judgment. They bring their own analysis, use AI to test it, decide which challenges matter, and take responsibility for the decision.
In the Faculty Member’s Words
What surprised me: “I was surprised by how much of the original assignment AI could do reasonably well.” The redesign showed that AI is more valuable for challenging students’ reasoning than for producing their analysis.
Advice for a colleague: Start by deciding what students must still be able to do themselves when AI is readily available, not just where to allow or ban it. Then design AI’s role to strengthen that learning.
Materials: Original Disney Assignment · Redesigned Disney Assignment · Original and revised grading rubrics
