Classroom playbook 01 · Accounting
An ungraded misconception check on one shared device.
Use one carefully chosen question to find out what students believe, let the team test that reasoning and correct the misconception while the topic is still being taught.
The teaching challenge
Students often treat cash paid and expense recognised as the same thing.
When equipment is purchased for cash, students may correctly identify the cash outflow but incorrectly charge the full purchase price to profit. Others remember capitalisation but forget depreciation for the period.
A short team check surfaces these competing mental models before they become embedded in later work on financial statements and cash-flow classification.
Before class
Keep the setup deliberately light.
Participation
Allow open participation and let students form their own teams. No roster upload is required. In this self-enrolment example, students still provide their names and institution-issued learner identifiers, even for an ungraded activity. For label-only participation, choose Privacy mode and prepare neutral labels outside TAIF.
Open participation · Student-formed teamsStudent experience
Use one device per team and begin with discussion. Think First is off because individual devices are not part of this format.
Member devices off · Think First offFeedback
Select Unmarked practice in Setup → Activity scoring before students answer. Correctness feedback and every attempt remain visible without points or a grade.
Unmarked practice · feedback without marksPractice exports leave mark fields blank. See all scoring settings and terminology →
During class
From uncertainty to a shared explanation.
Only one device is needed. The learning comes from the reasoning around it.
- 01Open
The lecturer displays one activity code.
Students sit in small groups and choose one team leader to use the shared device. No roster upload is required. In this self-enrolment example, students still provide their names and institution-issued learner identifiers, even for an ungraded activity. For label-only participation, choose Privacy mode and prepare neutral labels outside TAIF.
- 02Form
The leader creates the team once.
The leader enters every present teammate, including themselves, confirms the names and receives the team code for recovery if the device disconnects.
- 03Discuss
The team tackles the misconception together.
Students decide whether buying equipment changes profit by the amount paid, the depreciation charge or not at all—and classify the cash flow.
- 04Reveal
The shared device commits the team answer.
The leader selects the answer the group can defend and reveals the selected answer to receive immediate correctness feedback.
- 05Retry
An incorrect answer creates a second conversation.
TAIF does not reveal the solution. The team separates the accounting expense from the cash movement, then tries again without marks.
- 06Close
The explanation makes the misconception explicit.
After the correct answer, students review the depreciation calculation, the investing cash flow and why paying cash is not the same as recognising a full expense.
Example question · Introductory financial reporting
Cash paid is not always expense recognised.
Property, plant and equipment · Statement of cash flows
On 1 July, Karoo Foods buys head-office administrative equipment for R600,000 cash. The equipment is available for immediate use, has a five-year useful life, no residual value and is depreciated on a straight-line basis. The reporting date is 31 December. Ignoring tax, which option best describes the effect for the six months ended 31 December?
- A
Profit decreases by R600,000 and operating cash flow decreases by R600,000.
- B
Profit decreases by R60,000 and investing cash flow decreases by R600,000.
Best supported - C
Profit is unchanged and investing cash flow decreases by R600,000.
- D
Profit decreases by R60,000 and operating cash flow decreases by R60,000.
Reveal teaching answerHide teaching answerCheck the supported option and feedback sequence
After an incorrect attempt
Not yet. Reconsider and try again.
TAIF confirms that the attempt is incorrect without identifying the answer. The team has to separate recognition in profit from classification of the cash payment before trying again.
Explanation after completion
Why B is best supported
The administrative equipment is recognised as an asset rather than an immediate R600,000 expense. Because it is available for use on 1 July, six months of depreciation is R60,000: R600,000 ÷ 5 years × 6/12. The cash purchase of equipment is a R600,000 investing outflow.
- Why A was tempting
- R600,000 left the bank immediately, but the timing of cash payment does not determine the amount recognised as expense.
- What mattered
- The equipment provides future economic benefits, was available for use for six months and was acquired as investing activity. Its administrative use avoids allocating depreciation to inventory.
After the question
Use the room pattern to decide what to teach next.
First-attempt success
A low rate suggests the misconception was already present before feedback.
Eventual correctness
A strong improvement suggests discussion and retry helped teams revise their reasoning.
Most tempting alternative
Use the attempt paths to frame the whole-class explanation around expense recognition, depreciation or cash-flow classification.
Ungraded by design: TAIF records the team’s learning path, but the lecturer can use the result only as diagnostic feedback and leave it out of the course grade.
Adapt the format
Keep the misconception; change the classroom arrangement.
Every student has a device?
Enable member devices and Think First so each student commits privately before the same team discussion.
Prefer label-only participation?
Choose Privacy mode in Team setup and paste instructor-prepared labels such as Otter, Badger and Heron. Give each group its private code for one answering device. Keep identities, membership and attendance outside TAIF. Use label results for class feedback or allocate any marks locally. Participants need their instructor’s permission, with any required parent or guardian permission arranged before participation.
Already have class teams?
Use assigned teams and their team codes. A present representative confirms attendance before the question opens.
Need each student’s own response?
Use student self-enrolment with Maximum students per team set to 1. Each student answers independently, with immediate feedback and retries. Keep Unmarked practice selected for an activity without marks. For this ungraded check, use the results to guide teaching rather than count them towards a course grade. Think First is unmarked preparation for teams and does not create individual marks.
Want to count the result?
Move to a low-stakes format, explain the shared-mark basis in advance and include the score in the activity design.
Individual participation
Each student can answer independently.
Single-student activities are an independent adaptation. The original team-based study does not establish learning outcomes for this mode. An individual mark records the submitted answers; it does not, by itself, verify identity, independent authorship or invigilated conditions.
Use with purpose
Best for one misconception that matters now.
Use this format for
- A warm-up before a new explanation
- A check immediately after a difficult concept
- Revision without grade anxiety
- Choosing what the lecturer should reteach
Choose another assessment method when
- You require verified individual authorship or invigilated conditions
- The question has no plausible misconceptions
- Students need extended calculations or written work
Try one learning moment