Instructor Adoption Guide

Why instructors adopt this dataset

Charles River is ready for classroom use from the published teaching files and the documentation site. Instructors do not need to assemble a separate business case, build process notes, or create a starter query path before the first assignment. The site already connects business context, process logic, dataset navigation, references, analytics guides, and case-based activities in one teaching environment.

That structure makes adoption practical across several accounting courses. The same dataset can support AIS, business-process instruction, SQL and accounting analytics, Excel-based analysis, auditing and controls, and managerial or cost-accounting work. Instructors can begin with a clear default path and expand into cases, references, and optional customization only when the course needs it.

What students need first

For most courses, start students with the published teaching files and the teaching-facing documentation.

• Use CharlesRiver.sqlite when the course emphasizes SQL, joins, and query-based analysis.
• Use CharlesRiver.xlsx when the course emphasizes pivots, filters, formulas, charts, and workbook-based interpretation.
• Use Start Here, Company Story, Process Flows, and Dataset Guide before the first technical assignment.

Where the dataset fits in the curriculum

Course emphasis	Begin with	Then use
AIS and business processes	Company Story, Process Flows	source-document tracing, process mapping, and source-to-ledger explanation
SQL and accounting analytics	Start Here, Dataset Guide, SQL Guide	starter SQL packs, guided cases, and topic-based analysis
Excel analytics	Start Here, Company Story, Excel Guide	workbook-based pivots, charts, and interpretation exercises
Auditing and controls	Process Flows, Audit Queries	support-workbook review, control testing, and exception-focused cases
Managerial and cost accounting	Dataset Guide, Managerial Queries	portfolio, labor, variance, planning, and capacity analysis

Recommended teaching sequence

This sequence works well for most first-time adoptions:

1. Share the published teaching files.
2. Assign Start Here.
3. Assign Company Story.
4. Review Process Flows.
5. Assign Dataset Guide.
6. Choose the first reusable SQL path in Query Library.
7. Use Cases once students understand the basic document and table flow.

This order helps students understand the business and the process logic before they move into SQL, Excel, or open-ended analysis.

Including the Support Workbook

Include CharlesRiver_support.xlsx when you want students to:

• review anomaly families alongside source-table evidence
• compare validation exceptions to operational or accounting records
• work through audit and control cases with guided exception context
• triage issues before moving into deeper source-document review

The published default build also carries a small intentional manufacturing audit-seed set in the validation companion material. Use that set when you want a short manufacturing-control lab that is visible in source tables and in the support workbook without broadening the anomaly pack.

How to stage assignments

Start with guided work and then widen the analytical scope.

• Use topic guides and starter queries to establish the first analytical pattern.
• Move next into Cases when students need structured interpretation prompts and business context.
• Use open-ended analysis only after students can explain the source documents, process flow, and ledger effect behind the result.
• Use Schema Reference and GLEntry Posting Reference as supporting references during assignments, not as the first reading.

This progression usually produces stronger explanations and better query design than starting with a blank-screen assignment.

Optional customization

Most instructors can adopt Charles River successfully with the published teaching package. Use Customize only when you want a local variant, a different fiscal range, different scale settings, or a different output set for instructor preparation.

Adoption checklist

• Decide whether the course will begin in SQL, Excel, or both.
• Download and review the published teaching files before the course begins.
• Assign the business and process pages before the first technical task.
• Choose one analytics track as the first structured module.
• Add the support workbook only when the assignment needs anomaly or validation context.
• Use guided cases before open-ended projects when students are new to integrated accounting datasets.
• Keep schema and posting references available during assignments.

Next Steps

• Use Start Here as the primary student launch page.
• Use Query Library to choose the first reusable SQL pack.
• Use Cases for guided assignments.
• Use Schema Reference and GLEntry Posting Reference as assignment support references.
• Use Customize only when you need a locally generated variant.