Mrs Ellen Spender

Lecturer, Accounting & Finance

+44 (0) 1792 604223

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Basic Welsh Speaker

About

At Swansea University Ellen is a lecturer in accounting and module co-ordinator for a number of undergraduate and postgraduate modules and also the Deputy Programme Director BSc Accounting and MSc Focus Group Lead. Ellen completed her Post Graduate Certificate of Education in 1999 and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

During her 20 years as a qualified lecturer she has delivered a variety of subjects in a number of educational institutions.

Student engagement is her main research focusing on enhancing student experience by delivering quality teaching and engaging successfully with students to motivate them to fulfil their individual educational potential.

During her time at Swansea Ellen has been honoured to receive commendations by students for the quality of her teaching. Indeed, her career as a professional lecturer has been markedly learner-centric, and her constructivist approach to teaching is an extension of her personal-professional interest in and passion for student engagement. Student feedback at Swansea University has been both encouraging and positive, thereby affirming her teaching methodologies.

Areas Of Expertise

Financial Accounting
Financial Statement Analysis
Forensic Accounting

Career Highlights

Teaching Interests

Ellen teaches forensic accounting providing an overview of the role of the forensic accountant to final year undergraduates.

She delivers financial accounting to both MSc Accounting and Finance students and also to MSc Engineering Leadership and Management students.

Award Highlights

Best Lecturer Module Score 2020
Best Lecturer in Accounting and Finance 2018
Nominated for the national Inspire Tutor Award 2018

Collaborations

Currently collaborating with a colleague conducting research into Game-Based Learning Platforms.

Taught Modules

MN-3555 Forensic Accounting

The term `forensic¿ means `used in courts of law¿, and the role of `forensic accounting¿ is to provide professional accountancy support in litigation cases. The growth of forensic accounting as a discrete discipline within the accountancy profession is a reflection of today¿s increasingly litigious climate, and the proliferation of cases presented to the courts highlights the wide variety of types of fraud and other finance-related infringements, ranging from the simple to the complex. The principal focus of this module will be on the criminal aspect of forensic accounting. Other key areas include the role of forensic accounting in civil litigation, the expert witness, terrorism finance, money laundering, bribery and corruption, and the role of corporate governance in risk containment.
MN-M004 Financial Statement Preparation and Analysis

There is a limited amount of information available to external stakeholders of a company. It is therefore vital for the user to extract as much information as possible from a set of financial statements. Students on this module will learn the techniques used in financial statement analysis and will apply those techniques to evaluate company performance and to assess their value. The limitations of the techniques will be identified.
MN-M004J Financial Statement Preparation and Analysis

This module is exclusive to the MSc Accounting and Finance January 2021 cohort of students There is a limited amount of information available to external stakeholders of a company. It is therefore vital for the user to extract as much information as possible from a set of financial statements. Students on this module will learn the techniques used in financial statement analysis and will apply those techniques to evaluate company performance and to assess their value. The limitations of the techniques will be identified.
MN-M050 Foundations of Management

This module introduces learners to the key tools that a manager should possess within their arsenal in order to actively contribute to an organisation, enable effective decision making within global market dynamics, monitor and report on its performance, and capitalise on its greatest assets ¿ its people, by understanding, nurturing, listening to and fostering their development. The module will explore the principles of financial planning and control and reporting of results in accordance with IFRS, to then move to the analysis of financial statements and the key financial ratios for performance management, monitoring and strategic decision making, including company valuations and business development considerations. The basic economics concepts will be introduced; supply an demand, markets structure and dynamics, pricing and currency, to enable the evaluation of strategic options to achieve competitive advantage within a global marketplace. The Management of Human resources and the organisational behaviour theories and key concepts will be introduced and critically evaluated, to understand the individual and their relationship within organisations and to substantiate the claim of sustained competitive advantage that the implementation of HRM within firms can bring. Key functions of HRM will be introduced and considerations specific to international organisations will be made.
MN-MBA03 Understanding Finance

Financial performance alone is not enough to determine how a company will develop in the long run, hence non-financial information, including sustainability information, should enable businesses to achieve their sustainability objectives by identifying areas for improvement and enhancing internal decision-making processes. Integrating sustainable business practices and building resilience into business models means organisations should be able to link accountability to external stakeholders with good governance. Decisions about investments and capital expenditure should encapsulate environmental, social and governance criteria bringing benefits to both the investor and society at large. This module is designed to provide students with an understanding of the range of financial decisions made by organisations and to equip students for their role in supporting the financial manager in this wide-ranging decision-making process.

Invited Presentations, Lectures and Conferences

Technology in the Classroom

March 2020

University of York
Advance HE Learning and Teaching Conference

July 2020

Mrs Ellen Spender

Telephone number

Email address

Welsh language proficiency

About

Areas Of Expertise

Career Highlights

Taught Modules

MN-3555 Forensic Accounting

MN-M004 Financial Statement Preparation and Analysis

MN-M004J Financial Statement Preparation and Analysis

MN-M050 Foundations of Management

MN-MBA03 Understanding Finance

Invited Presentations, Lectures and Conferences

Technology in the Classroom

Advance HE Learning and Teaching Conference