An International Meeting of the American Accounting Association 2005 Annual Meeting August 7–10, 2005 San Francisco, California Come to the City by the Bay!

Effective Learning Strategies Forum
Tuesday, August 9, 2005

Session 5
Using a Diagnostic Test in the First Intermediate Accounting Course

Presenter:
Michael J. Krause, Le Moyne College

Description:
Using a diagnostic test is not a new concept in education. However, due to time limitations, administering a diagnostic test becomes an impractical use of college class time, especially within the context of the Intermediate Accounting sequence. Yet, given an opportunity to utilize such a testing experience, I found that the experience and the feedback from that experience beneficial not only to my students, but also to my understanding of the effectiveness of my teaching techniques. So my task is to convince college accounting educators that administering a diagnostic test is an effective use of time. First, compiling the test and constructing an exit survey, forces the instructor to focus upon important educational goals. Second, the exercise provides feedback as to whether selected pedagogy accomplishes the task deemed important. As all college educators know, certain points in the academic calendar are notoriously ineffective periods for learning. Those points usually happen just before a considerable break from classes. I will share my experience with administering a diagnostic exam in Intermediate Accounting on the Monday of Thanksgiving week. It is my humble opinion that I took a lemon and made lemonade; and I want to encourage my peers to do the same.

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