The Accounting Educator

The Newsletter of the Teaching and Curriculum Section
American Accounting Association

Vol. XI No. 3 - Summer 2002

Committee Reports

Innovations in Accounting Education Committee:
Catherine Usoff, Bentley College

The Innovations in Accounting Education Committee has begun gathering examples of innovations that will be posted on the T & C website in the coming year. The committee expects to post syllabi, project descriptions, and assignment information by sub-disciplines, such as auditing, tax, and cost accounting.

Shared Experiences Committee Report

2001 - 2002 Committee Composition:

Chair: Paul Solomon, Northern Arizona University
Mike Bitter, Stetson University
Charles Carpenter, Berry College
Mary Fischer, University of Texas at Tyler
Jerry Weinstein, John Carroll University

Committee Charge:

Value Statement:
The wisdom gained over the course of an academic career represents a valuable resource that should be shared with other colleagues rather than lost through retirement.

Mission Statement:
Plan, develop, and implement accounting education forums to enable distinguished senior faculty to share with colleagues their career experiences and accumulated wisdom.

Objectives:

  • To identify eminent senior faculty in each region who will share their professional insights with others
  • To establish permanent sessions at AAA meetings and other accounting education conferences so that these scholars can share their experiences and wisdom with their colleagues
  • To provide continuity among generations by sharing invaluable insights with faculty who are new or not planning to soon retire
  • To restore the dignity and respect that these eminent scholars richly deserve
  • To reinforce the belief that there are senior faculty among us who, despite not being fully valued by some, still have much to contribute

Panel Sessions

AAA Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX, August 14-17
Panel Time: Thursday, August 15, 4:00 P.M. - 5:30 P.M.
Moderator: Charles Carpenter, Berry College
Title: Balancing Teaching, Research, and Services: Perspectives of Senior Faculty
Panelists: Thomas Dyckman, Cornell University; Doyle Williams, University of Arkansas; and Jan Williams, University of Tennessee.

Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting, Baltimore, MD, April 25-27
Panel Time: Friday, April 26, 1:45 P.M. - 3:00 P.M.
Title: T&C Shared Experiences
Moderator: Don Wygal, Rider University
Panelists: Jim Rebele, Lehigh University; Dave Stout, Villanova University; and Kent St. Pierre, University of Delaware. Approximate Attendance: 35

Midwest Regional Meeting, Milwaukee, WI, April 11-13
Panel Time: Friday, April 12, 8:30 A.M. - 10:00 A.M.
Title: Career Strategies in Academe
Co-Moderators: Dick Baker, Northern Illinois University and Jerry Weinstein, John Carroll University
Panelists: Billie Cunningham, University of Missouri; Sue Kattelus, Eastern Michigan University; Michael Groomer, Indiana University; Bill Schwartz, Indiana University at South Bend; and Brad Schwieger, St. Cloud State University.
Approximate Attendance: 27

Southeast Regional Meeting, Covington, Kentucky, April 11-13
Panel Time: Saturday, April 13, 10:30 A.M. - 12:00 Noon
Title: Shared Experiences
Moderator: Mike Bitter, Stetson University
Panelists: Jim Cashell, Miami of Ohio University; Don Madden, University of Kentucky, Emeritus; Jane Mutchler, Georgia State University; and Keith Stanga, University of Tennessee.
Approximate Attendance: 20

Southwest Regional Meeting, St. Louis, Missouri, March 6-9
Panel Time: Thursday, March 6, 2:30 P.M. - 4:00 P.M.
Title: Shared Experiences
Moderator: Mary Fischer, University of Texas at Tyler
Panelists: Mary Fischer, University of Texas at Tyler; Jim Hood, University of Louisiana at Monroe; and Wilda Meixner, Southwest Texas State University.
Approximate Attendance: 15

Colloquium on Change in Accounting Education, October 17-20, 2001
Panel Time: Friday, October 19, 6:45 P.M. - 7:45 P.M.
Title: How to Achieve Balance in Your Academic Career
Moderator: Paul Solomon, Northern Arizona University and San Jose State University, Emeritus
Panelists: Loren Nikolai, University of Missouri and Gary Sundem, University of Washington.
Approximate Attendance: 35

Teaching & Curriculum Section, 1st Year of Accounting Education Committee
Final Report on Distance Learning
Lynn Mazzola

Our committee has completed its survey on distance learning. From that survey, committee members wrote a paper entitled "Factors Influencing Use of Internet-Based Learning Tools in the First-Year Accounting Course" that will be presented at the AAA Annual Meeting in San Antonio on August 12, 2002 at the AI/ET Workshop. The completion of this charge was long in coming due to one major stumbling block: until this year the committee did not have enough members or had members that were in name only. This year we had members that were willing to work as a team and completed the tasks involved in this major undertaking.

Service Learning subcommittee
Alfred R. Michenzi, Loyola- Maryland

We developed a draft of a questionnaire requesting T&C members' responses concerning their use of and familiarity with service learning in their curriculum. We revised it and considered sending it out in May 2002. After additional considerations we believed that the response rate would not be very substantial due to the close proximity of the end of the academic year. We plan on continued refinements and will submit it to the membership by October, 2002.

Pre-Meeting Subcommittee
Julia Karcher, University of Louisville

Suggestions for programs for this year's AAA meeting:

1. Student Recruitment: Dan Deines will work with Bea Sanders, Jodi Ryan, and Joe Bittner to present something along with him on recruiting students into the accounting profesison. The AICPA has committed $25 million for recruitment efforts. These recruitment efforts should be of interest to the AAA members.

2. Assessment: Susan Wolcott has suggested three areas of assessment we might be interested in:
TEACHING AND ASSESSING LIFE-LONG LEARNING SKILLS This workshop would focus on exploring what we mean by life-long learning and then practicing evaluating student papers to assess life-long learning skills.

ASSESSING CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
This workshop would be similar to the one above, but would focus on critical thinking. In addition, this workshop would include a brief survey of alternative critical thinking assessment instruments (which are rarely appropriate for the types of skills professors view as critical thinking).

USING STUDENT COURSEWORK ASSIGNMENTS IN A PROGRAM ASSESSMENT PLAN
This workshop would introduce an assessment method, have participants practice assessing student papers, and then discuss how this type of assessment information could be used in a program assessment plan.

We also thought an update on accounting research from David Stout would be a valuable addition to the program. Although, he is unable to do such a session this year, he has volunteered for next year and made the following suggestion that we recommend be passed on to next year's committee:

"I would like to volunteer to do something for the following year's meeting, so you might want to pass this information on to the appropriate person (which might be yourself). Jim Rebele and I are doing a comprehensive analysis of reasons why manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Accounting Education and Issues in Accounting Education get rejected. I have slightly over 300 files to be analyzed; Jim has approximately 100. We have established a framework for analysis that includes 32 "reasons" (grouped into 7 categories). We will generate results for three types of submissions: (1) research (i.e., non-instructional resource) papers rejected upon initial submission, (2) research papers rejected upon resumbission, and (3) instructional resource paper (largely, case submissions). For each rejected paper we provide up to three "primary" and three "secondary" reasons. Based on the analyses we perform, we intend to offer specific advice to authors/aspiring authors. I would be willing to do a half-day CPE workshop prior to next year's meeting."


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