The Accounting Educator

The Newsletter of the Teaching and Curriculum Section
American Accounting Association
Vol. XII No. 4 - Summer 2003

Committee Reports

COMMITTEE FOR IMPROVING TEACHING AND LEARNING WITH TECHNOLOGY
REPORT AS OF 6/13/03

A. Faye Borthick
Georgia State University

Summary Report
The Committee's project for 2003, led by Susan Moncada, was to improve teaching and learning with technology by supporting the MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resources for Learning on Online Teaching) Project, http://www.merlot.org/. MERLOT is a repository of peer-reviewed multimedia digital objects created by faculty and others that can be incorporated into the classroom. Committee members joined MERLOT, promoted awareness of MERLOT among T&C Section members, identified and contributed learning objects for MERLOT, encouraged submission of learning objects to MERLOT, and informally and formally reviewed MERLOT learning objects.

Full Report
The Committee was comprised of the following 15 individuals: Debbie Beard, Bryan Bessner, Faye Borthick, Thomas Brady, Ellen Cook, David Cottrell, Robert Darville, Hank Davis, Carol Hartley, Doug Letsch, Susan Moncada, Ramesh Narasimanhan, Mike Seda, Cathy Sullivan, and Raymond Zimmerman.
The Committee's project for 2003, led by Susan Moncada, was to improve teaching and learning with technology by supporting the MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resources for Learning on Online Teaching) Project, http://www.merlot.org/. MERLOT is a repository of peer-reviewed multimedia digital objects created by faculty and others that can be incorporated into the classroom. The objectives for the Committee were to:
1. Become a member of MERLOT.
2. Promote awareness of MERLOT among T&C Section members.
3. Identify and contribute learning objects that would be good additions to MERLOT as either an author or submitter.
4. Encourage submission of learning objects to MERLOT.
5. Informally review existing accounting-related MERLOT modules and post member comments to the MERLOT site.
6. Serve as a peer reviewer for MERLOT learning materials. Qualifying peer reviewers are asked to complete four reviews per year.

Objective 1: The following individuals joined MERLOT as members. Debbie Beard, Bryan Bessner, Faye Borthick, Thomas Brady, Doug Letsch, Mike Seda, and Raymond Zimmerman. Ellen Cook and Susan Moncada already were members.

Objective 2: Susan Moncada, who is also an Associate Editor of the MERLOT Business Discipline, wrote an article "MERLOT: Enhancing Course Delivery with Technology" for the Winter 2003 issue of the section's newsletter The Accounting Educator.

Objective 3: Susan Moncada located and submitted 57 modules to MERLOT. This also involved subdividing the link to Ceil Pillsbury's (University of Milwaukee) materials into more modules by topic, as opposed to one or two entire courses. Mike Seda authored and submitted his own work "Financial Accounting Jeopardy Games." In addition, a poster presentation on his work has been submitted and accepted for the AAA Hawaii Annual Meeting.

Objective 4: Flyers were distributed to several individuals who indicated they would distribute them to colleagues. Ellen Cook referred one colleague who was preparing a paper for a conference to MERLOT and included the MERLOT site in terms of support materials in a report of the AACSB Responsibilities for Learning Committee on which she served. In addition, Susan Moncada co-presented a 1.5 hours session regarding MERLOT at the AACSB International Conference in New Orleans on April 26, 2003.

Objective 5: No committee members posted user comments. Several members indicated they did peruse some of the materials, however.

Objective 6: Two members became peer reviewers. Mike Seda has reviewed three modules to date and is working on a fourth. The second member has not completed the first review assigned. Susan Moncada, as an Associate Editor for MERLOT, has written a total of 31 reviews, including individual and composite reviews (taking the reviews written by peer reviewers and consolidating them into one review).

RESEARCH AWARD COMMITTEE—FINAL REPORT 2002-2003

Mahendra Gujarathi
Bentley College

The committee (Brian Green, Marshall Geiger, Mahendra Gujarathi, and Fred Phillips) identified the educational research articles by assistant professors published in 2002 in the four accounting education journals (Journal of Accounting Education, Accounting Education (U.K.), Advances in Accounting Education, and Issues in Accounting Education). Based on the criteria for the award (outstanding paper by an assistant professor who is a member of the T&C Section), the committee decided not to give any award this year. The committee is in the process of developing the award description such that it promotes the membership of the T&C Section and clarifies the purpose and process of the award.

T&C CONNECTIONS COMMITTEE— FINAL REPORT 2002-2003

Donald Wygal
Rider University

While this is labeled as a "final report," this document is truly an extension and update of our "interim report" as found in the Spring 2003 issue of The Accounting Educator. In that report, we noted a number of initiatives that show promise for better connecting our members to one another and to the section leadership. Please click on the Spring 2003 Newsletter link if you are not familiar with these proposed initiatives.

In the short period of time since that report, there is one additional development worth noting. This pertains to the controversy surrounding the viability of Issues in Accounting Education and Accounting Horizons.

Given the importance of this debate to section members, our chair D.V. Rama arranged for the formation of a discussion group on Yahoo (TC_Connections). Yahoo was selected as a means of providing another vehicle to link members, in addition to the Association website.

This group "went live" in April and included 28 members after one month. Postings included a letter from former T&C Chair and Issues Editor David Stout to incoming Association President Bill Felix. I encourage all of our members to read Dave's letter and to share your views with the membership and with Association leaders.

Our committee members are willing to continue our efforts with T&C Connections in the coming year, pending the wishes of the incoming Executive Committee. Assuming our continuation, we hope that you will share your thoughts with us as we move forward.

FIRST-YEAR ACCOUNTING COMMITTEE—REPORT 2002-2003

Barbara J. Eide
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

Lynn Mazzola
Nassau Community College

The T & C First Year Committee's charge included gathering information on what schools include in their first-year accounting course(s). To this end, the committee worked on a survey to administer to faculty teaching the first-year course(s). The survey is in its final stages and will be sent to faculty in early September. We are in the process of identifying the faculty to send the surveys to. It is the committee's plan to complete the study by year-end.

SHARED EXPERIENCES COMMITTEE REPORT

2002-2003 COMMITTEE COMPOSITION:

Chair: Paul Solomon, Northern Arizona University and
San Jose State University, Emeritus
Mike Bitter, Stetson University
Jim Hood, University of Louisiana at Monroe
Tom Klammer, University of North Texas
John Smith, Northern Illinois University, Emeritus
Jerry Weinstein, John Carroll University
Don Wygal, Rider University

Committee Meeting: Six of our committee members met to discuss our objectives on Tuesday, August 14, in San Antonio, Texas, from 4:00 to 5:00 P.M.

PANEL SESSIONS

The following six panel sessions were organized and presented during the 2002-2003 academic year:

Colloquium on Change in Accounting Education, Sedona, Arizona, October 31, 2002

Title: How to Achieve Balance in Your Academic Career
Moderator: Don Wygal, Rider University
Panelists: Billie Cunningham, University of Missouri; Lynn Mazzola, Nassau Community College; and Jan Williams, University of Tennessee

Southwest Regional Meeting, 10:30 AM-12 Noon, Friday, March 7

Title: Balance Your Career - GET A LIFE!
Moderator: Cindy L. Seipel, New Mexico State University
Panelists: Thomas J. Phillips, Jr., Louisiana Tech University; Violet C. Rogers, Stephen F. Austin State University; L. Murphy Smith, Texas A&M University; and James H. Thompson, Oklahoma State University

Southeast Regional Meeting, Charleston, South Carolina, March 27, 2003

Title: Shared Experiences
Moderator: Mike Bitter, Stetson University
Panelists: Paul Dascher, Stetson University; Tom Klammer, University of North Texas; Adrian Harrell, University of South Carolina; and Howard Rockness, University of North Carolina at Wilmington

Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, 1:30-3:00 PM, April 11, 2003
Title: T&C Shared Experiences
Moderator: Don Wygal, Rider University
Panelists: Bart Hartman, Saint Joseph's University; Roland Lipka, Temple University; and Skip White, University of Delaware

Western Region Meeting, Breckenridge, CO, 10:30 AM-Noon, April 25, 2003

Title: What We Have Learned: Reflections on an Academic Career
Moderator: Paul Solomon, Northern Arizona University
Presenter: Bob Capettini, San Diego State University

Ohio Regional Meeting, North Dublin, Ohio, May 2, 2003

Title: Faculty after Tenure: Diversifying Your Portfolio
Moderator: Jerry Weinstein, John Carroll University
Panelists: Bill Cenker, John Carroll University; John Cumming, Miami University; Dan Jensen, The Ohio State University; Ray Stephens, Ohio University

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