The Accounting Educator

The Newsletter of the Teaching and Curriculum Section
American Accounting Association
Vol. XII No. 2 – Winter 2003

T&C Web News

Midyear Report of the Pedagogy Committee
Araya Debessay, Chair
January 11, 2003

The charges of the Pedagogy Committee for the year 2002-2003, and beyond, are:

1. To complete the project that has been carried forward from the Year 2001-2002 Pedagogy Committee. The charge of the Year 2001-2002 was:

Survey Accounting administrators to determine how their accounting units have considered the AICPA Core Competencies in developing their pedagogical approaches to their classroom instruction. Based on the initial survey, contact individuals for in-depth discussions of their approaches to determine some best practices and make them available to section members.

Progress in completing the above has been slow so far, but an effort is being made to ensure the completion of the above charge before the end of the academic year.

2. To conduct a targeted survey of the 12 schools that have been funded by the Accounting Education Change Commission (AECC), to determine if the pedagogical innovations that have been introduced by these schools are continuing to be successfully implemented, and to find out if further pedagogical techniques have been introduced by these schools.

As a first step to accomplish the above objective, the Committee has decided to develop a bibliography of published papers AND of presentations at AAA national and/or regional meetings (to capture current info that may not yet be in published paper form) dealing with the successes (or lack thereof) of the pedagogical and curricular innovations of the 12 AECC grant schools. A member of the Committee has volunteered to undertake this charge. Progress so far has not been as expected, but effort is being made to accelerate the process. Once this step is completed, the Committee will determine appropriate follow-up steps.

3. To prepare a report of best pedagogical practices to be presented at one of the concurrent T&C sessions at the 2003 AAA Annual Meeting.

In view of the fact that there is another Committee of the T&C Section that is charged with developing "best pedagogical practices," it was decided, with the approval of the Chair of the T&C Section, to delete this item from the charges of the Pedagogy Committee.

4. Two members of the Committee have submitted proposals to hold CPE Sessions on the "Application of Problem-Based Learning in Accounting Education" at the 2003 Annual Meeting and at the 2003 Mid-Atlantic and Ohio Regional Meetings.

5. The Chair of the Committee has submitted an article titled, "Application of Problem-Based Learning in Accounting Education" to be published in the T&C Section Newsletter.

Innovations in Accounting Education
A. Faye Borthick
Georgia State University

The committee has been working on MERLOT. There is an article on MERLOT in this newsletter. Although some study of MERLOT will likely be required, the object of the committee's work is to participate in MERLOT activities, e.g.,

  1. Promote awareness of MERLOT among T&C Section members
  2. Identify learning objects that would be good additions (our own and those of others) to MERLOT
  3. Encourage submission of learning objects to MERLOT
  4. Serve as peer reviewers for MERLOT objects

The Integration of Information Technology in Accounting Education Midyear Report
January 2003
Submitted by Skip White, Chair

The committee has a three pronged strategy: (1) Survey accounting academics on what IT is being taught, where in the curriculum is it actually used, and how is IT being integrated in accounting education; (2) Interview (and possibly survey) accounting professionals, including persons from the IMA, AICPA, and IFAC, on What IT skills and knowledge are important for accounting grads to have, where are they best learned and what can we provide as background, and how are they being used in professional activities; (3) Survey text material to find what is being included and how it is being used.

The committee is currently in the process of finalizing the survey. It will be pilot tested and distributed by early February. We plan to conduct interviews in March and finish our text reviews by April. We will be writing a paper containing our results and plan to conduct a panel session at the AAA Annual Meeting in Hawaii.

Midyear Report from T&C First Year Committee

With respect to the committee's charge, members submitted their thoughts and ideas on issues that a questionnaire on the first-year experience should address. Based on this input, we are now in the process of developing an online survey for first-year instructors at both two and four-year institutions.

Respectfully submitted,

Barbara J. Eide
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
1725 State Street
La Crosse, WI 54601
Phone: (608) 785-6827
Fax: (608) 785-8549
Email: eide.barb@uwlax.edu

Lynn Mazzola
Nassau Community College
One Education Drive
Garden City, NY 11530
Phone: (516) 572-7544
Fax: (631) 262-9197
Email: mazzoll@ncc.edu

Here is the Midyear Report for the Service-Learning Committee:

The goal of this year's service-learning committee is to clarify how professional competencies relate to citizenship and civic engagement. Committee members are currently conducting a literature review to develop theoretical connections. The committee will write a paper of the literature review and develop recommendations for accounting programs. The committee also plans to develop and pilot test an assessment of how service-learning affects students' competencies related to citizenship and civic engagement.

Thanks,
Susan
Susan K. Wolcott, Ph.D.
WolcottLynch Associates
605 175th Place NE
Bellevue, WA 98008
Cell phone: (425) 830-3962
Website: http://www.WolcottLynch.com

Research Award Committee

The committee has begun the process of identifying the educational research articles (not instructional materials) by assistant professors that have been published in 2002 in any of the four accounting education journals (Journal of Accounting Education, Accounting Education (U.K.), Advances in Accounting Education, and Issues in Accounting Education). The members are to submit the listing (and a copy) of the qualifying manuscripts on or before March 31, 2003 to the Chair, Mahendra Gujarathi. Each manuscript will then be sent to at least two members of the committee for their ranking. Articles ranked as excellent would then go through a second ranking by all members to determine (if appropriate) the winner of the outstanding research award. We expect to conclude our work by May 15, 2003.

Submitted by:
Mahendra Gujarathi, Chair
Bentley College

T&C Connections Committee Report
January 2003
Donald Wygal

One aim of the committee is to enable members to know about, and be able to act upon, emerging developments in a timely fashion. As a new committee, we are happy to report that progress has been made in developing ways to better connect members with new developments in the Section. We encourage all members to visit the T&C web pages to experience some of the changes of the past year.

The "What's New" link provides opportunities to identify activities and programs that can be helpful to you. You will find opportunities to participate in chat and forum discussions also. Currently, the "Committee Area" includes a feedback link for you to be in touch directly with leaders of this section.

The feedback you provide is very important to us. For example, we would like to know your thoughts on how best to employ the interactive features being developed. For now, we know that technology enables us to develop real-time dialogue opportunities, but such mechanisms will be effective only if our members use them.

Currently, committee members have generated some ideas to improve our ability to connect with one another and we are working with members of the Executive Committee and regional leaders to pursue these possibilities. It is our hope that our members will participate in the process also. Please tell us what you think of the current mechanisms and suggest ways that we can go forward. You may do so by using the feedback mechanism of the "Committee" area or contact either Webmaster Gail Cook (gcook@taro.bus.BrockU.CA) or me (wygal@rider.edu).

Shared Experiences Committee Interim Report
January 15, 2003

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 J
  • ohn 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, 4:00 to 5:00 P.M.

Panel Sessions:

  • 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, South Carolina; and Howard Rockness, 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, April 25, 2003 Not Yet Confirmed
  • Ohio Regional Meeting, North Dublin, Ohio, May 2 or 3, 2003
    Title: Faculty after Tenure: Diversifying Your Portfolio
    Co-Moderators: Ray Stephens, Ohio University and Jerry Weinstein, John Carroll University
    Panelists: To Be Determined

Midwest Region
Bonnie K. Klamm, T & C Director

We received twenty manuscripts as presentation submissions for the 2003 Midwest Regional Meeting in St. Louis. Of the twenty papers, fifteen papers were selected for presentation. While no papers received nominations as the "best overall paper," one paper was selected for the "best education paper" award.

We had twenty-three reviewers, plus seven people who had volunteered, but were erroneously omitted from the mailing list. There were nine people who did not review this year, but had reviewed last year. Thus, our database has thirty-nine potential reviewers for next year.

The T&C Section is planning an ice cream social in St. Louis on Friday evening after the reception. T&C Section members attending the conference will receive an admission ticket to the Second Annual Ice Cream Social.


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