| The educational environment includes "all the academic influences to which students are exposed" (Gainen and Locatelli, 1995, p. 109), such as the requirements of the degree program and individual courses, pedagogical practices, and the atmosphere and expectations of the university/college, accounting program, and individual classroom. Although not all aspects can be controlled, accounting programs and individual professors can influence many aspects of the educational environment. For an accounting program, this includes admission standards and processes; design and sequence of general, business, and accounting courses; and non-course activities (e.g., Beta Alpha Psi, internship programs, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program, or advising process). For an individual course, this includes the design and sequence of individual assignments, classroom activities, and grading methods. As depicted in Figure 2, the design of the educational environment interacts with educational objectives and student characteristics in producing actual learning outcomes and client satisfaction. Student characteristics include student competencies at the beginning of an educational program/course as well as attributes that might influence student learning (e.g., personality type, intelligence, or learning style). Thus, student characteristics must be considered jointly with educational objectives in the design of an educational environment. References to specific sources of information about ways to design educational activities to achieve educational objectives (or skills or competencies):
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