H. David Brecht
Department of Accountancy
College of Business
California State University, Sacramento
6000 J Street
Sacramento, California 95819
(916)278-7149
(916)278-6489
brecht@csus.edu
For an on-campus, introductory graduate, managerial accounting course, there are six areas of computer-use.
Overall, students build a habit of working in computer environments at a job-beneficial skill level by using computers for electronic information exchange and communication, solving problems, work presentation, and accessing course materials. Computers are treated as a medium of communication and analysis that is closely associated in importance with class presentations, lecturettes and discussion, and expressing learning accomplishments. Computer-use is not taught as a topic, but rather is a routine means of doing class work.
Computers serve other student-action pedagogies (teamwork and team presentations) - emphasizing the power, efficiency, skills, and problems associated with computer-use in job performance.
Each student's work performance is continuously updated (including a projected course grade), and is always available through an on-line web gradebook and class distribution summaries.
This technology-driven teaching direction substantially achieves the goals motivating it. Students are positively motivated and engaged, and they help and reinforce each other in the experiences of task accomplishment and learning. Students' interest in self-study is stimulated and very often incorporates excitement because of the achievability of success in the computer medium with flexibility for individual study needs. In particular, the balanced scorecard simulation and the regression project (using a cd-rom and EXCEL) enable a substantial volume of learning that is very efficiently structured and time/task feasible. Also, although my first totally web-based course (no on-campus classes) will be in a future semester, this computer-facilitated set of pedagogies appears to have communication formats and graded work requirements that will give web-course students a class experience and learning environment very closely paralleling what on-campus students encounter - the on-campus class' techniques being tweaked for the web-only environment and "class" size.
Accy. 261 enhances students' abilities to be on the ground and running in applying computers on the job. Computer technology underlies change and learning, the information environment, and productivity in many accounting and management careers. This course immerses each student, individually and as part of a team, in an environment where the computer is pervasively important to communication, presentation, and analysis. Students become familiar and skillful in exploiting the computer to enhance their productivity and performance, often learning from other students' work presentations. Students can apply existing computer job and course skills as means of achieving good Accy. 261 performance. With openness from the instructor and other students, a student gets exposure to some user and task problems associated with computer-use and applications.