Bob Jensen at Trinity University
Free Audio
and Presentation Files of Three Days of Workshops on Education Technologies ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/CPEshows/CPEmenu.htm
Bob Jensen's Recent CPE/CEP Technology Workshops at the American Accounting Association Annual Meetings
During the past decade, I have organized at least one all-day technology in education workshop at each of the American Accounting Association annual meetings. In the early years, these were not videotaped. The past three workshops were videotaped. Both the presentation materials and the MP3 audio files of the various speakers can be downloaded from the following links:
San Antonio on August 13,
2002
CPE/CEP Workshop Number 1 --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/002cpe/02start.htm
Free audio and presentation files of the following speakers:
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/002cpe/02start.htm
- Dennis Beresford, University of Georgia
- Amy Dunbar, University of Connecticut
- Nancy Keeshan, the Global MBA and Cross-Continent MBA Programs of Duke University
- Susan Spencer, San Antonio College
- Bob Jensen, Trinity University
Atlanta on August 11, 2001
CPE/CEP Workshop Number 1 --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/001cpe/01start.htm
Free audio and presentation files of the following speakers:
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/001cpe/01start.htm
- Don Carter, Chartered Accountancy (CA) School of Business
- Michael T. Kirschenheiter, Columbia University
- Robert Walsh, Prentice-Hall and Marist College
- A team of faculty from UNext
- Bob Jensen, Trinity University
Philadelphia on August 12, 2000
CPE/CEP Workshop Number 1 --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/000cpe/00start.htm
Free audio and presentation files of the following speakers:
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/000cpe/00start.htm
- Charles Hickman, AACSB and Quisic (formerly University Access)
- Michael T. Kirschenheiter, Columbia University
- Anthony H. Catanach, Villanova University
- Dan N. Stone, University of Illinois
- Bob Jensen, Trinity University
For a guide of online programs
see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/crossborder.htm For a guide to trends, see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/0000start.htm
Dan Gode's Basic
Accounting ToolBook(This is not an online text but it can be downloaded free.
It is quite good.)First Email messages
from Bob Jensen regarding the online Accounting Information Systems: A Database
Approach textbook by Murthy and GroomerSecond email message
regarding how to make students pay for WWW learning materialsReply from Professor
Murthy
Accounting
Tutorials by Richard J. Campbell David
Spiceland's online Intermediate Financial Accounting BookJohn Sacco's Financial
Reporting in GovernmentPaul Krause's Accounting Information Systems (PowerPoint
Slides With Real Audio and Streaming Video)Financial
Statement Analysis from University Online, Inc.
Harold Boyles at
St. Edwards UniversityAccounting
Tutorials by Richard J. Campbell Paul Krause's Accounting Information Systems (PowerPoint
Slides With Real Audio and Streaming Video)Thomas Omer at the
University of Illinois at ChicagoBarry Rice at Loyola
College of MarylandWayne Ingalls at the
University of MaineAmy
Dunbar at the University of ConnecticutAudio Messages From
Robert Huesca at Trinity UniversityAudio Messages
From Christian at Arizona State UniversityEmail Message From
Amy Dunbar at the University of IowaAudio Messages
From John Howland at Trinity UniversityAmy
Dunbar at the University of ConnecticutChat Lines in Asynchronous Learning
Audio Messages
From Robert Blystone at Trinity UniversityEmail Message
From Ceil Pillsbury at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Ceil's Tours: Dr. Pillsbury's links to accounting education sites.
Email Message from
Joyce Berg at the University of IowaEmail Message From
Curt DeBerg at California State University at ChicoEmail Message From
Peter Kenyon at Humbolt State UniversityAudio Messages From
Mike Kearl at Trinity UniversityAmy
Dunbar at the University of ConnecticutEmail
Message from Mark Garrison at Trinity UniversityAudio Messages From
Mike Kearl at Trinity UniversityAn email message and reply by Bob Jensen
From: [Name Deleted]
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 1998 12:40 PM
To: rjensen@trinity.edu
Subject: Web projects
Dear Bob,
Thanks for sending along your web assignment and its rationale. I’m interested in doing a book-length project that has web links to my own set of materials and exercises. Or even doing the whole book in this way.
Question is, does one receive academic credit for producing work on the internet? Have you ever discussed this with the Administration?
Thanks,
[Name of the Trinity University Faculty Member Deleted]
========================================================================
Reply from Bob Jensen
Hi ______
One problem with web publishing is that if you submit your stuff to a top journal, the editor wants you to hide your research from the world until the journal gets around to publishing your work (which in a recent case took five years "in press" for an accepted Jensen and Sandlin article to finally get published). I recently had another paper accepted for publication. Then I had a long ‘fight" with the editor over whether I can keep a "live" and ever-changing version of the essence of that paper at my web site.
I have discussed web publishing with administrators is many universities. They have not and cannot take much of an official position without action by the faculty. Matters of promotion and tenure are pretty well decided all along the way (departmental faculty, Chair, Dean, and P&T faculty) with rare administrative reversals of recommendations. Faculty bring individual biases into peer evaluation, and at the moment web publishing is a new thing to most of them. Until the peer evaluation culture is changed, web publishing will not count heavily toward promotion, tenure, or take home pay.
The main issue is that web publishing is not refereed with the same rigor (as refereeing in leading journals) or, in most cases, is not refereed at all. This is a concern since it is pretty easy to disguise garbage as treasure at a web site. Leading journals will one day offer refereeing services for web publishing and may, in fact, do away with their hard copy editions. Until then what do we do? Most certainly we do not put up a web counter and brag about the number of hits --- Playboy probably gets more hits per day than all professors combined.
Somewhat of a substitute for hard core refereeing is a record of correspondence that is received from scholars and students who use your web documents. This lacks the anonymity of the refereeing process. Also there are opportunities to cheat (I’ll lavishly praise your work if you will adore mine in a succession of email messages), but most scholars have more integrity than to organize that sort of conspiracy. If you have a file of correspondence from people that your peers know and respect, chances are that your peers will take notice. Include copies of this correspondence in your performance reports. But this process is more anecdotal than the genuine blind refereeing process.
Until a rigorous web refereeing process is established, those who must evaluate a web publisher must do more work. They must study your web materials and make their own judgments regarding quality and relevance. It is much easier to simply tick off the refereed hits (For when the binary scorer comes to write against your name, he writes only ones or zeros, to him the unread articles are all the same). It is easy to become too cynical about the refereeing process. We have all had frustrations with bad referees, including acceptances of our weaker output and rejections of our best work. At my web site, I have section for my "big ones that got away." See http://WWW.Trinity.edu/rjensen/#BigOnes Refereeing is a little like democracy --- it ain’t perfect, but until a better system comes along it beats the alternatives over the long haul.
My trouble, and I suspect that Mike Kearl has the same problem, is that web publishing is addictive. The responses that you get from around the world set "your tail wagging." I have published many papers and several books (a sign of my advanced age), but I have never had the "action" following hard copy publication that I get from web publication. There are many reasons for this, including the fact that more people than you can imagine stumble on your web documents while using a search engine on the web. Not all of them send you nice messages, but a message recently received by me last week from a total stranger is reproduced be low:
==================================================================
Messages like the above message "keep my tail wagging." I even like the messages that signal items to be corrected --- at least those users found my stuff worth correcting. If you have audio on your computer, you can listen to Mike Kearl discuss what makes his "tail wag." Mike also discusses the issue that you raised in your message to me. The web address for Mike’s audio on this is at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ideasmes.htm . That particular article is entitled "Daring Professors" and contains audio and email messages from other faculty members who were willing to take some chances with their careers.
I can offer you a wagging tail and small pay raises if you rely entirely on web publishing as evidence of scholarship. Old hounds like me can opt for more tail wagging, but young pups need more nourishment shoved into the other end. (Actually I still publish hard copy to maintain respectability, but I personally am far more proud of my "living" web research documents than my annual refereed "dead" hits over the past few years).
Until the evaluation culture is changed in peers who hold you on leash,
try to do web publishing alongside your refereed journal publishing. But don’t let
the tail wag the dog or you will wind up in the dog house. If your book or journal editor
objects to having your working documents published at your web site, remember who your
master is at all times. His title is Editor in Chief!
An interesting paper by William H. Geoghegan at IBM Academic Consulting is entitled
"WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY?" discusses some of the issues
as to why the faculty are not yet adapting to education technologies. Estimates run as
high as 95% of higher education faculty are not using these technologies. Geoghegan
analyses social and diffusion barriers in particular. The paper is at http://w3.scale.uiuc.edu/scale/links/library/geoghegan/wpi.html
Bob Jensen
Professor Robert E. Jensen (Bob) http://www.trinity.edu/rjensenJesse H. Jones Distinguished Professor of Business Administration
Trinity.University, San Antonio, TX 78212-7200
Voice: 210-999-7347 Fax: 210-999-8134
Is is the medium or the message? The
following is a quote from IAT
Infobits June 1997 from the Institute of Academic
Technology PUBLICATION QUALITY OVER FORMAT FOR TENURE CONSIDERATION
The question of how much weight electronic publication has in determining tenure is a concern for many faculty. Rutgers University has established a Committee on Electronic Publishing and Tenure to help clarify the university's position. In a report prepared in April and currently under discussion within the university, the committee "found both at Rutgers and nationally a primary concern for quality control in scholarship as manifested by peer review, and an indifference to format (electronic or print) as long as the quality is evident and the contribution is widely accessible now and over time." The committee urged focusing on the content's quality and the review process and taking a flexible approach to new publication modes, rather than fixating on the publication's format or medium.
The complete text of the report is available on the Web at http://aultnis.rutgers.edu/texts/ept.html
An Innovative Survey by Grace
Johnson-Page. The following is a quote from IAT Infobits May 1997 from the Institute of Academic Technology While big research universities have more resources to invest in information technology, that doesn't mean that smaller liberal arts institutions aren't making strides in using technology to enhance the learning environment. In 1996, Grace Johnson-Page (Assistant Professor of Management and Accounting, Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio) took sabbatical leave to identify and interview a collection of liberal arts college faculty using information technology in the hopes that their stories would "inform and ignite a spark in those faculty interested in using computers but not sure how or where to begin." She shares what she discovered in her conversations and formal interviews with over 125 people at 26 colleges and universities in "Rethinking Teaching and Learning: A Reformation of Liberal Arts Education With Information Technology." Her report includes examples of specific projects and techniques that administrators, faculty, and librarians are using to adopt and adapt information technology on their campuses. Johnson-Page's report and all the interviews are available on the Web athttp://www.marietta.edu/~johnsong/reform/
Note from Jensen: By clicking here, her document will appear in a new browser window.
Audio Messages From
Charles Christian at Arizona State UniversityEmail Message From
Amy Dunbar at the University of IowaAudio Messages
From Mark Garrison at Trinity UniversityW. Robert
Smith at the University of Southern MississippiDavid Naples at St.
Edwards University
Databases and CDs on the WWW
Audio Messages
From Mark Garrison at Trinity UniversityAudio Messages From
Mike Kearl at Trinity UniversityAudio Messages From
Robert Huesca at Trinity UniversityEmail Message
From Tom Omer at the University of Illinois at ChicagoEmail Message 1
from John Schatzel at Stonehill CollegeEmail Message From
Peter Kenyon at Humbolt State UniversityAmy
Dunbar at the University of Connecticut
Prentice-Hall supported links maintained by David FordhamAccounting
Educator Links Search for "Education in
General" in Bob Jensen's BookmarksClick here for a good directory http://www.lambton.on.ca/hsaa/edulink.htmlClick here for the Syllabus Top 40
sites http://www.syllabus.com/top40.htmClick here for Tom Hick's web site http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~thicks/Accounting
Tutorial by Richard J. Campbell Audio Messages
From Charles Christian at Arizona State UniversityEmail Message From
Kevin Clark at Northern Territory UniversityEmail Message
From David Fordham at James Madison UniversityAudio Messages
From Mark Garrison at Trinity UniversityEmail
Message from Monzurul HoqueAudio Messages From
Robert Huesca at Trinity UniversityCeil Pillsbury
from the University of Wisconsin - MilwaukeeEmail Message From
Barry Rice From Loyola College in MarylandMiscellaneous Links to Daring Professors
Joyce
Berg at the University of IowaHarold
Boyles at St. Edwards UniversityRobert
Blystone at Trinity UniversityCharles
Christian at Arizona State UniversityKevin
Clark at Northern Territory UniversityCurt DeBerg at
California State University at ChicoRoger Debreceny at the Nanyang Business School Amy
Dunbar at the University of Iowa and Amy
Dunbar at the University of ConnecticutDavid
Fordham at James Madison UniversityMark Garrison at Trinity UniversityEmail
Message from Monzurul HoqueJohn
Howland at Trinity UniversityRobert
Huesca at Trinity UniversityWayne Ingalls at the
University of MaineGrace
Johnson-Page at Marietta College (By clicking here,
her document will appear in a new browser window.)Micheal Kearl at
Trinity UniversityPeter
Kenyon at Humbolt State University Paul Krause's at California State University at Chico
Uday
Professor Murthy at Texas A&M UniversityThomas
Omer at the University of Illinois at ChicagoDavid
Naples at St. Edwards UniversityCeil
Pillsbury at the University of Wisconsin - MilwaukeeBarry
Rice at Loyola College in MarylandJohn Sacco at George
Mason UniversityJohn Schatzel at Stonehill College Lew Shaw at
Suffolk UniversityW.
Robert Smith at the University of Southern MississippiDavid Spiceland at
the University of Memphis
Dr. Charles W. Christian, School of Accountancy, College of Business Box 873606,
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-3606
Voice: 602-965-6632 Fax: 802-965-8392 email: ATCWC@ASUVM.INRE.ASU.EDU
http://www.cob.asu.edu/acct/faculty/cchristian.html
Note that the audio comments below will download into your computer as WAV files. You must have audio WAV files on your computer. You can declare the mplayer.exe media player under your Windows or Windows 95 directory as a plug-in to your browser. The audio files below were captured from videotape shot by Professor Jensen during a presentation from Professor Christian at the American Accounting Association Meetings in Chicago in August 1996.
Dr. Amy E. Dunbar, Department of Accounting, College of Business, University of Iowa,
Iowa City, IA 52242-1323
Voice: 319-335-0910 Fax: 319-335-1956 Email: amy-dunbar@uiowa.edu
http://www.biz.uiowa.edu/misc/links/acct_tax.html
Professor Amy Dunbar at the University of Iowa took a chance on requiring students to interact via a course web site message board. She also contributed heavily to the excellent University of Iowa Tax Resources web site. A 1996 excerpt from Dr. Dunbar is reproduced below:
Since the request was made that more "lurkers" share ideas that have worked for them, I decided to write about the message board that I set up for my advanced tax class this fall. Some students were hesitant to use the board at first, but a reminder that they would lose points if they did not post at least twice (as noted in my syllabus) served to overcome the reluctance. I now get a steady stream of postings, and it has turned out to be invaluable for reminders and announcements. In addition, I use the board regularly to correct my errors *sigh*, both in assignments and things that I say wrong or forget to say in class. Most students say they check their e-mail and then the board every day. An added benefit is that some of my former students who are now working or going to graduate school are now starting to post on the board. I hope to develop this board into an alumni board. This would really help the students. For example, when my current students wanted more information about Deere, they posted messages on the board, and a former student who now works for Deere answered their questions. Slowly but surely, I am getting contacts in all our major employers to post. Our Beta Alpha Psi group has decided to create their own board in the spring after seeing this one. For now, they use this board to get information out. Bottom line, I love the board. I expect my current class to really get the board in action once they graduate because they will be used to it, and I bet they will want to keep in touch with the wonderful world of tax!
Dr. Amy E. Dunbar, Department of Accounting, College of Business, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242-1323
Voice: 319-335-0910 Fax: 319-335-1956 Email: amy-dunbar@uiowa.edu
http://www.biz.uiowa.edu/misc/links/acct_tax.html
For a Year 2001 Update, see Amy Dunbar at the University
of Connecticut
A 1997 followup message from Amy Dunbar reads as follows
Hi Bob,
Dan sent me your e-mail request and asked me to respond to you regarding how we use technology in our tax classes. We are making an effort at Iowa. Joyce Berg does a great job creating a paperless classroom in the second accounting course. She gets the students as sophomores and I get them as seniors. Our faculty make sure our students have a good grip on technology by the time they graduate. Last fall I told you about setting up a message board for the first time.
This spring marks the first time I incorporated a paperless assignment. Each student sent an e-mail requesting a paper that discusses "soft skills" needed to be a successful tax lawyer (applies to a professional of any kind). I sent the paper via e-mail along with a list of questions to answer. Each student sent his or her answers today in a Word doc; I will use the revisions tool in Word to "grade" and then I will e-mail the doc back. (By the way, do you know of a better way to "grade" electronically? ) This assignment got every student on board using e-mail and the attachment process (there really were a few seniors who still weren't familiar with e-mail; they must have missed Berg's class) , and, in turn, I get to see how these students write and think. I now have each student's e-mail address so I can send class e-mails in addition to using the message board to communicate with the class. I am using last semester's e-mail list (which took me a lot longer to compile) to send out pep talks to keep my former students studying for the CPA exam and to alert students to job openings, etc. We use the message board for placement purposes also.
Thanks to you, I am joining Charles Christian on a technology panel at the AAA Western Regional Meeting. I finally had to set up "folders" to handle all the good info that comes down from AECM. When I read about what all these instructors are doing with technology I am almost overwhelmed, but reading those postings keeps me charged up to keep developing the technological side of my tax classes (and it's fun, too). Thanks for all the work you do to help all of us. Amy Dunbar ****************************************************************
Dr. Amy E. Dunbar, Department of Accounting, College of Business, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242-1323
Voice: 319-335-0910 Fax: 319-335-1956 Email: amy-dunbar@uiowa.edu
http://www.biz.uiowa.edu/misc/links/acct_tax.html
Dr. Ceil Pillsbury, Department of Accounting and
Information Systems, School of Business Administration, University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukeee, Milwaukee, WI 53021
Voice: 404-229-4164 Fax: 414-229-6957 email: ceil@csd.uwm.edu
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/Business/SBA/Faculty/pilsbury.html
Professor Ceil Pillsbury has the right idea and the enthusiasm to carry it out. However, she also reveals that it ain't easy. A recent excerpt from an email message from Dr. Pillsbury is reproduced below:
First, let me say that the last year and a half of Internet Technology in the classroom has been the most interesting and energizing time of my career (Thanks, Bob). Let me balance that with saying it is also the most draining, controversial and time consuming thing I have ever done. The effort required to put up a comprehensive, decent course page is overwhelming. Some students love it and some hate it. It doesn't always work which is frustrating for them and you. Oh but when it does..... The classes I use the web in are Accounting Information Systems (408) and Auditing (409). My web site is www.uwm.edu/~ceil. I use the Internet extensively in both courses in a number of ways that are most easily understood by going to my site. But the down and dirty is this: I use the web to provide students with class notes, syllabi, project instructions, interactive sample exams. We have a class listserv for class announcements, discussion of current issues, reports from the Wall Street Journal and other business press sources, & distribution of grades. My students do evaluations of accounting and business web sites, and they develop their own web pages on topic relevant to the class (e.g. last semester my students made pages about auditing in a given industry). Last semester my students also developed "THE Accounting Page"--which is a great amalgamation of accounting and business sites. I am currently putting up a virtual guided tour of the web for accountants to get a perspective of what's out the. I put up class roster with email addresses, Voice numbers and group assignments. And I have up power point presentations, and one multimedia presentation of an animated revenue cycle flowchart. I do more, but I figure I'm already over your reading limit time. What I think is unfortunate is that we are not taking the ISWORLD approach which develops course pages for tops so that each professor isn't doing their own from scratch.
Dr. Ceil Pillsbury, Department of Accounting and
Information Systems, School of Business Administration, University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukeee, Milwaukee, WI 53021
Voice: 404-229-4164 Fax: 414-229-6957 email: ceil@csd.uwm.edu
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/Business/SBA/Faculty/pilsbury.html
In the message below, Ceil Pillsbury discusses crossword puzzles.
As long as we are sharing Internet assignment ideas I have three to contribute: In the Auditing class I have my students prepare industry homepages as a group assignment. They had to do an industry background, risk analysis, identify a company on the Web and perform analytical procedures on it. Also I prepared crossword puzzles on reporting issues to break up the monotony of a rather dry topic. My version of the scavenger hunt is an "Internet Tour" where I have prepared links to and descriptions of 25 sites. They have to go to the sites and then answer on-line multiple choice questions.
Dr. Ceil Pillsbury, Department of Accounting and
Information Systems, School of Business Administration, University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukeee, Milwaukee, WI 53021
Voice: 404-229-4164 Fax: 414-229-6957 email: ceil@csd.uwm.edu
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/Business/SBA/Faculty/pilsbury.html
Dr.Joyce Berg, Department of Accounting, College of Business
Administration, Universtiy of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242-1323
Voice: (319) 335-0840 Fax: (319) 335-1956 email: joyce-berg@uiowa.edu
http://www.biz.uiowa.edu/acct/index.html
As part of the Survey provided by Jensen and Sandlin, Joyce Berg wrote the following in an email message:
Like anything else, the success of these methods and students reactions to them depend crucially on the Professor's interest in, and commitment to, technology as a learning tool.
We've learned to major lessons: (1) there is a significant cost to students when technology is used, so there better be a clear and well defined benefit, and (2) technology changes the balance of power in the classroom - one needs to anticipate this and plan for it.
- (1) Technology is Costly....Where's the benefit? I've found integrating technology in the classroom to be significantly more costly than I anticipated. Lots of things go wrong both from a delivery perspective (computers go down, software doesn't work, websites are inaccessible) and from a student perspective (technology is attractive to students, but that causes congestion, students substitute printing lecture "shows" for going to class, homework generated electronically looks suspiciously familiar). So, there needs to be a clear sense of where the benefits of integrating the technology are coming from. For instance, does the technology help students practice skills, apply concepts to the real world, think "outside the box," interact with one another to solve problems, find answers to questions as they arise, practice writing skills, learn to communicate more effectively, etc. Using the web for class assignments, message boards, and extensions of the classroom setting requires an investment by students. Students bear a real cost both in terms of the (initial fixed cost) "pain" of learning how to use it, and in terms of (recurring) investments of time needed to access it. Because they clearly see this cost, they also need to see a direct benefit from the task. Most students seem not to associate "technology" with "accounting" (I wonder why not!). This means that we really need to go the extra mile to show students how the costs they are bearing payoff. Otherwise, they classify "new tools" as "busy work" and "not what I took this class for". There needs to be a clear learning objective for each use of technology and a clear link between "forays out into the web" and what is happening in class. Technology can be a very powerful way to engage students and enhance their learning. The web and other technology connects them to the world of business - a world that many undergraduates have little experience in. This is a benefit impossible to replicate with other teaching tools.
- (2) Technology changes the balance of power Message boards, for instance, allow students to rapidly communicate with other students, frequently anonymously. Because the faculty member is not involved in the "communication" in real time, he/she loses much of the opportunity that is there in a classroom setting to structure the path of the conversation. We've found that anonymous message boards just don't work well in large classroom settings where students tend to be anonymous anyway. But, in smaller, more advanced, classes the message board technology is successful.
- (3) Freudian slips I've noticed that as I've been typing this response, that I keep typing "teachnology" rather than "technology." "Teachnology" frames things correctly, doesn't it.
Dr. Peter B. Kenyon, School of Business & Economics, California State
University - Humboldt, Arcata, CA 95521
Voice: 707-826-4762 Fax: 707-826-6666 Email: pbk1@axe.humboldt.edu
http://sorrel.humboldt.edu/~pbk1
Peter Kenyon describes how adapting to newer technologies was more
difficult than he had imagined.
I am finishing my first semeter of instruction in a "survey course" in accounting for students in majors other than business. This is a one semester course covering essentials from both financial and management accounting. We have taught this course for years as a three-unit course for students from a wide variety of disciplines...forestry, economics, recreation admin, etc.
Last Spring I requested permission to offer the course on an experiemental basis in a "no seat time" mode...no lecture, no formal class meetings. I envisioned building a totally asynchonous course delivered with web-based materials and with electronic communication. My design was based on the premise that I could substitute other instructional aids for lecture...I never intended to "automate" the standard classroom experience. I was given the go-ahead by my colleagues and by the administration. We will complete the first cycle through the course next month.
This course has proven to be more difficult than I imagined, but I think that it is a success. I began with 60 students enrolled and will complete with just over 40. We covered less material than we would have done in a traditional class, but enough material to allow me to claim substantial success in achieving the learning objectives I set for the course. We will repeat the course this Spring.
I will be summarizing my experiences for evaluation purpose here on campus, if anyone is interested in getting a copy of what I write up, just contact me directly.
Here are a few key ideas. The instuctional materials consisted of: 1. a print textbook - for content 2. my web pag - for course administration, links to useful cites, and for me to post my notes and other background I might have included in lecture 3. individual e-mail accounts for all students in the class 4. a class listserve to facilitate group communication 5. weekly individual students assignments submitted to me via e-mail or as attachments which I graded and returned in the same mode 6. two online examinations - we have web-based testing software which can be used to put up an exam accessible from the web. I also sent out essay questions to be returned via e-mail. 7. a group project 8. a traditional final exam coming up in December....half of this will be course evaluation, not accounting content
The course has produced some problems which seem obvious in hindsight.. I overestimated students preparedness for this type of course. Computer access, basic file handling, and telecommunications protocols all represent substantial barriers. Widely varying skills with word and number editors cause problems. I underestimated the impact this course would have on my own work habits. I realized how comfortable I was with print material and how much I needed to adjust to work with electronic files. The web-based materials can be viewed as part of ACCT 240 on my web page shown below.
Dr. Peter B. Kenyon, School of Business & Economics, California State
University - Humboldt, Arcata, CA 95521
Voice: 707-826-4762 Fax: 707-826-6666 Email: pbk1@axe.humboldt.edu
http://sorrel.humboldt.edu/~pbk1
The following message from Peter Kenyon discusses distance learning.
Here is a draft of the report some of you have expressed interest in. Sorry for the lack of polish, I am running out the door for some time away from campus prior to the start of Spring semester. If you want to contact me, I suggest you wait until I return on Jan. 15. Thanks for your interest. We will put this up on my web page when I get back and have time to do more editing. Please forward any questions or comments you may have. *****DRAFT******* Report on Teaching Survey of Accounting Via Internet During Fall Semester, 1996 by Dr. Peter Kenyon School of Business & Economics Humboldt State University January 3, 1997 This report was prepared for colleagues and administrators at Humboldt State and has been distributed to others who have requested it through the AECM and A-TEACH lists. Kenyon grants permission for electronic or other reproduction of all or parts of this report. This report reflects the personal views and observations of Dr. Peter Kenyon and does not reflect formally the policies of other HSU faculty or administrators. BACKGROUND Over the last few years a growing number of faculty and staff at Humboldt State expressed interest in distance learning, computer-mediated instruction, multimedia, and other aspects of educational technology. In addition, there have been initiatives to support experimentation and development from the California State University (CSU) System. Academic accounting meetings include more content in this area. Bob Jensen (Trinity University in Texas), Barry Rice (Loyola College in Maryland), and Roger Debreceny (Southern Cross University in Australia) and many others helped to organize and energize the discussion of these issues. By Spring, 1996 I had become discontented with the abundance of meetings, rhetoric, and speculation about technologies relative to the scarcity of experiments and applications, at least at Humboldt State. I decided to seek approval to convert one of our standard accounting courses to a no-seat-time, distance learning format as an experiment. I was encouraged by our Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Lily Owyang, and by Hal Campbell, HSU Department of Computing Science. I received support from School of Business & Economics colleagues, and from my dean. The course I chose to adapt, ACCT 240 (Essentials of Financial and Management Accounting) is a one semester, three unit "survey" course taken by students with majors other than business administration. Students from majors as diverse as computing science and recreation administration take this course, for some it is a required part of their major program and some take it as en elective. We taught one section per semester for many years, recently with 40 to 50 students per semester. The course had been a traditional lecture, chalk-talk, textbook, and homework problems course. The course has no prerequisites. HSU distributes course schedules about half way through the Spring semester. We were able to add one line to the ACCT 240 listing which indicated it was "via the Internet, meets only two times during the first week of class" to the listing. I was concerned that HSU students might shy away from the course and leave me with low enrollment, however, by the end of the first week of computer registration for Fall semester held during the Spring, the course was fully enrolled with HSU students and there was a waiting list. We increased the enrollment ceiling from 40 to 50 and then from 50 to 60 where we held the line; the change seemed to increase, not reduce demand for the course. About 70 students showed up at the first meeting in the Fall but we held the class to the limit of 60. In the end, 48 students finished the course; this attrition rate of 20% is slightly higher than what we expect in this course. THE COURSE ACCT 240 seemed a good choice for experimentation. It is an essentials course offered to persons whose primary interest is in another, generally remote, field of study. Many students use ACCT 240 as part of a minor in business to increase their employability, regardless of major. To put it bluntly, I thought there was little chance to seriously damage these students, regardless of how the experiment turned out. Intuition suggested to me that there were many students on our campus who were interested in such a course, but whose schedules would not accommodate three lectures per week during prime daytime teaching hours, the norm on our residential campus. I was also encouraged that there may be interest in the course among local business persons, or even among truly "distant" learners from other campuses. My goal was to deliver competent course without the use of class time or lecture so that the material was available at the time and place most convenient for the student. I adopted learning objectives similar to the classroom version of the course; these objectives can be viewed from my web page along with the other course materials. DESIGN ELEMENTS Humboldt State had established good support for instructional web pages and for e-mail accounts as well as a courseware development center to help faculty design and author web pages. As important, I have access to a pool of highly motivated students who were eager to work on web page projects. Humboldt State provides computer labs for instruction and for student access. Like most universities, student demand for access has been increasing faster than the university could supply facilities. CSU encouraged Sprint to sell Internet access from their homes to faculty and students; Sprint's $US 12.50 per month service made it easier for us to get access away from campus. I attended several professional development meetings involving web page design and related technologies. As the Fall semester approached, I combined the following elements. -my web page for course administration, notes, and study guide -a class e-mail listserve for group communication -individual e-mail communications -web page test software -a print textbook -six office hours per week for individual consultation -weekly assignments submitted via e-mail -a semeter long small group project assignment During the first week of instruction we held two meetings to explain how the course would operate. Students were not sure what it meant to take a course "via the Internet" so I had to explain how to get started. There was wide variation in the level of ability in regard to use application software (wordprocessors, spreadsheets, etc.), e-mail, and web access among the students in the class. I had placed no formal computing skill prerequisite on the course but was relying on the belief that the general level of student ability with these elements would allow them to complete the course. We gave general instructions for preparing and submitting homework materials. COURSE OPERATIONS The first week was devoted entirely to administrative matters. The first assignment was due at the end of the second week of instruction. Students were to read the chapter from the textbook and to complete solutions to a set of homework problems. Homework consisted of some textbook problems and some questions or problems which I authored. I encouraged students to formulate and send questions to me or to the list where the questions would get a response. I had an advanced student who helped me monitor the list and answer questions. I encouraged students in the class to post responses if they had an answer to someone else's question. I established a deadline for submitting assignments each week. My original goal was to require students to author their assignments in a standard wordprocessor or spreadsheet, save the file, and send as an attachment to an e-mail message. For students relying on HSU computer labs, this required them to use an FTP program to get the file from the lab to their account on the e-mail server, then use TELNET to get to PINE, the e-mail program they use to access campus e-mail accounts. They could then compose a short message to me saying they were sending in the assignment as an attachment. Students working at home used an ISP (Internet service provider) like Sprint and generally had an easier time attaching files to e-mail using Eurdora or similar software. There were MANY MORE technical problems than I anticipated. I greatly underestimated the frequency and variety of problems my students and I would encounter in completing the document cycle. I relaxed the requirement for assignments sent as attachments and allowed students to paste their work into e-mail messages. Since e-mail software is much less powerful than editors, this led to work which was poorly formatted and hard to grade. It was better, however, than attachments which I could not open at my workstation. Many of the students adapted quickly to my requests to alter and improve the way their work was submitted. A few students struggled through most of the course. I underestimated the impact on my own workload and working habits that this course would have. We are accustomed to teaching four courses per semester in the CSU. At Humboldt State, the smallest business school in the system, this sometimes means that we teach four different courses in one semester. My department chair and dean agreed to release me from one course to help with the startup costs for this course, so my workload consisted of ACCT 240 plus two upper level accounting courses. The deadline for the first assignment was the end of the second week of class. Messages and attachments overloaded my e-mail account, so the computer center quickly tripled my space allocation on the e-mail server. My workstation is a Gateway 2000 P-90 running Windows for Workgroups and with Microsoft Office plus other software I had acquired to support instruction and web page development. The machine has an Ethernet connection to the campus telecommunications backbone and I run Eurdora for e-mail and Netscape 3.0 for web access. The machine was adequate for my needs at the time and my connectivity to the Net was very good; I could access quickly the tools I needed for the course. There were many problems opening and reading the students' files. It was clear that my general instructions to the students and failure to be specific and detailed was a big mistake which led to wasted time for me and for my students. Beyond that, I also underestimated the impact on my own work habits. By Friday afternoon, I had accumulated more that 50 e-mail messages and many attachments. I took me most of Saturday and Sunday to work my way through those files. After opening the file I would check the work, enter brief comments, assign a grade, save the amended file, and send the file back to the student. I was able to gain speed over the semester, but never got to the point where grading electronic files went as quickly as grading an equivalent number of hard copies. During the semester, HSU Courseware Development Center put up an online testing system accessed from one of their web pages. I tested the system with two midterm examinations. Each one consisted of a bank of multiple choice questions which my students completed online and a group of essay questions which students submitted via e-mail. My students had a twenty-four hour "window" during which they could complete the multiple choice portion of the examinations. There were numerous technical problems, most of which were solved after our trials, however, we still have no way to secure or to authenticate the students' work on these examinations, so this will remain a problem for courses like mine. I required the students to form small groups of three or four for the purpose of completing a group assignment which was due near the end of the course. I expected that the students would use electronic communications to work on the project. I didn't collect data, but based on what I heard them say I suspect that most of the groups met face to face to work on this project and did not rely on electronic communication. STUDENT REACTION About 12 students (20% of the original enrollment) dropped the course during the semester. Several of these students came to see me to discuss their decision. I heard two major explanations. Several students indicated that they felt it was not possible for them to learn the material this way, without class and lecture. A few indicated that they found their computing skills were not strong enough to complete the requirements of the course. There was a traditional final examination, everyone in one room at the same time. I used the first hour for an examination and used the second hour for evaluations. We have a standardized student evaluation form for the School of Business & Economics which I supplemented with my own questionnaire. As the students completed the standard questionnaire, there were quite a few giggles and puzzled looks on their faces as they attempted to answer questions like .... does the professor speak clearly? The results of this instrument are compiled by staff and will be available to me later. My questionnaire included the following questions. Student responses are summarized below each question. 1. What was the one greatest advantage or benefit from taking this course compared to "regular" courses? 90% Time Flexibility 10% Improved Computer Skills 2. What was the one greatest disadvantage? 47% Lack of Lecture, Discussion 12% Limited Feedback or Delay in Feedback 10% Technical/Computer Problems 7% No Disadvantages 7% Did Not Learn As Much 5% Lack of Structure 5% Too Dependent on Textbook 5% Lack of Interaction With Classmates 2% Blank 3. Knowing now how the course was conducted, if you had it to do over again, which statement describes best your view? 50% I would prefer taking this course in the format offered this semester. 17% I am indifferent between the form offered this semester and "regular" format. 33% I would prefer taking this course in "regular" format to format this semester. 4. What one thing would you change about this course to improve it the most if it is to continue in similar format? 47% Hold Classes, Review Sessions 15% Better Textbook or Study Materials 15% Better Computer Support/Training 7% Blank 5% More Discussion on the Listserve 5% Improve Group Projects 2% No Improvements Needed 2% More individual Meetings with Professor 2% Better Online Testing 5. Would you recommend to others taking this course in the format offered this semester? Why/Why not? 44% Yes 24% Yes, Qualified 10% Not Sure, Maybe 22% No Brief demographics on the class are given below. Class Standing: 0% Graduate 61% Senior 24% Junior 15% Sophomore 0% Freshmen Gender: 33% Women 67% Men Major: 25% Computer Information Systems 23% Recreation Administration 20% Various Social Science 13% Industrial Technology 13% Various Science/ Engineering 6% Other CONCLUDING REMARKS My major concern going into this course was that it might turn into a total disaster, an outcome which my colleagues reminded me make it more difficult for them. The course was not a disaster but there is a need for major improvements if we are to achieve similar learning objectives to a traditional course. A significant percentage of students feel that the existing elements do not substitute for class and lecture. It may be that at the conclusion of this two semester experiment we will elect to return to the classroom or to adapt some lesser amount of class time to this course. Humboldt State is granting me another one course of release time for Spring 1997, so I will be teaching one section of ACCT 240 to about 40 students via the Internet and I will be teaching two sections of Introductory Management Accounting in the classroom. The university is upgrading my workstation and has provided up to 15 hours per week of student assistant support to help me improve the web page and other aspects of the course. I will be holding two hours of "online office hours" each week. We will be testing a "chat server" so that students can log on during these two evening hours and expect to get instant feedback to their questions, rather than having to wait for the e-mail response cycle. I will be incorporating the results from both semesters into a more complete report and will be taking a formal curriculum change request through normal channels if we conclude that this format or some altered form is appropriate as a permanent change. I am eager to hear about other experiments and developments and am interested in your comments. Dr. Peter Kenyon School of Business & Economics Humboldt State University Arcata, CA 95521 707.826.4762 (fax) pbk1@axe.humboldt.edu http://www.humboldt.edu/~pbk1
Dr. Peter B. Kenyon, School of Business & Economics, California State
University - Humboldt, Arcata, CA 95521
Voice: 707-826-4762 Fax: 707-826-6666 Email: pbk1@axe.humboldt.edu
http://sorrel.humboldt.edu/~pbk1
Dr. David R. Fordham, James Madison University School of
Accounting ZSH 330 Harrisonburg, VA 22807
Voice: 540-568-3024 Fax: 540-568-3299 E-mail: fordhadr @ jmu.edu
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~fordhadr/
I presume you are looking for a couple of "filler" ideas, say a couple of class periods to fit in here and there, or take up the last week or two? Or maybe a collection of "10-minute-topics" to round out those short class periods? Some ideas that we have tried here at James Madison University, most with surprising success: Pure technology: the "gee-whiz, look at the gizmo's they are inventing nowadays ... these things will be commonplace five years from now, so learn about them today" lesson. A subscription to PC magazine (or even buying a couple of issues on the newsstand) is about as good a textbook you can get on this! This would cover things like firewire, DVD blue laser CD's, NC's (network computers), zip drives and their derivatives, etc. These things will help your students appear to be "ahead" of their competition in the eyes of the recruiters, and help them cope with the transition from last-years devices (found in the schools) with tomorrow's (to be found in their offices when they graduate 1-2 years from now. Coping with technological change: "WHY should a company upgrade its software if EVERYTHING is being handled just fine by the present system?" Includes difficulty of long-term strategic planning in micro-computer-based shops, compatibility (with customers/vendors/peers who upgrade), problems with obsolescence, ways around the problems, etc. Invaluable thoughts for today's accountants, future controllers, analysts, etc. Introduction to EDP auditing: Lends itself well with working closely with auditing class on internal control principles, building controls into systems, especially user interfaces. Ties in well with examples from the software you are already using (both good and bad examples!) even if you are not teaching a full "systems" course. Introductory or intermediate Systems Development Life Cycle, including development of test beds, alpha/beta testing, prototyping, changeover strategies, training issues, contingency planning. Again, this can tie in well with your existing software packages and assignments, reinforce and extend what they learned in Intro to Computer Systems, and enhance their understanding of how accountants assist in system design and development and implementation without ever seeing the inside of a program file. Introduction to Project Management: translating ethereal missions into goals -> objectives -> tasks, learning how to "operationalize" broad mission statements. Includes timetable development, contingency planning, resource allocation issues/tradeoffs, and most importantly, evaluation/assessment both during the project and after completion. This can be designed so as to tie in to a comprehensive project the students have to do using your existing software. Group dynamics (not strictly an accounting topic, but one which many students lack and won't be getting any more of during the remainder of their college career.) This can be a helpful 1 or 2 class period filler, especially if you assign a group project or two as part of your existing course material. An "approach" for learning any new software: how to learn, in essence. Logical ways to look for help, how to approach learning a new package, how to relate the new software to existing packages (compare-and- contrast learning methodologies), how to recognize/predict trends so as to "expect" certain changes in new or next generation products, etc. Intro to client/server computing, especially databases, and the web. Advantages/disadvantages of networking, hierarchical/peer-to-peer networks, advantages/disadvan of token ring vs. ethernet architectures, what "netware" does, etc. Again, this will make your accounting students seem far ahead of the competition in the eyes of the recruiters. We have received much positive feedback on this from our accounting graduates as to how much this has helped them on their jobs. Intro to alternate technologies, such as fax, cellular switching, personal communications devices, pocket communicators and organizers, the myriad paging devices, or even coverage of today's technologies commonly found in business but not in school: scanners, image processing, optical-character recognition software. Again, this has been the source of many compliments on our accounting graduates -- they can actually USE today's technology (whereas their peers have to learn it first), and what's more, having done it once already, they can learn the new stuff as it comes out a lot faster than their peers. Be sure to emphasize the concepts and not just the "how-to"'s (e.g., education, not training) We've experimented with some other stuff, too, but the above seem to give a lot of bang for the buck, and they don't take too much time, either. What's more, it's nice to balance button-pushing (which I also believe is essential!) with the conceptual stuff so as to give variety to the class. The key is to make SURE it all ties together into a coherent class, and that you relate your stuff to what the other accounting profs are teaching in THEIR courses. A stand-alone actg software class MUST seem to be an INTEGRAL part of the other acccounting classes -- sort of like a "lab" in chemistry or physics -- as much or more than a traditional textbook-based systems class. Just my $0.02 worth. -------------------------------------------
Dr. David R. Fordham, James Madison University School of Accounting ZSH 330
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
Voice: 540-568-3024 Fax: 540-568-3299 E-mail: fordhadr @ jmu.edu
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~fordhadr/
David Fordham maintains a heavy work site for accountancy educators as described below:
I maintain the Prentice-Hall Learning on the Internet (PHLIP) Accounting Master Page. Give it a try. It has links not only to career and job info, educational stuff, and firm pages, but also includes LOTS of links to OTHER super-duper, comprehensive listings of links. The PHLIP site does not pretend to be comprehensive, but lists many sites which DO claim to be comprehensive (such as Bowling Green's, ANet, RAW, and Dennis Schmidt's) or at least comprehensive in one particular area (such as Bob Jensen's). It features a "site of the week", and gives a short description of what you will find at each URL, so you can determine whether it is worth the wait on a slow datalink! The site is updated every Monday morning.
Dr. David R. Fordham, James Madison University School of Accounting ZSH 330
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
Voice: 540-568-3024 Fax: 540-568-3299 E-mail: fordhadr @ jmu.edu
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~fordhadr/
Dr. Kevin J. CLARK, Faculty of Business, School of Accounting & Business Law,
Northern Territory University, DARWIN NT 0909
Voice: (089) 466 466 Fax: (089) 466 513 E-Mail: kclark@business.ntu.edu.au
Keven Clark discusses the use of WWW scavenger hunts.
I too found your Scavenger Hunt idea interesting. I have also tried a similar approach. However my students were required to produce (in several groups of 10) a list of 30 accounting and buiness related sites. The assessment was based on them acheiving the required number, the quality and uniqueness of the sites. A condition was that the site have a significant amount of usable information (as distinct from advertising) and/or links to other information sites. There was also a peer review of contribution to their group. The group was to consider all contributions and submit what was felt to be appropriate. The marks were relative to the contribution of the other groups. (ie a competition of sorts) The list provided would form the basis of a resouce page for future students with the contributions suitably acknowledged. The purpose of the exercise was to expose them (as future accountants) to the enormous amount of information available to them in their profession. The assignment was not particularly useful as assessment for a number of good reasons reasons including the relative importance of the assignment to other elements of assesment. But the real purpose of the assignment was for the students to actively participate. The results were mixed. Firstly the group dynamics were such that some groups performed particularly well as a group and other did not. Secondly I set the assessment grade low for what I felt were a number of good reasons knowing that the incentive to produce would not be high. However I thought that the intergroup competition would counter that (incorrectly as it turned out). Thirdly the assignment was set at the beginning of semester and the students had to whole semester to produce it, with all the nagging and relevent warnings about information overload, not waiting until the last minute etc. The result was that by mid-semester no group had considered any contributions. Once group clearly left it until the last week to produce its contribution. But having said that a two of the five of groups produced reasonably good results. The general comments were that; 1) the students hadnt realised how much was out there 2) the problem of information overload was far greater than they had contemplated 3) how useful was this assignment going to be in the real world where the experience of some of the working students was that their firms wouldnt let them at the internet anyway (only the managers get that access :-) ) 4) gee net surfing is fun (I think these guys got sidetracked into other areas than they were supposed to be researching) Looking at Barry's suggestion and considering the problems that I had, I think I am going to change my approach next time around. As a constant "lurker" I have found this group to be very useful Hope my comments will be useful to some. Rgds Kev Clark > ------------------------------------------------------------------ -----------------------------------
Dr. Kevin J. CLARK, Faculty of Business, School of Accounting & Business Law,
Northern Territory University, DARWIN NT 0909
Voice: (089) 466 466 Fax: (089) 466 513 E-Mail: kclark@business.ntu.edu.au
Dr. E. Barry Rice, Pacioli International Centre for Accounting Education using Computers
and Multimedia, Loyola College in Maryland , 4501 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD USA
21210-2699
V-Mail: (410) 617-2478 Fax: (410) 617-2006
Email: Rice@Loyola.edu
http:// It's about time Barry got a web site once again!
In the message below, Barry Rice discusses WWW scavenger hunts.
As part of the rollout of its home page on October 1, The Maryland Association of CPAs (MACPA) engaged me to make 4-hour continuing professional education presentations at each of the seven chapters around the state during October. In order to encourage participants to get online and check out what is available at the site, I conceived a type of scavenger hunt with prizes to be awarded to the first few members replying with the correct answers. Using this experience, I decided to experiment with my Introductory Accounting courses by having students do an Internet scavenger hunt designed to broaden their perspective of the accounting profession. I especially wanted the assignment to have an international component. What I came up with requires students to find information without any help and e-mail me the information along with the URL address they used. The ten questions were: 1. What are the four entry requirements/qualifications which one must have to qualify for training as a special agent for the FBI? 2. According to the Forbes Magazine list of the 400 richest people in America, how many are CPAs? What are their names and their individual net worth? 3. What does the Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants Code of Professional Conduct say about professional fees, especially with regard to whether they can be on a contingent basis? Quote the relevant section of the Code. 4. What is the British Accounting Association and when was it established? Where and when is its 1997 National Conference? 5. In what year was Arthur Edward Andersen elected to The Accounting Hall of Fame? What employer did he leave in 1911 to join Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company as controller? What CPA firm did he found? 6. What is the Maryland State Board of Public Accountancy (NOT the MACPA)? How many hours of continuing professional education does it require every 2 years? 7. Using the information in an article in last month's [October's] Journal of Accountancy, what percentage of CPAs work in public accounting, management accounting, government and education? What organization publishes the Journal of Accountancy? 8. Precisely what topics are covered on each of the four parts of the U.S. Certified Management Accountant (CMA) Examination? 9. One of the professional affairs with which The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) is concerned is environmental stewardship. In fact, the organization had a Task Force on Sustainable Development which issued a report in September, 1993. Who chaired that task force and with which CPA firm was he affiliated? Quote the first paragraph of the executive summary of the report with regard to the Premise for Action by the CA Profession. 10. This question has two parts? 10 A) Are there any women on the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)? 10 B) Using the mail feature in Netscape, send me an image of a specific member of the FASB using the following criteria... [Explicit directions for how to attach an image file to e-mail using Netscape mail from the student computer lab were included.] To view the COMPLETE assignment including the instructions on grading, sending me the information, etc., use the following URL: (Note that there is no period after "www") http://wwwdev.loyola.edu/~rice and select "scavenger.html". Preliminary feedback is that students are finding the assignment somewhat challenging and quite beneficial for learning more about the accounting profession and the Internet. That same URL also has two other assignments I used: 1. "cpa_firms.html" is for my Introductory Accounting I students. It requires them to look at and evaluate the home pages for the Big 6, two other CPA firms of their choice, the AICPA and the MACPA. 2. "sec_assignment.html" is for my Introductory Accounting II students. It requires them to download the 10-K for two Fortune 500 firms, find certain information and do some analysis. I hope the above will be helpful to some of you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The message below reveals Barry's enthusiasm for video and audio streaming.
STREAMING AUDIO AND VIDEO VIA THE WWW Wow, what a geeky, interesting afternoon! First I listened to radio stations in Australia, Ireland and California while answering some e-mail. Then I viewed some video tips for Windows 95 after which I watched part of the interviews on the two C-Span TV channels. Finally, I watched and listened to a Northwestern University Kellogg School conference for most of an hour. I did all of this in the comfort of my home study using the Internet and my cable modem.
(Some of you may recall that I posted my blurb titled "Cable Modems Reign" a couple of months ago. My enthusiasm for this technology has only increased since then. It has worked flawlessly. I never get broken graphics, etc. the way I do in my campus office with the T-1 connection.)
There are now at least 364 radio stations around the world which broadcast live via the WWW using streaming audio. The quality is outstanding - certainly better than my car radio. Remember it's digital. Most stations seem to be broadcasting in stereo. See http://yahoo.timecast.com/livestations_frame.html.
The "Tips, Tricks, and Shortcuts for Windows 95" is about 2/3 of the way down the page at http://www.real.com/products/realvideo/demo/index.html. You might want to view some of the other videos at this site which make use of Progressive Networks' RealVideo player. They play in a window which takes up about 1/9 of the screen and plays at 30 frames/sec. The audio and video are totally synchronized using my cable modem. Another site related to RealAudio and Video is http://www.timecast.com/videoguide.html. It has links to an audio guide, a video guide and a live guide. The latter not only tells you what is being broadcast now, but also tells you how many hours and minutes until it ends.
C-Span apparently broadcasts about everything that is on TV on the WWW as well. Again, video quality is good, given that the frame rate is about half that on TV. Audio quality is excellent with no pauses. See http://www.c-span.org/. So, you say, "What's the big deal? You can see this on TV and get better quality images." Read on. This one was NOT on TV.
Finally, I stumbled across the Kellogg Global Business Conference at Northwestern University which started last evening and concluded about 5:00 this afternoon. The technology used at this site for streaming audio and video is Microsoft's NetShow. The size of the video window and the quality of the video and audio were about the same as Progressive Networks' products mentioned above. I only wish I had known about the conference yesterday so I could have seen more of it. At least maybe I could have somehow hooked up my VCR to my computer and taped the presentations which were inconvenient for me to watch live. Oh well... But wait! Here is something that says "Panel sessions will also be recorded for On-Demand Webcast after the actual conference!!!" See http://www.kellogg.nwu.edu/confer/global/global.htm.
Now, THIS is the future! No, wait a minute. This is the NOW! The future? I am, as my students would say, "clueless".
Dr. E. Barry Rice, Pacioli International Centre for Accounting Education using Computers
and Multimedia, Loyola College in Maryland , 4501 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD USA
21210-2699
V-Mail: (410) 617-2478 Fax: (410) 617-2006
Email: Rice@Loyola.edu
http:// It's about time Barry got a web site once again!
Dr. John A. Schatzel Stonehill, Accounting Faculty, Business Administration Department,
Easton, MA 02357
Voice: 508-230-1349 Fax: 508-238-9253 Email: Schatzel@stonehill.edu
In the message below, John Schatzel discusses technologies for audit simulation.
As a result of my recent post about using Lotus Notes to coordinate student groupwork, I have received a number of requests for information about the simulated Audit I mentioned in my post dated 1/22/97. So, here is a very quick and general report: I have created and successfully tested in my Fall 1996 Auditing class one of the first interactive multimedia auditing simulations (actually, I really don't know who created the first one, I just haven't heard of any others). Anyhow, it was originally developed in Asymetrix's Open Script, 3D F/X and Sound Forge. It was then placed on our local area network. Students worked with the simulation this past Fall as a group project (coordinated with Lotus Notes). The simulation includes sample background information, accounting records, and 3D people to interact with. The dialoguing engine is quite extensive. For example, the discussions with the Credit Manager and Controller can take up to twenty minutes each and can result in different outcomes depending on how the students proceed with information gathering and negotiations. As students complete steps on the audit program, their conclusions are recorded and any proposed adjustments are passed on to the dialogue with the Controller. The conclusions were also printed out for submission to me. I also had student groups present their audit findings in class to a simulated audit committee, of which I was supposedly a member. Student feedback on the simulation in my course evaluations was very encouraging. I attempted to make the simulation available over the Internet with Asymetrix's Neuron plug-in for Windows 95. Unfortunately, the download time for many of the files was unacceptably long. I was also concerned that a plug-in would not be available for 16-bit Win 3.1 on the Apple Macintoch. Although a plug-in is now available for Win 3.1, other Neuron limitations, such as one sound channel only, no file compression or audio streaming technologies, I decided to convert the simulation to Macromedia Lingo. The learning curve for Director is very high (really high), but I should have a demo for people to see on the Internet (possibly this week). You will need the Shockwave plug-in for your Web browser. The demo is at http://www.stonehill.edu/depart/accounting/default.htm (select on-line courses from the menu - the simulation is called realAudit 96- not to be confused with Real Audio). If anyone decides to check it out, I wouldn't mind receiving your feedback and suggestions, thanks,
Dr. John A. Schatzel Stonehill, Accounting Faculty, Business Administration Department,
Easton, MA 02357
Voice: 508-230-1349 Fax: 508-238-9253 Email: Schatzel@stonehill.edu
Dr. Robert Vernon Blystone, Biology Department, Trinity University, 715 Stadium Drive,
San Antonio, TX 78212
Voice: 210-999-7243 Email: rblyston@trinity.edu
http://weird.biol.trinity.edu/
http://weird.biol.trinity.edu/rblyston/index.html
Dr. Mark B. Garrison, Department of Classical Studies, Trinity University, San Antonio,
TX 78212
Voice: 210-999-7648 Email: mgarriso@trinity.edu
http://www.trinity.edu/departments/classical_studies/index.html
Click here to view the Perseus web site
(This will open in a new browser window.)
Click here to view the Classics Dept. web site at Dartmouth
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Dr. John E. Howland, Department of Computer Science, Trinity University, 715 Stadium
Drive, San Antonio, TX 78212
Voice: 210-999-7364 Email: jhowland@trinity.edu
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~jhowland/
Dr. Robert T. Huesca, Department of Communication, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX
78212
Voice: 210-999-8169 Email: rhuesca@trinity.edu
http://www.trinity.edu/departments/communication/index.html
Portions of Rob's commentary on the actual libel illustration were deleted. I prefer not to risk further injury to the persons mentioned at a student's web site that was removed from a Trinity University server due to potential libel.
Click here to view the San Jose Mercury Center web site
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Dr. Michael C. Kearl, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Trinity University, 715
Stadium Drive, San Antonio, TX
Voice: 210-999-8561 Email: mkearl@trinity.edu
http://WWW.Trinity.Edu/~mkearl/index.html
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To my knowledge, Mark Garrison is the only Trinity University faculty member teaching a distance education course where remote students receive college credits. I asked Dr. Garrison for an informal update on his reactions to date. (This course was a funded project from the Associated Colleges of the South).
Dear Bob,
Hi, and apologies for not getting back in touch with you after our conversation. There are two home pages for the ACS Archaeology Project: http://www.colleges.org/~turkey/. This is teaching end of the project, really the home page for the on-line course. It has the original proposal to Mellon and all information about the course (with links to our WebBoard, where we post lectures and discussions). http://www.choma.org/.This is the research end of the project, where we are developing web-based tools for publication of our data. The most interesting aspect is the query forms for the various databases. Still very much under development.
Bob Jensen's questions to Dr. Garrison:
How the materials were developed, nature of the students?
Good news and bad news about the course to date?We do not have anything on either of the sites about the specific issues mentioned by you. I can tell you that we do much experimentation as regards materials, software and hardware. This semester we have a stable live audio streaming technology; we plan to have live video streaming by the end of the semester. We use a RealAudio streaming server, production is done with RealProducer, and students access the stream with RealPlayer. For the last two we use the free versions available at the RealAudio web site.
Students run the gamut of majors and levels. They obviously are highly motivated, since they are committing a large chunk of their summer to the field school.
Good news:
This course works great and I think that we are doing something no one else is doing. This is not a "distance course" in the traditional sense of the word. We are expanding the curricular offerings at all schools that are involved (not simply providing a more "efficient" means to distribute a course that already exists at various institutions). In addition, we are creating a unique teaching and research vehicle for students and faculty in the consortium. The project also allows students to work with faculty at the level of a true research partner; to my knowledge, it is one of the few examples of collaborative undergraduate student-faculty research in the humanities.Bad news:
It takes a lot of time and energy on my part, and I have to teach the course as an overload to my normal teaching load.Hope this is of some use.
Best,Mark B. Garrison
Associate Professor Department of Classical Studies
Trinity University San Antonio, Texas 78212
210-999-7648 210-999-7305 (fax) mgarriso@trinity.edu
Dr. David J. Naples, Department of Mathematics, St. Edwards University, Austin, TX
78704-6489
Email: naples@acad.stedwards.edu
http://www.cs.stedwards.edu/contrib/u/naples/
Click here to view the San Diego Super Computing (SDSC) Site's VRML Repository
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Dr. Harold Boyles, St. Edwards University, Austin, TX 78704-6489
Email: haroldb@admin.stedwards.edu
http://www.stedwards.edu/hum/boyles/audionet/
Professor Boyles contends that language labs are obsolete due to technologies of recording multimedia on the WWW. He also complains that the audio tapes that accompany language textbooks are awkward to use. He digitizes those tapes at a web site along with the text in the textbook. Then students can hear and read the words and meanings.
Dr. Thomas Thomas C. Omer, Department of Accounting, College of Business Administration,
University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607-7123
Email: tcomer@uic.edu
http://www.uic.edu/classes/actg/actg446/
Hi Bob. Funny you should send this message today. I have implemented a policy in my accounting classes this semester that all materials are available only online either in HTML, pdf, or doc formats. At the beginning of the class I had out a technology quiz and the address of the class page. i haven't yet put exams to be taken on the web but i do offer homework solutions, and sample exams. i am experimenting with my own audio clips to provide additional instruction on pages where i think solutions are unclear or need additional explanations. the students are very receptive to the process. In addition, all assignments must be turned in as an attachment to a e-mail message. Well that's my experiment. If you would like additional information, write again.
Dr. Thomas Thomas C. Omer, Department of Accounting, College of Business Administration,
University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607-7123
Email: tcomer@uic.edu
http://www.uic.edu/classes/actg/actg446/
Hi Bob. Here is a toy (JavaScripting) I am playing with on the web for my tax class. See what you think. Please be kind it's just a prototype and its feelings are hurt very easily. http://www.uic.edu/classes/actg/actg446/c2-5tutor.htm
Dr. Thomas Thomas C. Omer, Department of Accounting, College of Business Administration,
University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607-7123
Email: tcomer@uic.edu
http://www.uic.edu/classes/actg/actg446/
Dr. W. Robert Smith, School of Professional Accountancy, University of Southern
Mississippi, P.O. Box 5178, Hattiesburg, MS 39406-5178
Email: Bob.Smith@usm.edu
http://ocean.st.usm.edu/~wrsmith
Dear Tax Educator,
As a class project, I recently started a publication called Tax Byte. You can find Tax
Byte at http://ocean.st.usm.edu/~wrsmith/hpnl.htm. In the first issue, my students
wrote short, World Wide Web-oriented tax articles. In the future, we, my students and I,
would like very much to publish articles written by students at other schools. The purpose
of this note is to ask you to consider encouraging your students to submit high-quality
papers to Tax Byte. We would certainly welcome articles written by others, but we
believe students to be a rich source of articles that, realistically, might not otherwise
be published for a variety of reasons. Tax teachers are in a unique position to identify
papers worthy of submission.
We are developing style guidelines for Tax Byte. In the meantime, please know that
we can accommodate a wide variety of papers. Papers can be fairly long or very short. We
will look primarily at whether papers are interesting and well-written. If possible,
please review student submissions and screen them to the extent possible. We would
appreciate your making revision suggestions and having students revise papers before
submission. We also welcome student papers co-authored with tax faculty.
Perhaps you could announce in future tax classes that you plan to select the top three (or
some other number) papers for submission toTax Byte. You might use this as a way to
communicate to employers which students write well. That is, outstanding students would
have a publication in Tax Byte. The next issue of Tax Byte is scheduled for June
1997. We plan to makeTax Byte a quarterly publication. Please consider submitting
articles to the address below. Many thanks for your help. --
Dr. W. Robert Smith, School of Professional Accountancy, University of Southern
Mississippi, P.O. Box 5178, Hattiesburg, MS 39406-5178
Email: Bob.Smith@usm.edu
http://ocean.st.usm.edu/~wrsmith
Professor Robert E. Jensen, Jesse H. Jones Distinguished Professor of Business, Department
of Business Administration, Trinity University, 715 Stadium Drive, San Antonio, TX
78212-7200
Email: rjensen@trinity.edu
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen
Date: Tue, 01 Apr 1997 11:22:14 -0600 (CST)
From: Bob Jensen (rjensen@trinity.edu)
Subject: Re: Online Publishing
Sender: rjensen@trinity.edu
To: aecm-l@LOYOLA.EDU
Reply-to: aecm-l@LOYOLA.EDU
Comments: Accounting Education using Computers and Multimedia
Welcome Back Barry, The textbook you asked about is Accounting Information Systems: A Database Approach by Uday S. Murthy, Ph.D., ACA and S. Michael Groomer, Ph.D., CPA, CISA Check out http"//www.cybertext.com
The email address is webmaster@cybertext.com
Ceil Pillsbury is currently using the Murthy and Groomer AIS text online. I am giving it a try next semester. I do not much care for any of the AIS texts that I have examined, so I cannot say that the competition was very tough. Having said that, I think Murthy and Groomer have a great start in Internet publishing of quality piece of work. I am really looking forward to subsequent editions (which in theory can pour forth daily since it is a WWW book). Accounting books are likely to move fast into online publishing due to the accelerating pace at which tax regulations, financial reporting standards, and accounting information systems are changing.
Although students can order a printed copy, the authors discourage this for good reason. The nature of the text is that it can only be used effectively online. There are quite a few links, although one area that needs improving is a much wider subset of links to real world AIS related sites on the WWW. I am most happy that you and your wife had a "fantastic" visit to the U.K. There is probably not much point in my adding more to what I have already said about the future of CD-RW and CD-DVD, although some new thoughts have been added to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245glosf.htm
The Room Zoom is due for a complete revitalization (using a new developer), and I have been a minor participant in the evaluation process for the AICPA. One recommendation (out of the pages of other recommendations that I sent to Jodi Landau Ryan) is that the AICPA have an on-going Room Zoom web site that can be used interactively with the Room Zoom CD. It seems to me that this is the way many "books" of the future will be "published." The web site controller can be updated daily with new text, new data, new audio, and new links. The CD can contain the hard-to-transmit files such as video, animation, long audio files, and large databases. The CD can also contain copyrighted material that copyright holders will license for CD distribution but not WWW mass distribution. Bob Jensen Professor Robert E. Jensen (Bob) Web Documents: http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen Jesse H. Jones Distinguished Professor of Business Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212-7200 Phone: (210) 999-7347 Fax: (210) 999-8134
This is a second message from Bob Jensen regarding how to make students pay up:
Probably not much can be done to prevent online copying of text any more than can be done to prevent off line photocopying of hard copy journals and textbooks. If universities imposed a per-page computer printing charge, the cost of printing would be a consideration just as the cost of photocopying is now a consideration. In fact, with online publishing becoming more prevalent, universities are advised to adopt some type of computer printing charge system. Otherwise, universities will be paying the paper and toner charges for each student's textbook.
For at least two reasons, however, students will be discouraged from online printing of hard copy textbooks. Firstly, the documents online may be changed daily such that what a student "prints" may be very quickly out of date. Secondly, good online documents have links, audio, (someday video), hypertext navigation controls, and interactive features that make hard copy printings very limited in terms of the full learning experience. One problem with CD and online textbooks to date, however, is that most of them are little more than digitized versions of hard copy that lack the attributes mentioned in the above paragraph. If all that is in the online text is in the hard copy, then computer printers will do what photocopy machines do to intellectual property rights.
Actually authors are becoming clever about how to protect fees from online publishing. Groomer and Murthy (http://www.cybertext.com/ ) rely heavily upon online quizzes. If instructors require some of the online quizzes, students cannot obtain credit unless they pay for the textbook's password.
Another control feature is to require instructors who adopt an online text to supply the class list after the add-drop period ends. Another factor to consider is that the somewhat dirty and unethical business of selling examination copies to used book dealers will halt with online book publishing. When a used book becomes obsolete almost daily, there cannot be much of a used book market (that is a plague at present for hard copy publishing).
Bob Jensen ***************************************************************Barry, Thanks for allowing me to subscribe to your listserve. I like the
>discussion between Bob Jensen and you about, among other things, publishing
>online texts. I was wondering whether you, or anyone else, knows how to
>prevent students from printing multiple copies of an online text? The
>answer is not obvious to me (although that's not saying much) and has
>direct implications for how quickly authors publish their texts on >websites. Thanks a lot.
> > > > > >
This is a reply message from Professor Murthy:
Date: Mon, 07 Apr 1997 10:41:46 -0500 (EST)
From: uday@tamu.edu (Uday Murthy)
Subject: Re: Online Publishing
Sender: murthy@acs.tamu.edu
To: aecm-l@LOYOLA.EDU
Reply-to: aecm-l@LOYOLA.EDU
Comments: Accounting Education using Computers and Multimedia
Hi folks! I thought I would join the aecm mailing list given the numerous inquiries we (CyberText Publishing) have received lately in response to Bob Jensen's posting (thanks Bob!). Yes, student "sharing" of accounts is a significant concern in online publishing. As Bob has pointed out, our mechanism for preventing that is to use online quizzes. A student can take (and get credit for) these quizzes only if he/she has an account which he/she has paid for. We have devised a mechanism for automatic grading of these quizzes. Students get instant feedback on how they did and the instructor gets a report via email indicating how his/her students did on the quiz. In our beta tests we've found that students like the online quizzes because it is a way for them to see how well they understand the material. The quizzes themselves are obviously open book and are taken *before* class on the day a chapter is covered.
We would like to invite you to visit our web site (http://www.cybertext.com). Please send email to info@cybertext.com if you would like further information about how you might examine one or all of our three online textbooks ("AIS: A Database Approach," "Advanced Systems Analysis & Design," and "A Technology Primer"). We will very shortly be publicizing our web site and offerings in a more formal announcement.
Uday S. Murthy, Ph.D., ACA Associate Professor Department of Accounting Lowry Mays College and Graduate School of Business Texas A&M University, College Station TX 77843-4353
Voice: 409-845-5017 Fax: 409-845-0028
Professor Robert E. Jensen, Jesse H. Jones Distinguished Professor of Business, Department
of Business Administration, Trinity University, 715 Stadium Drive, San Antonio, TX
78212-7200
Email: rjensen@trinity.edu
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen
Richard J. Campbell, N. College Ave., University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, OH 45674
Voice: (614) 245-7288 Fax: (614) 245-7123 Email: campbell@eurekanet.com
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 19:59:33 -0400
From: Richard Campbell (campbell@eurekanet.com)
Subject: Accounting tutorial FREE downloads
Normal Comments: Accounting Education using Computers and Multimedia X-Proc-type: 3
I have just uploaded to my public ftp site a demo for "Financial Accounting 97", which is an interactive tutorial of financial accounting concepts: It can be downloaded at:
http://www.rj-int.com/download/f97demo.exe
It is 2.7 megs and if you have a T-1 carrier it can be downloaded and installed in less than 4 minutes. If you have a 28.8 modem, it well.... takes a little longer. The file is a self-extracting Winzip file and will start the process upon double-clicking the Winzip icon.
I have also uploaded a demo for "Managerial Accounting 97" which was previously published as "WESTUTOR FOR Managerial Accounting" under my authorship by West Publishing to accompany the Raiborn, Barfield and Kinney "Managerial Accounting" (Second Edition) printed textbook.
It is 2.5 megs and can be downloaded at:
http://www.rj-int.com/download/m97demo.exe
PC Zone is handling my order fulfillment, (www.pczone.com), but an essentially free
network site license is available for either both
======================================================= Richard J. Campbell "Bringing
the excitement School of Business of accounting to multimedia" N. College Ave.
http://www.rj-int.com University of Rio Grande Voice: 614-245-7288 Rio Grande, OH 45674
Fax: 614-245-7123 campbell@eurekanet.com
=========================================================
Richard J. Campbell, N. College Ave., University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, OH 45674
Voice: (614) 245-7288 Fax: (614) 245-7123 Email: campbell@eurekanet.com
http://www.rj-int.com
Real Audio
You can see a Powerpoint slide presentation with streaming audio by going to the Gallery page at my site: http://www.rj-int.com The presentation is optimized for T-1 delivery, so performance will suffer at slower speeds.
You’ll need the FREE Realaudio 5.0 player. I have a link to it at my site.
=========================================================
Richard J. Campbell, N. College Ave., University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, OH 45674
Voice: (614) 245-7288 Fax: (614) 245-7123 Email: campbell@eurekanet.com
May 25, 1998
I am currently working on a project for Great Plains Software, namely the "Interactive Managerial Accounting Practice Set", which will feature Great Plains Dynamics software. This will be available free from the http://www.gps.com site. I currently offer "Financial Accounting 98" for sale from my web site, with a minor update available soon, which will provide enhanced printing capabilities. I no longer offer free network site licenses. "Managerial Accounting 98" will shortly follow after I complete the Great Plains project.
I will be signing a contract this week with a major cable tv company, which will allow me to distribute "Financial Accounting 99" and "Managerial Accounting 99" via cable TV. Both these products will be complete textbooks, with hours of multimedia, as well as unique print capabilities.
=========================================================
Richard J. Campbell, N. College Ave., University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, OH 45674
Voice: (614) 245-7288 Fax: (614) 245-7123 Email: campbell@eurekanet.com
Professor Robert H. Ashton, T. Austin Finch Sr. Professor of Business Administration,
Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Durham, NC 27706
Email: rha2@mail.duke.edu
Biography Page: http://www.fuqua.duke.edu/faculty/rha2.htm
Link to the GEMBA online program: The GEMBA online program
at Duke University
From: "Robert H. Ashton" (rha2@mail.duke.edu)
To: Bob Jensen (rjensen@trinity.edu)
Subject: Re: August 17 Workshop Date: Fri, 20 Jun 1997 10:37:33 -0400 (EDT)
Hi Bob,
I'm a novice at this Distance Learning (and don't actually start teaching until next
month), so I may not have all the terms straight, but here is what we do. It is
interactive on the web. We use a combination of bulletin boards, chat rooms (I think
that's what it's called when the communication is synchronous), real audio, screen cams,
and cd-rom.
Briefly, the GEMBA program comprises 5 terms with, generally, 3 courses in each. Each term
proceeds as follows--3 week pre-residential reading period, 2 week residential session, 11
week interactive distance learning period. The residential sessions are held in: Session
1--Durham, Session 2--Austria & Chech Republic, Session 3--Hong Kong & Shanghai,
Session 4 (my term to teach)--Brazil & Argentina, and Session 5--Durham.
If you are interested further, just let me know and we can talk or I can send you some
materials.
Best regards,
Bob
Professor Robert H. Ashton, T. Austin Finch Sr. Professor of Business Administration,
Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Durham, NC 27706
Email: rha2@mail.duke.edu
Biography Page: http://www.fuqua.duke.edu/faculty/rha2.htm
Link to the GEMBA online program: The GEMBA online program
at Duke University
Professor Curt DeBerg, Department of Accounting and Information Systems, College of
Business, California State University at Chico, Chico, CA 95929-0011
Email: CDEBERG@oavax.csuchico.edu
Department URL: http://www-cob.csuchico.edu/PROGRAMS/PAGES/deptaccmis.html
Interactive Case for Introductory Accounting: http://www.csuchico.edu/acms/fipse/index.html
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 1997 16:13:53 -0700 (PDT)
From: CDEBERG@oavax.csuchico.edu
Subject: new website/fipse/prin. of acctg.
From Curt DeBerg
Comments: Accounting Education using Computers and Multimedia
Dear Colleagues: As a result of two grants from the U.S. Department of Education's Fund
for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), the accounting department at
California State University, Chico completely reengineered its two introductory
undergraduate accounting courses and disseminated the model to six other colleges and
universities across the U.S. The purpose of the email is to invite you to visit our new
web page entitled "Curricular Revision Starting at Ground Zero: The Case of
Introductory Accounting." The address is: http://www.csuchico.edu/acms/fipse/index.html
This CSU, Chico website explains the process of curricular revision in these two
foundation business courses, and describes the motivation for change, obstacles faced,
resources obtained and put in place, structure of new courses, linkage of the resulting
product to the institutional mission, outcomes assessment, and reaction of stakeholders.
The site concludes with recommendations and advice to other institutions and faculty who
are considering program and curriculum revision. The website is organized according to the
following links. Note that several documents (e.g., syllabi, sample cases and solutions,
assessment results) easily can be downloaded to your hard drive). I welcome feedback from
each of you.
Thank you.
* Overview
* Introduction
* Motivation for Change
* Structure of the New Courses
* Introduction to Accounting I
* Syllabus
* Samples Cases and Solutions
* PowerPoint slides
* Instructor Guidelines
Introduction to Accounting II
* Syllabus
* Samples Case
* Instructor Guidelines
* Major Features That Distinguish the New Courses from Traditional Courses
* User Orientation
* Problem-Solving Skills
* Interpersonal Skills
* Computer Skills
* Serial Cases
* Simulation
* Relationship to Institutional Objectives
* Summary
* Obstacles
* Communication
* Faculty Development
* Resistance to "Active Learning"
* Deficient Computer Skills
* Transitional Problems for Accounting Majors Moving to Intermediate Accounting
* Difficulties in Assessing Outcomes
* Continually Updating/Improving Instructional Materials
* Managing the Grading Load
* Summary
* Resources
* Outcome Measures
* Formative Survey Results
* Other Assessment Findings
* Sample Pre-Test: Attitudes
* Sample Post-Test: Attitudes
* Sample Final Exam: Introduction to Accounting I
* Sample Final Exam: Introduction to Accounting II
* Summary
* Reaction of Interested Parties
* Recommendations for Interested Parties
* Links
* Index of Topics
Professor Curt DeBerg, Department of Accounting and Information Systems, College of
Business, California State University at Chico, Chico, CA 95929-0011
Email: CDEBERG@oavax.csuchico.edu
Department URL: http://www-cob.csuchico.edu/PROGRAMS/PAGES/deptaccmis.html
Interactive Case for Introductory Accounting: http://www.csuchico.edu/acms/fipse/index.html
John A. Schatzel, Stonehill College, No. Easton, MA 02357
Email: schatzel@stonehill.edu
http://online.stonehill.edu
Date: Mon, 07 Apr 1997 10:52:27 -0500
From: schatzel@stonehill.edu (John A. Schatzel)
Subject: realAudit 97
To: aecm-l@LOYOLA.EDU
Resent-reply-to: aecm-l@LOYOLA.EDU
Reply-to: schatzel@stonehill.edu
Organization: Stonehill College
Comments: Accounting Education using Computers and Multimedia X-Proc-type: 3 (Normal)
An updated version of realAudit is now available for demonstration at
under the On-line Tutorials
section. realAudit 97 is one of the first attempts to capture the essence of real world
financial auditing in an interactive multimedia format over the WWW. A CD-ROM version
is also under development.
Some of the simulation features include:
Nonlinear plot design
3D rendered graphics (including office scenes and characters)
Dialoguing engine allows extensive interactive interviews with client personnel A queriable accounting system
Streaming audio
Student's audit findings are woven into negotiations with Controller (allowing multiple outcomes)
Three levels of play: 1) Totally professional, 2) Somewhat sarcastic, 3) Don't say I didn't warn you
The LAN version of realAudit 96 was successfully tested by students in my Auditing
course this past Fall. They conducted the simulated audit in teams, described their
progress in a Lotus Notes discussion database, and ultimately made an oral class
presentation of their findings to a simulated Audit Committee (of which I served as a
member with lots of questions).
I look forward to any comments or questions you may have about the simulation
John A. Schatzel, Stonehill College, No. Easton, MA 02357
Email: schatzel@stonehill.edu
John F. Sacco
Associate Professor of Government and Politics Department of Public & International
Affairs
3F4 George Mason University Fairfax, Va 22030
Email: jsacco@osf1.gmu.edu
Voice: (703) 993 4569 Fax: (703) 993 1399
URL: http://www.pwc.gmu.edu/course/govt490
At 01:05 PM 9/21/97 -0400, you wrote:
Bob, your work is really impressive. I marvel at people who can keep up with a substantive
area like accounting and still do advanced technical >work in the information sciences.
I do the financial-economics type courses (govt accounting, cost management, etc.) in a Government and Public Administration program and have a partially completed, humble (always under construction) Web product for one of my courses. It's at:
http://www.pwc.gmu.edu/course/govt490
The people at FinanceNet have a pointer to it:
http://www.financenet.gov/financenet/jobs/wwwlib5.htm
Initially I was hesitant to allow financeNet to use my material but I'm amazed at the time some people put into reading and offering excellent comments and suggestions on errors or mistakes in my course.
I might add that I also learned about frames from one of your messages and I'm currently experimenting with using more frames in my Web material. The type of positive externalities you generate are certainly among the ones that advance education.
John F. Sacco
Associate Professor of Government and Politics Department of Public & International
Affairs
3F4 George Mason University Fairfax, Va 22030
Email: jsacco@osf1.gmu.edu
Voice: (703) 993 4569 Fax: (703) 993 1399
URL: http://www.pwc.gmu.edu/course/govt490
David J. Spiceland
School of Accountancy
Fogelman College of Business and Economics
University of Memphis
Email: dspice@memphis.edu
Voice: (901) 678-2441 Fax: (901) 678-8282
URL: http://www.people.memphis.edu/~dspice
Bob-
When checking out your 5341 project assignment (quite good btw), I noticed a reference to one of my sites under "sites may be extremely valuable for your research projects." Unfortunately it has changed. Should be http://www.mhhe.com/business/accounting/spiceland/website.html
username: faculty
password: teach
This is the front page of the resources site for Intermediate Accounting (also includes my entire textbook). Perhaps also helpful, are my two masters courses: Accounting Theory: http://www.people.memphis.edu/~dspice/acct7120.html International Accounting: http://www.people.memphis.edu/~dspice/acct7170.htm. These are (semi)paperless courses. No passwords for these. David
David J. Spiceland
School of Accountancy
Fogelman College of Business and Economics
University of Memphis
Email: dspice@memphis.edu
Voice: (901) 678-2441 Fax: (901) 678-8282
URL: http://www.people.memphis.edu/~dspice
Note: David now teaches an online Accounting Theory Course: See http://www.people.memphis.edu/~dspice/7120/acct7120.html
Wayne Ingalls
College of Business Administration
University of Maine at Orono
Orono, ME 04469-5723
Phone:207-581-1983
Fax: 207-581-1956
Email: ingalls@maine.maine.edu
First, Diane Ross says Hello! Bob, I have been developing an accounting course(2nd semester of Principles) using a web-based virtual classroom (WEBCT}. Next semster I have a leave and will be devoting full time to this project. The course should have all the bells including real time audio. My question is whether this would be suitable for a presentation at the CETA session next summer. Also Ginnny Gibson says hello and if you would like to make a presentation to the CBA faculty here at Maine we can arrange it.
Wayne Ingalls
College of Business Administration
University of Maine at Orono
Orono, ME 04469-5723
Phone:207-581-1983
Fax: 207-581-1956
Email: ingalls@maine.maine.edu
Dan K. Gode
Assistant Professor of Accounting
Stern School of Business
New York University
40 West 4th Street
New York, NY 10012
Ph: 212-998-0021
Fax: 212-995-4004
E-mail: dgode@stern.nyu.edu
Web: http://dgode.stern.nyu.edu
Dear Bob:
I sent out an announcement of my software to AECM-L list. I am reproducing it below. If this, or a version of this, could be added to your web site it will be great. As always I would very much welcome your comments. The full text search is not enabled because Asymetrix is no longer supporting it.
The software has 1850 screens of content and if printed would be similar to a typical textbook. This took four years to develop. I am working on a text search engine for the software, but it is difficult to do.
Dan Gode
John Wiley & Sons is proud to announce Financial Accounting Tutor 98, a self-paced interactive tutorial software. It covers all the topics in a typical financial accounting course. The current version is free until August 30, 1998 and can be downloaded from http://dgode.ssb.rochester.edu/fact98.exe or ftp://dgode.ssb.rochester.edu/fact98.exe
The software has also been uploaded to many software archives. Please send an e-mail to Susan.Elbe@wiley.com for further information about the software. After May 1, 1998, the software can be accessed from http://www.wiley.com/college/gode/
The installation file size is 11 MB. It requires 35 MB of hard disk space for installation, 8 MB of RAM, any version of Windows, 486 DX2 66 or better, and a video card capable of showing at least 256 colors at 640x480 resolution.
The software has the following strengths:
1. Accountants' logic is explained from an economics perspective, and accounting procedures are explained from an information-systems perspective. This helps students understand the logic of accounting concepts as well as procedures.
2. Very careful attention has been paid to the learning process. Every concept is gradually introduced with simple examples.
3. The software is highly interactive, which promotes active learning. It uses a drag and drop format of journal entry that significantly speeds learning.
4. The software has unparalleled navigation and search features and uses graphics to illustrate the key concepts and break the monotony of plain text.
5. The content can be printed, and the screen layout is designed for easy reading, which makes it easy to review the material.
6.The software has a built-in financial calculator that can solve most problems provided in the software.
Produced by Rachana and Dan Gode.
Dan K. Gode
Assistant Professor of Accounting
Stern School of Business
New York University
40 West 4th Street
New York, NY 10012
Ph: 212-998-0021
Fax: 212-995-4004
E-mail: dgode@stern.nyu.edu
Web: http://dgode.stern.nyu.edu
Lew Shaw
Suffolk University
8 Ashburton Place
Boston, MA 02108
Phone: 617-573-8205
Fax: 617-573-8345
e-mail: lshaw@suffolk.edu
http://www.sawyer.suffolk.edu/faculty/acct/lshaw.htm
Dear Bob,
I am not sure you remember me, but I attended your workshops in Dallas last summer, and of course found your presentations and work to be an inspiration. I have been dabbling in asynchronous learning (and some synchronous applications) in several of my courses. If you would like to view a course taught by Mawdudur Rahman and assisted by me (I designed and maintain the web site, among other tasks), it is at: http://www.sawyer.suffolk.edu/ais/aishome.html or http://www.sawyer.suffolk.edu/ais/aishome1.html. It includes cyber-classes held in a private chat room and an extensive utilization of a class ListServ. I also have course materials for other courses linked through my faculty page: http://www.sawyer.suffolk.edu/faculty/acct/lshaw.htm.
I have been asked to participate in a panel discussion following your presentation at Bentley College on May 1. I am very excited about the opportunity and of hearing your presentation. I have been asked to prepare five minutes of introductory remarks for my panel participation. Based on what you intend to present, do you have any suggestions on what I could focus on? Also, if you need any assistance in setting up your stuff, I am willing to help.
Again, I look forward to seeing you next week.
Lew Shaw
Suffolk University
8 Ashburton Place
Boston, MA 02108
Phone: 617-573-8205
Fax: 617-573-8345
e-mail: lshaw@suffolk.edu
http://www.sawyer.suffolk.edu/faculty/acct/lshaw.htm
Email Messages from Paul Krause
Accounting and MIS Department
California State University....
Chico, CA 95929-0011.....
Phone...(1) 530.898.5272..........Fax...(1) 530.898.4790
Email: pkrause@busipo.csuchico.edu
http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~pkrause
Message 1 from Paul Krause
I’ve seen a few others mentioned, so I thought to add mine. I have two courses available on the web. The Accounting Information Systems course has all previously printed materials available. Also my all lecture notes and student presentations are there in PowerPoint.
http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~pkrause/acct111.html
The second class is 100% web based with all lectures delivered via RealPlayer. Because of resolution problems in RealPlayer, I encourage students to open the RealPlayer lectures on top, and open the accompanying PowerPoint slides underneath RealPlayer to follow along.
I have sent materials out in different bandwidths as students have complained about download problems at home.
The course is an Intro to Information Systems and is at
http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~pkrause/mins110.html
To view the lectures you need to download RealPlayer 5.0 which can be accessed from my site.
Message 2 from Paul Krause
I just completed a ‘virtual’ class taught using streaming video. For results see http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~pkrause/mins110.html I have no password protection on the lectures. (My mother in Milwaukee can watch me and see what her son is doing!) I have left several lectures out there for demonstration use.
I used RealPlayer 5.0, with the free viewer available to students. The viewer was available to students by a link at my site. Neither the students or I have any complaints about the performance of RealPlayer.
The course was offered only to on campus students. Audio download was never a problem. It was always received, at any download site the students used. We, justifiably it turned out, worried about bandwidth for the streaming video. The course was first delivered at 56K, and only students with on campus connections could watch the video part. We experimented with various ISP’s and found that a 38K streaming video was continuously viewable to students at home with 56K modems and 56K ISP support. More than 40K-44K eventually caused interruptions at the home download sites.
For students with 33K modem setups, we had to record at 28.8K to give them a continuous feed. However, the students did not seem to mind the limited number of frames/second they were receiving. This probably was a function of my method of delivery. I talked extemporaneously at times, but in the formal lecture part, I posted PowerPoint slides for a background behind me. (I used bluescreen technology, just like the local weather people.) Students usually were not able to read the font size on the PowerPoints in the video window. I kept font sizes at no less than 22 point, and tried to go with 28 usually.
To compensate for poor note rendering in the video, I encouraged them to download the PowerPoint slides, and run them simultaneously with the video- with the PowerPoint slides controlled at home underneath, and the video on top. This worked according to the students.
Students liked the asynchronous- space and time- shifts. This was the key benefit from their viewpoint. Another expected benefit was they could go back a repeat portions they didn’t understand, and they could fastforward portions they didn’t want to view.
An unanticipated benefit from student perceptions, was the availability of diverse learning modes. They had the option to attend the live video tapings, and about 10% continued to do so. Their other options were, singly or in combination, read the text, watch the videos, and/or view the PowerPoint slides. A few students admitted that they relied on one source only, such as just the text and ignored any visual assist. At least one admitted to using only the PowerPoint lecture notes. The notes were enough for him/her to pass the exams. Key thing was that students appreciated the diverse learning modes. Attending lecture was not the only choice.
Based on my experience, I feel we are a few years away from good streaming video. Bandwidth is the problem. I was limited to a maximum of 15 frames per second, half the speed of TV. And resolution limited good pictures to less than one-quarter of the screen display area, not large enough to read most materials used.
The course was delivered to 60 students this time. We intend to go to 240 next time. The limiting factor we see now, is sufficient computer resources on campus. Students are not required to purchase computers at our school, and many still rely on campus facilities.
Hope this helps those of you considering streaming video. There’s lots more we did... how to disseminate and receive course assignments, how to evaluate remote quizzes and exams... But that is another topic.
Paul Krause
http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~pkrause
Accounting and MIS Department
California State University....
Chico, CA 95929-0011.....
Phone...(1) 530.898.5272..........Fax...(1) 530.898.4790
Email: pkrause@busipo.csuchico.edu
http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~pkrause
Email Message from Monzurul Hoque
Graham School of Management
Saint Xavier University
Chicago, IL 60655
Phone: 773-298-3600 Fax: 773-298-3610
Email: HOQUE@SXU.EDU ]
Professor Jensen:
I hope this e-mail will find you in the best of health and spirit. It was my privilege to have met you when you visited Saint Xavier University for Technolgy Awareness Day. We fondly remember your lecture.
You will be happy to note that Financial Trading and Practices (FTP) program is getting stronger and the Investment Lab is complete. I will teach the first course in the Investment Lab this summer. I am in the process of putting the FTP as well as my home page on the server. I would like to take up your offer to link me under Daring Professor on your page if it is still available. I will eagerly be looking forward to your suggestions to improve the page and any other suggestions to be in company with creative souls. One of the agenda for coming weeks will be to construct and link my page with yours if you still allow it.
If you could provide me the e-mail of your Bangladeshi American friend, that would be great. Thank you again your gracious offer and look forward to hearing from you.
Monzur
Graham School of Management
Saint Xavier University
Chicago, IL 60655
Phone: 773-298-3600 Fax: 773-298-3610
Email: HOQUE@SXU.EDU ]
Email Message from Roger Debreceny
Senior Lecturer, Division of Financial and Management Accounting
Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University
Singapore 639678 Room S3-B1-B68
Phone x6049 (Internal) 799 6049 (External) +65 799 6049 (International)
Fax: 791 3697 (External) +65 791 3697 (International)
Email: rogerd@netbox.com
Web Site: http://www.ntu.edu.sg/home/adebreceny/
Bob
"G’Day mates" is more an Australian greeting than New Zealand. We New Zealanders are a much more refined people than those uncouth and rough Aussies ;^)
As you say, I did first use educational technology at Auckland. In 1981 we had 300 students in Accounting 1 interacting with weekly CBT sessions. The machine was a DEC-10 which was a fine 16 bit minicomputer of its day. As I recall the configuration, the DEC-10 had 4mb RAM and 180mb of hard disk. It served the whole University community, along with a 4341 IBM mainframe (that was the machine which required you to *format* your virtual disk!!).
A group of students, my colleague Martin Putterill and I developed several hundred true/false, short answer and multiple choice questions. We used freeware CBT software which had originally come (as I recall) from the Swedish military. Each student’s interaction was tracked and excellent reports were produced from the system. It supported a rudimentary but effective form of email from student to lecturer. I doubt if we really have progressed much in the years since that time!
Shortly thereafter I left the institution to become a "real" accountant for the next decade and, as is usual with these things, the system fell into disuse and was scrapped.
Enough nostalgia for one night :-)
Enjoy your stay in Godzone (God’s Own Country)!
Roger Debreceny
July 15, 1998
Senior Lecturer, Division of Financial and Management Accounting
Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University
Singapore 639678 Room S3-B1-B68
Phone x6049 (Internal) 799 6049 (External) +65 799 6049 (International)
Fax: 791 3697 (External) +65 791 3697 (International)
Email: rogerd@netbox.com
My Hero of the Week in the August 10, 2001 Edition of New Bookmarks --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Amy Dunbar from The
University of Connecticut
http://www.sba.uconn.edu/users/ADunbar/Dunbaru.htm
I first heard of Amy Dunbar from one of her former students when Amy was teaching tax at The University of Texas at San Antonio. The comment was something to the effect that "She's more awesome than I can imagine for any teacher. If only her courses weren't so tough."
Amy later moved to The University of Iowa and then, after her husband completed his doctorate, she (they) moved on to The University of Connecticut. In the course of her career, Amy received her B.A. from Macalester College, went through "basic training" as an IRS agent, and then completed her doctorate in tax accounting and tax research at at The University of Texas.
Professor Dunbar joined the accounting faculty at the University of Connecticut in 1999. She was a faculty member at the University of Texas at San Antonio from 1989 to 1993, and at the University of Iowa from 1993 to 1998. While at the University of Texas at San Antonio, she received the Chancellor's Council Outstanding Teaching Award, a College of Business teaching award, and several research awards, including the Ernst & Young Tax Literature Award. While at the University of Iowa, she received a University of Iowa Collegiate Teaching Award (one of 15 given university-wide) as well as two Department of Accounting teaching awards. Professor Dunbar has published in the Journal of the American Taxation Association, the National Tax Journal, the Journal of Public Economics, and several legal journals. Her research deals with tax policy issues, including a recent publication on who would bear the burden of the proposed flat tax. She is a member of Board of Trustees for the American Taxation Association and has been active in both the Texas and Iowa Society of CPAs.
What fascinates me most about Amy is her courage. It took special courage to plunge into new technologies and pedagogy in courses where she received exceptional awards using more traditional methods in traditional classrooms. Amy has always experimented with newer technologies inside and outside the classroom. She's a real pro at tax accounting and tax research, but in terms of information technologies she's a dogmatic bootstrapper and plunges in where angels fear to tread.
I think all educators should read at least the first 15 pages of "Genesis of an Online Course," by Amy Dunbar, August 1, 2001 at www.sba.uconn.edu/users/adunbar/genesis_of_an_online_course.pdf
This paper presents a descriptive and evaluative analysis of the transformation of a graduate tax accounting course to an online course that was taught in a compressed six-week format beginning May 21, 2001. Fifty-seven students in two sections completed the course using WebCT, classroom environment software that facilitates the creation of web-based educational environments. The paper provides a description of the technology tools required and the first-day activities, which introduced the students to the online environment. The students used a combination of asynchronous and synchronous learning methods that allowed them to complete the coursework on a self-determined schedule, subject to bi-weekly quiz constraints. I used Dreamweaver to create content pages, which had links to Excel problems, Flash examples, audio files, and self-tests. Students worked the quizzes and then met in their four- to six-person groups in a chat room to resolve differences in answers. When students wanted my help, they sent me an instant message, using AOL Instant Messenger. At the end of the semester, I surveyed the class about the learning environment. Overall, the students were satisfied with the learning methods. Working the quizzes in the chat room was the method used most; 84 percent used a combination of these two tools “a lot.” The percentages for “a lot” were as follows for the remaining tools: self-tests (67%), Excel files (60%), AIM (58%), Flash files (44%), sound files (33%), discussion board (24%). Students were satisfied with the number of the quizzes and projects, but they wanted more self-tests (65%), with some requests for more of the other learning methods (Excel, Flash, and audio). The group process worked well in this class. Student comments on their groups and the class are provided in exhibits. In addition to having problems accessing technology, students found discovery-based learning challenging. The problem was not, however, my accessibility to them. On the university-level survey, the students rated my accessibility as 9.8 out of 10, which I attribute to the use of an instant messenger program. Based on the student comments, those who preferred the online environment appreciated the flexibility. We envision that our entire master’s of accounting program will go online because our students work full-time. Given the choice of live instruction versus flexibility, we think the students will choose flexibility. Although only 56 percent of my students would choose to take this class online if they had a choice between online and live, I think that number will increase as time goes by.
So what are Amy's highly controversial conclusions from her first online course? Go to Page 13 in "Genesis of an Online Course," by Amy Dunbar, August 1, 2001 at www.sba.uconn.edu/users/adunbar/genesis_of_an_online_course.pdf
For a 1996 message
(ancient history in Web years) that I'm certain Amy Dunbar has long forgotten,
go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ideasmes.htm#Dunbar
(Which proves that she was one of my heroes in olden times as well as today.)
Also see "The Dark Side of the 21st Century: Concerns About Technologies in Education" --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/theworry.htm