Is learning impacted by how often a class meets? Some empirical evidence: Working paper series--00-05

Few studies have examined the empirical question of whether student learning is affected by the frequency of class meetings even though scheduling is a highly relevant issue for the curriculum and teaching. This study explores this issue. Specifically, will students perform better in a class that meets three-days-a-week versus a class that meets for the same amount of time but just two-days-a-week? What kind of setting provides the better learning environment? It was assumed that students today have shorter attention spans and therefore it was hypothesized that a three-days-a-week schedule would facilitate learning by providing students with blocks of information in shorter segments. Students would have the opportunity to review unclear material, reread the book, or ask for additional help before new material is covered. The model regressed students' performance (dependent variable) as a function of the frequency of class schedules (independent variable) along with three controlling attributes: grade point average, age, and gender. The findings indicated that students did not perform better in a class that met three-days-a-week versus a class that met for the same amount of time but just two-days-a-week

The Omitted Variable In Accounting Education Research: The Non-Traditional Student

Few studies have examined the empirical question of whether nontraditional students are different than traditional students in learning performance.  This study explores this issue.  Specifically, is there a performance difference between traditional and nontraditional students in the first course in accounting?  The model regressed students’ performance (dependent variable) as a function of age (independent variable) along with three controlling attributes: grade point average, gender, and the frequency of class meeting times. The results indicate that nontraditional students performed better than traditional students.  This finding has important implications for business education researchers.  Educators often engage in quasi-experimental research studies where conclusions are drawn regarding the learning performance of “treatment” versus “control” groups.  Researchers should control for the nontraditional variable in their work

Students Anchoring Predisposition: An Illustration From Spring Training Baseball

The anchoring tendency results when decision makers anchor on initial values and then make final assessments that are adjusted insufficiently away from the initial values. The professional literature recognizes that auditors often risk falling into the judgment trap of anchoring and adjusting (Ranzilla et al., 2011). Students may also be unaware of the anchoring pitfall. This paper describes a brief case study that illustrates an innovative approach for auditing students to gain a better understanding of this judgmental trap. Using a simple baseball pricing exercise, students determined ticket selling prices for two Major League Baseball spring training games. Data for this study was collected from the public posting of baseball tickets listed for sale on an internet company called StubHub. The results showed that when students had sunk cost break-even information students tried to avoid losses and anchored on this information. Ranzilla et al. (2011) assert that awareness of when and how judgments can be biased is an important mitigating step to educating students regarding the anchoring and adjusting tendency

Assimilation Time As A Factor Of Performance: Impact On A New Generation Of Students

This paper explores the issue of whether assimilation time has any bearing on the performance of students.  Assimilation time is defined as the number of times during the week that a class meets.  This study examined whether students would perform better in a 50-minute class that met three days a week versus a 75-minute class that met just two days a week.  Assimilation time did make a difference (t-test, p = .0693).  High-attending students, that is students that attend class more that ninety percent of the time, performed better with more assimilation time that high-attending students in sections with less assimilation time  However, for “medium-attending” students there was no difference whether students attended class in a 50-minute class that met three days a week or a 75-minute class that met just two days a week

Northland Preparatory Academy: An Expansion Controversy

This paper deals with a real case in a real situation.  Northland Preparatory Academy (NPA) is a college-preparatory charter school located in Flagstaff, Arizona.  In 2004, the school board had to decide whether to expand.  Their expansion decision was driven by (1) a desire for additional programs in fine arts and music, (2) a desire for a gymnasium for extra curriculum activities, athletics, and related programs, and (3) a belief that the expansion would help with NPA’s retention problem at the high school level.   The school’s principal and several of the school board members were leaning toward constructing a new building.   However, there was a minority group on the school board which was adamantly opposed to any expansion and the taking on new debt.  Bill Johnson, the school’s principal, had been asked by the Chairman of the school board to develop three years’ worth of projected financial statements and forecasted cash flow statements assuming that expansion did take place.  In addition, Bill was challenged to present information as to whether a new bank loan or taking out a new bond would be best for the school

Enhancing Students Learning:Instant Feedback Cards

This study illustrates an active learning approach using instant feedback cards in the first course in accounting. The objectives of this study are to (1) describe instant feedback cards and (2) show how this tool, when used in an active learning environment, can enhance learning. We examined whether students exposed to immediate feedback scratch-off cards in an active learning environment would perform better on subsequent objective exams than students in a traditional lecture review setting. Students enjoyed the active learning aspect of working in groups, debating answers, and then using the scratch-off cards to select the correct multiple-choice responses. Scratch-off cards are a tool that educators may find very useful to enhance their lectures and add a component of active learning into their courses

Using Rubrics To Assess Accounting Students Writing, Oral Presentations, And Ethics Skills

This paper presents examples of rubrics that can be used in the assessment of the acquisition of generic skills in accounting education. A rubric is a matrix containing the various factors of an assignment along one dimension (rows) and descriptors of the qualitative levels of accomplishment along the other dimension (columns). A rubric can facilitate the grading of assignments and help students improve their generic skills. Examples of rubrics are presented that educators may find beneficial to enhance the generic skills of their students. This paper illustrates five different rubrics and provides an in-depth discussion on how the ethics rubric was used to assess students learning

Assessing Students Learning Of Internal Controls: Closing The Loop

This study describes the multifaceted components of an assessment process. The paper explains a novel approach in which an advisory council participated in a fun, hands-on activity to rank-order learning outcomes. The top ranked learning competency, as identified by the advisory council, was the need for students to gain a better understanding of internal controls. With this competency identified, the advisory council exercise was then followed-up by a modification in the auditing course. An empirical study, consisting of a control group and a treatment group, was conducted to assess whether performance on an internal control essay question by students now met or exceeded established expectations. The results indicated that students preliminary understanding of internal controls had been enhanced. The accounting faculty further closed the loop by approving a new internal controls course designed to cover, in greater detail, topics such as the COSO internal controls framework, Sarbanes-Oxley requirements, recent PCAOB statements, and real-world cases involving internal control failures

Assessing students' learning of internal controls: Closing the loop: Working paper series--07-03

This study describes the multifaceted components of an assessment process. The paper explains a novel approach in which accounting advisory council members actively participated in a "fun," hands-on activity to rank-order learning outcomes. Understanding internal controls was the top ranked learning competency identified by the advisory council. With this competency identified, the advisory council exercise was then followed-up by a course modification in the auditing course. An empirical study, consisting of a control group and a treatment group, was then conducted to assess whether students' performance on an internal control essay question now met or exceeded established expectations. Collecting data without acting upon it is a waste of resources. This study shows how important it is to close the loop in identifying improvement opportunities