The Effect Of Teaching Methodology On Accounting Students' Perceptions Of Traits Important To Success

This study evolved from a previous study that examined the perceptions of the importance of specific traits to success in the accounting profession by both accounting professionals in the United States and internationally.  That study found that the international subjects valued some soft skills, such as creativity, as being more important to success than did the subjects in the United States.  Because of the importance of soft skills to success in the accounting profession worldwide, I sought to determine if teaching methodology in the accounting classroom in the United States could affect the perceptions of students regarding the importance of traits to success in the accounting profession.  Three particular new methodologies were added to the accounting courses in which the study was run; a team debate, a writing assignment justifying an impairment decision in an unclear situation, and a team presentation in which creativity was a very significant percentage of the final grade.  The results revealed that the traits of persuasiveness, good oral communication skills, good marketing skills, and creativity were ranked significantly more important by the student subjects at the end of the semester term than they were at the beginning of the semester term.  Based on these results, accounting educators need to experiment to find methodologies that relate to their specific accounting courses that will help students realize the importance of soft skills for professional success in accounting.&nbsp

An Examination of the Effect of Financial Risk on the Manager\u27s Choice of Accounting Methods.

This study examines the effect of the firm\u27s level of financial risk on management\u27s preference for full-cost or successful-efforts accounting in the oil and gas industry. Agency theory predicts that firms with increasing levels of financial risk have an incentive to switch to an accounting method which tends to increase net tangible assets and which creates more stable earnings in order to avoid technical default on loan covenants. Therefore, it is expected that successful-efforts firms with increasing levels of financial risk will tend to switch to use the full-cost accounting method. Past studies have used leverage as a surrogate for financial risk, but it is argued in this study that leverage is not necessarily a good surrogate in the oil and gas industry. Instead, a variable, debt beta, is developed which represents a market assessment of financial risk. An informationally efficient market considers other factors besides leverage in assessing financial risk, and these factors are reflected in the debt beta. The empirical results indicate that firms switching to the full-cost accounting method experience an increase in financial risk prior to the change, while firms changing to the successful-efforts method have stable financial risk. Unlike previous studies that used leverage variables as surrogates for financial risk level of full-cost firms is greater than that of successful-efforts firms. Nor can it be generally concluded that the financial risk level of nonchange firms change over time. More importantly, the results of this study indicate that the debt beta does not always behave in the same manner as leverage variables. These results provide evidence that leverage may not be a good surrogate for financial risk in the oil and gas industry

Characteristics of a Bacteriophage Isolated for Pseudomonas Tabaci

A thesis presented to the faculty of the School of Sciences and Mathematics at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Biology by Linda R. Nichols on July 19, 1971

Involving students in the development of a peer education program for college women

The main purpose of this study was to assess the potential interest of college women in participating in a new peer education program on a college campus of approximately 18,000 students in the Midwest while a lso involving students in the instrument design. We expected that students would be interested in such a program and that their inclusion in the research process would also serve as a means to recruit future peer educators. The research was conducted in four stages: (a) An initial survey was developed based on peer education topics used at other universities, (b) this instrument was presented to two focus groups of resident advisors and topics were added based on their ideas, (c) the instrument was pilot tested with first year, female residential students and revised, and then (d) the survey was distributed on rand omly chosen floors in each campus residence hall

An Investigation Of The Effect Of Methods Of Recording Accounting Principle Changes On The Decisions Of Users In The United States, Germany, And Austria

Formerly in the United States, most accounting principle changes were traditionally recorded using the cumulative effect method, wherein the net effect of the principle change flows through the income statement as a special item.  International accounting standards, in comparison, have recorded accounting principle changes retrospectively by adjusting beginning stockholders’ equity in the year of the change.  In 2002, the FASB began a convergence project with the IASB, in which they have and are attempting to agree on standard accounting treatments in areas in which the U.S. standards and IAS differ.  The project initially looked at seventeen areas of difference in which it was believed that convergence could be reached.  One of those areas was in accounting for principle changes.  Resulting from the convergence project, the FASB issued SFAS No. 154 in 2005, which changes U.S. GAAP to require that accounting principle changes be recorded retrospectively, as is required by international standards.  This study examines the decisions of statement users in the U.S., Germany, and Austria to determine if the method of accounting used for principle changes affects their decisions.  The findings reveal that the method used in interaction with the home country of the user has a significant effect on the decisions of statement users

An Investigation Of The Effect Of Reporting Alternatives For Fixed Assets On Financial Statement Users In The United States And The European Union

The European Union’s decision to require consolidated statements in accordance with IASB standards will serve to greatly enhance the acceptance of IASB standards on a worldwide basis.  For international standards to be accepted worldwide, they need to reflect the best reporting methods.  One area in which diverse treatment is found is in the valuation of fixed assets.  This study examines the effect of differing methods of fixed asset valuation on lending decisions made by bankers in the U.S. and the European Union represented by the countries of Germany and Austria.  Bankers from these countries were asked to make a lending decision for a hypothetical company, which used either historical cost or fair value in reporting fixed assets.  The results reveal a significant interaction effect between the home country of the respondent and the valuation method used.  Specifically, the European bankers granted larger loans to companies reporting fixed assets at fair value, while U.S. bankers granted larger loans to companies reporting fixed assets at historical cost

An Experiment Of The Effect Of Teaching Different Computational Methods Of Operating Cash Flows On Student Understanding

This study uses an experimental approach to determine if student understanding of the association between depreciation and cash flows differs based on which method of computing operating cash flows is presented to students.   The participants are undergraduate and graduate students in business at a major university in the southwest United States.  The participants attended sessions where they heard a brief lecture explaining operating cash flows using either the direct or indirect methods.&nbsp