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This essay is based on my plenary address at the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Accounting Association (AAA). I am honored to have been selected as the AAA 2021 Presidential Scholar. This essay represents a call to action. I invite my fellow accounting professors to fulfill our stated mission and shared values to be thought leaders in accounting. I present ideas and suggestions on how we can lead our students, our academic institutions, and the accounting profession in supporting a prosperous and just society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws from my experiences as an accounting professor who has served as the dean of a business school for over seven years. It is based on my Presidential Scholar Lecture to the virtual 2020 American Accounting Association Annual Meeting. The challenges and opportunities that scholars face in their research and teaching differ substantially from those that deans face in leading and managing schools. Nonetheless, I have found many similarities between the behaviors of the best scholars and the most successful deans. Because the dean has a major impact on the success of a school, the academy should identify professors who have an interest in and skill for managing and leading early in their career and encourage, mentor, and develop them. This is particularly true for accounting professors because their understanding of financial information provides them with a competitive advantage in administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

My assignment is to analyze the development of accounting thought and its position within the university. The focus is on the expected development in the next 20 years, despite the fact that that is an impossible task. I will ruthlessly extrapolate from my personal observations of the activities in the accounting community. In doing this, I will deal with accounting research, the relationship between research and teaching within the field of accounting, and the relation to other disciplines in the business school. This will be done in three steps. I will give a brief review of the recent history of accounting thoughts, then comment on current status of 2016, and, finally, give some perspectives. The road ahead is going to be bumpy as many institutional barriers are in the way. This has to change for the accounting academics to retake their space in the academic community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses an Accounting Theory Seminar, the course in the spring semester of the fifth year of the Master of Accounting Program at Rice University. Topics include the design and composition of the seminar, Accounting Theory textbooks and valuation models as topic of seminar conceptual issues involving, the balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statements.

My vision is that by 2036 accounting is known as the learned profession that provides information for informed decision-making to support a prosperous society. By 2036, academic and practicing accountants view themselves as part of the same profession, and practicing accountants look to academics to develop knowledge relevant to identifying information—and its characteristics—useful in informing decisions. In sum, insights from research are instrumental in shaping accounting in practice. To achieve this vision, academics need to (1) conduct fundamental and applied research; (2) communicate research insights outside of academia; (3) interact with practicing accountants and others who use accounting information, such as managers, capital providers, regulators, and government officials; and (4) ensure that everyone understands that academic accountants are responsible for the "learned" part of accounting as a learned profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

These remarks provide some perspective on my six decades of research, teaching, and participation in the AAA. A recurring theme is that my career took several unexpected turns and that my research often had unexpected outcomes. Several areas of research are discussed, including the prediction of financial distress, the information content of earnings announcements, the information content of prices, accounting and market measures of risk, discretion in financial reporting, conservatism, and value relevance of financial statements. Included is a brief summary of some of what I have learned from six decades of teaching. I review some of the major benefits of AAA participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For decades, prominent members of the accounting community have argued that the quality of accounting education is falling. Support for this claim is limited because of a scarcity of data characterizing the constructs of interest. This study is a comparative evaluation of the quality of accounting education from the 1970s to the 2000s using unique data to quantify education quality for accounting and many comparison disciplines. I find that, compared to most other types of college education, accounting education quality has been steady or increasing over the sample period. However, relative to other business degree programs, the evidence is mixed. The quality of students self-selecting non-accounting business degrees has increased while the quality of accounting students has not. The disparity in student quality is not reflected in the pay received by accounting graduates, which has remained stable relative to the pay received by graduates with other business degrees, although this result is likely influenced by regulatory changes during the 2000s, including Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX). Together, the evidence suggests that the quality of accounting education has not declined rapidly over the last four decades, but in the competition among business degree programs for high-quality students, accounting has underperformed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is disagreement in the accounting community about what level of standardization would be efficient for accounting. Many of the known costs and benefits of standardization have gone unmeasured and, as a result, there have been no efforts to quantitatively identify an efficient level of accounting standardization. Without guidance from researchers, the level of accounting standardization is set according to the intuition of standard-setters. Using data on a large cross-section of occupations, I provide evidence that the level of standardization in financial reporting occupations is far higher than would be expected given their characteristics. I then show with time-series data that the breadth of professional accounting discourse declined during the late 20th century, coincident with increases in the output of standard-setters. A lower quality discourse is one of many possible consequences of inefficient standardization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent accounting scholarship has used statistical analyses on asset prices, financial reports and disclosures, laboratory experiments, and surveys of practice. The research has studied the interface among accounting information, capital markets, standard-setters, and financial analysts and how managers make accounting choices. But as accounting scholars have focused on understanding how markets and users process accounting data, they have distanced themselves from the accounting process itself. Accounting scholarship has failed to address important measurement and valuation issues that have arisen in the past 40 years of practice. This gap is illustrated with missed opportunities in risk measurement and management and the estimation of the fair value of complex financial securities. This commentary encourages accounting scholars to devote more resources to obtaining a fundamental understanding of contemporary and future practice and how analytic tools and contemporary advances in accounting and related disciplines can be deployed to improve the professional practice of accounting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies challenges and opportunities created by global financial reporting for the education and research activities of U.S. academics. Relating to education, after overviewing the relation between global financial reporting and U.S. GAAP, it offers suggestions for topics to be covered in global financial reporting curricula and clarifies common misunderstandings about the concepts underlying financial reporting. Relating to research, it explains how and why research can provide meaningful input into standard-setting, and identifies questions that can motivate research related to topics on the International Accounting Standards Board's technical agenda and to the globalization of financial reporting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to adapt decision making to the features of decision tasks and contexts is likely an important component of professional decision making, but not all professionals will exhibit this adaptivity. One explanation for decision makers' failure to adapt when adaptivity is appropriate is that they do not possess relevant knowledge of the features of decision tasks and contexts, or institutional knowledge. In this study, I examine the relations between institutional knowledge, information search adaptivity, and performance using an experimental research design in the tax decision-making setting. The results of the study are consistent with predictions. Tax professionals with relevant institutional knowledge responded to the differential features of the tax-planning and compliance contexts by conducting broader and more extensive information search in planning than in compliance; professionals lacking institutional knowledge did not exhibit such information search adaptivity. In addition, tax research performance increased with information search adaptivity, and that adaptivity mediated the relation between institutional knowledge and tax research performance. This study extends the accounting and psychology adaptivity literatures and contributes to tax practice and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents placement advertisements for accounting professors in universities and colleges.

ABSTRACT: This study develops a model to explain student examination performance in the first college-level financial accounting course. A multiple regression analysis explains 54 percent of the variance in examination performance and indices of aptitude and effort account for the majority of the variance explained. However, high school and previous collegiate performance, as well as previous specific and related academic experience, each account for a significant portion of the variance in examination performance above that explained by aptitude and effort. Discrepancies between the results of the present study and other published findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: In response to the greater challenges and competitive pressures facing the public accounting profession in recent years, many CPA firms have hired significant numbers of MBAs. Yet there has been little empirical evidence of the comparative performance in public accounting of MBAs vis-a-vis undergraduates with an accounting major (BAs). This Issue has Important implications as to the appropriate educational training for those entering the profession and for CPA firm recruiting strategies. This study traced the performance of 54 MBA and 56 BA entry level accountants over a nine year horizon. Performance was measured by advancement, turnover, and salary Increases. MBAs advanced more rapidly in the firm than BAs but did not demonstrate significant differences in turnover or salary Increases. MBAs from top rated schools, however, reached the manager level faster and experienced lower turnover rates than other MBAs and BAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: This study investigates the impact of student internships on subsequent academic performance. The post-internship course performance of students with internship experience was compared to that of a group of noninterns (matched on grade-point average and hours of coursework completed prior to the internship). Average performance across all courses did not differ significantly between the two groups. Analysis of performance in particular subject areas and courses suggests a tendency for interns to focus their efforts on courses most closely related to their chosen career. However, only in auditing coursework (where substantive knowledge gained from their internship experience should be most applicable) was the performance of interns significantly better than that of the noninterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: This study tests the effect of homework collection and quizzes on exam scores. Expectancy theory as modified by Porter and Lawler [1968] suggests that performance (a student's exam score) is dependent upon effort, abilities and traits, and role perception (regarding the class). An accounting instructor is able to influence a student's effort through assigning different tasks (teaching techniques) which may include homework collection or quizzes. In this study, a Latin square design allows several teaching techniques to be tested in four accounting classes and controls for possible bias in exam scores resulting from time of class and exam difficulty. Additionally, GPA is used as a covariate. The results indicate that the selected teaching techniques do not significantly affect exam scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: This paper examines the marginal contribution of scores on the AICPA level I achievement test and aptitude test for predicting the performance of students in upper division courses. Three performance measures were studied: grades in all upper division courses, grades In upper division accounting courses, and a binary variable reflecting whether a student made a C or below on an upper division accounting course. Results for each of these measures indicated that the AICPA scores did not improve significantly the predictive ability of models that included lower division grades. Several limitations of the study are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Mainstream accounting is grounded in a common set of philosophical assumptions about knowledge, the empirical world, and the relationship between theory and practice. This particular world-view, with its emphasis on hypothetico-deductivism and technical control, possesses certain strengths but has restricted the range of problems studied and the use of research methods. By changing this set of assumptions, fundamentally different and potentially rich research insights are obtained. Two alternative world-views and their underlying assumptions am elucidated-the interpretive and the critical. The consequences of conducting research within these philosophical traditions are discussed via a comparison between accounting research that is conducted on the "same" problem but from two different perspectives. In addition, some of the difficulties associated with these alternative perspectives are briefly dealt with. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: This paper discusses an approach to Introducing empirical accounting research design to Ph.D. Students. The approach includes a framework for evaluating accounting experiments as well as studies based on passive observation of subjects or data. Alternative methods of isolating the effect of the "independent" variable of interest from effects of prior-to-the-study-period variables and contemporaneous variables are discussed along with the advantages and limitations of each method. Also discussed is the relationship between type I and type II error risks, sample size, and research design. The importance of research design, including theory development and means for mitigating the effects of extraneous variables, is emphasized as perhaps the only practical way to achieve research objectives in empirical research 'in accounting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: This study Investigates the role of productive thinking in affecting student attitudes toward, and performance with, microcomputer spreadsheet programs in a managerial/ cost accounting course. Productive thinking is defined as thinking based on an understanding of the nature of problems rather than on memorization of facts and rules. In this experiment covering two academic quarters, students initially indicated strong desire to use microcomputers, but their enthusiasm diminished after the classroom experience with their use. Although there was no performance difference across integrative versus non-integrative assignments, performance was positively related to previous computing experience. Students did feel, however, that computers should be used in other accounting courses. Students also reported that they experienced greater learning with integrative course assignments than with repetitive, non-integrative assignments. This finding suggests that a benefit of computer use in teaching accounting may be the opportunity it offers for problem solving based on Understanding rather than on memorization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: This paper uses discriminant analysis as a foundation for an admissions policy for accounting majors. The discriminant model is capable of correctly classifying students into Accept/Reject groups with a statistical accuracy of 78 percent using only three characteristics--grade-point average at 45 semester hours, grade in college mathematics, and grade in English composition. The model, more importantly, correctly classifies 90 percent of those students who, according to the model's criterion, should be rejected. Alternatively, the model is capable of identifying the same percent of those students who perform exceedingly well in accounting. This technique, together with a review and appeal procedure, provides a method of restricting enrollment while still meeting today's demand for quality accounting students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: This paper reports the results of a sixth triennial canvass covering 74 doctoral programs in the United States. For the first time, six Canadian doctoral programs are included. Data are provided on universities offering doctoral degrees, degrees awarded between 1980 and 1982, candidates in coursework stage, and candidates in dissertation stage. Canadian statistics, presented in a separate section, indicate a small but growing number of candidates and graduates. Doctoral degrees granted in the three-year period by United States universities increased in each year, reaching an all-time high of 177 in 1982. Offsetting this is a forecasted decrease in graduates for 1983 and 1984. Enrollments of candidates at the dissertation stage declined by 6.4 percent since the 1980 survey. Candidates at the coursework stage declined by 4.4 percent. The national three-year doctoral output has remained in the range of 424 to 469 since 1971. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: This paper provides a description of recent authorship in The Accounting Review (TAR) in terms of authors' schools of affiliation and degree. The analysis is confined to American universities. Comparisons with similar studies in economics and finance, with previous studies of accounting journals, and with the Journal of Accounting Research (JAR) result in the following conclusions: 1) concentration of authorship in TAR is greater for degree school than school of affiliation, which is consistent with the experience in other disciplines; 2) the concentration by certain degree schools is persistent over time; and 3) certain degree schools have been dominant in both TAR and JAR through time. The general conclusion is that there is some evidence suggesting an institutional element that influences the accounting research published in TAR. Additional research projects are suggested which might answer why this institutional element is present and whether it contributes to the perceived decline in the epistemic quality of TAR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: This study applies citation analysis to evaluate the research contributions of accounting faculties, doctoral programs, and individuals to contemporary accounting research (CAR). A research contribution is measured as CAR citations to a journal article written by an accountant, and CAR is defined as all main articles published in The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, and Accounting, Organizations and Society between 1976 and 1982. The advantages and disadvantages of the technique are discussed, and the sensitivity of the results to alternative citation measurement metrics is examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: The empirical relationship between consensus and accuracy is examined in two prediction tasks of interest to accountants--a managerial accounting task and an auditing task. The relationship between these two attributes is particularly important in auditing contexts in which consensus is sometimes accepted as a practical goal. The results of this study indicate a consistent, highly positive relationship between consensus and accuracy. The mean Pearson (Spearman) correlation between the two attributes was .84 (.82) across (1) the two tasks, which featured both continuous and dichotomous outcomes and which were performed by different sets of experts, (2) both individual and pairwise measures of subjects' consensus and accuracy, and (3) both correlational and absolute measures of performance in the managerial accounting task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Based on a careful examination of the traditional approach to teaching behavioral aspects of performance evaluation, this paper concludes that there are some serious instructional gaps in teaching the topic. The paper argues that new pedagogical approaches based on student-generated experiences are effective in teaching behavioral aspects of accounting. Two experiential exercises developed by the author are also presented and discussed in the paper. Finally, the paper recommends development and wider adoption of experiential exercises in teaching behavioral aspects of accounting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: With the expanding body of knowledge required of CPAs, there has been significant support in recent years for expanding the educational requirement for accountants from four to five years. This paper reports the results of a questionnaire distributed to practicing CPAs regarding their opinions on the effect and impact of a required fifth year of accounting education. Issues covered include the perceived effects of additional education on the CPA examination passage rate, on the value of the employee to the firm and the profession, and on the supply of accountants. Preferences on the timing and content of five-year programs and the problems of reciprocity were also examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Leaders in the accounting profession have cited the need for accountants to be able to function professionally in a complex and changing environment. The literature of cognitive development suggests that such individuals must possess a high level of cognitive complexity, and the literature on personality types shows that people self-select into professions partially as a result of their perceptions of the professional stereotype. Since the introductory and intermediate accounting courses may profoundly influence students' perceptions and their career choice, the courses should be designed so as to attract those more cognitively complex individuals whom the profession needs. This study analyzes the relative performance of introductory accounting students with high and low levels of cognitive complexity on structured versus unstructured course materials. Students at all levels of cognitive complexity performed equally well on highly structured accounting examination questions, but students with high levels of cognitive complexity performed significantly better on unstructured case materials. The implication of the results is that if accounting educators wish to attract students who can function in a complex and changing environment, the introductory accounting course should include unstructured course materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: During its study of the auditing profession, the Cohen Commission received some practitioner inputs which suggested that "one of the causes of the discontinuity between accounting theory and practice is that students graduate from accounting programs with no understanding of the mechanics of how an accounting system operates and what the related documentation looks like" [AICPA, 1978, p. 177]. Thus, the question is raised as to whether accounting curricula are providing students with sufficient knowledge about the form and function of the various documents, records, journals, and ledgers used by enterprises to conduct and to record the results of business activities. The implication of the CPA inputs to the Cohen Commission efforts is that a lack of such knowledge can be a deterrent for auditing students in understanding the concepts of audit program development and evidence collection procedures. This paper reports on a Systems Understanding Aid that has been designed to address students' need for additional knowledge about basic accounting system documents and records. The Aid was administered to students and evaluated for effectiveness. Student testing of the Aid has shown it to be an effective pedagogical supplement to the accounting curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Accounting students are expected to acquire an ever-increasing amount of knowledge by reading and comprehending an ever-increasing number of textbooks and related materials. The purpose of this empirical study is (1) to introduce a psycholinguistic technique, the Cloze Procedure, to accounting educators and (2) to demonstrate how accounting educators can use this objective, valid, and easy-to-apply technique in their textbook selection and writing activities. In a field test conducted at two different universities, four intermediate accounting textbooks were tested, using the Cloze Procedure, for their level of understandability. Using one-way F-tests, evidence was found that the level of understandability varied significantly (1) among the four textbooks and (2) within the four textbooks. In addition, using a one-tailed Z-test with the Cloze Procedure's 44 percent criterion level, evidence was found that accounting students understood the four textbooks tested at the "instructional level." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Magnitude-estimation procedures are used to establish a ratio-scale "quality" ranking of journals in which accounting faculty typically publish. The Journal of Accounting Research and The Accounting Review are the highest-ranked journals. Significant differences were found in the journal rankings across the specialty areas of auditing, financial, managerial, and tax. Substantial differences are observable in comparisons of rankings of (1) faculty at doctoral-granting institutions versus faculty at institutions granting only master's or bachelor's degrees, and (2) assistant professors versus full professors. In comparison to an earlier ranking, the two top journals are identical but several new and accounting-related journals are included in the current ranking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Microcomputer spreadsheet programs can ease both preparation and grading of accounting examination questions whose solutions involve lengthy, sequential calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Recently, several state legislators have supported the imposition of a mandatory five-year accounting education requirement for entrance into the public accounting profession. This has occurred despite controversy over the efficacy of such a proposal. This paper explores the economic incentives of accounting labor suppliers in providing an extra year of accounting education, and evaluates the ramifications of an imposed five-year minimum education requirement upon the accounting labor market. Education will be presented as a quality signal from which potential employers can predict employee productivity in markets characterized by information asymmetry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Financial report ratio analysis is frequently taught in introductory financial accounting courses. Beginning students often have unrealistically high expectations concerning the usefulness of such ratio analysis. After learning the basics of the Efficient Markets Hypothesis, many students over-react and dismiss ratio analysis as useless. This paper provides a more balanced appraisal of ratio analysis by discussing three areas in which ratio analysis may be useful: (1) analysis of business transactions in markets that may not be efficient, (2) contractual limits based on accounting ratios, and (3) performance prediction and risk evaluation in an efficient market. By discussing these potential contributions of ratio analysis in class, the instructor can help students place ratio analysis in proper perspective and can also help integrate the accounting/finance curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: This paper compares students who studied accounting in high school (Group I) to those students who did not (Group II). Two questions were addressed. First, do Group I students outperform Group II students in the first college-level accounting course? Second, what impact does prior accounting education have on dropout behavior from the first college-level course? Data were compiled for 498 students enrolled in elementary financial accounting. The first question was addressed by performing an analysis of covariance with repeated measures on examination scores. Vocabulary and quantitative skills scores were used as the covariates. The second question was evaluated by analysis of total drop-outs and drop-out patterns. Overall, Group I students performed no differently on examinations than those in Group II. While they scored higher on early examinations, they scored less well later. There was no difference in drop-out rate, although Group I students tended to drop later in the semester. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Although "compressed-course" offerings are widely found in summer programs and intersessions, little published work has evaluated the efficacy of this format relative to conventional term courses, apparently because the controls necessary for strict comparative research are difficult to implement. This study involved such a comparison between several sections of two accounting courses offered under the most compressed format possible and under a regular semester. All aspects of the courses were virtually identical. Evaluation was in terms of (a) terminal performance, (b) post-course student reactions, and (c) comparison of reactions with prior expectations. Analysis of the data showed the compressed format to be highly comparable to the regular format on both performance and student evaluation profiles. The only differences, both marginal, were in the tendency for perceived stress and instructor effectiveness to be greater under the compressed format. Given the rigor of the experimental controls and the power of the statistical tests used, these findings constitute strong evidence of the efficacy of compressed courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: The expected value of information is an important concept in cost and managerial accounting. Quite often students have difficulty integrating and applying statistical techniques to accounting problems. Contributing to this difficulty is the occasional lack of standardization of terms in the two disciplines. This article describes an approach which introduces information economics to managerial and cost accounting classes, Included is an Appendix which can serve as the basis for a classroom presentation by the instructor or which can be reproduced and distributed to students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the impact of accounting regulation on the stock market in the context of oil and gas companies. The issuance of the Exposure Draft was associated with a "moderate" downward revision of security prices of oil and gas firms, especially full-costers. Moreover, that the underlying market effect is of greater consequence than his tests reveal. Since substantial uncertainty with respect to the financial-statement impact of the proposed accounting change and its adoption by the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Securities and Exchange Commission existed during test period, results understate the importance of the accounting change to the capital market. Furthermore, doubts regarding the validity of three assumptions upon which the analysis of individual stock-return behavior depends jeopardize the interpretation of results. In the light of difficulties with regard to the validity of assumptions, it appears to be crucial to investigate the robustness of his procedure over an extensive Pre-Announcement period.

ABSTRACT: This paper presents the results of a study which undertakes to evaluate whether the PLATO time-sharing system and the introductory accounting modules residing on this system are an effective tutorial medium for introductory accounting Thru study was replicated over a different population in each of three different time periods and involved an examination of both the financial and managerial modules. The results for the three periods indicate that PLATO can be an effective tutorial medium, particularly where the financial modules are employed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: This study examines the role of the personality variable, locus of control, as a moderator of the relationship between budgetary participation and managerial performance. The results of a laboratory study employing two separate subject groups--undergraduate accounting students and managers from a large manufacturing company--show a statistically significant interaction between participation and locus of control affecting performance. Budgetary participation was found to have a positive effect on individuals who feel they have a large degree of control over their destiny ("internals" on the locus of control scale), while having a negative effect on those individuals who feel that their destinies are controlled by luck, chance, or fate ("externals" on the locus of control scale). The results are discussed and possible applications in the areas of job redesign and personnel selection and placement are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: This paper describes an incident process case which has been used effectively as a teaching medium for a capital expenditure decision. Typically, capital budgeting problems require students only to classify data given to them as relevant or irrelevant and to manipulate data to reach an accept or reject decision. In the incident process case, however, students must (1) decide what information might be relevant, (2) present formal and informal requests to the instructor for specific data, and (3) develop these data into useful information. The decision context is the replacement of a company airplane. The case comes from a real-world situation, and the data set reflects current economic conditions. The problem encompasses relevant concepts of capital expenditure analysis and cost-volume-profit analysis. It also employs the distinction between investment and financing decisions. The unstructured setting and requirements require careful and creative thinking by students. The article contains a statement of the case, a basic data set, and a description of how the author conducts the case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: This research compares (1) current efforts to prepare doctoral candidates to be educators and (2) departmental administrators' perceptions of the need for educational training. One questionnaire was mailed to doctoral program directors of schools offering doctorates in accounting and another was mailed to department administrators of schools offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs in accounting. Analysis of the responses indicates that differences exist between the level of training in teaching currently provided in doctoral programs and the perceived need for such training by departmental administrators. Eighty-three percent of responding departmental administrators felt that teaching skills received inadequate attention in doctoral programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Although computers have been integrated into a number of accounting courses, there is a lack of empirical evidence supporting their effect on student achievement. This article describes the results of a study that compared the achievement of students in intermediate accounting when taught with/without the aid of computers. The computer was integrated into the intermediate accounting curriculum as a supplemental teaching tool. The students in the treatment group completed their homework assignments with the assistance of prewritten computer programs, while the control group completed assignments without the aid of computers. The present study found that the achievement of the students using the computer was significantly higher than the achievement of the students who did not utilize the computers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Professions such as medicine and law, as well as accountancy, face the challenge of improving the preparation of students to meet their career responsibilities. To carry out their career responsibilities more effectively, some researchers suggest that students need to develop a stronger professional identity, a greater appreciation of their legal and ethical duties, and a deeper understanding of their profession's demands and risks. In short, the professional socialization process, or induction of students into their respective professions, is thought to be inadequate. This paper identifies results associated with an improved professional socialization process: students abandoning public stereotypes, learning professional behavior, and tentatively resolving potential professional conflicts. Researchers identify six factors that may be associated with fostering more successful socialization. Three of these reflect faculty orientations: a sound theory of practice, a collegial attitude, and a cosmopolitan outlook. Three other factors reflect a faculty's ability to structure students' school experience: clinical experience, rituals and ceremonies, and the collective student experience. Greater attention to these six elements may be associated with achieving more desirable and long-lived changes in students at professional schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Tax clinics have been employed for several years to aid learning in law schools. In a recent report, the Internal Revenue Service suggests that clinics might be set up by university accounting departments. The experience with tax clinics at some law schools is outlined and evaluated; possible funding alternatives for accounting department tax clinics is considered, and implications for accounting departments are reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Two groups of introductory financial accounting students were given identical instructions to read and study assigned text materials prior to attending lectures and discussion. An experiment was then conducted throughout the semester in which a "pre-quiz" experimental group was given quizzes before lectures and discussion, while a "post-quiz" control group was given quizzes after. Examination results of these students were compared via an analysis of covariance. The primary hypothesis was that the "pre-quiz" group would perform significantly better on examinations than the "post-quiz" group. The secondary hypothesis of interest was that the "pre-quiz" group would have less favorable attitudes toward the course and/or the instructor than the "post-quiz" group. Results of the data analysis showed that the primary hypothesis was supported whereas the secondary hypothesis was not. Overall, the paper suggests that giving quizzes before lectures or discussion results in (1) more productive use of class time, and (2) more learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: This study measures and examines variables that accounting doctoral students and accounting faculty members use in selecting a teaching position. Differences in perceptions of variable importance between doctoral students and faculty are analyzed using factor analysis and a ranking procedure. While the analysis indicated that some similarities exist in the perceived importance attached to many criteria by the students and faculty, it also detected a number of significant differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: The paper examines the role and importance of auditor independence as perceived by various interested parties in the United Kingdom. A questionnaire postulating 29 auditor-client relationships was sent to a sample of both the preparers of and the users of financial statements. They were asked whether they thought auditor independence might be impaired for each relationship and what impact they thought this might have on investment and lending decisions. The results showed that non-independence was perceived by the respondents to impair investment and lending decisions. It was also found that there were significant differences in the perceptions of auditor independence, and the importance thereof, between the responses of the preparers of financial statements and the responses of the users of financial statements. The results showed that while the views of accountants working in professional practices agreed quite closely with the ethical guidelines on auditor independence published by the British Institutes of Chartered Accountants, the users of financial statements were much more skeptical of auditor independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: The AICPA's Board on Standards for Programs and Schools of Professional Accounting has proposed a set of standards for professional programs in accounting. Accounting groups potentially affected by the report were surveyed to determine the degree of support for the standards and the extent of concurrence among the various groups. Responses from accounting academicians, practicing certified public accountants, industrial accountants, and large firm controllers indicated some areas of substantial disagreement with the proposed standards. Furthermore, the results revealed an apparent lack of uniformity in concurrence among the various groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: This paper describes a field experiment undertaken to assess effects of televised introductory accounting instruction. The semantic differential was employed in the measurement of students' attitudes toward the accounting profession, accounting as a major, and the accounting lecturer. Attitudes and exam performance of students who received televised instruction were compared with those of students who received instruction by conventional methods. In both cases, instruction was provided within a large group context. No statistically significant differences were found in attitudes toward either majoring in accounting or the lecturer, nor was there a statistically significant difference in exam performance. However, significantly more favorable attitudes toward the accounting profession were associated with those who received televised instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]