JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF
BUSINESS EDUCATION
VOL. 4                                            CONTENTS                                           FALL 2003
 

1  Differences In Student Learning Techniques: Cooperative Learning, Quizzes, And Homework by S. Douglas Beets

A college instructor’s employment of a learning technique, such as cooperative learning (CL), quizzes, or homework, may affect student comprehension of course concepts. The effectiveness of such techniques may be explained by student motivation and goal-setting as their behavior may be related to reward value and the perceived probability of reward resulting from effort.

This study examines the comparative effectiveness of CL, quizzes, and homework in teaching three classes of a financial accounting principles course at one private university. Every student experienced each of the three techniques for one third of the semester and completed an exam after exposure to each method. Results indicated that students earned higher exam grades when they prepared homework than when they completed CL exercises or were administered quizzes. Results also suggest that CL may engender ethical concerns regarding assignment of grades to individual students that are largely determined by the efforts of fellow group members.

13  Student Perceptions Of Communication Skills: Writing, Presentations, And Public Speaking by Glen H. Brodowsky and Beverlee B. Anderson

This empirical study compares business students’ views of communications skills development with those of students in non-business disciplines. Students were asked about the importance of communication skills, to assess their own communication skills, and to evaluate the university‘s contribution to helping them improve their skills. The findings show that business students are less confident in their written and oral skills than non-business majors. If, indeed, the most important skills employers seek are strong communications skills, business schools will have to produce graduates with better communications skills, or employers will recruit graduates from other disciplines.

23 Views of Accounting Faculty And Students Regarding The Ethics Of Earnings Management by Rafik Z. Elias 

Recently, earnings management behavior has been a concern for regulators and the accounting profession. This study examines the views of accounting faculty and students regarding the ethics of this practice. Based on a national survey of 425 accounting faculty and students, significant differences emerged between and within the two groups based on university affiliation (religious vs. non-religious), age, experience and level of education. As accounting faculty are urged to integrate ethics into the accounting curriculum, these differences can help educators in examining their students’ perceptions and their own.

35  Examining The Impact Of Task On Attitude Change When Using Sexual Harassment Hypertext Cases by Douglas M. Harvey and Veronica M. Godshalk

This study examines effect of task assignment on attitude change of graduate students when these learners are given a web-based experiential exercise based on cognitive flexibility theory. A cognitive flexibility hypertext system design allows for whether or not the perspective taken by the learner impacts attitude towards the ill-structured, emotionally charged, and complex topic of sexual harassment. Results suggest the choice of appropriate task design is essential in creating attitude change. This research contributes to instructional design and notes implications for design and delivery of both academic task assignments and corporate training activities.

47  Creating An Integrating University Capstone For Entrepreneurship Students by Jeffrey R. Cornwell and Michael J. Naughton

Undergraduate students at the University of St. Thomas, a Midwestern Catholic institution, must take three courses in Theology as part of the core, liberal arts curriculum. The authors, one from the Department of Entrepreneurship and one from the Department of Theology, gained support from the university to develop and team teach an upper division theology course targeted to entrepreneurship majors and having as its fundamental goal the integration of professional education with the liberal arts. This paper details the process of creating this course, with a description of the course content and discussion of lessons learned by the team.

53  Are U.S. Students Prepared For Careers In International Business? A Multinational Study of Worldview by Douglas L. Fugate and Felicia Lassk

As the world economy globalizes, it is important that U.S. schools and college of business prepare their students for careers in international or global commerce. Unless our students are highly competitive with students from other industrial and postindustrial nations, U.S. graduates will receive fewer key appointments in multinational organizations. Unfortunately, there are indications that this is now occurring despite the efforts of deans, faculty and accrediting bodies. While there may be many factors contributing to this situation, some observers believe that U.S. students lack an attitudinal variable identified here as worldview. Worldview is defined as an inclusive approach to cultural appreciation; one that does not embrace one’s native culture at the expense of others. In order to quantify this potential problem, data were collected from over one thousand students in six different countries. In nearly all cases, U.S. business students did not compare favorably with business students from these nations. Suggested remedies for this problem include more foreign travel, more foreign language requirements in the curriculum, more domestic exposure to foreign nationals, and more instruction on the importance of cultural understanding for our undergraduate and graduate students.

63  Understanding Diversity In Organizations: The Diversity Iceberg Exercise by Matthew Valle, Linda Poulson and Brian Nienhaus

This manuscript describes an exercise and guided discussion that aims to broaden student understanding of the concept of diversity. The student task involves a recognition and memory exercise that students engage in as individuals and again as a group. The results of the exercise are designed to show how group composition affects performance. The guided discussion which follows is directed at exploring the notion that observed and underlying aspects of diversity can influence organizational performance and that diversity, when narrowly defined, underestimates the business impact that diversity can have.

71  Currency In The Marketing Classroom: An Active Learning Justification And Application by Denny E. McCorkle, Joe F. Alexander and Allen Schaefer

The practices of marketing and business in general are changing faster than can be reflected in published textbooks. In addition to offering a framework for adding current events, examples, and activities to the mix of pedagogical methods, the authors also describe a special topics assignment as one means of accomplishing "currency" within the business classroom and enhancing active learning.

85  Application Of Internet Technology To Facilitate Student Team Projects  by Thomas J> Bergmann and Marilyn A. Bergmann

Lotus Notes LearningSpace (or any web-based learning system) allows business educators to use the latest in technology and the Internet 1) to enhance the classroom experience and 2) to emulate the modern business environment through asynchronous, team-based, management-related problem solving. This paper describes incorporation of LearningSpace into an undergraduate and a graduate class. It uses four criteria (product adaptation, accomplishment of the task, results comparable to traditional approaches, and student response) to measure the success of the groupware’s application to classroom problem-solving projects. It demonstrates an approach that gives students a familiarity with and a positive reaction to Internet-based groupware.

103  Free Cash Flow And Economic Value Added: An Integrative Undergraduate Simulation Exercise by Anne M. Drougas and Arvid C. Johnson

This paper describes the use and construction of an integrated spreadsheet to emphasize the importance of variability, scenario analysis and simulation in analyzing mathematical and computational relationships among free cash flow, economic value added, and pro forma financial statements. Designed to be implemented early within an introductory undergraduate finance course, this Excel-based spreadsheet illustrates how unanticipated changes in sales impact financial statement items and financial ratios and how managers should be as concerned with sales forecasts – which are subject to uncertainty – as the degree of uncertainty (measured by the standard deviation). Because any sales forecast is subject to a degree of uncertainty, modeling techniques should emphasize early that financial managers and planners are as interested in this degree of uncertainty (standard deviation) as in expected level of future sales. Scenario analysis and simulation using Crystal Ball are used to introduce students to various tools to model and assess the variability in a firm's expected sales stream, to track the changes in variability in the forecast over different modeling techniques, and to examine its impact on pro forma financial statement items.

 

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