D. Larry Crumbley

Teaching effectiveness, impression management, and dysfunctional behavior: Student evaluation of teaching control data

Purpose – Student evaluation of teaching (SET) questionnaires are used in many countries, although much current research questions the validity of these surveys. US research indicates that more than 90 percent of academic accounting departments use this performance measurement. This paper aims to focus on the validity of SET data.Design/methodology/approach – A mail survey was sent to a random sample of 1,000 accounting professors employed at four‐year universities and colleges in the USA. A total of 447 responses were returned for a response rate of 44.7 percent. Statistical results of the survey for data are reported.Findings – Instructors engage in impression management when SET data are used for control purposes. Dysfunctional behavior of accounting instructors includes easy grading, inflating grades, course work deflation, and other defensive strategies which result in negative social implications. A significant 53 percent of the accounting instructors knew of other professors who have reduced gradin...

Using short stories to teach critical thinking and communication skills to tax students

Researchers and numerous groups stress the importance of incorporating communication skills development into accounting curricula. Although a number of formal and informal techniques are available to instructors to incorporate writing skills into the classroom, many students have both oral and writing communication apprehension (CA). Short stories are a flexible teaching tool to overcome boredom both inside and outside the classroom. This scenario approach combines education and entertainment to make learning easier and interesting. Students can be required to develop short stories where accountants are the key characters and heroes. The better short stories may be placed on the Internet for future students to review. What may be wearisome and unexciting information can become meaningful through mystery, intrigue, humour, and adventure.Researchers and numerous groups stress the importance of incorporating communication skills development into accounting curricula. Although a number of formal and informal techniques are available to instructors to incorporate writing skills into the classroom, many students have both oral and writing communication apprehension (CA). Short stories are a flexible teaching tool to overcome boredom both inside and outside the classroom. This scenario approach combines education and entertainment to make learning easier and interesting. Students can be required to develop short stories where accountants are the key characters and heroes. The better short stories may be placed on the Internet for future students to review. What may be wearisome and unexciting information can become meaningful through mystery, intrigue, humour, and adventure.

Accounting administrators’ perceptions of student evaluation of teaching (SET) information

Most business schools use student evaluation of teaching (SET) survey data for promotion, tenure, and merit decision‐making purposes. Since most SET questionnaires focus on students’ perceptions of an instructor rather than learning, there may be an incentive for instructors to resort to dysfunctional behavior in order to manipulate SET scores. The purpose of this article is to report the results of a survey designed to determine if such behavior occurs from an administrative viewpoint. A total of 773 administrative accounting professors were surveyed, with a response rate of 45.3 per cent. Although most administrators believe that a single numerical measure cannot capture all relevant evaluative data, they do believe that SET has caused grade inflation and they are dissatisfied with their current SET system. However, the majority of administrators would not replace the current evaluation system with an alternative evaluation system.

Higher grades = higher evaluations: impression management of students

This study investigates the effects on end‐of‐the semester evaluations of the instructor resulting from grade inflation by the administration of a different number of mid‐semester tests to four different classes of the first course of accounting. Students in two classes received six mid‐semester examinations, while the other two classes received three. All classes were given a cumulative final examination. Giving six examinations rather than three allows a student to memorize less of the course material before each examination, resulting in higher overall grades. Analysis of the data revealed that students receiving six mid‐semester examinations scored higher than those receiving three. These differences were statistically significant at the 0.1 level. Students’ end‐of‐the semester evaluations of the fairness of grading, quality of the instructor and the quality of the course were consistently more positive in the class that received six mid‐semester examinations. Higher grades did result in higher evalua...

Extending the Case Study: Assigning an Educational Novel and Student Role-Playing in the Accounting Information Systems Course

Need for innovative and active-learning activities to enhance the teaching-learning experience have never been greater. Students of the ‘video generation,’ compared to prior generations, often have learning styles that are not well matched to the traditional classroom lecture format of teaching. Use of case studies is well documented as an effective way to engage students. The educational novel extends the case study approach. Educational novels have been described as effectively a very lengthy case problem, with a myriad of inter-connected sub-cases, incorporating interesting characters and plot elements. This study describes two teaching devices, educational novels and student role-playing, that can be used to complement traditional lectures. These two teaching devices can be used in accounting information system (AIS) classes, and other classes, to provide technical information in a way that encourages learning and generates student enthusiasm. This study reports how each of these teaching devices can be readily implemented and how each has produced positive feedback from AIS students.