Nicholas J. Fessler

A ‘Modern’ Professor in ‘Postmodern’ Land: Adventures Teaching Accounting

‘Modernism’ assumes that words and conceptual ideas are capable of objectively capturing the meaning of events (Minda, 1995), that meaning can be discovered and defined (Harvey, 1989). That is, objective knowledge exists: human beings can both objectively perceive reality and accurately represent that reality through discourse. Science is the primary form of knowledge (Klages, 2007). Risking over-simplicity, ‘postmodernism’ challenges the idea of a single meaning of reality (Hare-Mustin and Marecek, 1988). Thus, there may be ‘plural realities’ (Bruner and Feldman, 1986) and there is no underlying reality to things (Montagna, 1997). It follows then that objective knowledge does not exist: every definition of reality is an interpretation, a contingent construct that is always situational, provisional, and temporary (Klages, 2007).

YouTube, iTunes U and You

A number of incidents occurred over a period of time which prompted me to innovate regarding the delivery of my courses. First, I had begun to teach a course without the use of a textbook. While I had developed a comprehensive workbook to supplement my classes, I had some concern for those students who might miss class but would not have a textbook to help them catch up. The following semester foul weather (snow and ice) arrived the day I was to teach the first class of a course. The university did not cancel classes, but I began receiving e-mails from a number of students who would not be able to attend. I taught the class as scheduled, but I also wanted to help those students who missed an important and foundational class period. Later, thanks to university budget cuts, the class section of one of my courses was significantly increased. I was concerned about foot-traffic through my office and so was prompted to think about ways to provide students with resources they could access before visiting me, particularly if they missed class. Finally, I was given advance notice that I would be teaching a student with a visiondisability who would not always be able to read what I wrote on the board (some days she could see better than others). What assistance could I provide for this student? In response to each of the above-described incidents, I thought that recording a semester-long series of class sessions could provide the solution. For the first two incidents I created audio-only recordings; for the third and fourth incidents I created video recordings. This Postcard describes my efforts to create the recordings and how I then used iTunes U and YouTube to make these recordings available to students. I have attempted to highlight the lessons learned so that the Postcard might be useful to others who decide to pursue this route.

A time to be friends

‘Time is money,’ as an engineering student living in the same dormitory at my undergraduate university would often say. Moreover, like money, one never seems to have enough. I typically wish I had more time, so sometimes (I must confess) when students come to my office I do not always feel eager to help when so many other tasks await my immediate and long-term attention. However, despite such time constraints, I developed unique friendships with two students who graduated in May 2005. As I describe later, each of these students considered me a friend. Correspondingly, my relationships with both students were unique in my 12 years of teaching. Eventually, decidedly nonacademic (or social) interactions took place. Please allow me to tell you something about these students, about what I have learned from my experience, and about how rewarding it can be to befriend to a student. The first student I shall introduce is Amber; she is from California and is very serious and hard working. Amber’s father died while she was in college and less than six months before she took an undergraduate class from me during the Spring 2003 semester. I do not recall exactly how I learned about her father’s death, but I found myself encouraging her in her studies because she was having difficulties focusing her attention on her academic work. At first we seemed to almost literally bump into one another while walking across the university’s admittedly small campus. Later in her academic career (autumn 2004), Amber took a graduate class I taught, so we were able to continue our academic relationship for several semesters before she graduated. I have since learned that, because we both were natives of the same area of the U.S.A. (‘west-coasters’ at a university in Texas) she felt quite comfortable with me – from the very first moments of the first day of class. Yet our friendship developed informally. At first our conversations began while walking in the same direction across campus, or after coincidentally meeting somewhere on campus. On occasion, she would visit me in my office to talk. My interactions with Amber and her boyfriend (who was also a former student) even included an organized event where I (and my date) helped them improve their dancing (two-stepping, specifically – ballroom dance lessons sometimes come in handy). At first, my role was to encourage Amber in her studies. She studied more than most (and perhaps all) of her peers yet she would frequently achieve results that were barely Accounting Education: an international journal Vol. 15, No. 2, 229–234, June 2006

When Individuals Form Teams: Experimental Evidence Regarding Links Among Monetary Incentives, Stress, Effort, Attractiveness and Performance

This study extends research on the determinants of performance by examining the effect of compensation scheme and perceptions of task attractiveness on team performance. In a laboratory experiment all participants completed a cognitively difficult task both individually and in teams of three individuals. Both individuals and teams were asked to self-report their perceptions of the task’s attractiveness before and after completing the task for compensation, and were compensated for their task performance using one of two compensation schemes: fixed-wage or incentive-based. All links in the theoretical model were supported. Team results provide support for links between Compensation and Stress; Effort and Performance; Attractiveness and Effort; and finally, between Stress and Change in Attractiveness. Individual results provide support for links between Compensation and Stress; Stress and Effort; Effort and Performance; Attractiveness and Performance; Compensation and Change in Attractiveness; Stress and Change in Attractiveness; and finally, between Change in Attractiveness and Performance. Additionally, we find evidence that Attractiveness is a more important determinant of Effort and Performance in the absence of incentive-based compensation.