Survey responses from 333 of 616 accounting faculty indicated that over 78% experienced teaching anxiety; 38.5% had experienced physical symptoms and 80% psychological reactions. Anxiety was associated with rank, age, teaching experience, and type of institution (doctoral/nondoctoral granting). Inexperience or lack of familiarity with the material…

Discusses the use of undergraduate accounting students to assist the one-person internal audit department at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, in conducting a low-cost audit of the school. The audit, conducted as part of the accounting department's Auditing II course, helped students develop interviewing and documentation skills and…

Suggests as businesses shift from periodic to perpetual inventory systems, business educators should expand coverage of the latter. Doing so would support ideals of lifelong learning through meaningful content, progressive differentiation, integrative reconciliation, and control of complexity. (SK)

A comparison was made of average accounting grades, overall business grade point average (GPA), and overall academic GPA with standardized test scores for general, business, and accounting seniors from 1980-95. Grade inflation did exist at the overall university and business school levels but not in accounting courses. (SK)

Describes Governmental Accounting Standards Boards' (GASB) proposed new standards addressing the recognition, measurement, and reporting of other postemployment benefits (excluding pension benefits), the most common of which are health-care benefits. Includes a lengthy table of tentative GASB decisions on other postemployment benefits. Suggests…

Discusses the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, a formal response to major corporate and accounting scandals, exploring its implications for higher education and promoting it as an opportunity both to reassess best practices for audit committees and executives and to refresh the ongoing dialogue with external auditors. (EV)

Reviews how the principles of the new Sarbanes-Oxley accounting legislation could apply to the non-profit world of higher education, particularly regarding audit practices. (EV)

Responses from 276 of 1,128 faculty at Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business-accredited schools indicated that 231 were certified; only 96 served in professional associations; large numbers received financial support for professional activities, but only small numbers felt involvement or relevant experience (which are required for…

Innovative ideas for accounting education include having students study accounting across historical periods, using businesses for student research, exploring nontraditional accounting careers, and collaborating with professional associations. (SK)

Explores how public colleges are adapting to a new accounting procedure that gives many of them apparent deficits. (EV)

Discusses Weber State College's experience of integrating written communication assignments into undergraduate accounting and tax courses. Presents techniques and instruments that enhance the use of writing as an instructional tool. (Author)

Efforts to improve the written communication skills of accounting and other business students at Columbus College (Georgia) include a required business writing course, required writing assignments in business and accounting courses, and use of a writing specialist as a consultant for students and faculty. (JOW)

A study investigated the attitude of 238 (of 550) academic accountants in Australia toward the involvement of college staff in continuing professional education for the accounting profession. Most believed that involvement would improve relationships between practitioners and academics and increase support for college programs. (Author)

Eight text banks that accompany cost accounting textbooks were evaluated for the presence of bias in the distribution of correct responses. All but one were found to have considerable bias, and three of eight were found to have significant choice bias. (SK)

Compares differences in achievement, homework time, and attitudes between college students using computer-assisted instruction to complete accounting homework and those completing traditional homework problems. Findings reveal no significant difference in achievement or time spent on homework. Students using computers, however, had more positive…