Fall 2012 Dr. Stephen R. Crow
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO
College of Business Administration
ACCY 1, “Accounting Fundamentals,”
Section 2 - Tuesday and Thursday
Time: 12:00 to 13:15 - Amador Hall, Room 153
Hybrid Course - Outline
INSTRUCTOR Stephen R. Crow
OFFICE Bus - 2102
OFFICE HOURS Tuesday 10:30 to 11:30 in Tahoe Rm. 2102 and Tuesday and Thursday 13:30-14:30 online at SacCT, and others by Appointment
OFFICE PHONE 278-7129
SacCT (Blackboard Learning
Platform) URL http://online/csus/edu
REQUIRED TEXTS:
1. Fundamentals of Financial Accounting , Phillips, Libby, and Libby, Third Edition.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
This is a survey course in financial accounting, from a user's perspective. The objectives of this course are focused specifically on financial accounting in that context, and the homework, exams, quizzes, and projects consist of measurements that assess the student’s understanding and knowledge of that survey perspective.
Our objectives include the following:
$ to introduce the student to the vocabulary and use of the international financial language of accounting and the architecture of financial statements,
$ to develop your ability to analyze the financial position of a business operation,
$ to develop your ability to investigate a financial entity, discern and discuss the type of operation that is being conducted and the type of entity that is being used, and
$ to identify financial and operational characteristics of the business that will be useful to a range of users, e.g. investors, customers, and creditors
$ to present the material in a logical and coherent order and manner that facilitates the objectives of the course and
$ assesses the gains in knowledge and understanding in the same logical and coherent order in which the lectures and other study materials are presented.
Page XXX of 1
It is also our objective to enhance the student’s general communications skills, group work skills, and understanding of ethical practices in the application of technical skills to financial analysis and accounting.
INTRODUCTION TO HYBRID COURSES
The Hybrid course is delivered approximately ½ in a conventional class session (CCS) or conventional delivery mode. This means students will be sitting in the seats in a conventional classroom. The other ½ is delivered in a virtual class session (VCS), i.e. through various electronic media, e.g. internet through the SacCT (the Blackboard Learning Platform) delivery system, iPad, iPod, or smart phones.
All materials that we will use in this course will be located on the SacCT page dedicated to this particular course. On the Course Content (opening) page you will find links to all the materials that will be used in the course. You will find links to an introductory video clip that discusses the stated objectives of the course, the syllabus, the assessment process, and a description of my expectations of you for this course.
The online portion of the course will consist of pre-recorded video clips produced by the instructor. Those clips will contain the instructor’s audio review of the course notes, in a lecture fashion, with a video walk through of printed notes and other materials synchronized with said audio review. The notes and other materials are furnished through links on the content page. The clips are available to the student through links on the content page of the SacCT course page. They are available for viewing or download, by the student, at any time of the day or night, i.e. 24/7. In addition, homework assignments that are to be completed for points will be linked from the online SacCT page with detailed instructions as to the availability of and access to the problems. A detailed review of the instructions for the online homework problems and their value in the assessment process will be presented both in the classroom and in a video clip that is linked in the course content page. Exams will be delivered and administered through SacCT assessment tools. An instructional video clip is linked on the Assessments page of SacCT.
The in class or CCS portion of the course will consist of review of certain lecture topics as selected by the instructor or as the result of questions received by students for further explanation, work on “Class Review Problems,” or CRP’s, as assigned in the syllabus, Q&A from the students, and group/individual exercises. All of these are directed towards the topics covered in the recorded lectures.
SPECIFIC ONLINE AND COURSE POLICIES
CLASSROOM ETIQUETTE
1. Attendance on CCS or classroom session dates is assumed.
It is not very likely that you can successfully complete this course by simply reading the materials assigned from the text and viewing the lecture videos. Much of the information that interrelates the materials presented in the readings, the lecture videos, and the understanding of financial reporting in general comes from application of the technical materials and that is the purpose of the classroom sessions and the professor’s presentation.
To reinforce the importance of attendance, I will take role on an unannounced (random) basis and if a student misses more then 20% of the times that role is taken, they will lose ½ (50%) of the participation points.
Further, there will be impromptu course events that which will occur on regularly scheduled class days, CCS or VCS, and times, at which your participation is required. Attendance is expected at all of those events which will be announced at least one week in advance
2. Professional Behavior in both the actual and virtual elements of the course is assumed.
It is incumbent upon you to conduct yourself in a professional manner. This implies that you will respect the rights of your peers and the professor. In general, this means that you will conduct yourself in a manner that is not disruptive or disrespectful to your peers or the professor.
There are rules of electronic etiquette. Most of the electronic communication in hybrid courses is through email between students to instructors (S2I) or students to students (S2S), or telephone. A second source that is set aside for S2S communication is the Chat and Discussion boards. There are certain rules of electronic communication behavior that make this a much more enjoyable process
$ Keep the email professional, i.e. check grammar and spelling, include name, and identify class and section, do not use ‘texting vernacular’,
$ Make sure there is enough information that the recipient can respond in a meaningful way,
$ Do not be upset if you do not get an immediate response, for that kind of access, the phone is still the best method. In my courses, I try to keep up on email on a daily basis, but generally devote a portion of office hours to respond to email
$ Avoid knee-jerk or sarcastic messages. Always reread an email before sending it.
TELEPHONE
$ Do not assume the recipient of the call knows who you are, always clearly identify yourself and the course and section you are in
$ When leaving information, especially contact information so the recipient can return the call, always speak slowly and distinctly.
$ It is always best to repeat, slowly and clearly, the contact information.
CHAT ROOM AND DISCUSSION BOARD
$ In this course, the chat room and discussion board is generally set aside for S2S communication. The instructor will periodically review the activity to see if there are questions that can be addressed, but there will be no requirement that such communication platforms be used.
$ This is a public forum and it is expected that students will observe basic rules of decorum in references, language, and restrict their comments to relevant materials (no posting of personal agenda commentary)
$ In the past, students have found this to be an excellent source of information. With a larger number of users the forums are likely to receive quicker attention than if response is limited to response from the instructor.
$ Students have found this to be an excellent source of information also in the sense of helping each other and offering different interpretations of technical matters. The instructor can also use this forum by posting questions or simply reviewing student input to isolate and identify issues (very similar to a classroom environment where the instructor can use the responses of students to accomplish the same thing) and deliver a response, either through the same platform or another platform (video clip), whichever appears appropriate.
There appears to be a source for an etiquette checker at “OH Gizmo” that may be of current and future use.
3. Specific Do’s and Do not’s
The following are specific references (and accompanying resolutions of) behavioral issues that students frequently find and mention as being disruptive to their learning experience.
$ All cell phones will be turned off before a classroom session begins unless you have spoken to me ahead of time and given me reasonable cause to make an exception to the rule that cell phones will not be used during classroom sessions. Second violations will prompt confiscation of the device to be returned upon meeting with the instructor.
$ Unless you have spoken to the professor have been granted an exception, or if there is an urgent need, once you have taken your seat and a classroom session has begun you will not leave the room until the classroom session is officially over. If you do not return, urgencies can be explained at the next classroom session. Transgressions will cost you 20 points per occurrence.
$ Classroom conversation and discussions that are not directed by the instructor are disruptive. Certainly there are instances when something that has been said may be unclear and the student may seek clarification from a colleague. If this can be accomplished in a brief, non-disruptive fashion, and is not a recurring phenomena, that is acceptable. If it becomes disruptive due to decibel level, duration, or recurrence, the professor will take appropriate action. If you have a question or need clarification, there is no doubt that others have the same question or clarification issue, so, it provides a service to your colleagues if you raise your hand and ask the professor for resolution as opposed to a disservice when the non-directed peer discussion becomes disruptive.
$ The “Great Land Rush” phenomena. I may decide to use a seating chart. By the classroom session day of the third week of the course, you should find the seat that you wish to occupy for the remainder of the academic semester, in this class. Whether or not I decide to use a chart, it is your responsibility to occupy your chosen seat for the duration of the course. Since you will have picked your groups by then it is advisable to sit in groups. If you are using a laptop for course notes, YOU ARE REQUIRED TO SIT IN THE FIRST TWO OR THREE ROWS (DEPENDING ON SEATING NEEDS) OF THE CLASSROOM
HYBRID COURSE: MORE DETAILS
The Hybrid course is delivered approximately ½ on line through the SacCT (the Blackboard Learning Platform) delivery system. All materials that we will use in this course will be located on the SacCT page dedicated to this particular course. On the Course Content (opening) page you will find links to all the materials that will be used in the course. You will find links to an introductory video clip that discusses the stated objectives of the course, the syllabus, the assessment process, and the expectations of you for this course.
The online or virtual class sessions (VCS) portion of the course will consist of pre-recorded video clips produced by the instructor.
The in class or conventional classroom sessions (CCS) portion of the class will consist of review of certain lecture topics as selected by the instructor or as the result of questions received by students for further explanation, work on “Classroom Review Problems” (CRP’s) as assigned in the syllabus, Q&A from the students, and group/individual exercises. All of these are directed towards the topics covered in the recorded lectures.
The recorded lectures use a program called Camtasia. Camtasia incorporates all the same presentation tools that the instructor has available in the classroom, and enhances the capabilities of the instructor in the use of those tools as the lecture can be switched from tool to tool without interruption. This means that the lecture is delivered in a much more seamless flow. Further, there are presentation tools that are available to the instructor in this setting that cannot be used in the classroom due to technology and logistical limitations. For example, Elmo which allows the instructor to project diagrams or worksheets and make annotations on a real time basis on the documents which is viewed on the computer screen or the use of guest appearances or remote locations if they would enhance the lecture.
The Camtasia video clips are delivered in short segments to focus on specific components of the lecture. Consider the typical classroom lecture. In a two day per week course, there is 75 minutes of nonstop information flow on each of those two days. That flow can be Instructor to Student (I2S), Student to Instructor (S2I), or Student to Student (S2S). In many cases this is overwhelming to the student. Two of the advantages of using the online lecture delivery are:
$ the lectures are delivered in limited time segments, 12 to 15 minutes per segment,