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Course
Description | B&E Department Mission and the
College's Core Values
Course Competencies |
Textbook and Materials | Course
Components
Class Attendance and Mobile Phones|
Computer Fluency
Accommodations for Students With Special Needs
| Examinations
Academic Dishonesty |
Evaluation Schedule
Introduction to Financial Accounting is concerned with the system of gathering, processing, and communicating financial information to interested external users, primarily investors and creditors. You will be introduced to the financial accounting process: measuring, processing, interpreting, and using accounting information for business decision-making. This semester we will give special focus to the financial reports and business activities of three companies: Apple, Inc., FedEx, and Starbucks Corporation.
Department Mission: Students enrolled in the Department of Business & Economics will develop competencies in their specific fields of study. In addition, they will graduate with the essential analytical, problem solving, computer, and communication skills to excel in their chosen career or graduate studies. Upon their graduation, students also will have the necessary interpersonal skills to function as effective team players with people from diverse backgrounds. Furthermore, students will be able to demonstrate competency in conducting research, a commitment to ethical and professional behavior, an understanding of the international marketplace, and an appreciation of the importance of lifelong learning.
Accounting Program Objectives: Students of accounting and public accounting will apply the basics of financial reporting and internal control, understand how managers use accounting information, appreciate how technology impacts the accounting profession, and possess basic skills to pass a professional examination.
The Department supports the College's Core Values, and this course directly addresses two of the Core Values:
Core Value #1 -- Liberal Arts Foundation: this course, where learning and teaching happens using a liberal arts approach, helps prepare students for careers where critical thinking, unstructured problem solving, and judgment is necessary.
Core Value #4 -- World of Work: this course provides students with an education "in the various branches of useful knowledge." Requiring students to use the skills and knowledge they acquired in their liberal education, this course's content reflects today's realities of worldwide market orientation and an economy based deeply on information exchange.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
REQUIRED
Ahead of their scheduled dates, you shall complete assigned readings from the textbook and various business and accounting periodicals. These readings, which you should view with professionally skeptical eyes, serve as the basis for class discussions and application of textbook topics. Outside assignments and a financial statement analysis project provide additional opportunities for you to apply material discussed in class and to discover information related to class topics. Three examinations provide me with more formal opportunities to evaluate your progress.
Each new chapter BEGINS with a RAT (Readiness Assessment Test, otherwise known as a quiz). The purpose of the RAT is to make sure you keep up with assigned reading and to do this reading BEFORE we start the chapter. RAT questions come from the key definitions for each chapter.
We will use brief lectures and lots of in-class discussions, team activities, homework, outside assignments, and a project as the means of learning and applying textbook concepts. I expect active class participation from all students. You can be expected to be called on in class. Oral communication skills are a critical factor for the success of accountants -- or any businessperson for that matter! Those who participate in class tend to be more academically stronger, as they know they must prepare ahead of class, read assigned materials and review those materials already covered, and keep up with homework in order to meet the demands of class participation. Participation includes, but is not limited to asking questions and responding to questions during class, responding to homework reviews, sharing personal experiences or making comments about class topics, finding relevant articles in newspapers or journals and introducing them to the class, etc. In addition to participating in class, you can pose questions and carry on electronic discussions by way of our class e-mail list.
You will spend a lot of time working in teams: during class, on outside assignments, and for the semester project. Every four or so weeks we will rotate membership of the in-class teams. But the team to which you are first assigned is the team that will research, prepare, and deliver the semester project.
Attendance is not taken. You will be treated as an adult in this regard, responsible for the outcomes of the choices you make. Please realize that because of the various teaching and learning methods employed in our class it is not possible to recreate the learning that takes place during class time. Absences impact your class participation grade; if you're not in class, you can't participate!
While in class, please turn off your mobile phones. If you are awaiting an emergency phone call, please set your mobile's alert mode to "vibrate" and immediately leave the classroom to take the call.
To stay comfortable with and continuously work to improve my routine for Marietta College emergency preparedness, periodically we will not meet and instead conduct classes using alternate means. Just as in an emergency, you will not receive advance notice about these changes. Thus it is extremely important for you to regularly check your Marietta College e-mail for instructions. Sometimes you will get notification via e-mail, other times via a notice posted on the doors of Thomas Hall (similar to a situation when electric service to the campus has been disrupted).
You are expected to have a working knowledge of e-mail and a Marietta College e-mail account, fluency in simple applications of Microsoft Excel and Word, using Internet search engines, and using the Legacy Library online resource databases.
Students with learning or other disabilities are encouraged to contact me at the beginning of the semester to discuss their needs for accommodation. Students with learning or other disabilities are encouraged to contact me at the beginning of the semester to discuss their needs for accommodation. Any student needing accommodations due to a documented disability should notify the Academic Resource Center, located in Andrews Hall, at the beginning of the semester for further instructions.
Examinations are designed to encourage you to synthesize the textbook and outside readings, in-class exercises, homework, and material discussed on our e-mail group list. Examination questions focus on concepts, application of financial accounting principles, and analysis of financial information for business decision making. Examinations are not comprehensive, but represent the cumulative nature of the discipline. Examination questions do not mimic homework or in-class assignments. The purpose of examinations is to demonstrate your ability to apply concepts, principles, and ideas from the textbook and class discussions and to make sense of new and unfamiliar situations.
Academic dishonesty occurs when a student represents someone else's work as his or her own; it includes actions such as, but not limited to:
Any student who engages in academic dishonesty or plagiarizes from published material (e.g. websites, books, or magazines) or from unpublished material (such as another student's writing or your own work previously submitted for another assignment), is subject to a range of penalties depending on the extent of the academic dishonesty -- from a zero on the assignment to an F for the course. Please make yourself familiar with the College's attitudes about academic dishonesty by reading the Student Handbook and the Campus Writing Center's website.I want you to know that I am very persistent and diligent about investigating suspected academic dishonesty and reviewing your research and writing. I deal with offenders as stated in my policy: from issuing a zero on an assignment to an F for the course. Students frequently forget that the impact of academic dishonesty goes well beyond the assignment or the semester. It results in a long-term loss of my trust and confidence in you. As such, I would be unable to write an objective letter of reference for you for campus activities or work, awards, internships, jobs, or graduate school. Simply stated: please avoid any temptation to engage in academic dishonesty!
|
Examinations |
Examination I - 110 points
|
390 points |
|
RATs |
10 @ 5 points each |
50 points |
| Team Project | Financial statement analysis | 100 points |
|
Class Participation |
Includes in-class and e-mail list participation; in-class and out-of-class assignments |
55 points |
|
Total Points Available |
595 points |
|
Evaluation Scale:
|
94% and above
|
A
|
74-76.5%
|
C
|
Late assignments
will have points deducted. The deduction is 10% of the value of the
assignment for each 24-hour period after the due date/time it is late,
including weekends.
Any student (with the exception of first year students) on academic
probation will also be placed on co-curricular probation. At the end of
spring semester first year students can be placed on co-curricular
probation effect for the fall semester. Refer to p. 133-134 of the
2011-12
College Catalogue for more information about
co-curricular probation.
Acct
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Updated on 6-February-2012