Creating an Expert System Using Visual Basic.NET Training Session Brian R. Kovar Kansas State University 8th AIS Educator Annual Meeting June 23, 2006

Concepts Covered in this session Programming IF….Then….Else Selection Statements Variable Declaration Object-Oriented Programming How to create message boxes Visual Basic programming environment The inside mechanics (“nuts-and-bolts”) of the decision-making rules that make up expert systems Many other programming and information systems concepts will be covered as well

Programming helps build accounting competencies Programming helps develop and improve problem solving and critical thinking skills. Increased ability to handle more complex accounting issues and problems (Beard and Smith 2002) AICPA core competency: ability to leverage technology (2004) The lack of programming skills may handicap accountants in working effectively as IS auditors (Calderon, Cheh, Chatham 2002) The Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) has developed curriculum models stressing the need and importance of computer programming skills. Beard and Smith are at Idaho State. At Idaho State, 3 CIS courses are integrated into the ACCOUNTING MAJOR . The first of the 3 CIS courses is a beginning programming course. In describing their use of programming in their curriculum, Beard and Smith (2002) noted that students credited their programming exposure to “an increased ability to handle more complex accounting issues and problems.” AICPA recognizes both that information technology (IT) is an integral part of accounting and that accounting education should incorporate increasing amounts of IT so that accountants can provide quality information systems services. The Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), in its curriculum models developed in 1998, also stresses the need and importance of computer programming skills for information systems auditors. analogy of fundamental programming skills for the AIS graduate being very similar to the need for introductory financial accounting courses in accounting programs. Just as the concepts of introductory financial accounting prepare students for more advanced financial accounting concepts and the remainder of their accounting curriculum, a working knowledge of computer programming lays the foundation and helps establish the thought processes for future work in information systems.

Tutorials Developed for Classroom Use Creating and Coding an Expert System Using Visual Basic.NET Published in the Winter 2005 issue of The Review of Business Information Systems. Received a Best Paper Award at the 2004 AIS Educator Conference. Interacting with a Database Using Visual Basic.NET Presented at the 2005 AIS Educator Conference Recently accepted for publication in the 2006 C3 project (A Compendium of Classroom Cases and Tools) sponsored by the Information Systems section of the American Accounting Association. Designed to give students an introductory look into how computer programs are created using a computer programming language (VB.NET), as well as give students some basic exposure to the concepts and skills needed to create computer programs. Step-by-step tutorials where students: Create an expert system (Loan Evaluation ES) Create programs capable of interacting with an Access database (simple data retrieval and display, as well as SQL queries involving one table and multiple tables) In this tutorial, students will create an expert system as they work through a step-by-step tutorial that explains the Visual Basic.NET programming environment and the elements used to create the expert system program

Expert System Decision Tree Good Income? Education Employment? References? Bad High Low Grant the Loan Investigate Further Refuse the Loan Medium Employed Unemployed

Using Creating and Coding an Expert System Using VB Using Creating and Coding an Expert System Using VB.NET tutorial in the classroom Can be used as part of an in-class unit, or it can be used as a stand-alone, self-paced unit. Has been used at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Students self-report an average completion time of 3.25 hours (range of 1.5-5.5 hours to complete) Must be completed in a computer lab or on a computer that already has Visual Studio/Visual Basic.NET installed. Software can be obtained for a yearly fee from the Microsoft Software Developer Network Academic Alliance (your college or department may already be a member) Can be used as part of an in-class unit where computer programming concepts are presented and discussed and an assignment is made, or it can simply be a stand-alone, self-paced unit that the students are required to complete. Students self-report an average time of 3.25 hours to complete the tutorial, ranging from a minimum completion time of 1.5 hours (working straight through with no interruptions), to a maximum completion time of 5.5 hours. The tutorial has also been used at both the graduate and undergraduate levels to introduce business students to the basics of computer programming. As written, the tutorial does not contain any assignment exercises, but an instructor can assign the tutorial for students to complete as practice and a learning exercise, with the instructor then using the tutorial as the basis for developing focused exercises that might meet the instructor’s own unique needs.

Concepts Covered in this session Programming IF….Then….Else Selection Statements Variable Declaration Object-Oriented Programming How to create message boxes Visual Basic programming environment The inside mechanics (“nuts-and-bolts”) of the decision-making rules that make up expert systems Many other programming and information systems concepts were covered as well