1 TEACHING THE ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEMS COURSE ONLINE: ONE INSTRUCTOR’S EXPERIENCE Presentation for the AIS Educator’s Conference June 27, 2004 M George Durler Emporia State University

6/27/04AIS Educator2 Introduction Demand for On-line courses including courses in AIS increasing By Students By Administrators By some faculty Summer course for satellite campus program Prerequisite for a Fall course Enrollment exceed expectations Satellite + on-campus + other students 56 enrolled in 2003, 47 in 2004

6/27/04AIS Educator3 Course Structure Blackboard Course Management software Standard textbook – Romney and Steinbart 9 th ed. Two chapters per week/15 total chapters Two assignments per chapter Discussion question due on Tuesday Homework problem due on Thursday “Lecture” notes and supplemental material Threaded discussions of chapter material Weekly 50 point exams 26 points from multiple choice questions 24 points from essay questions Randomly chosen questions and timed to reduce effect of “open book” nature Other projects Relatively simple spreadsheet – review of prerequisite Accounting general ledger software – Peachtree

6/27/04AIS Educator4 Course Content Introduction to AIS and AIS concepts Documentation techniques Flowcharting and DFDs Interpretation of REA diagrams Internal Control concepts and procedures Accounting cycles and related controls Database Concepts System acquisition Introduction to E-business Introduction to systems auditing

6/27/04AIS Educator5 Implementation/Problems Book problems Additional Discussion Forums needed Responding to student queries Frequently Asked Questions Students not following guidelines Time consuming effort Inability to provide adequate feedback Assignments Essay exams

6/27/04AIS Educator6 Results Comparison to same course face-to-face Attrition rates Average grade Student evaluations Exams Proctored filtered question exams for face-to- face Open book, random questions, timed for online Performance in follow-up course

6/27/04AIS Educator7 Changes Changes Implemented Need for better feedback One less week/fewer chapters Changed deadlines/opportunity to take exams Better consistency Attempt to reduce need for exceptions Better coordination with bookstores Other Future Changes Different book – considerable effort Need for more detail than face-to-face class Publisher material will also be important

6/27/04AIS Educator8 Recommendations Get help from an experienced online instructor Most of what worked came from CIS professor Plan and Organize Pace the course Give as much feedback as possible Pick a good book/find supplemental material online Expect things to go wrong