Student Guide Corner

Over the years, I have argued often on this blog that one of the really weak spots in education was the failure of students to close the holes on what I call �Swiss Cheese Knowledge.�   Thus, on the first day of class last week, I drew a block on the board and put holes in it.  I then explained the drawing to my students. When you leave class every day, your knowledge looks like a block of Swiss cheese.   It appears entirely solid.  However, it is full of holes�things you missed, things you misunderstood, things you did not quite catch.  I know the knowledge feels solid, but it really is not.   If you do not take action, those holes just get bigger as time passes and your memory begins to fade.   Having taught for nearly 50 years, I know where the holes are likely to be.   I can and will write test questions to expose those holes.  In many ways, testing is just an attempt to measure the quantity and size of the holes ...

I have long asserted that the most important days of any semester are the 2-4 days immediately after the first test.  So many good things and so many bad things can happen in this short period of time. They can make the semester more wonderful or they can ruin the semester.  It is the point where the group is of no importance but the individuals are of maximum importance. Because of the importance of this period, I have started (as of this semester) doing two things.   I sent my students the following email immediately after their first test with the subject line �Please Read.�   I want to get their attention.   Then, a couple of days later when I get ready to return the graded exams, I take the first 5-10 minutes of class time to talk with them about my view of the learning process.   I will describe that talk in my next blog posting in a few days. Email to my students: I have not looked at the test yet but I will try to get an answer s...

Recently, I was invited by Dr. Shannon Orr (Bowling Green State) and Dr. Staci Zavattaro (Central Florida) to participate in an upcoming book project (to be published in 2017 by Palgrave).  They are asking 100 college professors to respond to the question:   What do you wish you had learned back in graduate school? Isn�t that a fascinating idea for a book?   I must admit that I can hardly wait to read it myself and see what the other 99 have to say.  I am always in need of advice.   The question really breaks down to the ultimate life question:   If we had it all to do over with again, how would we do it differently?   That�s a question we should ponder now and then as we consider making changes in our present day life.  You can�t change the past but you do have some control over the present.  Thinking about the past might help us improve the future. I spent several days considering what my honest answer might be....

Joe: I am delighted today to be talking with Dennis Beresford, one of the most influential accountants in the history of the profession. Just as importantly from the perspective of this blog, he has also spent quite a number of years as a teacher. Denny, I recently read one student review of your class that said: "Excellent in stimulating student's interest in accounting matters. Very intelligent and dynamic. Good class to take for improving research, critical thinking, and communication skills." You have certainly had a wonderfully wide and varied career. Can you furnish us with a short biography of some of your many accomplishments over the years? Denny:    The short biography is 26 years in public accounting with what is now Ernst & Young, 10 � years as Chairman of the FASB, and 16 years as E&Y Executive Professor of Accounting at the University of Georgia. I began as a staff auditor in the Los Angeles office of E&Y and worked there for about 10 years. I...