This portfolio is the part of a process of documentation of my desire to continuously improve my teaching.    I expect to revise it substantially by the time I am ready to make formal applications for positions.   The Table of Contents is:

1. Teaching responsibilities
2. Teaching philosophy
3. Evidence of student learning
4. Activities to develop my teaching

There are appendices:
    
                     I. Course descriptions
                    II. Links to sample course syllabi and websites.
                   III. Publications related to teaching


1. Teaching Responsibilities

German and French were my languages for my doctoral program.   In addition, I have taken 42 credits of German at the University of Delaware and I am now conversational in German. I also took a year of Japanese at the UD. 

I was a guest lecturer in German 325, "German Civilization and Culture" in spring, 1991 and fall, 1992.    I also read French.


2. Teaching Philosophy

Teaching is transmission of knowledge from those with knowledge and experience to those without knowledge and experience.   The teacher must be knowledgeable since he or she is responsible for selecting the material and sequence of the material.  I change my methods depending upon which course I am teaching.
 
(As I develop this webpage, I intend to expand on my philosophy of education in general, based on my 1989 article, "The Accounting Profession in America. 2. Philosophy of American Accounting Education.")

Accounting is a problem-solving activity.  In accounting classes,  I emphasize problem identification and solving.   I use contemporary examples from the current Wall Street Journal to illustrate the points being covered.

Principles of Accounting is a required class for accounting and other majors.  I have been teaching it since 1972,  long before I arrived at the University of Delaware. My classes for Principles of Accounting are lecture and individual problem-solving.   I spend as much class time as possible on problems which are giving the students difficulty. I require students to turn in homeworks and I put problems on the exam to be worked on paper, not answered as multiple choice questions. Besides covering the material other faculty require, I do additional activities.  My coverage mentions the special journals and subsidiary ledgers so that students can see how accounting work can be delegated within a firm. In the Principles class, I require the students to do a simple case of a complete accounting cycle so they can see a business from the first transaction to preparation of the financial statements.  I also do this because I believe accounting majors should do a workpaper sometime before gradation; I have taught Advanced Accounting for many years, and discovered some of the students have never done a workpaper of any kind in any of their accounting classes.

In the past, I taught beginning students the accounting cycle using my computerized practice set until the faculty decided that computers are too time-consuming for the Principles of Accounting classes.  Practice sets, special journals and subsidiary ledgers were required years ago; now they are no longer required by other faculty who teach Principles since the students feel they are boring.   Indeed, some faculty are now teaching Principles of Accounting at the University without debits and credits, so they can be taught by someone in Intermediate Accounting.   I still cover debits and credits in the first course.

Advanced Accounting is the fifth and final class in the financial accounting sequence.   I have taught it at least once a year since 1982.  In the Advanced Accounting class, I only lecture on the topics that students have the most difficulty with, such as consolidations when there has been an upstream sale from a partially-owned subsidiary. Much of class time is spent on problems and application of the principles to current business events. 

In the graduate class in International Accounting, the course is lecture, cases, discussion and student presentations.  Lecture is at a minimum; I do use PowerPoint and the web for those lecture (example). The maturity of the students permits dividing the class into teams for many cases, with each team discussing and presenting results. The students have wide varieties of backgrounds. Some have only a basic knowledge of accounting, while others may be CPAs or chartered accountants.  For the past several years, the majority of the students have been foreign students. The low number of students permits one-on-one interaction at their level of knowledge, as they develop their course project. The description of the course project is linked from the syllabus.

I have created and taught two undergraduate classes in international accounting.  One is Introduction to International Accounting, taught on the Newark campus.  The other is Seminar in International Accounting, to be offered only overseas.  Neither has a syllabus on-line.

The Introduction  to Business Information Systems class at the University is largely a microcomputer technology class.  The components of hardware are covered, and MS Office applications are covered.   There is a slight introduction to the the systems development life cycle.  In the past four years, I have taught Introduction to Business Information Systems every semester.  The students are mostly non-majors, and about half are not enrolled in the College of Business and Economics. About 20% of the class are freshmen and most of the rest are sophomores.   Many are in the class because it is required by their major, such as fashion merchandising or hotel and restaurant management, or are undeclared majors at the University.

For the first class, as with most introductory courses, there is much factual material.  I divide the course into lecture and laboratory work.   I lecture using a PowerPoint presentation (example).  In another window, I have the WWW open so that I can switch to live examples from company websites or the course website (example).  I begin the course with concepts, placing business information systems in the context of all systems. Although microcomputers are the main focus of the course, I constantly remind students that not every systems solution must be a computer solution. I also have a component of history since the present computer environment (e.g. ASCII vs. EBCDIC) is a legacy of past decisions and events.

The laboratory is for work on the course projects.  In addition to what the other faculty require, I also require a library assignment which I developed with the help of the business librarian.  I cover a module on graph construction and interpretation. Some of the students tell me that they have not been in Morris Library in months or years, and some have never been in the reference room.  Since this course is a foundation for future courses in this college, it is essential that students begin to draw on the computerized resources of this excellent library. The assignment that I require was developed in consultation with the business librarian, to make students aware of the uses and licensing of proprietary databases.  Another unique module is on graphics: it is not enough to be able to create charts and graphs in Excel. Students should know which data are best presented by which type of chart. I accomplish this through a 25-page handout which includes successful and misleading charts.  When working with the students in the lab, I have all projects available on the web.  I also put webpages up on the screen (example).

Since I have graduate degrees and experience in accounting and business, I use business and accounting examples as much as possible when doing the computer projects.  For example, when doing the Excel assignments, I use business time-series. I also use current events, although data show that only 28% of all college students read newspapers, so this is an opportunity to current business events as well as the package.

I have also taught Systems Analysis and Design, which is part of the MIS minor.  As originally designed, the course was conceptual, giving students a solid grounding in fundamentals of analysis.  I emphasize problem identification and clear specification writing through cases.   Without those two steps being done properly, a system will fail, regardless of the quality of the programming and sophistication of the hardware.   I no longer teach the course; the students prefer to have it taught as an MS Access course with lots of time in the lab designing reports.

Student performance is measured by examination and quizzes in all classes.  I also collect projects in the systems classes, cases in Principles of Accounting classes and International Accounting classes, and a term paper in graduate classes.  All examinations include essay questions or problems to be solved. This gives the ability to give feedback and partial credit to students. With 120 students in the Introduction to Business Systems classes in the fall, this is a large grading burden, but the students clearly need the experience of writing. The University states that it is committed to writing; "Writing across the curriculum" has been a common phrase on campus, and I practice it in my classes.

The students are measured on a 100-point scale in all courses. I do not use the plus/minus grading system, because it is my responsibility to determine if a student performance is excellent, above-average, average, below-average, or unacceptable.  These are the five categories the UD catalog states are for grades.   Plus/minus is purely mechanical and ignores judgment. Worst of all, any student applying to graduate school will have the pluses and minuses removed from his or her U transcript so that they will be comparable to graduates of other universities.

I include ethics in my classes.  The University policy is to support lawful behavior and I use examples moral choices involving the University, such as student use of Napster.  

Several times a semester, I use an anonymous questionnaire suggested by the CTE that is designed for formative purposes.  This has three questions:

            1. What helps you to learn in this class?
            2. What would make learning even better?
            3. What content is still unclear to you?

I then discuss responses with students so that we have a dialogue over issues.

4. Activities to Develop My Teaching

I am constantly trying to increase my teaching effectiveness through meaningful feed back from peers and students. I have had my class observed by several winners of university teaching awards.  I have also been observed and critiqued by two experts from the University's Center for Teaching Effectiveness (CTE) in recent years. 

I consider the web a valuable addition for placing resources within the reach of students. I was the second professor in the department to put up a webpage years ago.  Ten years later, many department members still have nothing up on the web for their classes.  All my class syllabi and projects are on the web (see course control page for links).   I am committed to appropriate use of technology for education in accounting and business, not technology for its own sake. 

This past year, I began migration of those pages from the University unix-based system to the College’s Windows NT server. At the same time, I moved the pages from .html created in Netscape Composer to .html on FrontPage.

I have had my classes observed by University award-winning faculty for comments.  My class was last observed by other faculty in Spring, 1999. At that time, I had three University award-winning teachers observe me, give me feedback on how to improve technique, and write comments for my personnel file.    

I have attended workshops sponsored by the CTE for many years.  For example, in the past year (2000-2001), I have been to the following workshops sponsored by the CTE:

                Faculty Showcase: Exemplary Teaching Supported by Technology 
                Assessing Courses and Curricula
                Developing Teaching Portfolios
                Changing Practices in Evaluating Teaching

The complete descriptions of these workshops are found at http://www.udel.edu/cte/FacDevDetails.htm.  One presenter, Peter Seldin, has written a standard text for appraising faculty teaching performance Improved Faculty Performance and Promotion (Anker Publishing Company, 1999).  Another nationally-known presenter, Raoul A. Arreola, has written another widely-used text on faculty evaluation.  

I also worked with Dr. Gabriele Bauer of the CTE.  She observed my teaching and analyzed student evaluations.

APPENDIX I

From the University of Delaware catalog:

ACCT 160 - Introduction to Business Information Systems

Introduction to computers: components and operations.  Introduction to management information/decision support systems and the system development process. Emphasis on microcomputers and software packages used in business.

ACCT 207 - Principles of Accounting I

An introduction to financial accounting. Topics: the accounting cycle, merchandise accounting, accounting procedures for cash, receivables, payables, inventories, plant and equipment, stocks and bonds.

ACCT 383 - Introduction to International Accounting

Describes the functions of international accounting; foreign currency transactions, financial statement translation, inflation, auditing and taxation. Current issues are covered as appropriate.

ACCT 415 - Advanced Accounting

Introduction to branch accounting, consolidations, partnerships, fund accounting for state and local governments, and accounting for international transactions. Other relevant topics may also be covered.

ACCT 883 - International Accounting

Describes the functions of international accounting: foreign currency transactions, financial statement translation, inflation, auditing, and taxation. A comparative approach is stressed. Current issues are covered as appropriate.

APPENDIX II

Links to Syllabi and Course Websites

        Accounting 160 - Introduction to Business Information Systems

        Accounting 207 - Principles of Accounting I

        Accounting 415 - Advanced Accounting

        Accounting 883 - International Accounting

APPENDIX III

Publications Involving Teaching

Scholarly

1994. Shiina, Ichiro, M. Susan Stiner, and Frederic M. Stiner, Jr., "Using BITNET for International Accounting Education: A Japan-USA Study," in Jane O. Burns and Belverd E. Needles, Jr. (editors), Accounting Education for the 21st Century: The Global Challenges. Tarrytown NY: Elsevier Scientific, 1994, pp. 305-310.

1992. Ichiro Shiina, M. Susan Stiner, and Frederic M. Stiner, Jr., "Syllabus for 'Reading Foreign Source Material' at Chuo-Gakuin University" in Thomas J. Burns, editor, Accounting Trends: Innovative Accounting and Information Systems Course Outlines, Vol. 26 (1992), pp. 51-53.

1989. Frederic M. Stiner, Jr. and Ichiro Shiina, "The Accounting Profession in America. 2. Philosophy of American Accounting Education," Chuo-Gakuin Dai-gaku Shuo- kei Ron-sou [The Chuo-Gakuin University Review of Economics and Commerce (Chiba, Japan)], January, 1989, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 87-115.

1988. Frederic M. Stiner, Jr. and Ichiro Shiina, "The Accounting Profession in America. 1. American Accounting Education," Chuo-Gakuin Dai-gaku Shuo-kei Ron-sou [The Chuo-Gakuin University Review of Economics and Commerce (Chiba, Japan)], September, 1988, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 51-68.

1987.  Frederic M. Stiner, Jr., "Accounting Education as Technology Transfer," in Kyojiro Someya (ed.), Accounting Education and Research to Promote International Understanding, Westport CT: Greenwood Press, 1988. pp. 566-573.

1985.  Mark F. Asman, Richard E. Baker, Louis F. Biagioni, and Frederic M. Stiner, Jr., Report of the Committee on the Integration of the Microcomputer into the Financial Accounting Curriculum. Sarasota FL: American Accounting Association, 1985.

1985.  Charles, Thomas W. and Frederic M. Stiner, Jr., "Introducing Computers into the Principles of Accounting Course: The University of Delaware Experience," Kent/Bentley Review: Accounting and Computers, Fall, 1985, Vol. 1(1), pp. 14-23.

1985.  Stagliano, A.J. and Frederic M. Stiner, Jr., "Enrollments in Accounting Programs: Trends and Forecasts," Journal of Accounting Education, Spring, 1985, pp. 145-163.

1979.  Stiner, Frederic M. Jr., "Purchasing Methods Taught in Introductory Accounting," The Woman CPA, October, 1979, Vol. 41(4), p. 29.

Published Abstracts and Proceedings

1997. Shiina, Ichiro, M. Susan Stiner, and Frederic M. Stiner, Jr., "Teaching American Accounting to Japanese Students via the Internet," Program and Collected Abstracts of the 8th World Congress of Accountants, Paris, France, October 24, 1997, Abstract 18.

1989. Frederic M. Stiner, Jr. and Ichiro Shiina, "Accounting Education in Japan," Collected Abstracts of the American Accounting Association Annual Meeting, August 13-16, Honolulu, HI, p. 76.

Teaching Support Material

1988. Frederic M. Stiner, Jr. and Annette R. Pearson, Managerial Accounting Problems for the IBM PC. Boston MA: Kent Publishing Co., 1988. (With accompanying diskette.)

1987.  Annette R. Pearson and Frederic M. Stiner, Jr., A Review of the Accounting Cycle for the IBM-PC.  Boston MA:  Kent Publishing Co., 1987.  (With accompanying diskette).

1986.  Frederic M. Stiner, Jr. and Annette R. Pearson, Cost Accounting Problems for the IBM PC for Hirsch and Louderback's Cost Accounting. Boston MA: Kent Publishing Co., 1986.  (With accompanying diskette).

1985.  Charles, Thomas W. and Frederic M. Stiner, Jr., "Your Name" Company:  Principles of Accounting Practice Set for the Computer. Boston MA: Kent Publishing Co., 1985.  (With accompanying diskette).

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Copyright ©: 1996, 2001 Frederic M. Stiner, Jr.
Revised: July 14, 2001