APPENDIX B DEFINITIONS: OUTCOMES AND COMPETENCIES |
HOW DO YOU DISTINGUISH AN OUTCOME FROM A COMPETENCY?
An outcome is "what" you expect your students to achieve, whereas a competency demonstrates "how" your students can achieve that outcome. Think of an outcome as an end and a competency as a means to that end.
| Outcomes are the knowledge and skills recommended in the AECC’s Position Statement Number Two entitled The First Course in Accounting. Competencies are the specific activities used to measure a student’s mastery of the knowledge/skills or outcomes. |
The outcome/competency approach is different from the traditional textbook/topic approach to accounting instruction. First, the choice of a textbook no longer dictates the organization and coverage of the course. Instead, the outcomes and competencies become the driver and the textbook becomes their vehicle. A related difference is that the course is driven by an output measure (outcomes/competencies) rather than an input measure (textbook/topics). Finally, students more clearly know the content they are expected to study and the precise activities they must perform on examinations and other forms of evaluation by studying the outcome/competency pairings and working problems that reflect them.
AN EXAMPLE OF THE DISTINCTION
Outcome: Students completing the first accounting course should understand the elements of, the relationships among, and the accounting concepts underlying the primary financial statements. This understanding will be implemented if students can:
Competency 1: discuss what information is typically found in the balance sheet, income statement, statement of owners’ equity, and statement of cash flows.
Competency 2: apply the fundamental
accounting equation--ASSETS = LIABILITIES + OWNERS’ EQUITY--
to prepare a balance sheet that reports the financial
condition of any entity (e.g., a person, sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation,
etc.).
HOW DO YOU DISTINGUISH CORE COMPETENCIES FROM SPECIAL COMPETENCIES?
Our task force’s articulation approach includes both core competencies and special competencies.
| Core competencies are competencies required of students in all accounting programs that subscribe to the outcome/competency articulation approach. Special competencies are competencies that are required by an individual accounting program to meet the special needs of its students. |
It is expected that faculty at each school will identify and develop special competencies to communicate clearly the unique aspects of their first course in accounting.
WHAT COMPETENCIES ARE REQUIRED FOR ARTICULATION?
As the name implies, a core competency is an essential component of an articulation agreement, whereas a special competency is not. If a two-year program can document that its students are required to satisfy all of the core competencies, its course fulfills the articulation agreement. It is not required to fulfill any of the four-year program’s special competencies. For a more concrete understanding, consider the following example:
Core Competency: Record the effects of accounting transactions in an accounting information system.
Special Competency: Record accounting transactions in journal entry form (i.e., debit-credit form).
Notice that two-year programs that teach debits and credits in their first course through the special competency can articulate with four-year programs that do not teach debits and credits. All the two-year program has to do is document that its students are required to comply with the core competency above and all other core competencies.
If, instead, the four-year program teaches debits and credits in its first course through the special competency, it cannot deny articulation to a two-year program that teaches the core competency but not the special competency. Instead, the four year program will have to provide transferring students some vehicle (e.g. software materials or a one-unit bridge course) to master this special competency.
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CHARACTERISTICS OF WELL CONSTRUCTED COMPETENCIES |
A well constructed behavioral learning objective or competency has the following characteristics:
INVENTORY OF CONCRETE VERBS DENOTING ACTION TAKEN IN COMPETENCIES
The following suggested verbs are arranged in the six cognitive domains identified in Bloom’s Taxonomy.
| 1. Knowledge | 2. Comprehension | 3. Application |
| arrange | classify | apply |
| define | describe | choose |
| duplicate | discuss | demonstrate |
| label | explain | dramatize |
| list | express | employ |
| memorize | identify | engage |
| name | indicate | illustrate |
| order | locate | interpret |
| recognize | record | operate |
| relate | report | practice |
| recall | restate | schedule |
| repea | review | sketch |
| reproduce | select | solve |
| tell | transfer | |
| translate | use |
| 4. Analysis | 5. Synthesis | 6. Evaluation |
| analyze | arrange | appraise |
| appraise | assemble | argue |
| calculate | collect | assess |
| categorize | compose | attach |
| compare | construct | choose |
| contrast | create | compare |
| convert | design | debate |
| criticize | formulate | defend |
| diagram | justify | estimate |
| differentiate | manage | evaluate |
| discriminate | organize | judge |
| distinguish | plan | predict |
| examine | prepare | rate |
| experiment | present | score |
| inventory | propose | select |
| question | set up | support |
| test | suggest | value |
| summarize | ||
| write |
FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING OUTCOMES WITH CORE COMPETENCIES
MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING OUTCOMES WITH CORE COMPETENCIES
ACTIVE LEARNING OUTCOMES WITH CORE COMPETENCIES
APPENDIX BAPPENDIX C
CHARACTERISTICS OF
WELL CONSTRUCTED COMPETENCIES
TRAVEL INFORMATION
IMPORTANT NOTE: This fall, daylight savings time will revert to standard time at 2:00 A.M. on Sunday, November 4, which occurs about four weeks after the Colloquium. Thus, when setting up your travel plans, remember that during the Colloquium, Scottsdale, Arizona will be three hours earlier than (behind) Eastern Daylight Time. This means that when it is 3:00 P.M. in Scottsdale, it is 6:00 P.M. in New York City (EDT), 5:00 P.M. in Chicago (CDT), and 4:00 PM in Denver (MDT).
AIRPORTS
To help you in your trip planning, the airport closest to the Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale is Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport which is serviced by most U.S. airlines.
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TRANSPORTATION SERVICES
For travel between the airport and the hotel, you can take a taxicab for $20 to $25 or a shuttle service.
Shuttle Service
One service is SuperShuttle which will transport you between Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport and the Hotel Valley Ho for a $15.00 one-way fare. If you plan to use their service, you are encouraged to take advantage of their reduced one-way fare of $14.00 for Colloquium attendees which can be accessed in one of two ways:
1. Print out the special reduced fare coupons available to you by clicking on the link below:
http://www.supershuttle.com/Coupons/PHX/TheColloquium.pdf
2. Click on www.supershuttle.com to book your discounted reservation by using the special code of TXPZD.
In this case, no coupon is necessary.
Another option is to call their reservations department at (602) 244-9000 in advance to arrange your transportation.
In this case, phone agents CANNOT view your group discount information but will confirm your reservation at the
standard rate. You MUST then present your discount coupon to your driver to receive the discount.
NOTE: For return reservations, 24 Hour advance reservations ARE required.
Parking
The Hotel's covered parking rate is $12 per night. However, it is quite easy to find free parking on the street or in the Trader Vic's parking lot adjacent to the hotel.