ACCT 2101 Syllabus
Principles of Accounting I
Georgia State University
School Of Accountancy
Fall 2001
Instructor: Your instructor specific information goes here
Office:
Phone: (404) 651E-mail:
(WebCT E-mail preferred)(Questions of a personal nature are to be forwarded via email.
Questions related to the course of a non-personal nature should be posted to the Discussion Forum on
the class WebCT site.
Required Text: Ainsworth, Deines, Plumlee & Larson, Introduction to Accounting: An
Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, Irwin McGraw-Hill, 2000.
Welcome: We are working off an updated and more relevant set of courses objectives than most
other similar courses. We will work with technology and introduce other disciplines into the study
of accounting in a challenging, fun, and interesting adventure.
Departmental website contains:
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Homework solutions
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Exam hints and case hints
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Homework lab hours and rooms
Departmental website: www.gsu.edu/~wwwac1 (one not L)
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Departmental Policies
Sign on: acct2101 (case sensitive)
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Learning Objectives by week
Password: iag4uayf (case sensitive)
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Information about majoring
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Student Cases (SNO, Christy’s)
WebCT: go to www.gsu.edu and click on WebCT icon or
go to webct.gsu.edu
Sign on: same as student email/network account
Password: same as student email/network
account unless you change it. If you
change it within WebCT, the student
email/network password will not be changed.
WebCT contains:
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Instructor specific syllabus
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PowerPoint slides
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Chapter and case quizzes
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Instructions/information
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Communication tools
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Student grades
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Dropbox for assignment
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Course calendar
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Debit and credit practice link
Not sure what your email/network account is?
Go to http://help.student.gsu.edu/ to find out.
Departmental Syllabus: This “instructor specific” syllabus includes the attached “Course
Assignments”. You should also see the departmental policies, course objectives, and other
supplements available on the course website. They are considered part of this syllabus.
Prerequisites: CSP1, CSP2, CSP4, CSP6, CSP7. You are expected to have reliable access to a
computer with an Internet connection. AOL (America Online) does NOT work well with WebCT
(it saves the wrong answers!). Use a different ISP (Internet Service Provider) with the quizzes and
save us both the pain. Netscape is the browser you need to use for taking quizzes. The latest
browser for both Netscape and IE (Internet Explorer) don’t support WebCT, but here is a link for
the best version for this course: http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwweb/netscape.html.
See the main WebCT log on page for details on upgrading your browser and particularly the
WebCT Student Center. You are responsible for having the computing prerequisite skills and
they will not be taught in class. If you do not have the technology prerequisites, sign up for classes
in these technology skills NOW or take the course another time.
Objectives of the course: See departmental website for learning objectives by week. (This section
also contains the exact pages in each chapter that correspond to the learning expected of you.) See
the learning objectives for each case which are also on the departmental website.
Office Hours/Homework Lab: You can get help from classmates and instructor by using WebCT
bulletin board and email. In addition, the homework lab has tutors available in computer-equipped
rooms. Consult the departmental website under Homework Labs for rooms and times.
Do not wait until just before the tests to go to the homework lab. It will be FULL. Get help
promptly when you need it and you will have lots of individual attention.
Requirements for this course:
Chapter quizzes
Student cases and case quizzes
First Test (Saturday, Sept 29th )
Second Test (Saturday, Nov 10th)
Cumulative final (Saturday, Dec 8th)
TOTAL
Percent
10 %
20 %
20 %
20 %
30 %
-------100 %
Notice that all exams are on
Saturdays! Clear your calendar
for those dates immediately!
Grading:
Grading is based on “A” 90% - 100% (of total points), “B” 80-89%; “C” 70-79%; “D” 60-69%;
“F” lower than 60%. I do not curve regardless of scores. Everyone can “ace” the class. In the
homework solutions section of the Departmental Website is a document about how to get the best
possible grade. This is worth reviewing.
Attendance at Examinations: Please bring a Scantron form, number 2 pencil, and a
calculator without PV/FV ability to exams. If you miss a departmental exam for an excused
purpose (very rare, documentation required), your final exam score will count for that percent. See
“life is hard” section about technology and other distractions corrupting your grades.
Test Answer Procedures: Do not mark your Scantron until you have for "final answer". The
Scantron is considered the judge and jury. Do not erase. Be very careful. Scantrons are not
regraded if you mis-mark them.
Class Attendance and Promptness: Your attendance and active participation in this class is
essential to your learning. Research shows that attendance is a good predictor of performance.
Being there on time not only benefits you, but the professor and your classmates as well. Should
you be unable to arrive in class on time or avoid missing more than three 2.5 hour classes or six 1.25
hour classes, you should not take the class this semester. You may be dropped from this course if
you are consistently late or excessive in your absences.
Life is Hard and Stuff Doesn’t Always Work:
Technology can be wonderful but sometimes it malfunctions. And, from time to time life throws us
a curve ball. In order to acknowledge that we all get burned from time to time, one case quiz and
one chapter quiz grade will be dropped in computing your course grade. This is not intended to
improve your grade when you perform poorly. The drops just acknowledge that from time to time
events beyond your control may impact an academic score. Please accept that when life is hard, the
drop is how we compensate for it.
Academic Honesty: It is expected and extremely important that all students strictly adhere to the
University's Academic Honesty policy (see Section 409). All forms of cheating on examinations
are unacceptable, and will be dealt with according to University policy. Please keep your eyes on
your own exams at all times, and do not look around at all. During the exam, cover your Scantron.
Just as cheating on tests is unacceptable, so is cheating on case assignments. Whereas conferring
with other students, tutors, or your instructor about the case and aspects of the solution you have
attempted is acceptable (whether working individually or in groups), it is not acceptable to just copy
someone else's work. To gain the benefit of the cases, you must be actively involved in arriving at
the solutions. If you use someone else's work or part of their work, they must be given credit in
your assignment or it is plagiarism.
WebCT Quizzes: Quizzes are open-book and open-classmate. You have three attempts on chapter
quizzes and one attempt on case quizzes. For the chapter quizzes, the highest grade will be retained
toward determining the course grade. The deadlines for quizzes are posted in WebCT and generally
expire at 11 p.m. but check WebCT daily in case of changes.
The clock shuts off about 15 minutes before expiration time. You must hit the Save answer button
for each question and at the end hit the Finish button and then hit OK to the Submit Quiz for
Grading? in the dialog box before the clock shuts off or your attempt doesn’t count. Be forewarned.
Homework Assignments: All assignments should be worked PRIOR to class and corrected from
solutions on the web. If you have trouble with a problem, get assistance by posting a question on
the WebCT Discussion Forum. Students may show leadership and mastery by answering questions
posted on the Discussion Forum or initiative by posting questions that might help more than just
yourself.
Cases
Cases are an opportunity to apply your accounting skills in a realistic business setting with multidisciplinary conditions and changing assumptions. Solving client problems in an integrated
business context touches every business degree. In addition, cases are designed to give you an
opportunity to build a spreadsheet model that clients can use over and over as assumptions change.
Both of these skills will carry you much farther than any chapter in the book. Effort on these cases
will be rewarded by course credit and by competitive ability long after leaving this class.
There are 6 Safe Night Out (SNO) cases (SNO 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) and Christy’s Lemonade Stand.
Your group will be assigned one case to present to the class. The other cases will be assessed by
WebCT quiz.
For your presentation, you are to submit your solution to the WebCT dropbox by 7 p.m. the night
before your presentation. You will not know before class if the client has time to hear your
presentation. So, your PowerPoint presentation should be able to stand on its own. You are to show
the client (the class) how to use the model you have created and what your recommendation is based
on the assumptions you used. You may include voice-over, portions of your spreadsheet in the
slides, or other techniques to communicate your ideas. Be careful not to let all the bells and whistles
take on more importance than the message. This presentation must be brief and to the point. Do not
spend time on the requirements or given data. The client knows this and you will just use up your
time.
In large sections, not all groups can present their case. Depending on time constraints, one or two
groups will be asked to present their case. After your case has been shown to the class, you are to
field questions and comments from the client (the class). Your presentation may be videotaped. If
you do not present, your case will be graded based on the spreadsheet and the PowerPoint slides
submitted to the dropbox.
The cases are all to be crafted in the departmental format with four sheets in an Excel spreadsheet:
memo sheet, input sheet, calculation sheet and formal report. An example is on the departmental
website for inspection. Failure to adhere to the model requirements will lower the grade. In
addition, ability to communicate is 50% of the grade, so “answer key” type solutions are not a
passing grade. The calculation is presumed correct (given open book, open classmate environment).
The assignment is to have insights and recommendations about what the calculation means, what
consequences are likely from the calculation and what the calculation does not tell you.
Chapter Coverage: Selected pages in each chapter are covered. See departmental website learning
objectives for exact pages in each chapter that correspond to the learning expected of you. Since we
are not necessarily covering every page in every chapter listed in the attached “Course
Assignments,” you should see website for pages for which you are responsible.
Back-up Procedures: Please keep back-up electronic copies of your work until the end of the
semester.
Viruses: Virus infections in electronic files are serious business. Any assignment submitted with a
virus will receive a zero.
Course Syllabus: Please note that the course syllabus provides a general plan for the course;
deviations may be necessary.