Layout and Instructor Feedback to an Easy-to-Implement and Proven Ethics Lecture

Authors

  • Katherine Taken Smith Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
  • Lawrence Murphy Smith Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi

Abstract

Ethics is a core issue in accounting, being stressed in codes of ethics of professional accounting and business organizations from their beginning. Financial scandals of the early 2000s, such as Enron, WorldCom, and others, followed by the world financial crisis of 2008, highlighted the importance of ethics to accounting and business practitioners, and to the public at large. Educators responded by incorporating ethics into the accounting and business curriculum. This paper lays out a presentation for teaching ethics to accounting and business students, along with feedback from instructors. The peer review, i.e., instructor feedback, indicates that the ethics lecture is well received and offers an effective way to present ethics to students. This corresponds to prior research demonstrating the presentation’s significant impact on student ethical perceptions. Motivating students to strive for the highest level of ethical behavior will benefit them as students and as future professionals.

Author Biographies

  • Katherine Taken Smith, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
    Dr. Katherine Taken Smith is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Previously, she taught at Murray State University, Texas A&M University-College Station, and University of Mississippi. Her areas of specialization include online advertising, mobile marketing, social media, and green marketing. Her academic record includes numerous professional journal articles, books, and academic conference presentations. Her work is highly referenced, with over 1,900 citations to her work shown on Google Scholar. Dr. Smith serves on six journal editorial boards. She has received a number of awards for teaching and research, such as the Outstanding Author Award from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Bell Library.
  • Lawrence Murphy Smith, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
    Dr. Lawrence Murphy Smith, CPA is a Professor of Accounting at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He teaches on the RELLIS Campus. Previously, he taught at Louisiana Tech University, Ole Miss, and Murray State University. His academic record includes over 200 journal articles, 22 books and monographs, 180 academic conference presentations, 37 research grants, and 28 awards and special recognitions for teaching and research. Among his awards are the Outstanding Educator Award from the Texas Society of CPAs, the Distinguished Member Award from the Institute of Management Accountants, and the Outstanding Researcher Award from the American Accounting Association Strategic and Emerging Technologies Section. He ranks in the top one percent of authors on Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN.com) by downloaded articles (over 64,000). His work is highly referenced, with over 3,000 citations to his work shown on Google Scholar. His work has been reported in various news media, including National Public Radio, Fortune, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal.

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Published

2022-01-07

Issue

Vol. 31 No. 1 (2021): The Accounting Educators' Journal

Section

Articles

License

The copyright for articles in this journal are retained by the aithor(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. By virtue of their appearance in this open access journal, articles are free to use with proper attribution in educational and other non-commerical settings.

How to Cite

Layout and Instructor Feedback to an Easy-to-Implement and Proven Ethics Lecture. (2022). The Accounting Educators’ Journal, 31(1). https://www.aejournal.com/ojs/index.php/aej/article/view/600