Accounting Program Assessment: Exit Interviews of Graduating Seniors

Exit interviews of university graduating seniors have been used to a very limited extent when evaluating academic programs.  It is our belief that developing and implementing an exit interview plan stimulates faculty dialog and improves ongoing feedback for department program assessment.  From 2001 to 2007, the Accounting Department at Towson University has conducted exit interviews with all graduating seniors as part of the annual internal department assessment activities.  The exit interviews have served to assist the Department of Accounting in evaluating its performance as judged by the students served.  The positive comments assist to reinforce the quality activities of the department, while the negative comments permit the department to become aware of areas of perceived weakness that are in need of improvement.   By receiving annual feedback from a valuable, relevant source, the department is able to continuously monitor, adjust, and improve its performance

General Education Learning Outcomes and Demographic Correlates in University Students in Hong Kong

Although there are studies showing that higher education would benefit university students, empirical research that comprehensively assesses student general education learning outcomes and related demographic correlates based on longitudinal data is minimal, especially in the Chinese context. To address the research gaps, the present study was conducted to investigate learning outcomes amongst university students in one university in Hong Kong based on a four-year longitudinal design (N = 460). Four dimensions of student general education learning outcomes were measured, including effective reasoning and problem solving, leadership, moral character, and integration of learning. Results suggested a U-shaped pattern of student learning outcomes for most dimensions, with no improvement or even a decrement in the second year and a steady growth thereafter. While family background did not affect student development, gender showed a significant moderating effect on students’ development in two dimensions (i.e., effective reasoning and problem solving, and integration of learning). These findings suggest that students benefit from general education-embedded university study in multiple dimensions, especially after the first year of transition period. Practical implications of the findings and future research directions were also discussed

Wide Angle High Speed Large Aperture Optical Scanner

A large diameter aperture optical beam scanner for ultrafast nanosecond scan setting speeds was designed and demonstrated. Multiplexed optical scanner technology (MOST) technology was introduced for agile beam steering that provided low power consumption and true rapid three dimensional beamforming to accurately control beam position, power and shape. Very high speed beam scanning was achieved using electronically tuned solid state lasers and filters with sub-microsecond response time. A total angular scan of 14.75 ° was measured by tuning the wavelength of the source from 1520 nm to 1600 nm