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Revisiting The Big Six as a Strategic Imperative: Strategic Planning, Faculty Engagement, and Student Success
Eric G. Harris, Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS U.S.A.
J. Michael Tracy, Florida Southern College, Lakeland, FL, U.S.A.
J. Michael Weber, Florida Southern College, Lakeland, FL, U.S.A.
ABSTRACT
This work examines the impact of Gallup’s “Big Six” indicators of the undergraduate college experience on student outcomes and life preparedness. As a follow-up to a previous study that examined the efforts of a small private business college in fostering an environment of mentorship, support, and faculty engagement, the work focuses specifically on strategic planning and faculty “buy-in” and how these variables improve the academic and support experiences that have proven invaluable for student success. The results reveal significant improvement in perceived academic support measures after the implementation of a new strategic plan. In doing so, the work revisits the contribution of high impact practices to the success of the business program and how these successes offer much to other programs/institutions seeking to improve student outcomes in a rapidly changing social environment.
Keywords: Big Six, work life preparedness, assessment, student outcomes
From Startup to Success: Using Gen Z Entrepreneurs to Teach Economics
Stefani Milovanska-Farrington, The University of Tampa, Tampa, Florida, USA
Dirk Mateer, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
ABSTRACT
This paper builds upon the work of McCaffrey (2016) who explores how economics can enhance entrepreneurship education. We extended the work of McCaffrey in two distinct ways. First, we emphasize the economic understanding every private enterprise needs to be successful. Second, we developed teaching guides which feature three successful Gen Z entrepreneurs – Max Hayden, Mikaila Ulmer, and Alexandr Wang. Their stories embody business acumen and the entrepreneurial ability necessary to succeed in a rapidly changing world. The lessons build upon the work of Milovanska-Farrington et al. (2024) and DeWind et al. (2023) who illustrate foundation-level economic concepts in an engaging way that resonates with Gen Z students. The purposes of the lessons are to generate interest in economics and entrepreneurship, and to inspire college students to begin their entrepreneurial journey. These lessons are also especially timely: Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt won the 2025 Nobel economics prize for their work on how innovation, entrepreneurship, and the forces of "creative destruction" can drive economic growth.
Keywords: entrepreneurs, principles of economics, private enterprise, Gen Z
JEL codes: A20, A21
An Example of Incorporating Generative AI in Marketing Education
Erik Jensen, International Business University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
ABSTRACT
This paper presents an example of the use of AI in marketing education. Specifically, it describes how the author incorporated generative AI into an MBA course on marketing analytics. The main finding is that one simple constraint on the use of generative AI, together with a carefully considered assessment strategy, provide a powerful framework for students to learn how to use generative AI in a way that is ethical and beneficial for their future careers. The constraint is that data cannot be uploaded to any online LLM. The assessment framework does away with tests and exams and focuses on realistic tasks that a marketing analyst could face on the job. In contrast to much of the AI-in-education literature, which emphasizes high-level frameworks and proposed strategies, this paper contributes a concrete, classroom-tested model of integrating generative AI into assessment and course design.
Keywords: marketing education, artificial intelligence, generative AI, data ethics, AI in education
Teaching with ChatGPT in Accounting Education: Evidence from a Discussion-Forum Assignment
Dallin O. Smith, West Texas A&M University, Canyon, Texas, USA
Isaac Ison, Truman State University, Kirksville, Missouri, USA
Dan L. Shaw, West Texas A&M University, Canyon, Texas, USA
ABSTRACT
This study examines an instructional innovation that integrates generative AI into accounting education through a structured discussion-forum assignment. In the activity, students first asked ChatGPT to generate a response on a topic they already understood well and then asked it to respond to the same topic after providing more detailed background information, allowing them to compare how prompt specificity influenced the quality and usefulness of the AI-generated output. A post-assignment survey conducted across three accounting courses (n = 54) indicated that the activity was well received and that many students viewed the more specifically prompted response more favorably than the initial response. The assignment offered students a structured opportunity to evaluate the accuracy, relevance, and usability of AI-generated content while exploring the relationship between user input and AI performance. This study contributes to accounting education by offering classroom-based evidence that generative AI can be integrated into instruction in ways that emphasize critical evaluation, prompt development, and informed professional judgment.
Keywords: generative AI, ChatGPT, accounting education, prompt specificity, classroom innovation
An Integrated Approach to Developing Students’ Ethical Values for Accounting Fraud Prevention: Aligning Course Learning Objectives with the Elements of Fraud
Katie Matt, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, New York, USA
Lisa Berardino, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, New York, USA
ABSTRACT
Fraud remains a significant and growing concern across organizations worldwide, impacting companies, shareholders, investors, and individuals. Most often, a lack of ethics, values, and moral weakness leads individuals to commit fraud. This paper uses the Fraud Triangle as a framework to understand fraud and connect teaching ethical decision making and values throughout the program of study accounting and business. The goal is to prepare students to anticipate, prevent, and recover from accounting fraud in the workplace. Through the addition of ethics-based learning objectives throughout their courses and an interdisciplinary approach, we support the idea that the role of teaching ethical values, helping students build their morals and ultimately high integrity, helps students to mitigate or prevent fraud.
Through curriculum mapping and an interdisciplinary lens, this research proposes enhancements to accounting education that emphasize the importance of building ethical values in students throughout their studies that can lead to high integrity as an anti-fraud strategy. Rather than confining ethics to standalone courses, this paper proposes that integrating ethical learning objectives throughout accounting programs builds high ethical values and professional integrity in students. Integrating the suggested ethical learning objectives from this paper throughout accounting and business courses through curriculum mapping will assist business schools in implementing a culture of ethical decision making and integrity building in their students.
Keywords: Accounting education, fraud prevention, students’ ethical values, fraud triangle, curriculum integration, professional ethics, interdisciplinary accounting education
Workplace Conflict and the New Employee: Learning to Deal with the Pushy, the Grumpy, the Entitled, and the Gossips
Edward G. Wertheim, D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Paulette McCarty, D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
ABSTRACT
Organizations have long expressed concerns about recent college graduates’ unrealistic expectations and lack of “soft skills” for handling common workplace conflicts. This exercise is designed to help students learn about the typical conflicts they are likely to encounter as new employees and to apply the conflict resolution models discussed in organizational behavior or negotiation classes to these situations. It is intended as a supplement to a unit on conflict and conflict resolution. It is appropriate for an undergraduate or graduate course in Organizational Behavior or Negotiations, as well as for a workshop preparing students for the workplace.
Keywords: conflict, conflict resolution, negotiation, remote work, organizational behavior, recent graduate
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