An innovative collaboration between Bowdoin College and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College will make a financial accounting course available to Bowdoin students as part of their liberal arts education.
Offered on a trial basis during the upcoming spring 2015 semester, the course will combine online and in-person instruction and interaction for up to fifty Bowdoin students. It was approved by the Bowdoin faculty following a recommendation by Bowdoin’s Curriculum and Educational Policy Committee (CEP).
“Accounting is really a language and an essential part of finance,” said Bowdoin President Barry Mills. “We’ve taught accounting in the past at Bowdoin, but this exciting collaboration allows our students to take advantage of the expertise at one of the nation’s distinguished business schools, to learn from highly skilled faculty at both institutions, and to use technology in ways that fit well within our liberal arts model. Like all of our courses at Bowdoin, this will be a rigorous and rewarding opportunity for our students, and one that will serve them well in their study of a variety of disciplines and in their future careers.”
The course at Bowdoin will be offered in two 25-student sections and will satisfy a general elective credit toward the Bowdoin degree. The course is being created by Tuck Associate Dean for the MBA Program and Professor of Accounting Phillip C. Stocken, in collaboration with faculty from Bowdoin’s economics department. Stocken will meet with Bowdoin students on campus at the beginning of the semester and then lead weekly interactive online sessions, meeting again in person with the class at the end of the semester. The weekly online sessions will be complemented by weekly face-to-face problem solving and discussion sessions led by Bowdoin Associate Professor of Economics Gregory P. DeCoster. The hybrid course will include the use of traditional resources such as textbooks as well as online materials and discussions. Faculty from both institutions will conduct weekly office hours and study sessions with students; Stocken’s will be held online, while DeCoster will meet with students in person at Bowdoin.
“We are delighted to launch this experiment in learning with Bowdoin, “ said Robert G. Hansen, senior associate dean at the Tuck School of Business. “Both of our institutions have a time-tested approach to education that relies on active student-faculty engagement in an intimate and small-scale environment. Tuck’s significant and successful experience with blended courses combined with Bowdoin’s focus on the liberal arts experience makes this a perfect partnership and one that we believe will be highly personalized and tremendously valuable for students.”
Throughout the spring semester, faculty in Bowdoin’s economics department will work with faculty at Tuck to evaluate and adjust the syllabus, material, and course logistics as needed. Both Bowdoin and Tuck will gather data and other information on the course throughout the spring. These data will allow both institutions to assess the student experience, student learning, and the effectiveness of the pedagogy in this important experiment.
