Teaching accounting to All-America footballers (#20; Topic E)

The 2005 Rose Bowl, played last night between #1 Southern California and #2 Texas, brings back fond memories of being on SC's faculty in 1956-60. As an assistant professor, my teaching assignments generally included basic accounting courses -- required by all students in the business school but feared by many. About 25% of students who played football were enrolled in the business school, meaning that they must take a year's course in elementary accounting (3 quarters). Accounting is known as "the language of business;" I thought it was best if it were indeed taught as a foreign language: small but unrelenting increments, frequent reviews. For the latter, I devised a plan of giving 4 tests (in addition to the final) in each quarter -- a test every other week. As incentive, I stipulated that only the best 3 scores out of these 4 tests would be used in determining a student's final grade. (For me, this scheme eliminated the need to give make-up tests.) In the fall quarter, footballers, with their busy schedule to practice and play, had the most difficult time. They generally had tutors, and the coaching staff regularly inquired about footballers' performance in the class. Many of them were on scholarship; I had to sign their attendance record. In general, these footballers, despite their heavy schedule, worked hard; their dedication was admirable. My 3-out-of-4 plan apparently made life easier for them, as I, despite having standards I considered unbending, attracted my share of footballers (and, in other semesters, other atheletes) in my class.
Posted at 10:40 pm, Thursday, January 5, 2006