Position
Academic Background
Sample Courses    
Teaching Philosophy
Research & Interests   
Notable Academic Appointments & Awards
Publication/Exhibition Highlights  
Selected Scholarly Presentations

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• Associate Professor of Accountancy

Academic Background        

• University of Pittsburgh  -
  • Ph.D. in Business Administration, 1998
  • M.S. in Psychology, 1998
• University of Connecticut  - B.S.B.A. in Accounting, 1990

Sample Courses Taught at Providence College

• Managerial Accounting
• Financial Accounting 

Teaching Philosophy

In terms of pedagogy, my general approach to teaching comes from my past experience in the classroom as well as from my research in learning from cognitive psychology. I believe that students benefit the most from active participation in the learning process, both inside and outside of class. I try to introduce topics to them briefly in class, and then rely on them to complete an assignment related to those topics before going over the information in greater detail. In addition, I encourage them to speak out in class and challenge one another (in general I try to incorporate assignments which are designed to foster discussion and critical thinking about the issues). I also believe that students benefit from interacting and sharing ideas with other students, therefore I assign group projects and in-class exercises whenever possible.

Accounting requires constant updating to keep up with emerging issues in the profession, and students need to be provided with links to the "real world" whenever possible. Both my past experience as an auditor, and my research in auditing and accounting education have allowed me to bring in relevant experiences and provide my own perspective on issues that will be facing my students when they enter the professional word. I feel very passionate about the issues that face the accounting profession and financial markets, and I try to project some of this enthusiasm in the classroom. I utilize a great deal of outside materials other than the textbook to enhance the class, such as the use of case studies, video materials, and current articles from the press as well as using instructional technologies (such as Angel and clickers) to enhance the learning experience for students.

Research & Interests

My research interests are primarily in the areas of auditing and professional ethics, and I have co-authored several articles related to accounting education. I am trained in cognitive psychology and experimental methods, so my work primarily uses experimental methods in the study of auditors' learning and judgment.  I have studied how auditors make fair value judgments in real estate valuation and how they can be trained to improve these judgments, and I have also examined the impact of information provided by management on auditors' judgments regarding business process performance, internal control classifications, and fraud and inherent risk judgments. Another stream of research examines the ethical decision making of accounting students and the impact of education on the ethical decision making process. I am currently conducting a study with two co-authors that examines audit partners' views of the on-the-job training occurring in public accounting firms.

Notable Academic Appointments and Awards

• Editorial Board for Auditing, A Journal of Practice and Theory, 2008-present
• Member of the AAA/Deloitte Trueblood Seminar Planning Committee, August 2008 to present
• Member of the Steering Committee for the AAA Northeast Regional Section, 2007 to present
• Editorial Board for Issues in Accounting Education, 2005-2007 
• American Accounting Association Auditing Section, Innovation in Auditing and Assurance Education Award, 2004
• University of Connecticut School of Business Innovation in Teaching Award, 2003

Publications

• Earley, C.E., V.B. Hoffman, and J. R. Joe, "Reducing Management's Influence on Auditors' Judgments: An Experimental Investigation of SOX 404 Assessments" The Accounting Review, 83 (6): 1461-1485, 2008. 
• Earley, C.E. and F. Phillips. "Assessing Audit and Business Risk at Toy Central Corporation" Issues in Accounting Education 23 (2): 299-307, 2008.
• Ballou, B., C. E. Earley, and J. S. Rich. "The Impact of Strategic Positioning Evaluation on Auditor Judgments about Business Process Performance." Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory 23(2): 71-88, 2004.
• Earley, C. E. and P. Kelly. "A Note on Ethics Educational Interventions in an Undergraduate Auditing Course: Is there an 'Enron' Effect?" Issues in Accounting Education, 19 (1): 53-71, 2004.
• Earley, C.E., K. Odabashian, and M. Willenborg. "Some Thoughts on the Audit Failure at Enron, the Demise of Andersen, and the Ethical Climate at Public Accounting Firms."  The University of Connecticut Law Review, 35 (3): 1013-1033, 2003.
• Earley, C. E. 2003. "A Note on The Use of Self-explanation as a Training Tool for Novice Auditors: The Effects of Outcome Feedback Timing and Level of Reasoning on Performance," Behavioral Research in Accounting, 15: 111 - 124, 2003.
• Earley, C. E. 2002. "The Differential Use of Information by Experienced and Novice Auditors in the Performance of Complex Audit Tasks," Contemporary Accounting Research, 19 (4): 595 - 614, 2002.
• Earley, C. E. "Knowledge Acquisition in Auditing: Training Novice Auditors to Recognize Cue Relationships in Real Estate Valuation," The Accounting Review, 76 (1): 81 - 97, 2001.

Selected Scholarly Presentations and Activities

• AAA Northeast Regional Meeting, "Ethical Leaders in Accounting," November 2008
• AAA Auditing Section Auditing Educators' Workshop, panelist for session entitled, ""Audit Education: Meeting Tomorrow's Challenges," January 2008
• AAA Auditing Section Doctoral Consortium, panelist for session on research, January 2007
• University of Kansas Auditing Symposium, "The Effect of Management's Classification of Control Deficiencies on Auditors' Judgments Under PCAOB Auditing Standard Number 2," April 2006
• Georgia State University research workshop, "The Effect of Management's Classification of Control Deficiencies on Auditors' Judgments Under PCAOB Auditing Standard Number 2," October 2005
• University of Connecticut Law Review Symposium, "Some Thoughts on the Audit Failure at Enron, the Demise of Andersen, and the Ethical Climate at Public Accounting Firms,"  (invited panelist), November 2002
  

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