School of Accountancy
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This Department was known as the Department of Accounting until 27 June 2013.
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Browsing School of Accountancy by Subject "Accounting -- Study and teaching -- South Africa"
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- ItemAn investigation of the perceptions of South African students with regards to accelerated learning courses(HESA, 2021) Van Rooyen, L. M.; Ontong, J. M.; Mitchell, Z. L.The cost of repeating a module has both financial and social implications. The social implications include increased workloads when repeating a module and students often not being able to graduate within the prescribed minimum course period. A possible solution for this is the use of accelerated learning courses, in the form of summer or winter schools. These schools provide students with another opportunity to pass a module, during the summer or winter recess, using an accelerated learning mode, and consequently complete modules with prerequisites of failed modules in the following year. Using an accelerated learning approach, a summer or winter school covers a large portion of the content in semester or year modules in a shortened timeframe outside the normal academic period. Using a questionnaire approach, the various perceptions of first year students at the end of the academic year regarding the use of these schools were obtained and analysed. The timing of the end of the academic year allows students to familiarise themselves with the various accelerated learning courses offered to them throughout the academic year. The findings suggest that students have a positive perception of these schools despite most of them not having had previous experience of completing an accelerated learning course. Although previous literature has indicated that students are hesitant to complete finance-related modules in an accelerated learning format versus traditional semester and year modules, the perceptions indicate that students are willing to engage in financial modules, with the students identifying that the benefits of these accelerated learning courses exceed the cost. The findings suggest that students who are presented with various non-academic obstacles throughout the traditional module are able to use summer or winter schools as a way to reduce exposure to these obstacles and complete an accelerated learning course. The use of these schools therefore presents an area for module developers to consider when implementing these schools as a way to improve throughput rates, thereby contributing in a positive way to students’ financial and social health.
- ItemStudents’ and lecturers’ perceptions of the effect of open-book examinations on teaching and assessment at departments of accountancy at South African universities(HESA, 2018) Kruger, S. J.Strong arguments are put forward in literature that teaching methods should be aligned with assessment practices in order to optimise the teaching-learning environment. The decision by the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants to change its qualifying examination from a closed-book to an open-book format has led to accredited universities changing their assessment accordingly. This paper investigates how students and lecturers perceive the changes made to teaching and assessment after the introduction of open-book assessment. A survey was performed among final-year accounting students preparing for the qualifying examination of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. Assessment in the first three years of study of these students was generally done by means of closed-book examinations, but in their final year, students were assessed by means of open-book tests and examinations. A comparison was made between the views of students and lecturers in certain universities’ departments of accountancy. The views of students and lecturers differed significantly on the extent of changes which were made to teaching practices and the setting of examination papers. The paper identified aspects to be considered to encourage students’ deep learning, long term retention, selection of knowledge and preparation for open-book assessment. Issues lecturers need to take into account when determining their teaching and assessment approach within the broader context of an open-book assessment environment were also identified.