Browsing by Author "Kruger, Stephan J."

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    Accountancy students’ and lecturers’ perceptions of the effect of open-book assessments on writing examinations
    (HESA, 2020) Kruger, Stephan J.
    Open-book assessment (OBA) can contribute to the development of competency in handling large amounts of information in the knowledge economy. This is one of the reasons why the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) implemented OBA for its Initial Test of Competence. This empirical study investigated final year accountancy students’ and lecturers’ perceptions of the effect on writing examinations after their method of assessment changed from a closed-book (CBA) to an open-book assessment format.    Students and lecturers perceived a change in writing behaviour, reduced anxiety, and improved performance. On some aspects the level of agreement between students and lecturers differed significantly. There is also evidence that African students perceived OBA to be less beneficial compared to the perceptions of white students. For subjects for which substantial texts were available, students perceived the least change happened for Auditing while lecturers perceived the least change for Financial Accounting. Both students and lecturers perceived the most change happened for Taxation. It is important that lecturers at departments of accountancy take cognisance of these perception gaps and to adjust their teaching to enable their students to utilise their texts as an additional resource optimally. This study is also of value to the regulatory bodies to evaluate their assessment practises
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    Improving student assessment feedback in an introductory accounting course through two-stage collaborative assessment
    (HESA, 2020) Kruger, Stephan J.
    Student feedback is an important part of the formative assessment process. Previous research shows that there is room for improvement in student feedback on accounting education. Various benefits, especially those associated with the development of certain pervasive skills through cooperative learning, have been established through research. The two-stage group examination offers students the opportunity to become active participants in the feedback process, while harvesting the benefits of teamwork. This study involving 24 students enrolled for an introductory accounting course evaluated the efficacy of the two-stage examination as an intervention to improve feedback.Students perceived that examination retakes in a team environment were helpful to establish where they made mistakes and showed them how they could improve their future performance. They could further establish how they performed compared to their peers. The examination retakes also helped to improve their understanding of the work and how they could improve their learning.The intervention was well received by students despite reports of free riding. This study adds to the limited body of research on two-stage exams in accounting education.