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TUT SRS SEMINAR

FNB Auditorium: Bldg 6 Pretoria West 20 August 2014

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SUCCESS RATES

Faculty of Economics & Finance

Ga-Rankuwa Campus

20 August 2014

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RESEARCH TOPIC

Improving success rates of students in accountancy related diploma programmes

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DEFINITION

Success rates are defined as the percentage of passed credits

divided by enrolled credits. It can be calculated by course or

academic unit, such as department, school or faculty.

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FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE STUDENT SUCCESS

USA Australia RSA Common factors Personal factors

• Attitudes – motivation and work ethic, Self-perceptions, confidence and self-efficacy.

• Problem solving – critical thinking and decision making.

• Values – personal preferences and beliefs.

• Emotional intelligence.

• Attitudes – Commitment.

• Choice of study. • Age. • Gender.

• Attitudes – motivation, approach to study, Student’s belief in own ability, effort and self-discipline.

• Interest in course. • Cognitive competencies. • Multiple literacies and

communication skills • Time management skills. • Language

• Disciplined and principled ethical behaviour.

• Analyse, synthesise, evaluate.

• Emotional intelligence

• Choice of study • Effective reading,

writing, listening

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FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE STUDENT SUCCESS Circumstantial factors

• High school grade point average.

• First generation to go to university.

• Socioeconomic status. • Ethnicity. • Geographic factors. • Financial support. • Community

involvement

• University entrance scores, previous education, educational achievement.

• Quality of teaching. • Class attendance. • Finances. • Equipment and

facilities. • Health. • Transport difficulties

• Current and previous academic performance and academic literacy.

• Quality of teaching. • Cultural expectations. • Peer culture. • Status of residential

area. • Access to technology. • Interaction between

student, academic and social systems of the university

• Financial support

• University entrance scores

• Quality of teaching

• Socioeconomic status

• Financial support

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FACTORS INFLUENCING ACCOUNTANCY STUDENT SUCCESS

Prior academic performance in • Language • Mathematics • Accounting • Numeral skills • Later academic performance at university Byrne and Flood (Singapore study)

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CONTRARY FINDING BY BERNE AND FLOOD 2008

• No relationship between prior academic performance and prior knowledge in first year accountancy performance

• Students with no prior accountancy knowledge outperformed their peers in later years of study

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ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCOUNTANCY

SA universities approach to secondary school deficiency (articulation gap) in reading and comprehension:

• Matriculation results • Standardised admission tests (SATs) • Mathematical ability in some universities • Minimum mark level

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CAUTION TO USUAL ADMISSION APPROACH

• Entrance requirements such as matriculation results and SATs give an approximate indication of a student’s likelihood of success at university

• Entrance requirements are a necessary approach in ensuring high success rates but are not a sufficient approach.

Bargate 1999

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INCLUSIVE APPROACH

• Community colleges in California, USA: Appointment of a student task force to develop improved tools to determine entering skill levels and needs for an adequate teaching approach rather than admission criteria. Targeted News Service 2011

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FAVOURABLE FACTORS INFLUENCING ACCESS AND SUCCESS OF PREVIOUSLY DISADVANTAGED ACCOUNTANCY STUDENTS

• Timeous and regular examination preparation • Logical reasoning • Consistent effort • Examination techniques Sadler and Erasmus (2005)

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SUCCESS RATE % AT TUT

YEAR FACULTIES ARTS HUMANITIES SCIENCES MANAGEMENT

SCIENCES ICT ENG ECONOMICS

& FINANCE

2009 84.9 72.7 71.2 71.0 70.2 69.8 61.7

2010 85.0 74.1 71.4 68.1 69.4 67.9 58.9

2011 83.3 75.6 74.8 72.5 70.7 68.6 60.5

2012 84.5 77.5 74.8 73.8 74.3 71.3 63.7

2013 85.9 79.8 76.7 73.8 73.3 75.3 66.7

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OBSERVATION • SCIENCES and ENGINEERING work with math numbers and

have made significant progress in 2013 to meet the DHET benchmark. They achieved 9 to 10 percentage points higher than ECONOMICS & FINANCE. So what are these faculties doing right that ECONOMICS & FINANCE may learn from them?

• Consultation and collaboration with these faculties is suggested w.r.t. lecturer: student ratio; foundation programmes, T&L approaches, etc.

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TEACHING COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE RESEARCH PROPOSAL

• Develop a suitable teaching approach for diploma type accountancy programmes that includes:

- Learning activities - Student/lecturer interaction - Formative assessment - Student support

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RESEARCH PROBLEM

• Low student success rates have a negative impact on the economy of RSA vis a vis limited resources of higher education institutions and have a direct effect on student financial and emotional well-being. Relevant teaching approaches to enhance success rates and hence graduation rates are thus imperative to create a skilled, competent and creative workforce for the economy of RSA.

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RESEARCH PROCESS

Based on Kolb: 1 Description of a concrete experience of an event (CE) 2 Reflective observation (RO) 3 Abstract conceptualisation (AC) 4 Active experimentation (AE) See Visser, McChlery & Vreken (2006)

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

• Phase 1: Describe and critically analyse different national and international teaching approaches in relation to accountancy via desktop study

• Use data information sheet to collect teaching approaches at two selected tertiary institutions, viz., TUT and NMMU.

• Compare RSA findings with international practices through selected site visits using interviews, observation of teaching approaches and student support facilities.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

• Phase 2: Explain various alternative teaching approaches to targeted accounting students and academic staff during information sessions as prep for informed decisions

• Collect preferred perceptions of students and lecturers from TUT and NMMU through an e-survey questionnaire in a controlled environment in order to develop a relevant teaching approach.

• Analyse data of preferences using SPSS

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

• Results of Phase 2 will support the development of a Teaching Approach. Lecturers to be trained in applying the teaching approach.

• Phase 3: Pilot test the proposed Teaching Approach in high risk accounting courses using a pilot and control group of students.

• Monitor and Record engagement and performance of students for comparison with previous success rates.

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PROJECT SCHEDULE

• Research proposal final approval • Phase 1 • Phase 2 • Phase 3

• Total budget = R1 092 200

28 Feb 2014 30 Nov 2014 30 Nov 2015 Start of 2016

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THANK YOU