Universities should strive to educate students by applying new learning environments where students are given the opportunity to explore the world of education by the use of mobile devices. These technologies and mobile devices are already second nature to them and applying these devices in a learning environment will improve the students’ learning experience. It is sensible to make use of these new technologies to get students attention, since students will find learning interesting and more enjoyable. Students’ attitude towards a mobile learning environment and learning with mobile devices has already received much attention in existing literature. This study aimed to determine whether South African, University students will welcome the use of mobile devices during their studies, especially in the field of Taxation. The study also focussed on students’ attitudes towards using e-books instead of the hardcopy textbooks during their studies and during open-book assessments. This longitudinal study made use of two questionnaires to obtain the feedback on students’ perception on what they believe mobile learning to be, their acceptance and willingness to engage with a mobile learning environment and to determine whether their attitudes towards mobile learning have change over two academic years. Furthermore, statistical analysis of the data was done to determine whether a significant difference exists between the responses between male and female students. The results indicated that more males are interested in using mobile technologies for educational purposes, however, it is not significant. It was concluded that students, when given the opportunity, are interested to engage with a mobile learning environment. It was lastly concluded that no significant change in acceptance and willingness of engaging with a mobile learning environment exists over two academic years. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lmchunu2014 / Taxation / unrestricted

There are increasing needs for trained business persons as a result of the recent rapid development of foreign trade in Vietnam. A good command of written commercial English is one of the most important qualifications of a business person. At present the Hanoi Foreign Trade College is the only institution which is responsible for training commerce students. The teaching of writing skill in general and the teaching of commercial letter writing in particular still leave much to be desired. The writing skill of graduates of the Hanoi Foreign Trade College is far from satisfactory This Field Study Report aims at identifying the difficulties and the needs of commerce students in the Hanoi Foreign Trade College. It takes into consideration the language and learning needs of the target students in order to suggest a syllabus for the teaching of commercial letter writing to commerce students more efficiently. The Field Study Report consists of seven chapters. Chapter I provides an analysis of the teaching and learning situations at the Hanoi Foreign Trade College and problems of the teaching of commercial letter writing. Chapter 2 looks at some major theoretical problems and practical issues for Specific Purpose English syllabus design and material production for the teaching of commercial letter writing to commerce students at the Hanoi Foreign Trade College. Chapter 3 is a contrastive analysis of western commercial letters, Vietnamese commercial letters in Vietnamese and Vietnamese commercial letters in English. Chapter 4 is an analysis of the results of a survey made in 1988 to identify the needs of commerce students for commercial letters. Chapter 5 is mainly concerned with designing a communicative syllabus for the teaching of commercial letter writing to commerce students in Vietnam. Chapter 6 is the proposed syllabus for the teaching of CLW to commerce students at the HFTC, Vietnam. Chapter 7 is the conclusion. This Field Study Report should be regarded as an exploratory attempt to adopt the communicative approach in designing a syllabus for the teaching of commercial letter writing to commerce students in Vietnam.

Formal assessment in education focuses on summative assessment in the form of grade allocation. This has limitations on the learning process for students. Formative assessment should also be incorporated into learning as an integral part as it offers many benefits. Reflective learning in the form of self-assessment is central to the process of formative assessment. Students, however, tend not to engage in the process of self-assessment. This skill can be developed by educators in an educational setting, but educators tend not to create an environment in which students can self-assess. The study explored students’ perceptions of the self-assessment process once they had been exposed to it over a period of time in a facilitated environment. This encouraged them to engage in the process and develop the skill of self-assessment. The research method was exploratory in nature and was conducted by means of a design experiment in which students were encouraged to self-assess on three occasions during the 2012 academic year. Data was then collected from the students by means of a structured survey. The results of this study indicated that students tended not to self-assess if not encouraged to do so. However, once given the opportunity to do so in an environment which supported it, students were positive about the process of self-assessment. They believed that it would improve their overall academic performance and indicated that they would continue to apply self-assessment to their studies in future. This study concluded that students were positive about self-assessment and that they applied it accurately and in a meaningful manner to their studies in an environment which supported it. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / lmchunu2014 / Taxation / unrestricted

Owing to the fact that entrepreneurship is widely considered to be a mechanism for reducing unemployment, the purpose of the study was to assess whether final-year Commerce students in the predominantly rural provinces, the Eastern Cape Province and the Limpopo Province, have the intention to start their own businesses.The study draws heavily from entrepreneurial intent models and focuses on the relationship between three key variables, namely, exposure to entrepreneurship education, awareness of entrepreneurial support and social capital to establish whether they are related to the intention of final-year Commerce studentsto start their own businesses. The literature review concentrated on entrepreneurial intent and entrepreneurial intent models; government entrepreneurial support initiatives in South Africa and in other countries and their role in the development of entrepreneurial intent, emergence of new ventures and the growth of small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs); entrepreneurship education and its role in enhancing entrepreneurial self-efficacy, entrepreneurial competencies and entrepreneurial intent;the influence of social capital on entrepreneurial intent and the different stages on the new venture life-cycle; and concludes with the link between entrepreneurship and the establishment of SMMEs. A survey was conducted among National Diploma (ND): Internal Auditing, Cost and Management Accounting and Financial information systems students (IAUD, CMA and FIS) (who had six months exposure to entrepreneurship education), ND: Entrepreneurship/Small Business Management (E/SBM) (who had three years exposure to entrepreneurship education) and ND: Management (without exposure to entrepreneurship education). The respondents for the study comprised 355 final year students of which 276 were from Walter Sisulu University in the Eastern Cape Province and 79 were from Tshwane University of Technology (Polokwane Campus) in the LimpopoProvince.Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and nonparametric statistics. The findings reveal that the majority of the respondents had the intention to start a business in the future.The entrepreneurial intent of the ND: E/SBM students was v stronger than the entrepreneurial intent of the ND: IAUD, CMA and FIS students and ND: Management students. Some significant relationships were found between entrepreneurial intent and the key variables of the study. / Business Management / D.Com. (Business Management)

Owing to the fact that entrepreneurship is widely considered to be a mechanism for reducing unemployment, the purpose of the study was to assess whether final-year Commerce students in the predominantly rural provinces, the Eastern Cape Province and the Limpopo Province, have the intention to start their own businesses.The study draws heavily from entrepreneurial intent models and focuses on the relationship between three key variables, namely, exposure to entrepreneurship education, awareness of entrepreneurial support and social capital to establish whether they are related to the intention of final-year Commerce studentsto start their own businesses. The literature review concentrated on entrepreneurial intent and entrepreneurial intent models; government entrepreneurial support initiatives in South Africa and in other countries and their role in the development of entrepreneurial intent, emergence of new ventures and the growth of small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs); entrepreneurship education and its role in enhancing entrepreneurial self-efficacy, entrepreneurial competencies and entrepreneurial intent;the influence of social capital on entrepreneurial intent and the different stages on the new venture life-cycle; and concludes with the link between entrepreneurship and the establishment of SMMEs. A survey was conducted among National Diploma (ND): Internal Auditing, Cost and Management Accounting and Financial information systems students (IAUD, CMA and FIS) (who had six months exposure to entrepreneurship education), ND: Entrepreneurship/Small Business Management (E/SBM) (who had three years exposure to entrepreneurship education) and ND: Management (without exposure to entrepreneurship education). The respondents for the study comprised 355 final year students of which 276 were from Walter Sisulu University in the Eastern Cape Province and 79 were from Tshwane University of Technology (Polokwane Campus) in the LimpopoProvince.Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and nonparametric statistics. The findings reveal that the majority of the respondents had the intention to start a business in the future.The entrepreneurial intent of the ND: E/SBM students was v stronger than the entrepreneurial intent of the ND: IAUD, CMA and FIS students and ND: Management students. Some significant relationships were found between entrepreneurial intent and the key variables of the study. / Business Management / D.Com. (Business Management)