Thesis (PhD (Accountancy))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The accountancy profession operates within an environment that is changing at a rapid pace. It is the responsibility of the profession to ensure that all its members (including future members) meet the expectations placed on them by the users of their services. Professional accountants need to stay relevant in this changing environment that may require them to change or adapt the services they offer to their clients. It is the responsibility of professional accountancy bodies to strategically plan for these changes to ensure that members that join the profession posses the required knowledge and skills to be relevant and to stay relevant within the environment they operate in. One of the key drivers of change in the environment has been identified as the advances in information and communication technologies. Information and communication technologies have an impact on the role that accountants play in the environment (i.e. what they do) as well as on how they perform their role (i.e. how they do it). The main aim of this research was to determine if, and to what extent, students, that have completed their formal education and enter the profession as trainee accountants, possess the knowledge and skills to enable them to interact with and use information technology to be regarded as competent accountants within the South African business environment. Accountants are educated in South Africa at universities that offer programmes that have been accredited by a professional accountancy body as well as through practical training offered by training organisations. During this education process, accountants are imparted with the knowledge and skills as prescribed by the professional accountancy body so that they can join the profession as competent accountants. This research showed that there are serious shortcomings in the formal education of students regarding information technology that results in students entering the profession as trainee accountants not being competent in using information technology. The reasons for students not being competent in information technology are: • the lack of clear guidance on the IT skills required of students completing their formal education because of professional accountancy bodies setting IT syllabi that are too vague and/or concise; • ignorance of the demands on trainee accountants as to the IT skills they require to be competent in the South African business environment; and • the lack of proper IT training offered by South African universities that deliver trainee accountants that possess a limited range of IT skills that may not be relevant to the environment students will function in. Through a survey the perceptions of role-players at South African universities on the strategies that universities would have to employ to ensure that the students they deliver to profession, acquire the relevant IT skills to be competent in the use of information technology, were determined.

The aim of this study was to find out the academic and social experience of Lesotho students who studied at institutions of higher in the Western Cape between 1990-1997.

<p>In this thesis, I explore the benefit of electronic formative assessment on learner achievement. Studies had revealed the connection between throughput and assessment. There is great discrepancy between the throughput rate of Historically Disadvantaged Institutions (HDI) and Historically Advantaged Institutions (HAI), according to the National Plan for Higher Education. Previously, assessment was used primarily for summative and certification purposes. Now, with the introduction of Outcomes Based Education (OBE), a number of alternative forms of assessment can be used. In this study I establish the importance and necessity of frequent, electronic, formative assessments which would thereby improve learners&rsquo / achievement in the classroom.</p> <p>The white paper on e-education (DOE: 2003) states that e-education must be transformed so that information and communication technology (ICT) can be successfully integrated to &ldquo / ensure that all learners will be equipped for full participation in the knowledge society&rdquo / . Recent research has reported significant increases in learner achievement through educational technology with the use of learning management systems (LMS) software (Stephens, 2001, Buchanan, 2000, DeKock, 1994). This study was built upon this body of research on educational technology and how it can be effectively integrated into classrooms. This research would impact on learner achievement through the use of formative assessment to assist under-prepared learners to improve their summative scores. In particular, the effect of formative electronic assessment on learner achievement in the subject Business Information Systems, for first year accounting learners, in the Business Faculty at Peninsula Technikon was investigated. This quantitative study utilized the use of questionnaires and the control group design. The control group design, which consisted of the control and experimental groups was used on a group of learners who had been exposed to the treatment. The treatment for the experimental group comprised of using a formative on-line learning assessment. Independent variables included the treatment condition, race, gender and home language. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used on assessment. Analysis firstly revealed that there was no statistically significant difference between achievement in the practical component between the experimental and the control group. The Kruskal-Wallis tests showed that there were no significant differences between genders. The control group performed better than the experimental group in the theory test. Secondly, analysis revealed statistically significant mean achievement differences between Coloured female with no prior computer usage (M= 78) and Black female with no computer usage (M=44). Based on these findings, implications of the results of this study, future avenues of research and implementation suggestions are offered.</p>

M. Tech. (Information Technology, Faculty of Applied and Computer Sciences) Vaal University of Technology / The majority of research studies completed on podcasting technology focused on the acceptance of podcasting technology in the educational settings and the challenges that it poses for higher education institutions and instructors. Very little interest has been accorded to the effect that podcasting could have on the learners‟ academic performance. Utilizing a quasi-experimental non-equivalent group posttest, a wide used research method in the education discipline, the relationship between podcasting technology and academic performance, is investigated. The quasi-experimental was performed based on data collected over a period of 12 months, in which a non-random sample of 150 learners was taken from a population group of 350 management and entrepreneurship undergraduate learners at the Tshwane University of Technology. The sample was separated into two groups, namely the experimental group of 75 students, and the control group of 75 students. Both groups were offered the same subject by the same instructor. Control group learners are learners who have already completed the subject in the first semester before the podcasting technology was introduced in the subject. The experimental group learners are learners who have completed the subject through the support of podcasting technology. The assessment marks for four formal tests of the two groups were compared by means of a t-test to determine the effect of the intervention. The outcomes of the study showed an increase in the overall mean score of the experimental group in comparison to the mean score of the control group. The number of students obtaining distinctions also increased, compared to the control group. These considerations possibly indicate a positive relationship between the availability of podcast lectures and academic performance.

M.A. (Applied Linguistics) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Faculty of Humanities Department of Psychology Date: 29 May 2017 / The transition to higher education is a complex period for most youth that challenges them to constantly negotiate their identities. In the university campus, students interact and socialize with students from diverse cultural backgrounds and they are confronted with reflecting on their existing attitudes, beliefs, values and behaviours. The current study aims to understand how different cultural values and beliefs may influence the personal identity of students in a multicultural university. This study employed a qualitative research approach. The study employed an interpretive research design which entailed conducting semi-structured, individual interviews to collect data. The participants were 6 second year students enrolled in the Humanities faculty, who were purposely selected at the University of the Witwatersrand. Thematic analysis was employed in analysing the data. The specific thematic analysis method employed was interpretative phenomenological analysis, in which the focus was on understanding how students make sense of the experience regarding being in contact with other students from diverse backgrounds. The findings of the study show that students identify with different social structures, thus maintaining multiple identities in diverse setting of the university. These identities are found to be dominant in contexts in which they are established. The findings show that students maintain a positive self-concept, which is contributory to how they adjust and find belonging in the university environment. Belonging was found to occur within the student cultures inherent in the university setting, such as leisure activities, religious involvement, and other activities of entertainment on campus. Religion emerged as the dominant influence on the personal identity of the majority of the participants; however, other students highlighted other social structures as contributory factors as compared to religion. Parental involvement and childhood experiences continue to influence students' negotiation of a personal identity in the university campus. In conclusion, based on the findings of the study, it is clear that students embrace the diversity within the university campus, while maintaining connections with identities that existed prior their time spent in university. This is a clear demonstration of the continuity in identity formation and belonging in the social setting of Higher Education. / MT2018

A  thesis submitted  to  the  Faculty  of Commerce,  Law  and  Management, University  of  the  Witwatersrand,  Johannesburg,   in  partial  fulfilment  of  the  requirements  for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy, May 2016 / Universities  in  21st  century  emerging  knowledge  economies  seek  to  build  a  culture   and  practice  of  research  activeness  and  intensiveness.  How  do  university  research   sub-­‐‑systems  position  universities  to  push  through  conditions  of  adversity  to  realise   research  activeness  and  intensiveness?     Based  on  data  collected  from  an  exploratory  study  of  selected  research  active   universities  in  India  and  four  case  studies  from  a  single  research  active  university  in   South  Africa,  the  research  finds  that  university  research  sub-­‐‑systems,  operating  in   emerging  knowledge  economies,  are  engaged  in  quantum  research  games.  Research   complexity  and  adversity;  uncertainty  with  respect  to  the  outcomes  and  impact  of   research;  and  contestation  with  respect  to  resources,  values  and  value;  renders  the   university  research  game  a  quantum  game,  leading  to  the  research  entanglement  of   scientist-­‐‑researchers.       Epistemologically  located  in  social  constructionism  and  using  grounded  theory   analytical  methodology,  the  theory  of  positioning  universities  for  research  activeness   and  intensiveness  through  research  entanglement  identifies  four  trends  of   entanglement.    Research  actors  who  operate  in  a  habitual  state  of  heightened   entanglement  are  able  to  push  through  adversity.     It  is  theorised  that  the  position  of  leaning  towards  heightened  research  entanglement   creates  an  advantage  for  universities  towards  achieving  greater  research  activeness   and  intensiveness.  Where  the  position  of  leaning  away  from  entanglement  is   dominant,  this  may  create  institutional  stasis  and  an  inability  to  advance  the   institution  towards  greater  research  effort / GR2018

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education / The recognition of prior learning (RPL) is framed in the discourse of equity and redress. It is tasked with transforming education and training and bringing about opportunities of access to those whose educational paths were disrupted by apartheid. While policy in higher education has a vision, conditions on the ground remain unexamined, bringing to the fore complex challenges which relate to prior knowledge on the one hand and its capacity to compete with academic ways of knowing on the other, begging the question: Can RPL deliver on espoused goals of equity, access and redress? This research utilises critical education theory and qualitative research to enquire into participants', recipients' and implementers' perceptions of RPL programmes. In particular the research probed the epistemological and philosophical framings of such programmes, participants' perceptions of the capacity of RPL to deliver equity and redress in education and their ideas for changes and improvements to future RPL programmes and practices. The predominant research method consisted of in-depth interviews with 37 respondents in five RPL projects within four institutions of higher education in South Africa, 14 of whom were academics who implemented RPL, and 23 of whom were RPL students who were the recipients of RPL. In addition, scholarly articles and reports written by the academics as well as RL portfolios, compiled by the students were used as source material. The research results are reported as institutional case studies reflecting the initial responses to RPL in higher education and the ideas, beliefs and perceptions that animate them. The case studies provide a picture of the institutional environment in which RPL operates, and highlight the different levers that are shaping and influencing the practice of RPL in South Africa. The research results show that RPL in practice raises personal questions for those who implement it and for those who receive it - questions about themselves as raced, gendered and classed actors. Different academics have responded to these personal questions in varied ways resulting in contending versions of RPL propelled by different epistemological orientations. On another level the research results show that RPL in practice requires institutional support from senior managers in particular, that such support needs to be driven by an institutional vision and an institutional champion. In the institutions in this study these variables were largely absent. Equity and redress on their own have not been the levers for the implementation of RPL in higher education in South Africa. Keywords: Access; Assessment of Prior Experiential Learning; Equity; Higher Education; Recognition of Prior Learning; South Africa / AC 2018

A thesis submitted to the Wits School of Education, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 2017 / This thesis reports on the first year pre-service teaching students’ development of digital competence at a South African university in 2013 and 2014. The aim of the study was to investigate the students’ levels of digital competence as they commenced their first year of study. I also examined the barriers and enablers, as identified in the literature, and their impact on the students’ successful engagement with Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). In addition to this, the possible influence of computer attitude and a belief in one’s own ability (self-efficacy) supplement the research findings in this area. I present quantitative and qualitative data that explore the students’ digital competence levels and their understanding of what it means to be digitally literate. A definition particular to this group of students is proposed. In their definition of digital competence, the majority of the first year pre-service teaching students perceived digital competence to be a functional skill. This is the ability to operate digital devices and their relevant applications in the quest to learn and become self-reliant. This definition is aligned to Covello’s (2010) description of an understanding of how to use computers and application software for practical purposes. This ability to functionally operate various devices (FutureLab, 2010), the ability to use computers and other technology to improve learning, productivity and performance (JISC and Mc Hardy, 2013), links to one part of Ferrari’s (2012) digital competence definition as the knowledge, skills, attitudes, values and awareness required when using ICTs and digital media. After completing a baseline digital competence test as they entered the HEI, I found that 43% of the first year pre-service teaching students failed the test. I identified three main factors that impacted negatively on a first year pre-service teaching student’s engagement with ICTs and ultimate development of digital competence. These include inexperience with ICTs, access and user-unfriendliness of software. Four main enablers to the effective use of ICTs include previous experience using ICTs, previous and current access to ICTs, userfriendliness of software, and finally, support in the form of support material or people. Using quantitative findings obtained from the completion of the Loyd and Gressard Computer Attitude Scale (CAS), I ascertained the students’ computer attitudes. Through the application of the Murphy’s (1989) Digital Self-Efficacy test, the current levels of the students’ digital self-efficacy (DSE), or beliefs in their own abilities, were established. I found no correlation between computer attitude and a student’s digital competence. The majority of students who failed the baseline test had a positive computer attitude. I also found the majority of students surveyed had a strong or very strong belief in their own ability. The majority of the students who passed the test had a very strong DSE and the majority of students who failed had an average to strong DSE. Students who passed the test tended to have higher DSE levels than students who failed the baseline test. A strong belief in one’s own ability was found to be a strong determiner in learning to become digitally competent. A unique application of Actor Network Theory was employed in the data analysis. The analysis methodology was informed by an adaption of Barab, Hay and Yamagata-Lynch’s (2001) node components. The use of Actor Network Theory as an analytical lens in the data analysis, confirmed the importance of zooming in on and unpacking a student’s network of learning to better understand the hidden processes at work. Through an analysis of six students’ networks of learning, I found that each student’s learning network was unique. Using actor network theory to scaffold my analysis it became apparent the differences in the students’ learning networks told a more important story than the few commonalities. The only commonalities evident between the six students in the moment I unpacked each learning network were that they were both initiators and participant in their networks. They interacted with digital devices and were not first time ICT users. These commonalities seem quite immaterial when compared to a minimum of 16 differences. A few of the identified differences include the digital resources the students relied on, their computer attitudes, levels of digital self-efficacy and their baseline test results. My study contributes to knowledge in four ways. Firstly, I establish the digital competence skills of first year pre-service teaching students. Secondly, I identify the barriers first year pre-service students encountered when using ICTs. Thirdly, I look at the possible impact of computer attitude and digital self-efficacy on the development of digital competence. Finally, I detail the networks of learning to be digitally competent. Through this expansion of students’ networks of learning, the connections between the various nodes and actants at work become apparent. This gives readers insight into what nodes are at play within these networks and what the pre-service teaching students identify as significant in their learning. In this study, I confirm the necessity for a first year digital competence or ICT course. My study shows that the students entered the HEI with low levels of digital competence and encounter multiple barriers when accessing ICTs. While literature suggests computer attitude impacts on the development of digital competence, in the reality of my study, I found digital self-efficacy to have a higher statistical correlation with digital success. Studies such as mine provide detailed descriptions and analyses of the practice of coming to be digitally competent. The identification of, and investigation into the possible factors impacting on a pre-service teaching student’s development of digital competence better assists Higher Education Institutions and course designers alleviate possible barriers, while increasing enablers. / XL2018

Thesis (M.A (Psychology))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, 2016 / Transformation initiatives in South African higher education institutions are informed by literature which has thus far explicated the high failure and attrition rates amongst Black university students with discourses asserting that the major contributing factors are disadvantage and language of origin. The current study endeavoured to investigate the learning histories of a group of high achieving Black female university students from socio- economically or educationally disadvantaged backgrounds in order to inform current transformation initiatives at South African higher education institutions. Seven female students who had previously participated in an academic development programme in the faculty of humanities at the University of the Witwatersrand, the Reaching for Excellent Achievement Programme (REAP), volunteered to participate in this study. Despite being second language students and coming from less advantaged backgrounds, these students achieved excellent academic marks and acceptance into various post- graduate programmes. Semi- structured interviews with an episodic narrative style were conducted. The method of data analysis found to be most appropriate for this study was thematic content analysis. The results revealed the importance of the influence of high school teachers on students’ perceptions of school and school subjects; the pace of adjusting to university; the significance of effective lecturing styles; the formation of an academic identity; acquiring academic literacy; and the importance of having social support (especially from university lecturers) for the successful academic performance of the participants in this study. This study suggests that perhaps there is more than individual effort that is required for academic success at university level. Further, it suggests that higher education institutions need to improve the lecturing styles of their lecturers, should ensure that all students are able to successfully adjust to the university environment early in their first year of study, should offer compulsory academic literacy courses to all first year students, and should consider providing all students with mentors who are university personnel. / MT2017