Validating the profile of a successful first year accounting student

Abstract

The sustainability of higher education institutions is affected various things, particularly by student satisfaction and the financial stability of the institution. An analysis of student attrition and retention plays a vital role in assessing the sustainability of a higher education institution.Using suitable analysis techniques to do success profiling of prospective and current students is crucial for students and institutions alike. Success/risk estimation is essential for any higher education institution (HEI), because determining such factors can assist higher education institutions in fulfilling their obligation to provide support, guidance and interventions for their prospective and existing students. Strategic decisions in this regard, by both students and institutions, should be based on valid and reliable profiles. The validation of established profiles increases the accuracy of existing profiles and increases the efficiency of institutional strategic planning.This article reports on the validation of a success profile for first year Accounting students established by the authors of this article in an earlier study in an open and distance learning (ODL) environment at the University of South Africa.

The influence of self‐efficacy beliefs and prior learning on performance

“…There is growing interest in accounting students who are failing to succeed at university level. (Ward et al ., ; Rankin et al ., ; Müller et al ., ). The consequences of failure are severe, much more so than simply not doing as well in a course as one might have hoped (Harackiewicz et al ., ; Turner et al ., ).…”

How to Design Accounting Video Lectures to Recover Lost Time

“…• The age of a student who watched the video lectures may influence the student to perform better in the parts of the test or examination relating to the topic in the video (Müller, Prinsloo, & Du Plessis, 2007). Age is a characteristic of the student, which might mean that the younger or older a student is, he or she is more likely to benefit from the video lectures in terms of obtaining higher marks in topics covered by video lectures.…”

“…• This study considers the fact that if a student is repeating this course it may influence the student to watch the video lectures, because the video lectures would allow the students to pause or rewind the videos and at the same time they would learn at their own pace (Brecht, 2012;Müller et al, 2007). Thus, the video lectures may result in the repeating student to understand the content of the video lectures better which in turn may influence the student to perform better in those parts of the test or examination relating to the topic in the video.…”

The integration of computerised accounting in the accounting curriculum as an educational learning curve for students entering the business world

“…Furthermore, a study by Steenkamp et al [14] defines factors influencing the success of first-year Accounting students confirming that students that had Accounting as a school subject and regularly attended lectures were significantly more successful than students that did not have Accounting as a Grade 12 subject and did not attend lectures regularly. Müller et al [15] validate the profile of a successful first-year Accounting student by identifying this as a student that is motivated, not repeating any subjects, younger than 30 and manages his or her time effectively. Another study by Stainbank [16] affirms that working in teams has a positive effect on students' management and intellectual skills and Wessels [17] emphasizes the importance of students acquiring relevant IT skills through the integration of IT in professional subjects.…”