No abstract

Current emphasis on students' academic adaptation in higher education necessitates the evaluation of predictors of successful preparation of first-year students. This study evaluated the implementation of early assessment (EA) in two first-year financial accounting courses at a South African university, namely an introductory financial accounting course, aimed at students without prior exposure to accounting, and a professional body accredited accounting course, aimed at students with prior exposure to accounting. This module-specific benchmark assessment, early in the academic year is often used as a predictor of preparation, adaptation and potential future academic performance. Given the discontinuation of a university, wide EA protocol within a faculty the academic contribution of the EA has been questioned. The study's focus comprised two research questions, namely whether the EA can be used as a predictor of future academic performance of two different academic performance groups and whether students in a lower academic performance group are able to achieve success despite a low result in the EA. The research methodology included an analysis of variances to determine the correlation between the early assessment and either midyear or final marks, as well as significance evaluation of the measured variance analysis using the Bonferroni test. The findings suggest that whilst the EA could potentially be used as an early warning sign for at-risk academically low performing students, the EA could also result in a misleading representation to students in the high academic performance category. Principally, the EA was found not to be a reliable predictor of future academic performance. In addition, the mixed results obtained from the evaluation of the effect of the nature and format of the assessment suggested that it had a low and non-meaningful effect on the predictive value of the early assessment. The fact that students in the academically low Bruwer and Ontong Early assessment as a predictor of academic performance 12 performance group were largely able to pass the module, however, suggests the success of intervention utilising the EA as an early warning. Higher education module developers could therefore consider the implementation of an appropriate EA in various undergraduate modules, based on the findings.

Promoting critical thinking skills in the higher education setting is noted as a key skill required by students. Using a questionnaire approach, this study examined whether first-year students perceived the use of past assessments in preparation for upcoming assessments as a deductive learning tool and used them solely as a study aid and predictor at a South African university, with the focus on the deductive and conductive learnings styles, with specific reference to whether students perceive the past assessments to be used as tools to indicate specifically what will be assessed in terms of historical frequency. The findings suggest that students utilise past assessments as a deductive tool in order to predict future areas that will be assessed, as well as certain characteristics, such as the level of difficulty of question papers. The authors argue that when past assessments are used as a deductive "predictor" of future assessment, this then potentially acts as an inhibitor of developing critical thinking skills. The findings therefore, although acknowledging the value added in terms of higher education students of the revision and practising of past assessments, highlight that assessors in higher education need to be conscious that the use of past assessments as a "predictor" through the repetitive nature of the items being assessed may result in students who are able to pass assessments but who are unable to necessarily demonstrate critical thinking skills as required by module outcomes. The findings of this study therefore present various streams of areas for future research into the better understanding of how past assessments can be used in order to promote critical thinking within higher education modules.

The need to improve the systematic failures of higher education has led to various studies that promote the implementation of certain types of teaching interventions with the aim of increasing student performance. This study investigates the effects of these interventions on student performance in a multiple-intervention environment by developing an attendance construct proxy, as well as an alternative to the class attendance intervention construct proxy. The benefits of these interventions were analysed to determine whether certain interventions have a more significant impact on student performance than others in the context of increasing student performance. Using a survey approach to determine the record of participation in the interventions by the students, the findings of participation were analysed using the academic records of the students to identify the effect. The results suggest that increased levels of attending classes, which include traditional and additional face-to-face sessions, have a significant positive effect on student performance. When analysing the additional face-to-face sessions, specifically the further class attendance of tutorial classes where students are given the opportunity to work on their own or in groups and only request assistance where needed, the greatest significant positive effect on student performance was observed. The findings further suggest that certain interventions-often seen as alternatives to class attendance, such as attending mentor sessions, external tutoring, and watching videos of beginners' classes-do not necessarily have a positive significant effect on student performance. Interestingly, the perceptions of students are consistent with the findings of the study, with the majority of students not recommending the use of external tutoring services. The findings of the study therefore provide insightful value to the design of modules at higher Ontong, Bruwer and Dreyer An investigation of the interaction of class attendance, tutorials, mentor sessions, ... 270 education institutions, aiding in identifying and responding to which interventions would have a significant impact on student performance.

The use of an accelerated learning programme as an intervention to allow failing students to repeat a module in an accelerated format instead of having to redo a module over a semester or academic year has various academic, economic, and social benefits. Accelerated learning programmes are, however, often criticised in the literature for surface learning that may influence subsequent learning. Using a quantitative approach, this study statistically analysed the grades achieved by three distinct groups of students for a first-year financial accounting module and their subsequent second-year financial accounting module. The study found no statistical difference between students who repeated a module over the traditional academic period and those who repeated the module in an accelerated format. This study contributes to the limited research on accelerated learning programmes for repeating a module. The results provide empirical evidence that supports the questioning of the notion that accelerated learning programmes only lead to surface learning, and results are presented that advocate for the implementation of accelerated learning programmes as an effective mode for repeating students to follow to achieve academic success, given the various benefits.