Browsing by Author "Carpenter, Riley"

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    Assessing PGDA entrance requirements: Appropriate or in need of change?
    (2023) Andrew, Samuel; Carpenter, Riley
    With the decreasing student pass rates in the Postgraduate Accounting Degree (PGDA) at the University of Cape Town (UCT) as well as UCT's lowered placement in ITC pass rate rankings – an assessment on PGDA's current entrance requirements could provide insight into a way-forward. The objective of this study is to evaluate endogenous factors that affect student performance in PGDA and ITC, namely race, secondary school type, home language, gender, age, and core final-year accounting course results (Financial Reporting III (FR3), Taxation II (TAX2), Corporate Governance II (CG2), Management Accounting II (MA2), and Business Analysis and Governance (BAG)). After identifying the factors linked to success, these factors were used to determine optimal entrance requirements that maximise the success of students in passing PGDA and ITC. Finally, the recommended entrance requirements were assessed against current and old entrance requirements and the effects of these requirements on student diversity was considered. A quantitative research method was used – comprising of stepwise regression, multivariate regression, and logistic regression models, together with receiver operator curves. The data was obtained from a sample of students that had commenced PGDA in 2018, 2019 and 2020 at UCT. The findings indicate that race and prior academic performance are the best predictors of academic success, however race was not considered when setting entrance requirements. Interesting findings were identified between core undergraduate courses and success in the four PGDA courses and ITC as not all undergraduate courses predicted academic success. Specifically, the lack of a significant relationship between core accounting subject – FR3 – and postgraduate courses – CG3 and MAF – in addition to ITC success. Furthermore, a significant, negative relationship was identified between MA2 and FR4. Recommended entrance requirements were identified to have adverse effects on student diversity for access, but minimal effect on pass rates. This study adds to existing literature on student performance in tertiary accounting programmes in South Africa with a specific focus on CTA course success. These findings could be useful for the UCT in determining the most appropriate entrance requirements to set for PGDA as well as whether setting such requirements would be equitable.
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    Assessing the effect on the mode of class attendance on academic performance in a postgraduate financial accounting IV class at a private higher education institution in South Africa
    (2025) Gauldie, Nicola Claire; Carpenter, Riley
    Public higher education institutions are at capacity in terms of their student intake. Therefore, there has been an increase in private higher education institutions providing options for students regarding the offered class attendance modes. However, not all modes will achieve an optimal output. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine which mode of class attendance, if any, improves the students' academic performance. The study was performed to determine if higher education institutions could increase their enrolment numbers through offering diverse class attendance modes, rather than the traditional face-to-face mode of instruction. The study was conducted at a private higher education institution on 231 post graduate Financial Accounting IV students. A quantitative analysis was performed using the beta regression analysis and the Kruskal-Wallis test. Additionally, machine learning in the form of the random forest algorithm technique was employed to alleviate the limiting effect of the small sample size. The class modes investigated were in-person attendance, streaming attendance and attendance of students who watched classes at a later date. Other additional factors, which included age, gender, race, undergraduate Accounting mark, undergraduate Accounting institution and time lapse since completion, were part of the analysis to mitigate the risk of incorrectly assuming an outcome. The findings of the beta regression analysis indicated that the most significant indicator of academic performance in Financial Accounting IV was full-time in-person attendance. Classes watched at a later date and flexi-streaming also proved to be significant in predicting the final academic outcome. Full-time streaming was still significant, but less so than the other factors. A noteworthy finding from the Kruskal–Wallis test was that there was no statistically significant difference in academic performance across the different class attendance modes, based on the students' primary mode of attendance. The study subjects were only postgraduate Accounting students from a private higher education institution and therefore, they differed from those in other higher education institutions in South Africa. This implied that the results are not generalisable. Nevertheless, the findings are useful to private higher education institutions in shaping their available class formats for postgraduate Accounting studies. The study contributes to the existing literature on tertiary Accounting education and factors that contribute to academic success.
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    Determinants of students' academic performance in Corporate Governance I
    (2020) Shamsoodien,Sihaam; Carpenter, Riley
    With the increasing diversity of students attending university, there is a growing interest in the factors predicting academic performance. The objective of this study is to identify student endogenous factors (average Grade 12 grade, Grade 12 mathematics grade, Grade 12 English grade, gender, school quintile, home language, race, university gradepoint-average (GPA), university Accounting I grade and self-efficacy) that impact performance in the module, Corporate Governance I, and to identify any differences in self-efficacy levels of students of different genders and races completing this course. A quantitative research method was used, comprising multiple regression analysis, a Mann-Whitney U test and a Kruskal-Wallis H test. The data was obtained from a sample of students attempting Corporate Governance I in 2018 at the University of Cape Town. The findings indicate that on the first day of entering university, the average grade in the final year of high school was the most significant predictor of final performance in Corporate Governance I. GPA was the most significant predictor of performance at the point of registration for Corporate Governance I, before the student had embarked upon the course, as well as the point when the student had engaged with the course for a few weeks. Another interesting finding was that even though there were no significant statistical differences in the self-efficacy levels of students of different genders and races, females outperformed males while White students outperformed Black and Coloured students. This study adds to the existing literature on student performance in tertiary accounting programmes in South Africa with a particular focus on student endogenous factors. The findings could be useful for the University of Cape Town in determining its approach to teaching these students.
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    Investigating the role of VAT in the changing landscape of Educational Services: A case study of a digital educational services provider
    (2019) Smith, Brendon; Carpenter, Riley
    Given the funding crisis in South African universities, investigation was carried out with respect to the role which Value Added Tax (VAT) plays in the educational services sector. It was found that there are difficulties in accounting for and apportioning VAT due to the diversification of revenue streams, especially with historically government-funded institutions. Furthermore, it was found that the application of current VAT legislation can face difficulties in regards to application of legislation with the move towards digital educational services providers, especially when looking at the role of agency through providing digital educational services on behalf of another institution. Lastly, the role of the VAT exempt status of educational services was seen to be one which can be improved upon so as to remove inefficiencies in the funding process of governmentally funded institutions, and to possible remove the benefit afforded to privately owned institutions.
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    The relationship between financial aid and on-time degree completion for accounting students at a South African university
    (2022) Roos, Lily Elizabeth; Carpenter, Riley
    Financial aid contributes significantly to higher education participation in South Africa. However, while research focused on how financial aid improved access to University, little is known about its effect on ‘on-time' degree completion. Therefore, this research aimed to investigate to what extent financial aid affected the likelihood of on-time graduation as a function of selected student input and higher educational factors for students' success in studying towards a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) at the University of Cape Town (UCT). To better understand the above factors, the researcher conducted a quantitative study applying Event History Analysis (EHA) and the Input-Environment-Output (I-E-O) model (Astin, 1993). A logistic regression within a discrete-time model with a personperiod dataset was performed. Data from the 2013 to 2018 UCT student records formed the basis of this research with a sample size of N=842. Based on the literature review, the input variables were gender, race, age, school type, final grade 12 marks and students' performance in the National Benchmark Tests (NBT). The environmental variables were enrollment in the academic development and support programme ‘Step-Up' and financial aid. Contrary to expectation, the results for the environmental variables surprisingly revealed that receiving financial aid decreased the likelihood of on-time graduation. Receiving GAP Aid indicated no statistically significant association with on-time graduation. Furthermore, enrolment in Step Up significantly increased the likelihood of on-time graduation, all else being equal. The findings for the input variables indicated that females and younger students were more likely to graduate on time than males and older students. White students were more likely to graduate on time than Black, Coloured and Indian/Asian students, which shows that this issue remains a transformation issue for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Another unexpected result was that the type of school attended and participation in NSC English indicated no association with on-time graduation. Most notably, students with NSC Accounting had a more significantly positive likelihood of on-time graduation than students with NSC Mathematics only. The research findings contribute value to the discussions on accounting education research and how to improve on-time degree completion. Secondly, the results could benefit policy decisions for student admission to the BCom programme. While the research results will reflect the nature of this specific university, the findings may also be valuable to other public HEIs with similar admission standards and student bodies.