Support

Mentoring students

I have been lecturing on a post-graduation level since January 2016. Since then, I have had the privilege to mentor BAcc honors students. In 2016, I mentored a student who was struggling with management accounting 778 during the first part of the year. He passed management accounting 778 at the end of 2016. Currently I am mentoring 2 students, which are both registered for BAcc honours.

Mentoring of students enrolled in the Thuthuka bursury fund

The Thuthuka Bursary Fund of SAICA was established in 2002. This fund annually places between 250 and 300 bursared black African and coloured students in SAICA-accredited universities in South Africa, of which Stellenbosch University is one. This initiative is administered by SAICA and is striving to increase the number of African and Coloured CA(SA)s in South Africa. It further aims to provide talented African and Coloured students with the opportunities to obtain BCom Accounting degrees in order to one day become chartered accountants. The typical Thuthuka student comes from a previously disadvantaged background, is academically talented and require financial assistance to study towards a professional qualification.

My involvement in this fund at the Stellenbosch University entails the mentoring of students and the development of a Thuthuka focus area within Management Accounting 378. In our course, I am proud to say that the Thuthuka throughput rate is something that I strive to improve by yearly reflecting on the success/failure of initiatives put in place. Refer to the Thuthuka throughput rate below, which was 87.5% in 2016, for more on the successes of our programme.

Since 2013, I have been involved in mentoring bursared students from their first year, throughout their studies until they graduate with a Bachelors of Accounting honours degree.

In 2015, two students, whom I mentored from their first year, received their Bachelors in Accountancy degrees (BAcc) at Stellenbosch University. Both of them started their first year in BAcc in January 2013 and did not fail any of their study years. They both enjoyed the Stellenbosch University’s student-life and fitted in well with other students. I also mentored another student in 2013. This student and one of the students I mentored from 2013 to 2015, continued to do their honours degrees in the Bachelors of Accountancy at Stellenbosch University.

In 2016 both these students received their honours degrees, and what a proud moment that was to be able to attend the graduation ceremony.

One of my mentees and I at the graduation ceremony in March 2017

Other support – Development programme in Management Accounting 378 for Thuthuka students and students that require additional assistance

As Management Accounting is a subject with considerable practical relevance, students overall tend to struggle with the practical application of basic principles in real-life scenarios. Many new initiatives, as discussed in my teaching philosophy, were set in place by myself in the Management Accounting 378 course, which are proving to be of great value to our students. Aside from these initiatives, further assistance and mentoring are provided to Thuthuka students who are struggling to get good marks in Management Accounting. The following initiatives are available in Management Accounting 378:

• Self-assessment – In 2016, I implemented a self-assessment initiative in Management Accounting 378, together with the subject head of Management Accounting 778. This initiative expects from Thuthuka students to do a self-assessment on the mistakes they made during each of the term tests. This assessment involves going through the paper, identifying areas of struggle and providing possible reasons as to why those mistakes were made, and how they can go about preventing that these mistakes are made again in the future. A self-assessment template has been developed that is used for these purposes. We also encourage Thuthuka students to do the self-assessment together with other Thuthuka students in groups so that they can learn from one another. The template that were introduced are:
  
• Structured tutorials – In 2016, the School of Accountancy implemented a structural tutorial for Thuthuka students in which they are given the opportunity to practise an examination-level question under examination conditions. In Management Accounting 378 I strive to get good questions that are used during these structured tutorials that enable Thuthuka students to practise the application of management accounting principles in real-life scenarios. The exercise questions discussed under my teaching philosophy, which provides students with an opportunity to practice the application of basic principles on real-life scenarios, are used during these structured tutorials and are therefore also available to other students who are not part of the Thuthuka programme.
• Winter and summer schools for BAccHons Thuthuka students – In 2017, the first winter school and in January 2018 the first summer school will be presented to Thuthuka honours students by the School of Accountancy staff members. I was involved in developing the Management Accounting course material (notes, presentation slides and online tutorials) for both the winter and summer schools and will also be presenting parts of the course in January 2018.
• ILP (Individual Learning Programme) – The ILP was established in 2005 by the School of Accountancy. The primary objective of the ILP is to help students to pass and ultimately achieve selection for an honours degree. The programme consists of one additional lecture period per week for each of the professional subjects. This programme is focused on the Thuthuka students, but is open for all students who struggle. In Management Accounting 378, these ILP periods are used to revise basic principles and practise the practical application thereof.

Success of initiatives

The initiatives implemented in Management Accounting 378 are proving to provide great value to our Thuthuka students. After the first term test of Management Accounting 378 in 2016, the pass rate of the Thuthuka students was only 46%. I immediately implemented the self-assessment initiative mentioned above and developed the exercise questions to be used for the structured tutorial sessions that were scheduled by the School of Accountancy. At the end of 2016, 87.5% (21 out of 24) of the Thuthuka students passed Management Accounting 378 and 50% (12 out of 24) received admission to the BAccHons degree.