Acta Academica

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Acta Academica is an academic journal dedicated to scholarship in the humanities. The journal publishes scholarly articles that examine society, culture and politics past and present from a critical social theory perspective. The journal is also interested in scholarly work that examines how the humanities in the twenty-first century are responding to the double imperative of theorising the world and changing it.

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ISSN 2415-0479 (Online), ISSN 0587-2405 (Print)

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Browsing Acta Academica by Subject "Academic achievement"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    Factors associated with success in first-year accounting after the implementation of the National Senior Certificate
    (University of the Free State, 2012) Oosthuizen, Annelie; Eiselen, Riëtte
    English: Questions have been raised as to whether the National Senior Certificate curriculum, awarded for the first time in 2008, adequately equips learners to achieve academic success at university. This article aims to identify factors associated with success in accounting at university after the implementation of the National Senior Certificate. Differences between students who failed and those who passed Accounting 1 in 2009 are explored in terms of their exposure to, and performance in accounting and mathematics at school level as well as differences in their perceptions of critical skills acquired in the National Senior Certificate. The findings of this study create a platform for continued debate on admission requirements and the importance of specific skills required for success in accounting studies at university.
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    Investigating the moderating effect of student engagement on academic performance
    (University of the Free State, 2013) Gerber, Charlene; Mans-Kemp, Nadia; Schlechter, Anton
    The academic performance and success of students are important for both higher education institutions and students. Student engagement has been identified as a crucial factor in academic success. Studies investigating student engagement have typically used self-report measures of engagement, collected at a given point in time. Self-report measures are, however, prone to positive bias (social desirability). In an attempt to overcome these shortfalls, data were collected over three years (2010-2012) in a third-year Business Management module, presented at a South African university (n=380). Academic and behavioural student engagement was measured by assessing academic activities (class attendance and weekly homework assessments), rather than with a self-report measurement scale. Unlike previous studies that correlated student engagement with academic performance, this article argues that student engagement enhances academic performance. It was found that student engagement significantly moderated the relationship between early and late semester assessments of academic performance (semester test and examination marks). It was, therefore, concluded that higher levels of engagement enhance the learning experience and subsequent performance in the module. High levels of student engagement may even lead to higher, than would otherwise be expected, academic performance.
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    Learning potential and academic literacy tests as predictors of academic performance for engineering students
    (University of the Free State, 2013) Schaap, Pieter; Luwes, Monica
    English: Students who obtain senior certificates in the South African schooling system cannot be assumed to be adequately prepared to meet the demands of tertiary education. This study aims to determine the criterion-related validity of a mathematical proficiency test from the Academic Aptitude Test Battery (AAT-maths), an English language proficiency test (ELSA) and a learning potential test (LPCAT) as predictors of the academic performance of engineering bursary students at tertiary institutions. The findings indicate that these tests have significant criterion-related validity and can improve the likelihood of selecting the most promising bursary students. However, the findings point towards the possibility that the tests or the criterion measure are differentially valid for different race groups.
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    Management problems at underachieving township secondary schools in the Free State
    (University of the Free State, 2004) Masitsa, Gilbert; Van Staden, Johann; De Wet, Corene; Niemann, Rita; Heyns, Michau; Brazelle, Robbie; Niemann, Steve
    English: Principals of secondary schools in townships are experiencing increasing management problems. The situation is exacerbated by the rapid changes taking place in education and the promotion of inexperienced teachers to the position of principal. This article attempts to identify the management problems experienced by principals of township secondary schools which obtained a pass rate of 40% or less for more than three years prior to 2002. The study found that these principals experience innumerable problems which have a negative influence on academic achievement and which must be resolved.
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    Performance of first-year accounting students: does time perspective matter?
    (University of the Free State, 2013) Joubert, Hanli; Viljoen, Marianne; Schall, Robert
    English: Academic failure of first-year accounting students is a national and international problem. Existing research is inconclusive regarding the causes for the failure and does not make provision for the possible influence of dominant time perspectives on performance in accounting. This article investigates whether time perspective has an effect on the performance of first-year accounting students. A quantitative non-experimental predictive multivariate design is used and confounding variables are taken into consideration. The results of the study indicate significant relationships between performance in first-year accounting and gender, age and a past-negative time perspective. The most significant result of this study is that a past-negative time perspective, together with an unfavourable psychosocial background, might have led to failure in first-year accounting. It is suggested that students with a negative time perspective be identified and encouraged to participate in support programmes at the university.
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    The provision of teaching/learning materials in Swaziland high schools
    (University of the Free State, 2005) Magagula, Cisco
    English:This study set out to establish whether there was any government policy regarding the provision of textbooks and stationery to high school learners in Swaziland; to determine whose responsibility it was to provide learners with these materials, and to assess the system used by high schools to give learners access to them. The study found that there was no government policy regulating the provision of textbooks and stationery to learners in high schools; that parents were solely responsible for providing such materials, and that most high schools used the book loan system (which has its advantages and disadvantages, and should be refined) to give learners access to the requisite materials.
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    Psychological mindedness and academic achievement of psychology students in a higher education environment
    (University of the Free State, 2011) Beets, Soretha; Nienaber, Alida; Botha, Karel
    English: This article aims to determine the relationship between psychological mindedness and academic achievement and whether there are differences in demographic variables in relation to both psychological mindedness and academic achievement. A crosssectional design was used and 211 undergraduate students participated. A biographic questionnaire as well as the psychological mindedness scale was administered and the academic records of the participants were drawn. The data were analysed by calculating correlations, t-tests and an analysis of variance. Although there is a correlation between academic achievement and psychological mindedness, other factors may also play a role in the academic achievement of undergraduate university students. Limitations and recommendations were indicated.
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    Psychological resources as predictors of academic performance of first-year students in higher education
    (University of the Free State, 2013) Kotzé, Martina; Niemann, Rita
    English: This article aims to determine whether psychological resources (hope, optimism and resilience) can be potential predictors of academic performance. A cross-sectional survey design was used and the sample consisted of 789 first-year students in Industrial Psychology. The measuring instruments included the State Hope Scale (SHS), the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R), and the Adult Resilience Indicator (ARI). The results of the simple multiple regression analysis showed that state hope, and specifically pathways, and three dimensions of resilience were statistically significantly related to academic performance, whereas optimism was not a statistically significant predictor of academic performance