2. TEACHING PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMMES VERSUS DEGREE PROGRAMMES Presented by: Gregory Plant (Department of Financial Management – UP)

3. PROFESSIONALISM • What does it mean to be professional? • Dedication to a certain type of work that requires a high level of skill and commitment to serving the public interest. • ACCA

4. WHAT DOES IT ENTAIL BEING A PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANT? • … making judgments based on the knowledge, skills and experience … acquired or developed while training, or while working as a professional. • Those judgments must also be based on certain ethical values… • ACCA

5. THE ROAD TO BECOMING A PROFESSIONAL • Acquiring knowledge and skills • Assessing against a standard = examinations • ACCA examinations as standard setting examinations • Exemptions route • Appropriate work experience • Once qualified – keeping skills and knowledge updated (CPD)

6. THE ACCA SYLLABUS • Fundamentals • Knowledge (F1-F3) • Skills (F4-F9) • Professional

7. HOW DOES A PROFESSIONALPROGRAMME DIFFER? • Professional programmes • Focus on acquiring knowledge and skills • Experiential learning • Developing ability to judge • Students generally adopt a deep learning style • Degree programmes • Knowledge acquisition • Students can “get away” with a surface learning approach

8. WHAT DOES DEEP LEARNING ENTAIL? • Learning style and learning approach • Learning with AND for understanding (Surface learning = rote learning) • Seeks to understand and critically interact with content of material • Relates ideas to previous knowledge and experience • Examines the logic of an argument • Able to integrate knowledge and see the bigger picture • Neither procedural learning nor temporary learning(aka “CRAMMING”)

9. WHAT DOES SURFACE LEARNING ENTAIL? • Learning to memorise contents • Accepts ideas and information without question • Concentrates on memorising facts without distinguishing any underlying principles [or relationships] or patterns • Typically results from assessment requirements or criteria (ie the verbs used in the criteria)

10. WHAT DETERMINES THE APPROACH USED? • Students own persona/character • Ability to identify learning styles which have the desired outcome • What does the student want to “get” out of the learning • Situational influences – student’s view as to the relevance of a particular topic • Enthusiasm of the lecturer or trainer • Expected form which the assessment will take on – type of questions asked • Students can be flexible in choosing a learning style

11. STUDY ORIENTATIONS • Meaning • Deep approach, comprehension, inter-relating ideas, use of evidence and intrinsic motivation • Reproducing • Surface approach, operation learning, improvidence, fear of failure, syllabus bound and extrinsic motivation • Achieving • Intrinsic motivation and mix between surface and deep • Non-academic • Disorganised study methods, negative attitudes, globetrotting and low intrinsic motivation

12. APPROACH TO TEACHING – CONSULTATIVE [2] • Curriculum – interdependent courses focusing on transferring knowledge across the entire course • Assignment orientation – real-world tasks and tasks containing various options and challenges – all about focusing on developing thinking skills and teamwork for the sharing of findings • Assessment – continual, very often less formal, collaborative and cumulative • Potential outcomes – critical thinking skills, creative thinking skills, independent life-long learners, motivated learners, meta-cognitively aware learners

13. TOOLS AT OUR DISPOSAL • Case studies • Simulations • Past exam papers • Experience in the workplace

14. CRITICISMS TO BE AWARE OF PERSONAL PERCEPTIONS • Over burdened syllabus – especially where a great deal of technical knowledge is required • One size does not fit all – how one subject is studied might not work for the next