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Purpose: Skills development for business students is increasingly becoming more important in business education and the workplace. In this paper, students' research skills are examined. The purpose of this paper is to identify some of the issues and challenges students face in developing research skills and how these can be addressed. Design/methodology/approach: The study combines external marker evaluation and content analysis to evaluate one hundred 2,000-word essays and identify issues and challenges associated with students' development of research skills. Findings: Results show that the essays rate well in collecting and using sources and summarising key topics but miss on integrating sources in writing and inconsistency in citations and referencing. Research limitations/implications: One of the paper's limitations is using a sample from a single course in a business school in Australia. Nonetheless, the sampled essays represent similar writing tasks elsewhere that require students to display research skills. Practical implications: Some implications for business and higher education are offered, including suggestions to address the issues and challenges raised in business education. For example, academics are encouraged to communicate clear expectations for writing tasks, provide support and show exemplars of business writing that incorporates practical research skills. Social implications: Business students who develop effective research skills contribute to society by developing skills in effectively searching and evaluating information. This ensures business graduates in industry workplaces reach considered conclusions before making recommendations that could impact people's lives. Originality/value: The study is original in its approach to investigating the nuances of research skills deficiencies by using external expert examination combined with content analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to provide clear and appropriate evidence of factors that trigger student engagement of flipped classroom (FC) learning in higher education (HE), based on an example of a fully flipped business undergraduate degree program in Australia. Qualitative data from the Student Evaluation of Teaching and Units (SETU) of 142 first-year business students over seven consecutive trimesters (2017–2019) were gathered and analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings provide a nuanced understanding on triggers of student engagement in relation to self-efficacy, emotion, well-being and belonging. The findings may guide educators in full adoption of FC in other undergraduate courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Work integrated learning (WIL) activities, especially internships, are essential for career preparation and development. This paper applies career adaptability and capital theories to examine how international internships help undergraduate business students in their career exploration, preparation and development. Design/methodology/approach: This study used data from 20 interviews, including 15 undergraduate business students from two universities in Australia and Thailand who undertook internships in Asian countries, three internship administrators across two universities, and two overseas internship partners. Thematic-based analysis using the Nvivo program and duoethnographic reflections of the internship coordinators in Australia was applied for data analysis. Findings: The data analysis indicates that international internship experiences facilitate students to become culturally savvy, build their international professional networks, enhance the level of self-perceived competency and cultivate a globalised career adaptability perspective. Research limitations/implications: This study contributes to theory-building within the WIL literature, international internship experiences, students' career adaptability and capital. Practical implications: Although international internship opportunities are available to students, few students are willing to challenge themselves in a foreign setting. The study's insights provide a better understanding of how university administrators could set up a task force of academics and professional staff to consider a cohesive resourcing structure for the long-term sustainability of the international internship programs. Originality/value: This study highlights how the international internships enhanced students' globalised social, cultural and human capital and their ability to adapt to culturally diverse business contexts. The international internship experience can also increase student's confidence to enter the global labour market and seek opportunities beyond their original country of residence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper provides an analysis of the experiences of undergraduate business students undertaking reflective writing as a series of incremental assessments. Using Moon's map of learning (1999) as an analytical framework, it explores the value of reflective writing to students studying Asian culture in the business context during the first semester of 2017. Design/methodology/approach: With 200 enrolments, the authors taught a core business course, Asian culture in the business context, in the first semester in 2017. The value of the assessments is analysed based on two data sources: written course feedback via a course survey and a combination of semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The written course feedback was collected by the university during the semester. Approximately, one-third of the students (n = 63) participated in the survey. The other data were collected through semi-structured interviews and focus groups for nine students. Ethical approval for the collection of data was obtained from the university ethics committee. Findings: The study confirms that reflective writing enables students to make meaning of their learning and transfer it to the cultural context of business practice. In addition, the assessments help the students develop logical thinking and academic writing skills. To increase the use of reflective assignments in business programmes, further research and teaching practice is required. Research limitations/implications: A limitation of this research was the relatively small sample size. Even though written survey feedback (n = 63) was used to complement the number of interviewees (n = 9), the findings of the data analysis may not represent the experiences of all students in the course. However, the data are valuable to bridge a gap between the existing research and teaching practice on the use of reflective writing in other disciplines and business education. Practical implications: Although the transfer of academic knowledge to business practice is a core capability of the business programmes, business students may not obtain this during their study in the programme. Several students mentioned a lack of opportunity to apply reflective writing skills to other courses in their business degree, except one core course using a reflective essay as an assessment. This implies that the majority of the students in the degree are not exposed to situations that require them to critically evaluate, consolidate and consider what has been taught in relation to future practice. Social implications: Further research and practice will increase the popularity of reflective writing assessments in business programmes. As Hedberg suggests, reflective practice should be integrated into all classrooms in business education. Together with analysis and action, reflection should be a core capability for managers (Hedberg 2009). In addition, the business faculty needs to work in a reflective manner that encourages students to be familiar with the reflective practice. Originality/value: This paper analyses the pedagogical aspects of reflection based on the experience of undergraduate business students undertaking reflective writing assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Work-integrated Learning (WIL) can be a vehicle for the development of students' work-ready skills. This paper presents the views of undergraduate business students and academics about the role and perceived importance of work-ready skills in the business curriculum and the perceived role of WIL activities in enabling the development of work-ready skills. A total of 50 business students and 24 academics from a number of faculties across the university participated. While students and academics both agree that a combination of on and off campus WIL activities are most effective for developing work-ready skills, students and academics hold different views to the importance of work-ready skills in the curriculum and the importance of including specific skills such as project planning. These findings have implications for the development of work-ready skills and embedding both WIL and non-WIL activities in undergraduate courses for business school educators and university policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on a three-year Australian study of international business and accounting students and the transition to employment. For international students seeking to differentiate themselves in a highly competitive global labour market, foreign work experience is now an integral part of the overseas study “package”. Work-integrated learning (WIL) is seen to provide critical “employability” knowledge and skills, however, international students have low participation rates. The high value placed on WIL among international students poses challenges for Australia as well as opportunities. Understanding the issues surrounding international students and WIL is closely linked to Australia’s continued success in the international education sector which has broad, long-term, social and economic implications. Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws on 59 interviews with a range of stakeholders including international students, universities, government, employers and professional bodies. Central to the paper is an in-depth case study of WIL in the business and accounting discipline at one Australian university. Findings – Providing international students with access to discipline-related work experience has emerged as a critical issue for Australian universities. The study finds that enhancing the employability skills of internationals students via integrated career education, a focus on English language proficiency and “soft skills” development are central to success in WIL. Meeting the growing demand for WIL among international students requires a multipronged approach which hinges on cooperation between international students, universities, employers and government. Originality/value – This project aims to fill a critical knowledge gap by advancing theories in relation to international students and WIL. While there is a significant body of research in the fields of international education and WIL, there is an absence of research exploring the intersection between the two fields. The study will contribute to the advancement of knowledge in both fields by exploring the emerging issue of WIL and international students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the findings of an exploratory case study that investigated factors affecting the retention and progression of postgraduate business students at a major Australian distance education university. The majority of prior research addressing student retention focuses on undergraduate on-campus students, while this research investigated the postgraduate distance education context. The findings of this research indicate that a range of factors, in many cases different to those identified in the student retention literature, impact upon retention and progression in this context. This paper concludes with implications for distance education providers and recommendations for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role Australian University marketing students’ cultural backgrounds play in their learning and their perceptions of assessment and explores whether current assessments appropriately address the differing needs of a culturally diverse student population. Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopts a qualitative approach utilising five focus groups, each comprised of 12 students. Findings – Results indicate learning environments, learning and assessment approaches and assessment tasks each bring their own benefits, constraints and challenges to studying in a culturally diverse environment. Principles are presented for adoption by marketing educators in order to foster a vibrant, inclusive learning environment which meets the educational needs and wants of a culturally diverse student cohort. Research limitations/implications – The number of students representing different global regions or countries limited this study. With the exception of students from Australia and the Asian region, there were minimal students representing other cultural backgrounds despite every attempt being made to be culturally inclusive across global regions. Practical implications – The paper presents the principles of C.U.L.T.U.R.E. and recommends their integration into learning approaches and assessment practices across Schools and Faculties at the tertiary level. Originality/value – This paper fulfils an identified need to study a culturally diverse student cohort's perceptions and attitudes towards learning approaches and assessment practices and their perceived relevance to the provision of core graduate business and generic skills necessary for employability in the global marketplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student research projects involving human intervention are being utilised in more and more business subjects. It therefore is essential that students understand the various ethical issues and implications related to undertaking such projects. As such academics need to integrate an ethical evaluation of student projects. While there are many attempts to "teach" ethics, the literature does not address the issue of including ethics in student research projects. A process by which this can be applied is suggested, which is based on a formal ethics approval process used at one Australian university. While the focus of this paper is student based research projects, the process described could be applied to staff research with minimal modifications, which are identified throughout the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirical research studies of finance have investigated students' performance inPrinciples of Financecourses and the effect of class attendance on students' performance. Similarly, accounting research has been directed at readability of accounting narratives and lexical choices. However, no published study has explored and analysed the multimodal literacy and numeracy social practices of international students in a core business module, and within a multidimensional research framework. This study is of interest as most international ESL/EFL students in Australia and elsewhere are enrolled in business programmes. This paper explores the literacy and numeracy social practices of 10 first-year Master of Commerce Accounting international students in aPrinciples of Financemodule. It is underpinned by the proposed multidimensional framework which is framed by Halliday's systemic functional linguistic theory and by O'Halloran's multisemiotic framework for the analysis of mathematical symbolism. The findings are presented in terms of (1) the epistemologies ofPrinciples of Finance, (2) a Systemic Functional Multimodal Discourse Analysis (SF-MDA) of the experiential meanings in students' capital budgeting management reports, and (3) a description of the actual practices the participants engaged with to complete the assignment and their explanations of their texts. Implications of these findings and the research framework presented. The SF-MDA contributes to the description of experiential meaning in financial tables and graphs. It indicates a potential research tool for the systemic functional analysis of multimodal finance and accounting discourses. The multidimensional exploration of participants' literacy practices presented here could also provide a framework for similar investigation across a broad range of educational settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on the findings of research into the attitudes towards business ethics of a group of business students in Western Australia. The questionnaire upon which the research was based was originally used by Preble and Reichel (1988) in an investigation they undertook into the attitudes towards business ethics held by two similar groups of United States and Israeli business students. The specific purpose of the current investigation was to administer the same questionnaire with one minor modification to: (1) two groups of Curtin University students; (2) a group of Asian students from the Australian Institute of Business and Technology (AIBT), a privately funded tertiary institution affiliated with Curtin University, and (3) a group of managers from the Australian Institute of Management (AIM), many of whom would not have been university graduates. The questionnaire was preceded by a profile inventory to establish the participant's age, sex, occupation, course of study, whether or not they were born in Australia, their attitudes towards religion, and whether or not they saw themselves as ethically minded persons. In the original questionnaire, Preble and Reichel had asked the US and Israeli students to indicate on a five point scale, their attitudes towards a selection of business ethics situations by reflecting on thirty statements. In the replicate study, the means and standard deviations of each response of the four groups of Western Australian students were calculated and then compared with the means and standard deviations of the US and Israeli students. In summary, statistically significant differences in the scores of the original study were noted between nineteen out of thirty of the US and Israeli students in their attitudes towards business ethics. However, "a closer examination and interpretation showed several of these differences to have little meaning." (p. 946) The purpose of this current study therefore, was to see if the Curtin, AIBT and AIM students' results were statistically significant (different) to the US and Israeli student scores. The implications of understanding the way a selected group of business students in Western Australia react towards a range of ethical issues ought to have relevance for those involved in developing management education courses, particularly in view of the current economic and business climate. Studies into attitudes towards ethical issues in business have, as yet, received little attention in Australasia. This present study will hopefully lead to more thoughtful discussion of these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, Australian universities have corporatized. Encouraged by government policies, universities adopted modernization practices that have been widely questioned. 'Collegial entrepreneurialism' is an approach that builds on collegial processes to protect academic values from the excesses of modernization. This paper examines the perceptions of business academics about the impacts of modernization in autonomous graduate schools of business. The research was undertaken prior to the most recent wave of higher education reform under which most of these schools disappeared. Their experience of three consequences of modernization, 'hard' managerialism, academic consumerism and fragmentation of work, provides insight into whether collegiality and academic values can exist within an entrepreneurial academic unit. Results indicate that overt manifestations of modernization are not threatening to 'collegial entrepreneurialism'. However, in the absence of academic leadership, the more covert influences of consumerism and fragmentation pose a threat to the survival of 'collegial entrepreneurialism'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the influential factors that affect business students' selection of a major course of study at the tertiary level in Australian universities. The present research examined the differences in the impact that various influential factors had on the decision to major in accounting among students studying at Australian universities. The sample was collected from a survey of undergraduate and graduate students studying at two large Australian universities in November 2005. A total of 46 domestic and 68 international students participated in this study. The results showed that domestic students possessed higher levels of creativity and were more likely to select majors in subjects other than accounting. Conversely, it was found that although Chinese students possessed relatively lower levels of creativity, they were more likely to major in accounting when studying in Australia. Another finding from this study was that Asian students other than Chinese perceived the accounting profession as a career with less procedural characteristics so they were more likely to major in accounting compared to domestic Australian students who regarded the profession as one that had greater procedural characteristics. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the differences in students' creativity and procedural images of the accounting profession among domestic and international students and of how these factors influenced their choice of an accounting major. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the extent to which books about business ethics are purchased or read outside of tertiary institutions in Australia, whether the subject is commonly perceived as business, philosophy or both, what range of business ethics books is commonly offered for purchase, and what conclusions might be drawn from the above considerations. Investigation shows that the range and availability of business ethics books is quite limited outside of tertiary institutions, and that the general perception is that business ethics is something which pertains specifically to business rather than to moral philosophy. It is likely that this tends to isolate the subject from philosophy as broadly conceived in the minds of business practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the influence of career management competencies and perceived employability on career choice status (CCS) among undergraduates. Making informed and appropriate career choices is positively linked with well-being, work performance and academic and career success. Early career decision-making is now critical if students wish to succeed in highly competitive graduate labour markets. This study gathered quantitative data from 370 Business undergraduates in an Australian and UK university. Findings suggest that students have largely made career decisions and are reasonably satisfied with their choices. CCS varied with age, stage of study, perceived employability and student capabilities in career self-management. Findings highlight the need for universities to not only equip students with the necessary skills to enter their chosen career but also – in collaboration with industry – develop strategies to engage students in the different aspects of career self-management earlier on in their studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we examine the relationship between appeal to self-perceptions of moral identity, included in the teaching of ethics, and the strengthening of moral judgment among postgraduate business students. As appeal to moral identity emphasizes personal engagement in the appraisal of an ethically charged situation, it addresses critiques of abstract rule application and principle transfer leveled at traditional business ethics teaching. Eighty-one participants (divided into experimental and control groups) completed a series of reflective writing exercises throughout a twelve-week business ethics unit. Based on an instrument completed at the beginning and end of the education process, our results indicate a positive shift in moral judgement intensity. We, therefore, recommend appeal to moral identity as a leverage strategy to be employed in business ethics education in order to strengthen students' moral judgment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite acknowledgement of the benefits of self-assessment in higher education, disparity between student and academic assessments, with associated trends in overrating and underrating, plagues its meaningful use, particularly as a tool for formal assessment. This study examines self-assessment of capabilities in certain employability skills in more than 1000 Australian business undergraduates. It evaluates the extent to which student self-assessments differ from academics, in what ways and the influence of certain individual and background characteristics – such as stage of degree, gender and academic ability – on rating accuracy. Explanations for documented disparities are presented, in addition to implications and strategies for educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the determinants of eco-friendly electronic good consumption among students at a large Australian university who have been exposed to a marketing campaign, Mobile Muster. Empirical research generally shows younger consumers to be less concerned about the environment. Similar studies demonstrate that peer pressure has a large role to play. Accordingly, using the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior, this study examines subjective norms, attitudes, perceived control, environmental concern, altruism, risk aversion, price consciousness, involvement, branding, environmental knowledge, and their relationship with purchase intentions. It is the first study to examine these effects on the purchase of eco-friendly phones, a product of high personal relevance to these consumers. Mediation effects were also assessed. Results showed that subjective norms (friends/experts) can increase intentions and mediate the relationship between information and intentions. Involvement emerged as a significant influencer on intentions, presenting new findings for the literature. Moreover, higher levels of objective knowledge increased intentions. This supported the significant role of the Mobile Muster scheme in dispersing knowledge. These findings are of practical value to educators, allowing them to determine factors that influence consumer knowledge and norms with the aim of enabling students to form more ecological relevant purchase intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the growing need to profile the required competencies of entry-level business graduates and to evaluate the extent to which they are generic across international boundaries and discipline areas. Two hundred and ninety-one Australian and UK business academics examined the relative importance of a broad set of graduate competencies. Results indicated three distinct profiles of preferred business graduate ‘types’ for both Australian and UK academics: the ‘Manager’, ‘People Person’ and ‘Business Analyst’. The composition and membership sizes of each profile were similar for both samples of business academics and broadly align with research on required managerial competencies. The reality of achieving the profiles is discussed. Findings indicated only limited variations in competency requirements by discipline and country of origin, suggesting non-technical competencies are generic across culturally similar countries and that discipline makes little difference in academics’ determination of business graduate competency profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose |!|#8211; The purpose of this study is to examine variables explaining students|!|#39; positive and negative experiences of groupwork and connect country of residence with the perception of generic skills development and self-reported satisfaction with groupwork. It also aims to examine the effect of prior training in groups from the perspective of Australian and Non-Australian permanent residency Business students. Design/methodology/approach |!|#8211; Respondents were 389 undergraduate and postgraduate Business students at an Australian metropolitan university. A path model was developed and analysed using partial least squares modeling. Findings |!|#8211; Students|!|#39; country of residence had a significant influence on reporting of generic skill development and experience of groupwork. Self-reported improvement in generic skills after groupwork assessment was associated with reporting of fewer negative and more positive aspects of working in groups. Research limitations/implications |!|#8211; The findings were limited by using data collected from students enrolled in one undergraduate and one postgraduate subject at the conclusion of a group assignment from one university. Future research should test the model by extending it to other universities and non-Business units. Future research should rely on a longitudinal design, where the survey is carried out at the beginning and the end of the group assessment. Practical implications |!|#8211; It is important to ensure both domestic and international students acquire generic skills through groupwork and that prior training in groupwork takes place before group assessments. Originality/value |!|#8211; The study provides empirical evidence supporting the incorporation of generic skill teaching into academic practice prior to assigning groupwork to students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses the departure intentions of an Australian university business student cohort that is characterised by high levels of diversity in pre-entry attributes. The study investigates the level of student engagement using the academic and social integration components of the Student Engagement Questionnaire (SEQ) based on Tinto’s model of institutional departure. The results showed that the pre-entry attributes of students such as gender and low socio-economic status, together with first year of study, were not significant in determining student engagement. There were, however, significant differences in departure intention based on student engagement, particularly in terms of interaction with administrative support services and satisfaction with the educational experience. Overall, the findings support the view that institutional efforts to engage business students in the early stages of their studies minimise the risk of departure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- This study seeks to examine the contents and the nature of the academic psychological contract. It aims to explore to what extent the contract has been fulfilled and the impact of demographic variables on the contract and its fulfilment. Design/methodology/approach -- Data for the study were collected through a survey of 280 academic staff of a middle-ranked Australian university. To identify the contents of the academic psychological contract, three focus groups, each comprising eight academic staff, were conducted in three schools. The ordered probit model was employed to explore the impacts of various demographic variables. Findings -- The elements of the academic psychological contract to a certain extent differ from that of the contracts of other professions. Also, the academic psychological contract is more transactional than relational in character. Overall, the academic psychological contract has been fulfilled at the low level. Research limitations/implications -- The study contributes to the debate on the different interpretation of employer obligations and their fulfilment between research-oriented and teaching-oriented academics. Exploring the psychological contract from both employee and employer perspectives will assist in the understanding of mutual expectations. Further research should involve a wide range of universities and make comparisons across national boundaries. Practical implications -- Some items, such as ensuring a safe workplace, the provision of adequate resources to do work, the provision of equal and competitive pay, fair promotion, consultation and recognition of skills and talents, ranked considerably higher than others and should, therefore, be given priority over others. More support should be provided to young, research-oriented academics who are enthusiastic about research, but mobile and marketable in order to develop university sustainability. Originality/value -- The study contributes to the literature by arguing that the contents and the perceived significance of the academic psychological contract are to a certain extent different from those of the contracts in other sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University education is part of a globally competitive service industry and contributes more to Australia's export earnings than agriculture. This article argues that a deeper understanding of diverse cultural student groups is important for Australian and other universities that wish to differentiate their education service offerings by customizing them to different segments. International and domestic students are commonly seen to have different learning style preferences. This study empirically explores whether an understanding of culturally anchored values provides a better customer segmentation measure to predict learning style preferences than existing domestic and international student measures. Three questions are empirically addressed: Do business students' culturally anchored values explain variation in learning style preferences? Do students' culturally anchored values predict a preference for a more student- or teacher-driven learning environment? and Can an understanding of culturally anchored values provide a better customer segmentation variable to identify learning style preferences than the more commonly used categories of domestic and international? This study found that culturally anchored values provided stronger predictors of learning style preferences than domestic and international student categorizations. Implications for marketing undergraduate business programs are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study that examines the effects of the demographic profile of business students at an Australian university which consist of their gender, age and culturally-anchored values with their perceptions of their course experience. The objective of the study is to help educational institutions improve their relationships with the general student population and to remain competitive among other course providers. It identifies the relation between culturally-anchored values and demographic variables of the students that pose important implications on university leaders and teaching academics. Surveys using previously established scales and multivariate analysis were used in the study. Meanwhile, results reveal the need for further examination on student's course experiences.

This study reports the results of a comparative study of American business schools and Australian schools of commerce regarding utilization of field-based consultancy and associated critical variables. Respondents in the survey were 141 deans of Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accredited business schools in the United States and 71 heads of Australian commerce programs. Overall, student field-based consultancy is widely used in both countries. This indicates that it should be possible to implement international field-based consultancies between American and Australian business schools, which would, in turn, lead to increased potential for international study abroad for business students of both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efforts to promote ethical behaviour in business and academic contexts have raised awareness of the need for an ethical orientation in business students. This study examines the similarities and differences between the personal values of Iranian and Australian business students and their attitudes to cheating behaviour in universities and unethical practices in business settings. Exploratory factory analysis provided support for three distinct ethics factors—serious academic ethical misconduct, minor academic ethical misconduct, and business ethical misconduct. Results reveal statistically significant differences between the two cultural groups for ethical (altruism/universalism) values, and for attitudes to serious academic misconduct. No differences were found between the two groups for attitudes to minor academic unethical practices or unethical business practices. Gender influenced responses where females were found to indicate higher levels of unacceptability of unethical practices in academic and business settings than males. This pilot study highlights the need for higher education institutions to develop and enforce policies and practices to publicise, encourage and reinforce higher awareness of the need for adhering to ethical behaviour in university studies as a necessary component of training business professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies the moral judgment capacity of management students and practitioners in Australia. Similarity on the level of sensitivity of students and practitioners to ethical dilemmas; Comparison of study results with U.S. findings; Reasons for renewing the interest of people in ethics.

A sample of final-year accounting students, 94 from an Australian university and 61 from an Australian CAE, completed a special scale to determine their attitudes to working with computers, as well as items to assess a variety of hypothesized correlates of such attitudes including age, sex, school performance, tertiary accounting performance, usage of computers, access to a computer at home, preference for working with machines rather than people, and self-confidence. The amount of time students spent with computers was significantly related to students' attitudes toward working with computers (being directly related to positive attitudes and inversely related to negative attitudes). The relationships between the other correlates and attitudes to working with computers were all nonsignificant. The majority of students held very favourable attitudes to working with computers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compared the academic achievements of accounting undergraduates taught through three different study modes; on-campus lectures and tutorials, traditional distance education using print material and open learning using a mixed mode of TV lectures broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, teleconferencing and print material. Significant differences in achievement were found between these study modes: on-campus lectures were associated with significantly higher overall pass grades. However, open learning was associated with significantly higher levels of achievement. Another interesting finding was the better performance of open learning students compared to that of traditional distance education students. Findings of the present study support the use of video technology as an effective teaching delivery mode. In addition, important questions relating to student screening procedures for entry to tertiary education are raised. The cost-effectiveness of the different modes is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]