The taxpayer's right to finality – a critical analysis of legislation and practice in South Africa

In this thesis, I evaluate whether the exercise of the audit and information-gathering powers granted to the South African Revenue Service under sections 42 and 46 of the Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011 has the capacity to undermine taxpayers' rights to finality, and if so, what can be done to improve this aspect of South African tax administration. To address the first part of this hypothesis, I analyse the content of the right to finality conferred on taxpayers by the "limitation period" prescribed in section 99 of the TAA, in respect of tax assessments. I evaluate the role which the right to finality plays in South African tax administration, with reference to domestic and foreign case law, and international research into selected aspects of tax administration and behavioural economics (concepts such as tax morale and voluntary tax compliance), concluding that finality is a crucial component of an optimally functioning modern tax administration. I also analyse the content of the audit and information-gathering powers granted to SARS under the TAA, and SARS' current administrative policy and practice regarding the exercise of these powers, with reference to the legislation, various SARS manuals and publications, the findings of various commissions of inquiry, examples drawn from legal practice, relevant judgments, and the data compiled and published by the Office of the Tax Ombud. I conclude that the exercise of SARS' audit and information-gathering powers has the capacity to negatively affect the right to finality, and often does so in practice. I also conclude that currently, no satisfactory remedies exist for taxpayers where their right to finality is compromised by the exercise of SARS' audit and information-gathering powers. Having answered the first part of the hypothesis in the affirmative, I investigate potential policy-based solutions to achieve a sustainable and economically viable balance between 7 7 the exercise of SARS' audit and information-gathering powers, and taxpayers' right to finality. I analyse the policy and practice of various comparative international jurisdictions in order to formulate a series of recommendations to improve this area of South African tax administration, in line with current global standards of good practice. My recommendations include the adoption of a more streamlined and nuanced approach to audit and information-gathering by SARS, the urgent adoption and implementation of a comprehensive taxpayers' bill of rights, an operational and cultural shift within SARS towards more collaborative and co-operative practices where possible, and the creation of an independent oversight body to monitor and evaluate the success of policy implementation within and by SAR

Virtual physiology laboratories during a pandemic: Are they effective for student learning compared to in-person laboratories?

BACKGROUND COVID-19 has significantly impacted higher education, including rapidly transitioning interactive, in-person laboratories to virtual settings. Human physiology laboratories, emphasised in hands-on, active learning, have been particularly impacted by these changes. THE INITIATIVE We assessed whether virtual laboratories are effective in achieving similar student learning outcomes as in-person laboratories, namely in students’ conceptual understanding, research and technical skills development. METHODS Students were randomly assigned to either an in-person or virtual laboratory. The in-person laboratory provided students with hands-on experience in data collection and analysis, while the virtual laboratory included a self-directed module, guiding students through the same series of experiments using pre-recorded videos and data. Pre- and post- surveys were used to assess differences in students’ conceptual understanding, and self-reported ratings of confidence in research and technical skills. OUTCOMES Both groups demonstrated significantly improved performance on conceptual- and research-based multiple-choice questions. The in-person group performed significantly better on application-based, short-answer questions, and rated significantly greater confidence in their technical skills. No significant differences were observed on self-reported ratings of student confidence in research and technical skills. Our findings highlight the importance in identifying pedagogical approaches which focus on developing students’ ability and confidence in technical and research skills within virtual settings

Exploring the Emotional Responses of Undergraduate Students to Assessment Feedback: Implications for Instructors

Summative assessments tend to be viewed as high-stakes episodes by students, directly exposing their capabilities as learners. As such, receiving feedback is likely to evoke a variety of emotions that may interact with cognitive engagement and hence the ability to learn. Our research investigated the emotions experienced by undergraduate students in relation to assessment feedback, exploring if these emotions informed their learning attitudes and behaviours. Respondents were drawn from different years of study and subject/major. A qualitative approach was adopted, using small group, semi-structured interviews and reflective diaries. Data were analysed thematically and they revealed that receiving feedback was inherently emotional for students, permeating their wider learning experience positively and negatively. Many students struggled to receive and act upon negative feedback, especially in early years, when it was often taken personally and linked to a sense of failure. Negative emotional responses tended to reduce students’ motivation, self-confidence, and self-esteem. Some students, especially in later years of study, demonstrated resilience and engagement in response to negative feedback. By contrast, positive feedback evoked intense but fleeting emotions. Positive feedback made students feel cared about, validating their self-worth and increasing their confidence, but it was not always motivational. The paper concludes with recommendations for instructors, highlighting a need to communicate feedback carefully and to develop student and staff feedback literacies

Emotions Experienced by Instructors Delivering Written Feedback and Dialogic Feed-Forward

Understanding the emotions experienced by higher education instructors related to assessment feedback, how instructors understand student emotions, and how instructors might manage these emotions positively, can help to secure the educational benefits of feedback. In this research, we aimed to explore the emotional responses that instructors experienced through the giving and receiving of assessment feedback. We undertook qualitative data collection, carrying out individual semi-structured interviews with instructors from three universities who had administered a dialogic feed-forward intervention on one of their teaching units. The full interview transcripts were analysed inductively using thematic analysis. Five main themes emerged from the interview data: 1. Summative written feedback aroused largely negative emotions in instructors because they felt distanced from their students; 2. Instructors experienced a broad range of emotions related to dialogic feed-forward encounters, emerging from their proximity to students; 3. Dialogic feed-forward, as an affective encounter, was emotionally challenging for instructors; 4. Dialogic feed-forward built strong learning relationships between students and instructors, strengthening students’ sense of belonging; 5. Dialogic feed-forward was transformational for instructors as educators. We consider the implications of our findings for instructors and wider assessment and feedback practices, including emotional labour, promotional reward, and instructor professional development

Recommendations for a ‘Wellbeing Curriculum’ to Mitigate Undergraduate Psychological Distress Associated with Lack of Careers Confidence and Poor University Engagement

To foster a ‘wellbeing curriculum’ in a climate with an increasingly competitive graduate jobs market, we believe it is critical to support undergraduate career development and to develop positive peer and educator relationships, particularly for non vocational degree programs. However, these relationships between undergraduate wellbeing and their career development or peer/educator relationships have not been specifically examined. This study used a mixed methods approach to examine if poor career development or university engagement (quality of relationships with peers or educators, use of the university careers and counselling services, time studying) were associated with psychological distress for students in non vocational degree programs. Undergraduates (biomedical science; n=1100) from five Australian universities participated in a survey to investigate relationships between psychological distress, as determined by their responses to the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales, and their career development or university engagement. Almost half of the students lacked confidence in their ‘future employment and job prospects’. Students’ psychological distress was significantly correlated with lack of confidence with their career development, poor relationships with their peers and educators and little use of the counselling service. Further exploration of these factors in student focus groups highlighted stress associated with academic competition between students and a critical need for undergraduate career development, especially industry placements. We provide pivotal recommendations to promote undergraduate and educator wellbeing, by developing a ‘wellbeing curriculum’ that supports career development and positive relationships between students and their peers and educators, particularly vital for non vocational degrees

Using a Professional Development Program to Enhance Undergraduate Career Development and Employability

Students in the final year of their Bachelor of Biomedical Science at Monash University participated in focus group interviews about perceptions of their employability. They felt they had limited employability skills and they were unaware of their non-medical/research careers options. In response to these issues a team of academics and careers staff developed a professional development program that aimed to build students’ career development skills, careers knowledge and their ability to articulate their skills to employers. Each semester (starting from year one) students have an employability lecture and a careers development activity (assessed) linked to the development of an electronic portfolio. On completion of the program, students will have developed life-long career management skills and produced a transferrable profile that reflects their experiences, skills, knowledge and capabilities. We report on the initial introduction of the program into the first year of the Bachelor of Biomedical Science in 2015. This process has been associated with changes in students’ careers certainty. We have also experienced issues with the integration of the careers and academic staff in the program and a need for staff and student training with the unfamiliar portfolio platform

Investigating the Impact of Work Integrated Learning on Science Students’ Professional Identity

Australian science graduates have among the lowest full-time professional employment of all undergraduate courses (GOS-L 2018). It is hypothesised that professionally open-ended science degrees do not currently create significant opportunities to develop professional identity, leading to poor professional employment outcomes. Work Integrated Learning (WIL) has been proposed as a means to develop professional identity among business students (Jackson 2016), however little evidence demonstrates the impact of WIL on science students’ professional identity. We investigated the impact of WIL on Nutrition Science and Biomedical Science students' professional identity. Employing a mixed-methods approach, students were surveyed pre- (N=52) and post- (N=22) placement, and in a focus group (N=6). Thematic analysis was conducted to identify convergent themes. We find evidence to suggest that WIL may help science students develop professional identity, although barriers remain. Students responded that WIL helped to develop their professional identity, and identified more strongly as ‘general professionals’ after placement. Exposure to professional environments, interaction with placement supervisors and work-related tasks were the top enablers to building professional identity. These findings help to inform science educators about the role of WIL in developing graduate employability by better understanding complex notions of science students’ professional identity

Landsat Program

Landsat initiated the revolution in moderate resolution Earth remote sensing in the 1970s. With seven successful missions over 40+ years, Landsat has documented - and continues to document - the global Earth land surface and its evolution. The Landsat missions and sensors have evolved along with the technology from a demonstration project in the analog world of visual interpretation to an operational mission in the digital world, with incremental improvements along the way in terms of spectral, spatial, radiometric and geometric performance as well as acquisition strategy, data availability, and products

International educators’ attitudes, experiences, and recommendations after an abrupt transition to remote physiology laboratories

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Can Relational Feed-Forward Enhance Students’ Cognitive and Affective Responses to Assessment?

Assessment feedback should be an integral part of learning in higher education, but students can find this process emotionally and cognitively challenging. Instructors need to consider how to manage students’ responses to feedback so that students feel capable of improving their work and maintaining their wellbeing. In this paper, we examine the role of instructor-student relational feed-forward, enacted as a dialogue relating to ongoing assessment, in dissipating student anxiety, enabling productive learning attitudes and behaviours, and supporting wellbeing. We undertook qualitative data collection within two undergraduate teaching units that were adopting a relational feed-forward intervention over the 2019–2020 academic year. Student responses were elicited via small group, semi-structured interviews and personal reflective diaries, and were analysed inductively using thematic analysis. The results demonstrate that relational feed-forward promotes many elements of student feedback literacy, such as appreciating the purpose and value of feedback, judging work against a rubric, exercising volition and agency to act, and managing affect. Students were keen for instructors to help them manage their emotions related to assessment, believing this would promote their wellbeing. We conclude by exploring academic strategies and pedagogies that position relational instructor feed-forward as an act of care, and we summarize the key characteristics of emotionally resonant relational feed-forward meetings.KEYWORDSassessment feedback, relational feed-forward, thematic analysis, emotional resonance, wellbeingINTRODUCTIONThe number of undergraduate students in higher education experiencing psychological distress appears to be rising across the globe (Auerbach et al. 2018; Carter et al. 2017; Ferguson 2017). Academic pressure contributes to this distress, particularly associated with university assessments (Barnett 2007). Feedback on assessments should be an integral part of learning in higher education (Hattie and Timperley 2007), but students can find this process challenging (Carless and Boud 2018). Part of the difficulty for students is that their emotional responses can play a significant role in determining how they receive and act on feedback (Pitt and Norton 2017; Ryan and Henderson 2018; Small and Attree 2016). Negative emotions, such as stress and anxiety, can reduc