Teaching International Students: An Exploratory View

This paper examines the reasons for expanded international enrolment and the ways Australian universities are taking their education product to other locations. It next examines the potential conflict that arises when international students, particularly those of Asian background, attend an Australian university. The primary area of focus is upon culture and the process of education and the cultural confusions that come about because of variations in style, the role of teacher and student, assessment systems and plagiarism. Strategies are suggested on how to address this area

Accounting Students and Their Writing Skills: Inside-Outside Autoethnographic Reflection

This paper seeks to report on the findings of a qualitative research project that sought to illuminate one cohort of accounting students understanding and approach to writing. The first in a planned series of projects, this particular research instance used the paradigmatic framework of an authoethnographic bricolage as a reflexive tool so as to gain entrée into this cohort’s awareness. What emerged from this ‘inside-outside’ methodology or ‘research into self’, ‘research through self’ and ‘research on self’ was the apparent tension between the requirements of tertiary writing and the ‘contexts of culture’ and ‘context of situation’ of the accounting cohort. This tension appears to have arisen as these students’ previous contexts of education were grounded in didactic teaching and learning with the possibility that critical thinking and reading-writing connections were absent. Thus, these students were unable to make semiotic transfers between the various forms of genres and registers required by a university class, and possibly the requirements of twenty-first century accountancy. It would appear that while proficient in the technicalities required by pre-service accountants, as they had never experienced a learning environment that required meta-awareness and meta-cognitive interactions, they focused only on surface features of writing, as opposed to using writing as a means of ‘rendering and connecting thought’

The Application of a Portfolio in Financial Accounting: An Experimental Approach

The use of portfolios as part of an education program is well documented with extensive applications in the secondary and elementary school environment. Portfolios are seen to a lesser level in the university sector. This study traces the implementation of a portfolio in a financial accounting class in a degree program. An explanation is provided of the various tools used to assess progress by students including the final evaluation and reporting method. An assessment of this particular approach shows mixed results. Some recommendations are made for further consideration. The paper should be of interest to accounting educators interested in alternative approaches to engaging their students

Board Governance in the Not-for-Profit Sector: The GOLDEN Rule Model for Recruitment and Retention of Voluntary Boards of Directors

The Global Financial Crisis demonstrated the importance of Accountability, Transparency and good Corporate Governance of all types of organizations be they Not-for-Profit (NFP) or for-profit. This research seeks to explore the current type of governance mechanisms used to monitor and control Not-For-Profit (NFP) entities at the Board of Directors (BOD) level. It uses case study analysis to investigate the “GOLDEN” Model Rules for NFP Directors. The questions explore the Board and governance mechanisms for NFPs, particularly focusing on the “value added” by Board members, to make recommendations for reporting of Governance by NFPs. This model demonstrates the obligations of Directors in terms of legislation, common law duties and equitable fiduciary duties in relation to governance, social responsibility, transparency and risk management, in a sector that contributes so much to the global economies in terms of employment and GDP (OECD, 2009 and ABS 2015)

Governance in the Not-For-Profit Sector: In International Perspective

The Global Financial Crisis demonstrated the importance of accountability, transparency and good corporate governance for both not-for-profit (NFP) or for-profit organisations. Not-for-profit entities on an international basis play a significant role in world economies in relation to welfare, economic growth and employment (OECD 2009). This research explores the current type of governance mechanisms used to monitor and control international not-for-profit (NFP) entities and to compare to current practices for Australian NFPs. The question explored is how much control is exercised by mainly voluntary directors in a sector dominated by time and budgetary constraints. NFP entities were analysed for their corporate governance in terms of accountability in their annual reports, which also includes analysis of the board of directors. Although international not-for-profit entities are a significant contributor to international social responsibility as well as employment and GDP, this research shows a significant lack of accountability by reviewing their 2010 annual reports. The Australian NFPs demonstrated greater transparency and governance in their annual reports than international NFPs

Voluntary Governance (VG) in the Not-for-Profit Sector: The Model for Retention and Recruitment of Boards of Directors

This research seeks to explore the current type of Voluntary Governance (VG) mechanisms used to monitor and control Not-For-Profit (NFP) entities at the Board of Directors (BOD) level. It uses case study analysis to investigate the Model rules for NFP Directors. The questions explore the Board and governance mechanisms for NFPs, particularly focusing on the value added by Voluntary Board members, to make recommendations for reporting of Voluntary Governance by NFPs. The Global Financial Crisis demonstrated the importance of Accountability, Transparency and good Corporate Governance of all types of organizations be they Not-for-Profit (NFP) or for-profit. This research demonstrates the obligations of Voluntary Directors in terms of legislation, common law duties and equitable fiduciary duties in relation to governance, social responsibility, transparency and risk management, particularly in a sector that contributes so much to the global economies in terms of employment and GDP [1], [2]

Freedom of Religion and Eternal Accountability: Internal Auditing and its Implications within the Seventh-day Adventist Church

Based on archival resources, this study examines how accountability and internal auditing practices emerged and evolved within the distinctive setting of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. Traditionally, this organisation was reluctant to account to its constituents in conventional financial terms. The Church administration prioritised notions of righteous accountability, while the general members of the church were concerned primarily with their own eternal accountability. That is, and reflecting its religious character, an emphasis on accountability relationships at a higher plane permeated the organisation: the Church with carrying out the mission it believed it had been entrusted with, and individual members with their own religious salvation. However, reservations over a perceived lack of monetary stewardship subsequently came to the fore. This precipitated an increased emphasis on financial accountability, with the adoption of an internal auditing function identified as a key outcome of this change

What? You Want Me to Write?!

1. Purpose. This paper sets out to report on and evaluate the writing skills of a cohort of accounting and business students. 2. Design/methodology/approach. Students were asked to write an essay describing their learning experience in an introductory accounting class. These essays were then evaluated by experienced teachers of English. 3. Findings. Major weaknesses are that: there is inadequate engagement with the assignment question; there is a paucity of content; writing is diffuse rather than succinct; there are faults with sentence structure and other errors of English expression. 4. Implications. The research brings to the fore the poor writing ability of university accounting students and lays stress on the need to train and more clearly guide the development of these business related skills. Training may require curriculum adjustment to accommodate additional courses of study. 5. Originality. There is a paucity of material related to the writing skills of accounting and business students and this paper attempts to address this gap. 6. Limitations. The cohort studied came from a private Southern California university and the results may not necessarily reflect the writing skills of other university students. The study needs to be replicated in other settings

Robust and Powerful Affected Sibpair Test for Rare Variant Association

Advances in DNA sequencing technology facilitate investigating the impact of rare variants on complex diseases. However, using a conventional case‐control design, large samples are needed to capture enough rare variants to achieve sufficient power for testing the association between suspected loci and complex diseases. In such large samples, population stratification may easily cause spurious signals. One approach to overcome stratification is to use a family‐based design. For rare variants, this strategy is especially appropriate, as power can be increased considerably by analyzing cases with affected relatives. We propose a novel framework for association testing in affected sibpairs by comparing the allele count of rare variants on chromosome regions shared identical by descent to the allele count of rare variants on nonshared chromosome regions, referred to as test for rare variant association with family‐based internal control (TRAFIC). This design is generally robust to population stratification as cases and controls are matched within each sibpair. We evaluate the power analytically using general model for effect size of rare variants. For the same number of genotyped people, TRAFIC shows superior power over the conventional case‐control study for variants with summed risk allele frequency f<0.05; this power advantage is even more substantial when considering allelic heterogeneity. For complex models of gene‐gene interaction, this power advantage depends on the direction of interaction and overall heritability. In sum, we introduce a new method for analyzing rare variants in affected sibpairs that is robust to population stratification, and provide freely available software.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111926/1/gepi21903.pd

The increase in pulmonary arterial pressure caused by hypoxia depends on iron status

Hypoxia is a major cause of pulmonary hypertension. Gene expression activated by the transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) is central to this process. The oxygen-sensing iron-dependent dioxygenase enzymes that regulate HIF are highly sensitive to varying iron availability. It is unknown whether iron similarly influences the pulmonary vasculature. This human physiology study aimed to determine whether varying iron availability affects pulmonary arterial pressure and the pulmonary vascular response to hypoxia, as predicted biochemically by the role of HIF. In a controlled crossover study, 16 healthy iron-replete volunteers undertook two separate protocols. The ‘Iron Protocol’ studied the effects of an intravenous infusion of iron on the pulmonary vascular response to 8 h of sustained hypoxia. The ‘Desferrioxamine Protocol’ examined the effects of an 8 h intravenous infusion of the iron chelator desferrioxamine on the pulmonary circulation. Primary outcome measures were pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) and the PASP response to acute hypoxia (ΔPASP), assessed by Doppler echocardiography. In the Iron Protocol, infusion of iron abolished or greatly reduced both the elevation in baseline PASP (P < 0.001) and the enhanced sensitivity of the pulmonary vasculature to acute hypoxia (P = 0.002) that are induced by exposure to sustained hypoxia. In the Desferrioxamine Protocol, desferrioxamine significantly elevated both PASP (P < 0.001) and ΔPASP (P = 0.01). We conclude that iron availability modifies pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary vascular responses to hypoxia. Further research should investigate the potential for therapeutic manipulation of iron status in the management of hypoxic pulmonary hypertensive disease