Open-book assessment (OBA) can contribute to the development of competency in handling large amounts of information in the knowledge economy. This is one of the reasons why the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) implemented OBA for its Initial Test of Competence. This empirical study investigated final year accountancy students’ and lecturers’ perceptions of the effect on writing examinations after their method of assessment changed from a closed-book (CBA) to an open-book assessment format. Students and lecturers perceived a change in writing behaviour, reduced anxiety, and improved performance. On some aspects the level of agreement between students and lecturers differed significantly. There is also evidence that African students perceived OBA to be less beneficial compared to the perceptions of white students. For subjects for which substantial texts were available, students perceived the least change happened for Auditing while lecturers perceived the least change for Financial Accounting. Both students and lecturers perceived the most change happened for Taxation. It is important that lecturers at departments of accountancy take cognisance of these perception gaps and to adjust their teaching to enable their students to utilise their texts as an additional resource optimally. This study is also of value to the regulatory bodies to evaluate their assessment practises.

中文翻译：

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会计学生和讲师对开卷评估对笔试的影响的看法

开卷评估（OBA）有助于知识经济中处理大量信息的能力的发展。这是南非特许会计师协会（SAICA）对其初始能力测试实施OBA的原因之一。这项实证研究调查了最后一年的会计学学生和讲师对他们的评估方法从封闭式（CBA）改为开放式评估形式后对笔试影响的看法。学生和讲师意识到写作行为发生了变化，减少了焦虑，并提高了表现。在某些方面，学生与讲师之间的协议水平差异很大。还有证据表明，与白人学生相比，非洲学生认为OBA的益处较小。对于提供大量文本的科目，学生认为审计方面的变化最少，而讲师认为财务会计方面的变化最少。学生和讲师都认为税收发生了最大的变化。重要的是，会计系的讲师应认识到这些认知上的差距，并调整教学方式，以使学生能够最佳地利用课本作为补充资源。这项研究对监管机构评估其评估实践也很有价值。重要的是，会计系的讲师应认识到这些认知上的差距，并调整教学方式，以使学生能够最佳地利用课本作为补充资源。这项研究对监管机构评估其评估实践也很有价值。重要的是，会计系的讲师应认识到这些认知上的差距，并调整教学方式，以使学生能够最佳地利用课本作为补充资源。这项研究对监管机构评估其评估实践也很有价值。