Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The dire educational situation in South Africa has urged researchers to investigate possible predictors of academic success. There seems to be an increasing emphasis on non–cognitive factors that might play a role in determining the academic performance of students. In this study various unique challenges first-year students face were underlined, followed by possible key psychological resources needed to overcome such challenges. These resources include self-regulatory skills (i.e. self-leadership and emotional regulation), psychological well-being and constructive self-efficacy beliefs that could all ultimately help determine an individual’s academic success. It was hypothesised that Emotional Intelligence (EI) are central to these psychological resources and play a crucial role in the adaption and performance of first-year students in higher educational institutions. In this study an EI development programme was therefore implemented in order to evaluate whether it is possible to provide students with a powerful resource reservoir (i.e. high EI capabilities) in order to empower them to acquire additional personal and psychological resource (i.e. academic self-leadership, academic self-efficacy and well-being) that are needed to attain academic success. The findings of this study revealed that the EI development programme succeeded in elevating students’ EI, which also led to moderate improvements in their psychological well-being (i.e. less perceived stress), as well as the enhancement of their academic self-leadership (ASL) and academic self-efficacy (ASE) skills and abilities. Institutes of higher education should therefore rethink the emphasis they place on cognitive abilities alone and consider the strategy of also providing opportunities to enhance non-cognitive predictors of academic success. For example, by implementing EI development programmes, such as the one tested in this research, students have a greater chance of developing the necessary self-direction and self-regulation skills necessary to reach academic greatness which, most probably, will also facilitate better employability and career success. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die teleurstellende opvoedkundige situasie in Suid-Afrika het navorsers genoodsaak om moontlike voorspellers aangaande akademiese prestasie te ondersoek. Dit blyk dat daar 'n toenemende klem op nie-kognitiewe faktore geplaas word, wat 'n rol mag speel in die bepaling van die akademiese prestasie van studente. In hierdie studie word verskeie unieke uitdagings wat eerstejaarstudente moontlik in die gesig mag staar geïdentifiseer. Daar word dan ook gekyk na moontlike sleutel sielkundige hulpbronne wat kan help om hierdie uitdagings te oorkom. Hierdie hulpbronne sluit selfregulerende vaardighede (bv. self-leierskap en emosionele regulering), sielkundige welstand en konstruktiewe self-doeltreffendheid in, wat almal uiteindelik ʼn bydrae kan lewer tot ʼn individu se akademiese sukses. Dit was veronderstel dat Emosionele Intelligensie (EI) die kern tot hierdie sielkundige hulpbronne is, en dat dit ʼn beslissende rol in die aanpassing en prestasie van eerstejaarstudente in Hoër Onderwys Instellings speel. In hierdie studie is 'n EI-ontwikkelingsprogram geïmplementeer ten einde te evalueer of dit moontlik is om studente te voorsien met ʼn sterk sielkundige hulpbron basis (bv. hoër EI vermoëns) wat hulle behoort te bemagtig om bykomende persoonlike en sielkundige hulpbronne te verkry (bv. beter self-leierskap, self-doeltreffendheid en sielkundige welstand), wat nodig is vir akademiese vooruitgang. Die bevindinge van hierdie studie het getoon dat die EI-ontwikkelingsprogram daarin geslaag het om studente se EI te verhoog, wat tot gematigde verbetering in hul sielkundige welstand (minder waargenome stres) gelei het, sowel as die verbetering van hul akademiese self-leierskap (ASL) en akademiese self-doeltreffendheid (ASE). Instellings van Hoër Onderwys moet dus die klem wat alleenlik op kognitiewe vermoëns geplaas word opnuut deurdink, en strategieë oorweeg om geleenthede te skep wat nie-kognitiewe voorspellers van akademiese sukses sou verhoog. Deur byvoorbeeld die implementering van ʼn EI ontwikkelingsprogram, soos wat getoets word in hierdie navorsing, te implementeer, sou studente 'n beter kans hê om die nodige self-gerigtheid en selfregulerende vaardighede te bekom, wat nodig is vir akademiese sukses en vordering. Hierdie vaardighede sal waarskynlik ook lei tot beter indiensneembaarheid sowel as loopbaansukses.

The study presented in this thesis was motivated by the poor academic performance of many entrants to the School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. The premise behind the study is that the learning practices of students – the way they typically go about studying and learning – has a significant bearing on the quality of their learning and consequently on their academic prospects at university. Accordingly, the objective of the study was to develop an evidence-based understanding of the learning practices of our students. The kind of understanding sought was one which could inform interventions and/or curriculum re-design that aim to improve the quality of our students’ learning by facilitating an improvement in the quality of their learning practices and, thereby, to reduce attrition. To the extent that our students are representative of entrants to engineering education in the country, the findings of the study could have relevance beyond the context of our school. The methodology employed to achieve the study’s objective was phenomenography. Based on interviews with 31 students from the 2008 entering cohort, qualitatively different types of learning practice were found in 6 different contexts of studying and learning. The variation in the learning practices in four of these contexts was investigated in detail. The practice that was found to exert the most direct influence on the quality of a student’s learning was their ‘mastering-practice’ – i.e. how a student typically relates to and engages with studying and learning when they focus exclusively on the mastering of the requisite knowledge, understanding and skills. Six levels of sophistication in mastering-practice were identified. Three other types of learning practice were also investigated in depth: learning management practice; class-room practice (how students engage with verbal input of course material); and test-focused study practice (how they typically prepare for tests and exams). The study identified five categories of variation in learning management practice, five categories of variation in classroom practice, and four categories of variation in test-focused study practice. It also found that these practices could influence the quality of a student’s learning by the way in which they constrained their mastering-practice or diverted attention away from the exercise of their mastering-practice. The inter-relations between the different types of practice are discussed. The findings from the phenomenographic studies were augmented by investigations into the dynamics associated with how the students learning practices changed during their first year at university. In addition, the study developed a number of pedagogical tools or procedures for interpreting findings of the kind developed in the study and for using them to guide the design of pedagogical measures for improving students’ learning by helping those students to modify their learning practices. Apart from some theoretical developments that emerged and the specific findings about the nature of the learning practices of our students, the study’s contribution to knowledge consists of a methodology for identifying the qualitative essentials of the developmental pathways which students need to negotiate if they are to develop their learning practice to a more sophisticated level.

A research project submitted to the Faculty of Science, School of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science by combination of coursework and research, 2017 / This study investigates learners’ performance in solving arithmetic equivalences and arithmetic and algebraic equations and was influenced by the notion of the didactic cut (Filloy & Rojano, 1989). Data was collected from two township schools in Johannesburg using a written test. With a Vygotskian perspective on learning, learners’ performance was investigated in two ways: through a response pattern analysis of 106 test scripts as well as through an error analysis on 46 scripts. The response pattern analysis identified seven clusters of responses, each of which suggested a different performance pattern. Two clusters of responses suggest evidence of the didactic cut and that learners struggled with the concept of negativity. A purposive sample of 46 test scripts was analysed further to investigate the actual errors that learners made. Common errors within the two most relevant response pattern analyses were also investigated. Using a combination of typological and inductive methods to categorise learners’ errors, equality and negativity errors were most prominent. Findings revealed that there were very few learners who used arithmetic strategies to solve arithmetic equations and that instead, they used algebraic procedures. The most unexpected finding was that learners appear to memorise the structure of solutions and hence manipulate their procedures in order to obtain familiar structured solutions. Key words: Equality, equal sign, solving linear equations, negativity, learner error, response patterns / XL2018

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology, 2017 / Since the debut of democracy, there has been an increase in the number of historically marginalised Black students in South Africa’s higher education institutions. However, this has not been accompanied by a corresponding success rate. Higher education’s response to this success crisis has largely been academic development programs. While extensive research has been done on academic development programs, more especially quantitative research in disciplines like maths, natural sciences, and economics, not much qualitative research has been done on extracurricular academic development programs in the humanities and the social sciences. In this study, I explore the role of the Reaching for Excellence and Achievement Program (REAP) in students’ journeys graduation. REAP is an extracurricular academic development program at the University of the Witwatersrand. The findings show that students from disadvantaged backgrounds are not a homogeneous group and that this influences the types of challenges that they encounter at university. They show that REAP played a significant role in facilitating these students’ progress to graduation. They also reveal that academic development programs by themselves are not enough to address the success crisis facing students from disadvantaged backgrounds because the root causes of some of the challenges they encounter can only be addressed at a structural level. Based on the lessons learned from the findings of this study, I make recommendations for future academic development programming. Keywords: Access, Success, Academic Development, Under-preparedness, Educational Inequality, Higher Education / GR2018

This paper reports the findings of a mixed methods research study which sought to explore the impact of teaching and learning cultures on the performance of fourth year Accountancy students. The collection of data was done through questionnaires as well as interviews with lecturers. Learning culture was explored by measuring and comparing the cultural dimensions of fourth year Accountancy students at two South African universities in order to understand the differences and similarities between the two institutions’ student bodies. There were statistically significant differences between the students of the two universities only along the cultural dimensions of long-term orientation and indulgence versus restraint. It was found that uncertainty avoidance, monumentalism and the age of students significantly impact their performance in Accountancy. Cultural dimensions of students which could hinder their performance in Accountancy are identified and some recommendations are made with regards to addressing areas of weakness in learning culture.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Education (Educational Psychology), 2003 / Previous studies have addressed the question whether intellectual ability (as measured by the Raven's Progressivp Matrices Tests) is related to academic performance in engineering (Rushton & Skuy, 2000; Rushton, Skuy & Fridjhon, 2002; Rushton, Skuy & Fridjhon, 2003). The question arose of whether nonintellective (personality and attitudinal factors) playa larger role at this level, than intelligence, in determining academic performance in engineering university students. Accordingly, data were yielded for 93 percent (N=100) of the second year Chemical Engineering class in terms of their performance on various measures. These included two measures of intellectual ability, namely the Ravens Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM) and the Organiser (of The Learning Propensity Assessment Device), together with a measure of learning strategies and attitudes (Learning and Study Strategies Inventory), locus of control (Locus of Control Inventory) and self-esteem (Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory). The students' academic results comprised the December 2002 and June 2003 examination results. The current research results demonstrated that while neither the RAPM nor the Organiser yielded any significant correlations with academic results, certain of the non-intellective measures did, and were able to differentiate between high and low academic performers. Motivation, Autonomy and Freedom from Anxiety were found to be significantly related to academic performance, and contributed 26 percent of the variance. This indicates that these factors play a role in academic achievement, and that exploration of personality and motivational factors constitutes a potentially fruitful avenue of research. However, it also seems that 74 percent of variance was unaccounted for, and therefore future studies should explore other factors, not included in this study, in relation to engineering students' academic performance. Furthermore, it emerged that it is unrealistic to attempt to predict academic performance at midyear (June results). KEY WORDS: Intelligence, learning strategies, locus of control, self-esteem, engineering students, second year, and academic performance. / AC2017

The primary purpose of the study was the design and assessment of an intervention programme that seeks to help children cope with the crisis of divorce. The intervention was named the Kids in Divorce (KID) programme and is a short-term, developmentally appropriate intervention, consisting o f 10 sessions, aimed primarily at helping the pre-adolescent child. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether children receiving the intervention showed significant improvements in their emotional and attitudinal coping responses to divorce, as meausuredby the Family1 Story Test (FST) and the Kids in Divorce (KID) questionnaire (a self-designed measure). A pilot study was done on the KID questionnaire in order to, make the necessary changes, before using the questionnaire'for the study. 3 A total of 42 pupils, from schools in th | Eldoradopark 'coloured' community participated in the study. A pre and post test experimental-iBontrol research design was used in the study, The experimental and control groups consisted of 21 children \ each. \ . J r . Results of the study reflected significant improvements measures for the experimental group, which provides strong'cm pirical^nd^^.for'S'ie usefulness of a short-,erm, children cope with parental divorce.

No description available.

Higher education in South Africa faces a variety of challenges including poor pass rates, large numbers of students dependent on the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, intrapersonal and socioeconomic challenges of students and vast numbers of applicants vying for limited places in institutions. The primary method of selection and screening of applicants is the Academic Points Score (APS), calculated on Grade 12 achievement levels. However, large numbers of applicants exhibit similar or identical scores which meet minimum requirements. This makes effective selection difficult in terms of potential to succeed in the tertiary education context. Therefore, additional selection instruments may be useful in determining high from low potential candidates. Cognitive instruments are one option available to institutions and have been investigated to a certain extent, particularly in conjunction with alternative achievement based assessments. The present study examined a cognitive instrument utilised for selections at a University of Technology. The instrument is based on verbal and non-verbal reasoning skills, basic calculative ability, reading comprehension, memory and spatial reasoning. The results on the sub-tests of this instrument were examined in relation to APS and average mark achieved during study for National Diploma courses at the institution. Although statistically significant relationships did exist, as well as some demographic differences, effect sizes and correlation coefficients were small. Concerningly, APS did not explain a large percentage of variance in average mark. This finding is important in light of current selection procedures. Multiple regression and logistic regression models indicated that two specific sub-tests, in combination with APS, did contribute to predictive power in determining average mark. A number of themes in terms of this prediction are explored. These include English language ability, gender differences, specific cognitive skills and the general validity of utilisation of APS and/or cognitive testing as predictors of tertiary education success. In light of poor success rates in tertiary institutions across South Africa, further research into effective selection procedures should be prioritised.

Degree of Master of Science by research only: A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Signed on September 10, 2015 in Johannesburg / The past few years have seen an increase in the number of first year students registering in the School of Computer Science at Wits University. These students come from different backgrounds both academically and socially. As do many other institutions, Wits University collects and stores vast amounts of data about the students they enrol and teach. However this data is not always used after being stored. The area of Educational Data Mining (EDM) focuses on using this stored data to find trends and patterns that could enhance the knowledge about the student’s behavior, their academic performance and the learning environment. This longitudinal study focuses on the application of EDM techniques to obtain a better understanding of some of the factors that influence the academic performance of first year computer science students at the University of the Witwatersrand. Knowledge obtained using these techniques could assist in increasing the number of students who complete their studies successfully and identifying students who are at risk of failing and ensuring that early intervention processes can be put into place. A modified version of the CRISP-DM (CRoss-Industry Standard Process for Data Mining) was used, with three data mining techniques, namely: Classification, Clustering and Association Rule Mining. Three algorithms were compared in the first two techniques while only one algorithm was used in the Association Rule Mining. For the classification technique, the three algorithms that were compared were the J48 Classifier, Decision Table and Na¨ıve Bayes algorithm. The clustering algorithms used included the Simple K-means, Expectation Maximization (EM) and the Farthest First algorithm. Finally, the Predictive Apriori algorithm was selected as the Association Rule Mining technique. Historical Computer Science I data, from 2006 to 2011, was used as the training data. This set of data was used to find relationships within the data that could assist with predictive modeling. For each of the selected techniques a model was created using the training data set. These models were incorporated in a tool, the Success or Failure Determiner (SOFD), that was created specifically as part of this research. Thereafter, the test data set was put through the SOFD tool in the testing phase. Test data sets usually contain a variable whose value is predicted using the models built during the training phase. The 2012 Computer Science I data instances were used during the testing phase. The investigations brought forth both expected and interesting results. A good relationship was found between academic performance in Computer Science and three of the factors investigated: Mathematics I, mid-year mark and the module perceived to be the most difficult in the course. The relationship between Mathematics and Computer Science was expected, However, the other two factors (mid-year mark and most difficult module) are new, and may need to be further investigated in other courses or in future studies. An interesting finding from the Mathematics investigation was the better relationship between Computer Science and Algebra rather than Calculus. Using these three factors to predict Computer Science performance could assist in improving throughput and retention rates by identifying students at risk of failing, before they write their final examinations. The Association Rule Mining technique assisted in identifying the selection of courses that could yield the best academic performance overall, in first year. This finding is important, since the information obtained could be used during the registration process to assist students in making the correct decisions when selecting the courses they would like to do. The overall results show that using data mining techniques and historical data collected atWits University about first year Computer Science (CS-1) students can assist in obtaining meaningful information and knowledge, from which a better unii derstanding of present and future generations of CS-1 students can be derived, and solutions found to some of the academic problems and challenges facing them. Additionally this can assist in obtaining a better understanding of the students and factors that influence their academic performance. This study can be extended to include more courses withinWits University and other higher educational institutions. Keywords. Educational Data Mining, CRISP-DM, Classification, Clustering, Association Rule Mining, J48 Classifier, Decision Table, Na¨ıve Bayes, Simple K-means, Expectation Maximization, Farthest First, Predictive Apriori