Bloom (1956) states that learning is the permanent change in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains of a learner. Considering that learners have different learning styles and educators have different teaching methodologies, the question that I have been paying special attention to since I started teaching is: "How do I know that learning has really taken place?" The only way to determine if learning has taken place, i.e. whether there is a permanent change in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains of the learner, is to measure the learning. The conventional measuring tools in a content-based education system are tests and examinations. This approach often results in a tendency towards awarding learners with a once-off qualification and not necessarily providing them with the academic and life skills needed to enter the workplace. Although outcome-based education creates the opportunity to change the product-driven and rote learning measuring in content-based education to the process-driven and authentic assessment of learning in outcome-based education, the question of whether learning has really taken place still exists. The focus of this study is therefore the assessment of learning in outcome-based education to confirm that learning has really taken place. This study comprises of action research of six cycles of one year each (1997 - 2002) and pertains to changing the Further Diploma in Education (Computer-assisted Education) qualification as presented by the University of Pretoria, from a content-based (1997 - 1998) into an outcome-based education approach (1999 - 2002). What initially seemed to be an easy task in 1999, turned out to be a complex challenge to discover all the aspects contributing to the successful implementation of outcome-based assessment of learning South African education, training and development. The findings of the study indicate that is not possible simply to convert evaluation in content-based learning into assessment in outcome-based learning. Outcome-based learning is a totally different way of doing and it takes time to make an internal mind-change as well as a change that can be observed externally. It also reveals that it is not possible to eliminate content-based learning in favour of outcome-based learning. There is a place for both and both are imperative to the needs of learners. The complex problem of assessment in outcome-based learning has no straightforward solution. It can only be stated that if all aspects are considered, there is a fair chance to end up with a permanent change in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills of a person, i.e. that learning has taken place. There is a real need for information on the following aspects to be considered in an integrated and holistic approach to assessment of learning in outcome-based education: ~ The governmental policy and current educational philosophy ~ The design, development and implementation of the learning programme ~ The facilitation of learning ~ The portfolio of evidence of learning ~ The quality assurance of the assessment of learning This study is only an introductory study and more research needs to be done regarding assessment of learning in outcome-based education in South Africa. Copyright / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Humanities Education / PhD / Unrestricted

In the last decade, the concept of competence has become a powerful ideological force as a component of public policy in the post-compulsory sector of vocational/technical education in Canada. It has served as a device for articulating vocational policy and practice to the changing conditions for capital accumulation in the context of economic and social restructuring. This process of articulation is most readily visible at the level of broad public policy statements and political rhetoric calling for reform of the relation between education and work. Less clear is how competency measures give practical expression to these broad policy objectives at the level of routine curricular and institutional arrangements. These issues form the central empirical focus of the thesis, through an investigation of the work process of teachers and administrators involved in implementing competency measures in the college setting. The central argument is that competency measures effect a fundamental transformation in the organization of curriculum decision making in the college setting. They accomplish the suppression of broad, long-term educational goals in favour of narrow, short-term ones, as a means to increase "flexibility" in labour supply. They limit the use of educational theory as the basis of curriculum decisions and replace it with a set of ideological procedures for constituting "needs" and "requirements" related to job performance. These changes are brought about in part through the imposition of formal, documentary information systems to replace the discretionary judgment and interpretive practices of instructors, making the instructional process accountable within a centrally determined policy process. Through this re-organization of educational decision-making, learning is displaced by managing as the form of praxis which gives shape to curricular organization. The form of competence that is brought into being is not a feature of the performance ability of individuals but an aspect of "good management practice" in educational settings. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

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Magister Curationis - MCur / Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a core emergency skill in which all nurses need to be proficient to save the lives of patients. It is important for nurses working in psychiatric hospitals to administer CPR correctly should the need arise. However, they rarely perform CPR as the patients they care for are generally not physical ill, unlike patients admitted in general hospitals. Given the paucity of literature on CPR in psychiatric hospitals, this study aimed at investigating the attitudes towards CPR and the CPR competency of nurses working at a hospital for intellectually disabled people in the Western Cape, South Africa

This diploma thesis deals with competencies of people who participate on a company running. The determination of these competencies and their dividing according to their types and roles that occur in the company are analyzed at the theoretical level. The work examines and studies strategy being the basic reference point for the formulation of the company’s targets and tasks related to them, accomplishment of which is the foundation of the assigned competencies. The practical part of the thesis deals with analysis of an actual company’s environment with the main purpose of determining the particular area of the enterprise which creates a narrowed place and tries to solve this problem by establishing the appropriate competencies.

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While empirical research abounds for ways to develop cultural competence, studies are scarce in how to track its growth in students. This study utilized a non-equivalent control group design to propose tracking growth using cultural competence mini lessons, self-assessment of cultural competency, and the Global Perspectives Inventory (GPI; Research Institute for Studies in Education, 2017). Data collected were used to align students along the levels of Cross’s Cultural Competency Continuum (; Cross, 2012). Forty-one (41) students enrolled in a multidisciplinary teaching methods course served as the study participants. Paired samples t-tests were conducted using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS v. 26) to track changes in pre-/post- scores. A significant difference was found for the self-ratings of the treatment group between the pretest (M = 6.75, SD = 2.15) and the posttest (M = 8.00, SD = 1.08, t(19) = -2.52, p = .02). Significant differences were also found for treatment group for the GPI Identity (Ident) scale between the pretest (M = 4.28, SD = .37) and the posttest (M = 4.46, SD = .45 t(19) = -2.22, p = .04), and for the Social Responsibility (SocRes) scale between the pretest (M = 3.44, SD = .35) and the posttest (M = 3.61, SD = .39, t(19) = -2.74, p = .01). Results suggest the use of mini lessons as one way to promote cultural competence development. Utilizing Cross’s to track growth resulted in misalignment between participants’ self-ratings and placement into one of Cross’s levels for both the comparison and treatment groups. Cross-cultural experiences were also examined, with interactions with people from other cultures (29.3%) and traveling abroad (21.9%) as the most reported. Implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed.

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The purpose of this non-experimental study was to investigate teacher empowerment and the participatory management within the schools’ cultures. Also, the study investigated the teachers’ expectations of their students’ social skill competency needs and classroom behavioral practices within the existing school culture. Pearson r coefficients were used to determine the degree of relationship between teachers’ perceived empowerment and school culture. Independent t-tests were run on the mean scores between middle school and high school teacher perception of autonomy and collaborative leadership. Responses to an open-ended questionnaire were analyzed as qualitative data on teacher expectations of student social skill competency. Descriptive profiles of the administrators’ strategies in the process of decision making and the formal structured participative management system were calculated. Cross tabulation of school, gender, and years of experience for the administrators’ participatory leadership was included. After data was analyzed, a positive correlation was determined for teacher empowerment and school culture from both the middle school and the high school. The independent t-tests indicated statistically significant differences between the two groups of teachers for autonomy and collaborative leadership. The data from the open-ended questionnaire indicated that teachers’ expectations of social skills in the classroom include cooperation and self-control, but not necessarily assertion. Administrators from both the middle school and the high school agreed that there exists a degree of participatory management. The male administrators with more years experience indicated that explicit procedures for participatory management are only used some of the time and exist infrequently at their schools. It was concluded that overall, the middle school fostered a school climate where teacher empowerment was facilitated by the administration and the teachers. Recommendations included a future study involving teacher empowerment in elementary schools and participatory leadership style in relationship to gender.