Thesis (Ph. D. (Education))--Rhodes University, 2006.

Currently, there is an increase in competency-based education programs in higher education institutions in response to student and employer needs. However, research is lacking on effective practices for developing competencies, assessments, and learning resources for these programs. The purpose of this qualitative Delphi study was to gather expert opinions about effective practices for developing competencies, assessments, and learning resources in competency-based programs in higher education. The conceptual framework was based on principles of andragogy, critical subjectivity, and social constructivism. Ten long-term specialists in developing competency-based programs in higher education served as participants. Data from 3 rounds of interviews were coded and categorized using Delphi methodology. Eighteen principles for effective practices were agreed upon for developing competencies, 15 principles for effective practice were agreed upon for developing assessments, and 16 principles for effective practice were agreed upon for identifying and leveraging learning resources. Areas of disagreement related to competencies, assessments, and learning resources were identified, with evidence that the variation in rankings presented by participants was due to the unique contexts of different higher education programs. The research from this study contributes to positive social change by providing an emerging list of effective practices useful in developing programs that help students graduate sooner with both a degree and skill set relevant to employers and to their future personal satisfaction.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa's education and training policy legislates that in order to be formally accredited all South African education and training programmes should be outcomesbased. The design and implementation of outcomes-based programmes can be a complex process and there are few exemplars. This study examines the design and implementation of the Ready for Business programme. The Ready for Business programme was designed to assist Grade 11 and Grade 12 learners from disadvantaged backgrounds to gain the necessary knowledge, skills and values to succeed in higher education business studies. The programme was piloted by the Siyabona Education Trust as a Delta Foundation project from 1997-2000. This study outlines the move towards outcomes-based education within a South African context. It specifically focuses on Spady's (1994) theory of transformational outcomesbased education and how this can be translated into practice within a South African education and training context. This study applies a programme evaluation approach within a constructivist-interpretive paradigm to assess the effectiveness of the design of the Ready for Business programme and its implementation by the Siyabona Education Trust. Essentially, the evaluation follows the principles of fourth generation evaluation. Data is gathered from the programme stakeholders through individual interviews, group interviews and questionnaires. A final group interview with stakeholders provides the foundation for further refinement of the programme. The researcher makes recommendations for improvement of the design and implementation of the programme based on the findings of the study. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Suid Afrika se onderwys- en opleidingsbeleid vereis dat aile onderwys- en opleidings programme uitkomsgebaseerd moet wees ten einde formeel geakkrediteer te word. Die ontwerp en implementering van uitkomsgebaseerde programme kan 'n komplekse proses wees. Daar bestaan egter min nasionale modelle. Die Ready for Business model is on twerp om Graad 11 en Graad 12 Ieerders, van voorhen agtergeblewe gemeenskappe te ondersteen om hulle in staat te stel om die nodige kennis, vaardighede en waarders aan te leer ten einde suksesvol te wees in hcer onderwys besigheidstudies. Hierdie model is tussen 1997 en 2000 geloods deur die Siyabona Education Trust as deel van 'n projek van die Delta Stigting. Hierdie studie skets die beweging tot uitkomsgebaseerde onderwys binne 'n Suid Afrikaanse konteks. Dit fokus spesifiek op Spady (1994) se teorie van transfonnatoriese uitkomsgebaseerde onderwys en hoe dit geimplernenteer kan word binne die Suid Afrikaanse onderwys- en opleidingsbeleid. Die studie pas 'n evalueringsprogram binne 'n konstruktivistiese paradigma toe om die effektiwiteit van die Ready for Business program en die implementering daarvan te bepaal soos geloods deur die Siyabona Education Trust. Die evaluering geskied primer volgens die beginsels en vierde generasie evaluering. Data is bekom deur beide individuele en groeponderhoude, asook deur vraelyste. 'n Finale groeponderhoud met die rolspelers le 'n verdere verfyning van die program ten grondslag. Gebaseer op die bevindinge van die studie, maak die navorser gevolglik voorstelle vir die verbetering van die ontwerp en implementering van die program. IV

Syftet med studien är att undersöka rekryterande chefers uppfattning om verktyget kompetensbaserad rekrytering (KBR) samt utfallet av implementeringen av verktyget i Region Jönköpings län. Studien har även ett övergripande syfte att undersöka om chefers attityder påverkar användningen av verktyget. Datainsamlingen är av kvalitativt slag och samlats in via semistrukturerade intervjuer som tolkats med en hermeneutistisk ansats. Studiens resultat visar att större delen av cheferna generellt har en positiv inställning till KBR. Majoriteten upplever att verktyget har hjälp dem att få en tydlig struktur vid rekrytering vilket bidrar till att cheferna ser till kompetensen och vågar frångå sin magkänsla. Enligt cheferna bidrar verktyget till att rekryteringsprocessen blir kvalitetssäkrad och motverkar felrekryteringar. Flertalet av cheferna beskriver att de fick bra med information och stöd vid implementeringen av verktyget. Avslutningsvis tyder studiens resultat på att chefernas attityd påverkar hur KBR verktyget används.

M.Ed. / The objective of this study was to establish if the cultural factors as an aspect of culturally sensitive feedback are accommodated during assessment. This research has helped to procure teacher opinion as to the extent at which principals are culturally sensitive when giving feedback during assessment. The study showed that lack of awareness of cultural differences between principals and teachers make feedback ineffective and impairs the development of teachers. These differences have some implications for teacher competence and its assessment. Principals need to be culturally sensitive when they give feedback to teachers after assessment. In this way the feedback process will be regarded in a positive light and teachers will see it as a development procedure and not as a tool for pinning them down. The recommendations made in this study may be useful in developing teacher assessment programs that will be effective and also enhance teacher competence in schools countrywide.

M.Ed. / South Africa's democratic government inherited a divided and unequal system of education. Under apartheid, South Africa had nineteen different educational departments separated by race, geography and ideology (Department of Education, 2002:4). In this education system, teachers taught a syllabus and learners were required to meet certain objectives. These objectives were normally fixed and had to be achieved by all learners within a certain time frame. Assessment was based mainly on knowledge by means of a test. This system did not serve the needs of all learners in the country (Pretorius, 1998:1). Curriculum change in post-apartheid South Africa started immediately after the election in 1994 when the National Education and Training Forum began a process of syllabus revision and subject rationalisation (Department of Education, 2002:4). The purpose of this process was mainly to lay the foundation for a single national core syllabus. This brought about the implementation of Curriculum 2005 in 1998 which marked a watershed in the educational history of South Africa. The Outcomes-based education (OBE) approach represents a paradigm shift in education. / Prof. Duan Van der Westhuizen

Submitted in part fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Education in Educational Psychology At the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg February 2015 / All learners in the current South African setting, according to the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) document and government legislation, have to learn a second language. Whilst taking this into consideration, this study aimed to look at the relationship between second language achievement and language learning strategies in English first and second language learners. The sample consisted of 128 English first and second language learners in Grade 6 and 7 from a Primary Government School in Johannesburg, Gauteng. The learners completed the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) which provided information on the language learning strategies they use most readily. The data collected from the SILL was then analysed in relation to the learners’ marks in the second language they were studying to ascertain the relationship that the strategy use may have with second language achievement. It was discovered that there were significant relationships between metacognitive, memory and affective strategy use and second language achievement. Alongside this, certain learning strategies were found to be correlated with each other and due to this relationship, may also impact on second language achievement. Given the role that language has played in South African society and the impact it has had on the schooling system, understanding what may impact on language learning may serve to enhance this setting. / MT2016

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Science, School of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, in partial fulfilment of the award of Master of Science (M.Sc) in Science Education. 6 November 2017. / The gap between theory and practice in education remains a persistent problem identified by some researchers as today’s “Achilles heel of teacher education”. The experience in science education is no different. Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has emerged as a theoretical construct that offers science education practitioners a framework to bridge the theory-practice divide because of its ability to transform content knowledge. However, little is known about how the complexity of classroom practice influences PCK acquired by pre-service teachers from structured courses. The purpose of this study was to illuminate pre-service teachers’ PCK as it develops from a point of reasoning about teaching a specific topic into classroom delivery. This study was performed as a qualitative case study of 23 final year pre-service science teachers. It was located in a methodology class that had a specific objective to develop PCK in core topics of science. The students were exposed to an explict intervention on developing PCK in teaching stochiometry then placed in various High Schools around Johannesburg during teaching experience. Data collected was largely during their placement in schools. It consisted of qualitative data such as lesson plans, audio recordings of classroom teaching and self - analysis reports submitted after the teaching experience. Analysis was based on a qualitative in-depth method for identification of evidence of teaching segments illustrating pedagogical transformation. These are segments where there is evidence of two or more topic specific components of PCK defined as Topic Specific Content Knowledge (TSPCK). These were called TSPCK episodes. The TSPCK episodes identified in lessons plans and in recorded lessons were analysed for identificaton of components present and the nature of interactions. These were turned into pictorial TSPCK MAPS. The analysis of pre-service teachers’ views on TSPCK were analysed through a combination of open statements and a science teacher belief tool. The findings indicated that TSPCK episodes identified in lessons plans experience an authentic expansion, blossoming into a cluster of episodes which still carried out the original intention. In some cases the intention could be seen through a similar TSPCK episode in some cases the component sequence and identity had changed. Furthermore, pre-service teachers showed positive awareness of their own level of teacher development and credited their development to the TSPCK framework. Recommendations in this report include promotion of the implementation of the TSPCK framework in Initial Teacher Education, particularly in the methodology courses with reference to classroom complexity. / LG2018

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2014. / Outcomes-based education was introduced into South Africa almost 20 years ago amidst much controversy. During the period of my study, a modified version of the outcomes-based curriculum was in use, i.e. the Revised National Curriculum Statement Grades R-9. In this curriculum, critical and learning outcomes were described and a learner-centred approach advocated which would enable learners to achieve the outcomes. Human reproduction was introduced as one of the content areas in the senior phase of the Natural Sciences. Human reproduction is a sensitive but very relevant topic in South Africa where HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancy and child abuse are prevalent and so was selected as a Grade 7 topic in one educational district of Gauteng. In my study, I was interested in finding out what factors influenced Grade 7 teachers' implementation of outcomes-based approaches when teaching Human Reproduction. I explored the use of learner-centred approaches and the extent to which the critical and Natural Sciences learning outcomes could be achieved through these approaches. Firstly I wanted to know to what extent Grade 7 teachers used outcomes-based and learner-centred approaches when teaching human reproduction. Secondly I was interested in the factors that influenced the teaching of human reproduction. Thirdly I set out to find which factors affected the use of outcomes-based and learner-centred approaches during the teaching of human reproduction. Lastly the influence of teachers' behavioural, normative and control beliefs on their teaching of human reproduction in outcomes-based and learner-centred ways were of interest. My theoretical framework took into account the above-mentioned factors and beliefs about the influence of these factors and their possible impact on teaching human reproduction in outcomes-based and learner-centred ways. My research involved a workshop for Natural Sciences teachers on the teaching of human reproduction to Grade 7's, followed by a survey. Forty teachers completed the survey questionnaire in which they recorded their perceptions of the expected influence of the learners, the learning environment and support structures, as well as teachers' beliefs, on the teaching of human reproduction. Ten of these teachers participated as the case studies in my multiple case study, forming a convenience sample. I used a mixed methods approach in my investigation, starting with the survey questionnaire and then narrowing my focus to the ten case study teachers and becoming a participant observer in their classes. I recorded my data in field notes and as digital recordings of class discussions and when teachers had completed teaching human reproduction, I interviewed them. The data from the questionnaires, interview and lesson transcripts and field notes were analysed and conclusions drawn. I used profiles to assess the achievement of the critical and learning outcomes by each teacher and to assess the extent to which each teacher used learner-centred approaches when teaching human reproduction. A cross case analysis enabled me to compare the teachers with regard to each outcome and learner-centred feature. Some quantitative data from my surveys and mostly qualitative data from my observations and interviews were used to explore the influence of factors internal to the teacher, i.e. personal and professional factors, and those external to the teacher such as the learners, the iii learning environment and support structures. I also used the qualitative data to identify the influence of behavioural, normative and control beliefs about teaching human reproduction in outcomes-based ways on practice. My findings were that all teachers taught towards some outcomes and used some learner-centred approaches and these differed amongst teachers. The profiles enabled me to identify overall strengths of each teacher as an outcomes-based and learner-centred teacher, and the cross-case analysis indicated which outcomes were being met by learners through the teaching and learning approaches used. I found that the learning environment, and in particular the provision of or lack of learning support materials and other resources, impacted on the achievement of the outcomes. The school principals, colleagues, parents and friends proved to be mostly very supportive of the teaching of human reproduction and the need for strong communities of practice became evident. The choice of language was seen as a dilemma but my findings pointed to the use of home language or preferably code-switching to promote conceptual development and the development of English language skills. Cultural beliefs of learners contributed to their prior knowledge, and religious beliefs influenced some teachers who promoted more conservative values amongst their learners regarding sexuality. The need for clear boundaries on what could be discussed in class became evident, to protect both the teacher and learner from intrusion into their personal lives. Group work was seen as an important approach for this sensitive topic, and the need for workshops to strengthen teacher's subject content knowledge and thus their self efficacy when teaching human reproduction and to build strong communities of practice in which ideas and experiences could be shared amongst teachers, was a finding of this study. In conclusion, some teachers were more outcomes-based and learner-centred than others. Subject content knowledge, choice of an appropriate language or language mix for teaching and learning, suitable learning environments with adequate learning support materials, school, district and parental support for the teaching of human reproduction all promoted a teachers sense of self-efficacy and made a difference to their teaching of human reproduction using outcomes-based approaches.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2007. / This study sets out to explore the challenges faced by grade 9 educators in the implementation of Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) in Maleboho East Circuit in Limpopo Province in view of the role played by this new education approach in the government’s agenda for social transformation. The study is mainly exploratory in design and has been undertaken within a qualitative framework. Thus, the study does not purport to come with explanations of cause and effect relations. It only explores the challenges that impact on successful implementation of the OBE approach. The research results show that the OBE approach is not effectively implemented in schools, due to inadequate teacher training, limited or little support to educators in their classroom practice, overcrowded classes and poor working conditions of educators. There is a need for a multi-dimensional approach that aims to address not only deficiencies in training, but also to impact on the attitudinal changes of educators. / N/A