The purposes of this study are to evaluate the effectiveness of the training program at Arlington State College; to evaluate the curricula of the Semi-Professional Engineering Program at Arlington State College; and if needed, suggest improvements in the Semi-Professional Engineering curriculum at Arlington State College.

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An increased emphasis is being placed on ethics in Information Systems. An investigation of: the relevant literature which highlighted the growth of, and importance in understanding the moral philosophies which underlie Computer Ethics; and the official curricula recommendations that have increasingly and consistently recommended inclusion of courses describing the Social, Professional and Ethical responsibilities of Information Systems Professionals; and informed by the observations from two empirical Studies that showed the extent of unethical behaviour, and how this behaviour is diminished in those who have received formal tertiary level education resulted in a proposed new course module on Ethics in Information Systems. The module follows a sandwich-approach whereby two stand-alone modules are conducted on either side of integrated Computer Ethics content within the rest of the curriculum.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

What does it mean to be academically literate? Responses to this question have led to an explosion of research in the field of applied linguistics, yet the diversity of definitions proposed in the literature for the concept of literacy per se indicate that it continues to defy consensus. Literacy, and specifically by extension academic literacy, must thus be recognised as a contested field, with different meanings for different people and inevitable tensions between those taking positions on or affected by its practical implications. Accepting its contested status, this study sought to explore student representations of academic literacy, academic staff representations of academic literacy and associated academic staff representations of students insofar as these touch on specific concerns of academic literacy in an engineering faculty. The purpose of this exploration was to determine how these representations permeate academic practice and inform pedagogical practice and attitudes to learning. This led to the research thesis, that dominant discourses produce certain practices which can lead to social exclusion/inclusion of students. Such a thesis, allows for an examination of institutional practices of teaching and learning. To do this, I employed a multidisciplinary approach drawn from applied linguistics, sociology and philosophy. Consequently, I drew on theories from James Paul Gee, Pierre Bourdieu, Basil Bernstein and Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger to understand the socio-cultural context where representation occurs. An understanding of these discourses and epistemologies also necessitated an approach that probed participants‘ versions of reality. Consequently, this research was premised within a Critical Realist ontology whose central tenet is the recognition of tripartite framework of reality. Within this framework, reality is comprised of the domains of the real, actual and the empirical. The domain of the empirical relates to perceptions of experiences, while the actual is concerned with events that produce these experiences. The real is the domain of generative mechanisms, which if activated, produce the events and experiences in the other domains. Data was collected to correspond to these domains, with critical focus on the analysis of underlying mechanisms which reproduce social reality. To establish how the real relates to the other domains, Fairclough‘s critical discourse analysis was adopted. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

M. Tech. Education / Investigates the status of Civil Technology practical activities in three South African schools in the Eastern Cape Province. The Civil Technology policy advocates that the integration of theory to practical, where learners should be capacitated with practical skills to enable them to amongst other things, enter the job market upon completion of Grade 12,or apprenticeships that will prepare them for a trade test should they not be willing to further their academic studies.

The United States are facing a critical workforce challenge, even though current unemployment is around 6.7%, employers find it difficult to find applicants that can satisfy all job requirements. This problem is especially pronounced in the manufacturing sector where a critical skills gap has developed, a problem that is exasperated by workforce demographics. A large number of employees across the various manufacturing sub-disciplines are eligible to retire now or in the near future. This gray tsunami requires swift action as well as long lasting change resulting in a workforce pipeline that can provide Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors in sufficient quantity and quality to satisfy not only the needs of STEM industries, but also of those companies outside of the STEM sector that hire STEM graduates. The research shown here will identify overt symptoms describing the capability gap, will identify specific skills describing the gap, educational causes why the gaps has not yet been addressed or is difficult to address, and lastly educational remedies that can contribute to closing the capability gap. A significant body of literature focusing on engineering in higher education has been evaluated and findings will be presented here. A multidisciplinary, collaborative capstone program will be described which implements some of the findings from this study in an active learning environment for students working on distributed teams across the US. Preliminary findings regarding the impact of these measures on the quantity of engineers to the US economy will be evaluated.

D.Ed. / The school is an institution that came into being on demand of the community and as such is also responsible to the community for all its activities. This entails that the teaching provided by the school should be directed, amongst other things, to the interests and needs of the learners and the community. To ensure that the teaching is systematic, purposeful and progresses according to specified contents, all school activities are organized by a programme, known as a curriculum. This research was directed at a definite aspect of formal teaching provision, viz. vocationally-oriented education and more specifically to technical education at secondary school level. Observation and commentary from various sources indicate that the relevance of technical education at school level is questioned by post-school "users of technical education". This is particularly pertinent if it is considered against the background of, inter alia, the appeal for a greater shift in emphasis of vocationally-oriented and vocational education, the revision of the broad curriculum for pre-tertiary education that is currently being undertaken and the economic, social and political climate that prevails in the RSA at present. The problem for the present research was defined against this background as the search for measures to ensure that the curricula for the technical field of study at school level comply with the needs and demands of the community with specific reference to the post-school "users of technical education". The purpose of the study centres around the development of a curriculum for technical education. As a result of restrictions imposed on the extent of the study the developmental activities were curtailed to the design of a part-theory that comprises a situation and goal analysis followed by the setting of guidelines for a structure whereby the contents for the electrical field of study (as exemplar for the technical field of study) can be selected and organized. In achieving this aim, brief consideration was initially given to the didactic-pedagogic founding of the school curriculum and curriculum development as a process. An extensive literature study was subsequently undertaken regarding technical education at school level (as a form of vocationally - oriented and vocational education). This literature investigation mainly covered two fields, viz. the historical development of technical education at school level in the RSA and definite aspects directly related to the provision of vocationally-oriented vocational education and specifically technical education at school level. Regarding the latter, consideration was given, amongst others, to relevance and differentiation as principles of educational provision, the task of the school with reference to the provision of generally-oriented and specialized education (vocationally-oriented and vocational education), the status of technical education as well as the rationalization of technical subjects at school level...

Thesis (PhD (Curriculum Studies))-- University of Stellenbosch, 2009 / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to develop a curriculum framework for engineering introduction programmes offered at a higher education institution, using a case study design. The South African government is attempting to redress the social inequalities which prevailed in the education sector during the apartheid era. One of their efforts has involved the widening of access to diverse groups in society in order to increase participation within the higher education sector. However, many students attempting their higher education studies are academically under prepared. This is mainly due to insufficient life skills, communication skills, numeric skills and literacy skills. The lack of these skills has inspired various international and national higher education institutions to develop academic programmes aimed at bridging the gap that exists between secondary schooling and higher education. Introduction programmes for prospective engineering students have to ensure high-quality curriculum development procedures in order to secure these students’ academic success throughout their engineering studies. This, in turn, leads to quality graduates and addresses the huge shortage experienced by the industry. An overview of the contextual and conceptual views on curriculum development is given against the backdrop of the current higher education legislation in South Africa. The overview regarding curriculum development links the introduction programme curriculum to generic learning outcomes specifically set at the National Qualification Framework Level 4. It suggests the application of continuous assessments, in line with outcomes-based education criteria, together with quality assurance in order to fit the Higher Education Quality Committee and the Engineering Council of South Africa’s accreditation criteria applicable to higher education institutions. During the design and methodological stages, it was established, by means of a theoretical investigation, that the first phase of this study determines whether students that successfully completed the introduction programme perform academically better than students entering the diploma programmes directly. The theoretical investigation also established that the second phase of this study determines if the diploma students dropped out of the programme for reasons other than academic performance. A triangulation approach was used to increase the validity of the empirical part of the study and to enhance the rigorous use of both quantitative and qualitative data. The study results shed light on the need for introduction programmes. In addition, it proposed a curriculum framework for improved engineering introduction programmes at the Vaal University of Technology. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie was om kurrikulumraamwerk vir oorbruggingsprogram vir ingenieurswese-studente in hoër onderwys te ontwikkel. Die kurrikulumraamwerk is ontwikkel deur middel van gevallestudie wat die implementering van oorbruggingskursusse in die ingenieurswese indringend ondersoek het. Die huidige Suid-Afrikaanse regering poog om die sosio-politieke wanbalanse as nalatenskap van apartheid, uit te wis. Dit word gedoen deur middel van inisiatiewe waarin onder meer hoër onderwys prominente vennoot is wat aan diverse samelewing gelyke geleenthede bied. Die huidige, meer toeganklike bedeling in hoër onderwys in Suid-Afrika het groot toename van studente uit histories agtergeblewe gemeenskappe tot gevolg gehad. Die meeste studente wat in hierdie konteks die hoëronderwyssektor betree, blyk in groot mate onvoorbereid te wees vir hoër onderwys vanweë hul gebrek aan lewens-, kommunikasie-, numeriese en taalvaardighede. Hierdie tendens kom ook op internasionale vlak voor. Dit het inisiatiewe ten opsigte van akademiese ontwikkeling op nasionale sowel as internasionale vlak genoodsaak. Die doel van akademiese ontwikkeling is primêr om die gaping tussen die skool en hoër onderwys te oorbrug. Oorbruggingskursusse moet van hoë gehalte wees om sodoende te kan verseker dat voornemende studente vir hoër onderwys, en vir die doel van hierdie studie meer spesifiek ingenieurstudente, van groter akademiese sukses verseker kan wees. Die suksesvolle implementering van oorbruggingskursusse vir ingenieurswese-studente behoort in groot mate tot beter gehalte gegradueerde te lei en bydrae te lewer tot die vraag na ingenieurswese-studente vir die nywerheidswêreld. Kontekstuele en konsepsuele beskouings ten opsigte van kurrikulumontwikkeling in die hoër onderwys in Suid-Afrika word deur generiese leeruitkomste bepaal. Hierdie uitkomste is op vlak 4 van die land se Nasionale Kwalifikasieraamwerk vasgepen. Dit het ook tot gevolg dat alle programme volgens amptelike Departement van Onderwys-dokumente aan deurlopende assessering onderwerp moet word, dat die gehalte van die kursus onderworpe is aan die gehalteversekeringskriteria van die vi Hoëronderwys se Gehaltekomitee (‘HEQC’) en dat dit moet voldoen aan die vereistes van die Ingenieursraad van Suid-Afrika. Teoretiese raamwerk is tydens die ontwerp- en metodiekstadium van die studie daargestel. Die doel van hierdie eerste fase van die studie was om te bepaal of diplomastudente wat die oorbruggingskursusse suksesvol voltooi het, akademies beter gepresteer het as daardie studente wat nie die oorbruggingskursus gevolg het nie. Die tweede studiefase het bepaal of die diplomastudente hul studies vir redes gestaak het wat moontlik nie met akademiese sukses verband hou nie. Die navorsing het van triangulasie gebruik gemaak, ten einde die doeltreffende gebruik van sowel kwantitatiewe as kwalitatiewe data te verhoog. Die resultate van die studie werp lig op en onderstreep die behoefte aan oorbruggingskursusse. Die navorsing beveel kurrikulumraamwerk aan vir die ontwerp van verbeterde oorbruggingskursusse in die ingenieurswese aan die Vaal Universiteit van Tegnologie.

The aim of the study was to identify the factors that have an influence on the completion rates of undergraduate students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Using Tinto's retention rate theory as the theoretical foundation, data were collected from freshman who were enrolled in the years 2005 to 2008. Results showed gender and first-generation status were significant predictors of STEM completion and time taken to complete the degree. Institutional bias played a role in race/ethnicity not being a factor affecting completion rates, as this study was conducted at a Predominantly White Institution. SAT scores and first and second-year college GPA showed to have the most prominent influence on both STEM completion rate and time taken to complete the degree. Females with higher first-year college GPA and higher high school rank finished faster. Similar results were found with first-generation students as well. Students belonging to ethnic minority groups with higher SAT scores and college GPA had greater success in STEM fields as well. The study results can be used to increase completion rates of underrepresented students in the STEM fields, given what we know about the interactions between underrepresented student groups and the most important predictors.