No description available.

Thesis (MPhil (Sociology and Social Anthropology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Amidst debates over the transformation of South African (SA) Higher Education (HE), the core institutional function of community engagement is a possible means of bolstering the developmental role of HE in relation to community needs. The potential for community engagement, and more specifically service-learning, to contribute to community development is yet to be fully explored in the SA context. Broad policy mandates such as the Reconstruction and Development Programme (GNU, 1994) and the White Paper on Transformation of Higher Education (DoE, 1997) have created a policy environment supportive of community engagement as an institutional function of HE advancing the state’s developmental agenda. In the course of the national reorganization of the HE system, the Joint Education Trust (JET) / Community-Higher Education- Service Partnerships (CHESP) initiative undertook feasibility studies of community engagement in SA HE and consulted widely around community engagement. The main outcome has been service-learning’s promotion as an endorsed means of knowledge-based community engagement. Concerted efforts to build the institutional capacities for service-learning nationwide have since been conducted and service-learning is now an increasingly prominent means of community engagement in HE. The conceptual origins of service-learning suggest that mutual student and community benefits are achieved in the course of service-learning programmes, with significant research substantiating student learning outcomes. However, there is limited research available on community outcomes and a lack of empirical evidence on how the community is engaged in service-learning. Conceptualizations of service-learning partnerships in SA yield the introduction of a third party, the partner organization as the host of the service-learning modules in addition to the university and the community. The Triad Partnership Model applied at Stellenbosch University (SU) provides an opportunity to explore the experience of the third party, the partner organization, in what is conceptualized as a dyadic relationship between student and community. As a former student, representative of a partner organization and co-facilitator in a servicelearning module, the author explores the experiences of representatives of partner organizations of service-learning in HE. This dissertation presents the experiences of ten site-supervisors from nine partnering organizations of Stellenbosch University as evidence of some of the developmental outcomes of two service-learning modules. The study discusses the various stages in the process of partnership as it pertains to outcomes experienced by the sitesupervisors of the partner organizations. These experiences help clarify the developmental implications of the Triad Partnership Model for the partner organizations of the two service-learning modules studied. The dissertation concludes by making recommendations for future areas of study and makes some considerations for prospective service-learning modules at SU. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die kern institusionele funksie van gemeenskapsbetrokkenheid is te midde van die debate oor die transformasie van Suid-Afrikaanse (SA) Hoër Onderwys (HO), ‘n moontlike wyse om die ontwikkelingsrol van HO in verhouding tot gemeenskapsbehoeftes te bevorder. Die potensiaal van gemeenskapsontwikkeling, en meer spesifiek diensleer se bydrae tot gemeenskaps-ontwikkeling, is nog nie voldoende in die SA konteks ondersoek nie. As breë beleidsmandate het die Heropbou en Ontwikkelingsprogram (GNU, 1994) en die Witskrif oor die Transformasie van Hoër Onderwys (DoE, 1997) ‘n beleidsomgewing geskep wat ondersteunend is vir gemeenskapsinteraksie as ‘n institusionele dryfkrag van HO om die Staat se ontwikkelingsagenda te bevorder. Ten tye van die nasionale herorganisering van die HO stelsel het die Joint Education Trust (JET) / Community-Higher Education- Service Partnerships (CHESP) inisiatief volhoubaarheidstudies van gemeenskapsbetrokkenheid in SA HO gedoen en ook gekonsulteer oor verskeie aspekte rondom gemeenskapsbetrokkenheid in die breë. Die belangrikste uitkoms hiervan was die bevordering van diensleer as ‘n legitieme wyse van kennisgebaseerde gemeenskapsbetrokkenheid. Doelbewuse pogings is onderneem om die institusionele kapasiteit vir diensleer op nasionale vlak uit te bou, wat vandag ‘n toenemende prominente wyse van gemeenskapsbetrokkenheid in HO is. Die konsepsuele oorsprong van diensleer veronderstel dat gemeenskaplike student- en gemeenskapsvoordele deur die verloop van diensleermodules bereik word. Alhoewel daar heelwat navorsing gedoen is wat fokus op leeruitkomste vir studente, is daar weining navorsing beskikbaar oor gemeenskapsuitkomste, sowel as ‘n tekort aan empiriese bewyse van hoe die gemeenskap betrokke is by diensleer. Konsepsualisering van diensleer vennootskappe in SA sluit ‘n derde party in, die vennootskap-organisasie waar die diensleermodule gehuisves word, bykomend dus tot die universiteit en gemeenskap. Die Triad Vennootskap Model wat by die Universiteit van Stellenbosch (US) toegepas word, bied die geleentheid om ondersoek in te stel na die ervaring van ‘n derde party, die vennootskap-organisasie, oor wat gekonseptualiseer word as ‘n diadiese verhouding tussen student en gemeenskap. As ‘n vorige student, verteenwoordiger van ‘n vennootskap-organisasie en mede-fasiliteerder in ‘n diensleermodule, stel die outeur ondersoek in na die ervarings van verteenwoordigers van vennootskaporganisasies van diensleer in HO. Hierdie verhandeling stel die ervarings van tien supervisors van nege vennootskaporganisasies van die Universiteit van Stellenbosch voor, as bewys van sommige van die potensiële uitkomste van twee diensleer modules. Die ondersoeker bespreek die fases van die proses van vennootskap-vorming soos wat dit verband hou met uitkomste wat supervisors ervaar het. Hierdie ervarings help om die ontwikkeling implikasies van die Triad Vennootskap Model vir die deelnemer-organisasies van die twee diensleermodules wat bestudeer is, te verhelder. Die verhandeling word afgesluit deur aanbevelings te maak vir toekomstige studie-areas en oorweging te skenk vir toekomstige diensleermodules by die US.

Online higher education courses are often designed using a one-size-fits-all model that treats students as instructional users rather than participants who contribute according to their learning needs and interests. Although many scholars have discussed personalized learning as a means to customize instruction over the past three decades, few have investigated the impact of personalized learning interventions. In particular, there is a gap in the literature on interventions using customized instructional content in online courses to provide individuals with opportunities to address their own learning needs and choices. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of this instructional approach on students’ self-determination, intrinsic motivation, learning engagement, and online learning experiences.<br><div>The researcher applied a convergent parallel mixed-methods design to collect, analyze, and merge quantitative and qualitative data simultaneously. Qualitative findings have converged with and diverged from the quantitative data. Quantitative results revealed that personalized learning has a statistically significant effect on students’ perceived feelings of autonomy and their online learning experiences. The approach also showed a significant effect on students’ perceptions toward their instructors. The findings showed that the majority of learners perceived personalized learning to be an effective instructional approach. According to the qualitative findings, this approach showed a positive effect on students’ self-determination (autonomy and competence), intrinsic motivation, engagement, and online learning experiences. However, the intervention did not show a positive effect on students’ feelings of relatedness.<br></div><div>This study may contribute to the understanding of effective and influential teaching and learning approaches, especially in online learning environments. The final findings might inform educators, instructional designers, and instructors about the personalized learning potential of tailoring online courses to students’ needs and interests, which may increase student motivation and engagement.<br></div>

<p>Black men experience numerous systemic challenges in pursuit of their education, yet they also possess strength to achieve academic goals. The purpose of this autoethnographic study is to describe the meaning of my experiences at an undergraduate engineering program at a historically White institution to increase awareness of the ways that Black men experience undergraduate engineering programs at historically White institutions. The overarching research question is: How do I make meaning of the formative experiences along my engineering education journey at an historically White institution through the lens of African American Male Theory? To answer this question, I chose critical autoethnography because it enabled me to use my role as the researcher along with my own experiences as part of the topic and group of study. Through this methodology, I described my experiences through the lens of African American Male Theory, which was not available to me at the time the events were occurring. I analyzed personal memory data (e.g., poems, speeches, applications, resumes and interview transcripts) and my researcher journal to provide a thorough personal account of my collegiate experiences and relative perspectives on those experiences. The findings of this study provide an in-depth understanding of how I experienced an engineering program at an HWI in such a way that offers insights to better support Black men in engineering. As such, this study calls for holistic support for Black male students in engineering through interventions such as culturally relevant curriculum, narrative evaluation, standards of inclusion for classrooms, culturally competent counselors, and hiring minoritized faculty. Finally, this study appeals for more research to investigate how Black men experience freedom while pursuing their engineering degree at HWIs. </p>