The educational role of the worldwide web has been cast in a new light by the emergence of so-called ‘web 2.0’ technologies and, in particular, ‘social software’ where users are connected to and collaborate with each other in a variety of group interactions (Shirky 2003). Current research indicates that social networking has the potential to bring individuals together into new relationships and friendships, into new communicative flows, and even perhaps into communities of their choosing. Can social networking tools, integrated into the requirements and learning objectives of a course, offer some benefits towards meeting the needs of students? The average Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis student experience can vary greatly when compared to campus life at a traditional, four-year residency college or university because the student body is comprised of an assorted group of learners: commuting students, older adult students, online students, on-campus students, and first-generation college students. These students come from a range of diverse backgrounds. Using N100: Introduction to Digital Media Principles as my primary case study, I assess the implementation and development of social media tools, specifically the use of a closed Ning network, in this diverse college classroom environment. This paper evaluates the use of social networking tools to enhance student learning and improve student engagement as well as comparing social networking software to other types of learning managements systems such as Indiana University’s Oncourse CL.

Learning is a process that involves both cognitive and emotional aspects. However, most of the research in education in South Africa tend to focus only on the cognitive side of learning and neglects the very important, emotional side. The consequences of this neglect lie most prominently with migrant learners, especially as the immigration process itself involves high emotional strain, cultural adjustment, and most obvious language barriers. These can negatively influence the learning process. Therefore, if existing teaching practices do not cater for the complexity of a multicultural and multilingual classroom or the emotional needs of migrant learners, the learning process of these learners is likely to be stunted. This thesis is concerned with the role of the emotions in the learning contexts of migrant learners in Cape Town and the strategies used by teachers to manage this. With this in mind, this study looks at the affective aspects of learning in teaching literacy to migrant learners from the Congo in the context of an English-medium school in Cape Town, South Africa. Using a qualitative case study approach, I focused on two layers of the issue. First, I explored the experience of Congolese learners and their emotional needs in an English language and literacy class. With this first layer, I compared the needs between French and English-speaking learners to explore how emotional needs played out in the classroom setting using interviews and observation. I used Krashen's affective filter theory as a lens to understand learners' feelings in the classroom environment. Second, I investigated classroom-teaching styles, in particular, how two Grade 3 teachers incorporated affective strategies in their pedagogy. I conducted this analysis through sociocultural understandings of literacy, using the principles of affective pedagogy. The findings were that English-speaking learners, receiving instructions in English, were less likely to suffer from emotional stress and anxiety in their learning than French-speaking learners learning in English. The French-speaking Congolese learners reported that they experienced emotional distress and anxiety, which affected their literacy learning. Not only were learners experiencing difficulties, but teachers too felt limited in their capacity to deal with learners' emotional needs as the cognitive approach for teaching literacy did not meet the needs nor context of migrant learners. Therefore, teachers felt they were required to go above and beyond what would be considered normal classroom activities to create a holistic learning environment that caters to a learner's emotional challenges, which was not always possible in the context of a prescriptive CAPs curriculum and resources. In this study, I argue that when children learn in a language that is different from their first language, this poses an emotional challenge, which often impacts the learning process. This emotional challenge is likely to be compounded by the circumstances that migrant learners often find themselves in. Therefore, I argue that for children to learn effectively (successfully) in a language that is different from their mother tongue, their emotional needs must be met first. This implies that for literacy learning to be most effective (successful), teachers may take into consideration the emotional aspects of each learner and develop their teaching styles according to the diverse needs of the learners. This study will benefit teachers in multilingual contexts as it takes into consideration the emotional difficulties that come with learning in a language that is not one's primary language, to understand learners' learning styles, and consequently to inform and adjust teaching strategies to fit their needs. The findings suggest a need for teacher training that takes into consideration the affective and cognitive needs of learners from diverse backgrounds, such as migrant learners, for more effective literacy and language education. .

Magister Educationis - MEd / Euclidean geometry was recently re-introduced as a compulsory topic in the Mathematics Curriculum for learners in the Further Education and Training (FET) band in 2012. The diagnostic analysis reports on the National Senior Certificate (NSC) Mathematics Paper 2 examinations since 2014 has repeatedly expressed concern of the poor performance of learners in proof and reasoning items linked to circle geometry. Various efforts have been made to examine the composition of the curriculum to find ways of motivating learners in the study of circle geometry and enhancing their performance but not much has been realized. The use of technology or cooperative learning approaches for the teaching of geometry is beneficial for pedagogical purposes, particularly for improving learners’ performance in geometry

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree Master of Social Work in the Faculty of Arts in the Department of Social Work at the University Of Zululand, South Africa, 2012. / Schools in South Africa have many young learners in the education system whose problematic behaviour have been left unattended, and thus resulting in learners having emotional turmoil. According to the researchers observation Youth between the ages of 13-19 spend 75% of their time in the classroom area and because of this, one can assume that it is where their good or bad learnt behaviour or adapted behaviour manifests itself. What social workers must appreciate is that children come to school with vastly different needs and values. Therefore, social workers should focus their intervention on helping children to become aware of and to learn to exert some degree of control over those change processes that are already at work in their lives. The goal of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of social work services on the behaviour modification of learners. For this study, the researcher utilised the quantitative approach. The respondents included were twenty five educators as respondents to the research, representing five high schools in Esikhaleni. The key findings indicated in the study are that there is an under-utilisation of social workers at schools by the Department of Education. The findings of the study also indicated that mainly practicing social workers perform the task of school social workers, hence this limits access to social work services for troubled learners. The recommendations of this study are that Social Workers need to be placed on school premises as an immediate response measure, so that these two departments can work cooperatively. Social workers need to outline their plan of action and involve the educator in the modification process. Social workers should market themselves in their communities and should link up with other department so as to create a liaison partnership, such as schools and professional within those departments, eg educators, School Governing Body (SGB), and School Management Team (SMT).

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty Of Arts in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters in the Department of Sociology at the University Of Zululand, 2018 / In spite of numerous initiatives, resources and infrastructural provision, the continuous decline in Learners’ academic performance remains a global phenomenon that threatens economic development. Scholars have therefore been interested in unravelling factors that enhance or impede academic performance. Self-regulated learning (SRL) refers to a self-initiated and directed learning process; this agentic angle of the social cognitive theory introduces human agency as a solution to students declining academic performance. Self-regulated learning encompasses motivation, self-judgement, self-efficacy, cognition and assessment feedback. Current literature on self-regulated learning and academic performance is limited to subject specific investigations, which seek to determine suitable learning strategies for specific learning areas. The present study investigated the relationship between components of self-regulated learning and academic performance. The purpose of the study was to determine whether self-regulated learning could improve, the academic performance of high school students. Learners’ perceived levels of motivation, self-judgement, self-efficacy, cognition, assessment feedback and their self-reported academic performance were collated using a self-report questionnaire. Motivation, self-judgement, self-efficacy, cognition and assessment feedback are components of SRL. Each variable provides a skill or strategy that is linked to academic success. In a survey, (n=101), data was collected using the Likert scale type self-report questionnaires from grade 10 learners at Qhakaza High School, KwaDlangezwa, in the Kwa-Zulu Natal Province of South Africa. In the first order of analysis, responses were reduced using Principal Components Analysis (PCA), to determine how questionnaire items contributed to the variables of interest. Furthermore, bivariate correlations and hierarchical stepwise linear regressions were carried out to establish simple relationships between the dependent and independent variables. The results showed that cognition and assessment feedback were the only two variables of self-regulated learning which were positively related to Learners’ academic performance. The result thus indicated, contrary to many past, studies that the perceived level of motivation, perceived level of self-judgement and perceived level of self-efficacy were statistically insignificant as predictors of Learners’ academic performance. The results of this study thus showed that cognition and assessment feedback are learning strategies that should be fostered towards improving Learners’ academic performance in high schools. Cognition and assessment feedback are two variables, which are mostly facilitated or provided by teachers. This implies that contrary to the propositions of the SRL’s agentic component, Learners’ responsibilities for their own learning outcomes may not be relevant in the sample of this study as none of the self-directed variables of perceived level of motivation, perceived level of self-judgement and perceived level of self-efficacy were correlated to academic performance. The main conclusion of the study was that not all components of self-regulated learning influence academic performance. It was therefore recommended that the teacher-learner approach should be revised to suit the contemporary classroom environments, since students still struggle with self-directed learning. / Prestige Bursary

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (Clinical Psychology) in the Department of Psychology University of Zululand, South Africa, 2011. / The main purpose of the study was to investigate whether female high school learners are knowledgeable of and practise breast self examination. The pre-measurement and postmeasurement single group design was used to ascribe differences between the pre- and postmeasurements to the experimental intervention. The sample was focused on two groups: multiracial (n = 56) and rural high school (n = 71) learners. These two groups were interviewed using a structured questionnaire (Pillay, 2002) assessing their knowledge and practice regarding breast self examination. The age range of the participants was between 14 and 21 years with a mean age of 16.65 years. Results showed that more than half (62.9%) of the total sample were aware of breast self examination. Older learners in higher grades were more knowledgeable about breast self examination than those who were younger and doing lower grades. Of those learners who were aware of breast self examination, 57.5% practiced BSE. Breast cancer awareness programme that was provided during the study had a great impact on the responses of the learners. Knowledge of BSE had a significant improvement. Public health education is a factor that impacts on young women’s knowledge and understanding of breast cancer. Based on these young women’s responses, it has been concluded that current public health education is either not communicating its message or failing to reach enough women. Based on this assumption and the knowledge that most breast awareness campaigns are aimed at older women, it is recommended that an important improvement may be to target women at younger ages to educate them about what is normal or not, and what they should know and be aware of regarding their bodies.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies at the University Of Zululand, South Africa, 2016 / Violence in schools is one of the most challenging issues facing educators, policy makers, learners, parents and the community in South Africa at large. Sometimes it occurs without educators and parents being aware of it and in most cases, learners specifically girls are reluctant to report their experiences of violence. Because the entire community is continually searching for ways to address this problem in schools, it is hoped that this study may offer some valuable insights. This study focuses on school violence in the Umbumbulu circuit affecting the safety and learning of learners. Educators are also affected to a great extent. Many factors were considered when investigating the problem of school violence. The problem was traced from the theorist’s perspectives and the factors related to the family, school and the community. An extensive literature review shows that the above-mentioned factors contributed to school violence. In order to support or reject the findings of the literature study, qualitative research was conducted. Empirical data from four high schools in the Umbumbulu circuit in Durban in the South region of KwaZulu Natal were collected by means of individual interviews. Thirty two educators were interviewed including principals and senior educators in order to determine whether violence is increasing or decreasing. The study was aimed at investigating the common types of violence and the nature thereof. The causes of violence including the triggers, all form an integral part of this investigation. The teacher experiences and responses to the interviews as part of the qualitative research revealed that a culture of violence existed in these schools, and that corporal punishment was still practised. Educators’ perceptions on school violence at their schools revealed that bullying persisted, especially when there was no teacher supervision. Deep anger from learners, tribal disputes and drugs were some of the factors that triggered violence in the Umbumbulu circuit. Based on these findings recommendations for the implementation of prevention programmes were made.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University Of Zululand, 2018 / The rapid increase in HIV/AIDS infections and its effects in families and communities are vast. Around the world, young people are at the centre of the HIV epidemic. They are at high risk for HIV/AIDS infection and are, therefore, in need of targeted interventions. As a result, South African Government has established HIV/AIDS Care and Support Program to be implemented in schools by educators. The purpose of this study is to explore educators ‘attitudes towards this HIV/AIDS Care and Support Program for high school learners in Zululand District. The study seeks to explore how educators in high schools view schools as centres of care and support for learners infected and affected by HIV/AIDS; and also explore their beliefs about HIV/AIDS Care and Support Program being implemented in schools by educators; as well as factors that affect the effective implementation of the program. The results of this study should contribute to the research in the area of Sexuality Education in schools and influence the design and the implementation of HIV/AIDS Care and Support Program in high schools. The structured interviews with ten educators from ten high schools in Zululand District, comprising of five females and five males Life Orientation educators were conducted. The results reveal that the educators have positive attitudes towards HIV/AIDS Care and Support Program. However, they believe that the implementation of the program does not form part of their responsibility as educators due to lack of expertise, time, and support from school management and parents. The study also found that factors such as lack of effective training, lack of support from school management, lack of parental involvement, as well as confidentiality, hinders the effective implementation of HIV/AIDS Care and Support Program.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty Of Education in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master Of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies at the University Of Zululand, 2018 / The teaching of English First Additional Language in South African schools, towards the development of learners’ writing skills, requires the employment of the process approach (DBE 2011: 10). The Department of Basic Education (DBE) clarifies that when learners write, they will need to use the writing process approach so as to produce coherent sentences without grammatical errors (2011: 36). The aim of this study is to compare and contrast the relative effectiveness of the process approach, product approach and the combination of these two approaches known as the process-product approach, in the development of English First Additional Language (FAL) writing skills in the Senior Phase. Three groups of Grade 8 and 9 English FAL learners, comprising of a sample of 186 learners from Quintile 3 schools in uMhlathuze Circuit Management under King Cetshwayo District were investigated so as to find out if they would develop good paragraph writing skills when exposed to several instructional interventions using any of the three approaches. The analysis of results is based on the Quasi-Experimental design which follows the pre-test-treatment-posttest model using the mixed methodology. It assumes the multi-method strategy as quan+QUAL (the lower case quan- explains the lower priority of the quantitative orientation). Consequently, the quantitative results are used to confirm the qualitative results. Findings of this study proved that when both the process and product approaches are combined and used recursively, and in a complementary manner as the process-product approach, they significantly yield higher results in developing the paragraph writing skills of English FAL learners in the Senior Phase than when each approach is used exclusively.

A dissertation submitted to the FACULTY OF EDUCATION at the UNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF EDUCATION in the Department of Educational Planning and Administration, 2004. / The study investigated the role of RCLs in the promotion of the culture of teaching and learning in secondary schools. In this study the researcher employed a survey to achieve the aims of the study, and a questionnaire to obtain facts and opinions about the role of the RCL members. From the empirical study conducted in Pinetown District, the researcher found that the majority of the members of the RCLs in schools studied does contribute to the promotion of the culture of teaching and learning. However there was remarkably high percentage (65%) of respondents who were uncertain about the RCLs' role in facilitating the promotion of the culture of teaching and learning in secondary schools. Briefly data indicates that the uncertainty about the role functions of RCLs is due to the lack of training. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher made recommendations directed to the principals and the department of education and culture. The key recommendations are: > Principals need to develop appropriate and effective capacity building programmes for RCL members. > RCL members should be given a platform to communicate with the general learner population to facilitate and foster discipline among learners in schools. > Members of the RCL should be granted their legitimate rights to participate in decisions that affect them.