The contemporary classroom currently faces an evolving world of computer based training, online courses, instructor-led learning and several blended approaches in-between. With the increased presence of computers and communication in every facet of students' lives, students have changed to adapt to the continuous presence of technology in their daily lives. These recent rapid developments have changed the relationship between technology and communication. Indeed, communication and technology have become linked to such a degree that it is difficult to differentiate one from the other, thereby altering our rhetorical situation as instructors. Instructors can no longer deny the presence of technology in the contemporary classroom, much less in the contemporary composition classroom. This case study serves as a post-modern analysis of the technology based blended classroom. A gap exists between what online learning is (being) today and what it is (becoming) tomorrow. This dissertation explores the gap by examining two rich data sources: online visitor navigational patterns and instructor interviews. The fundamental ideas that this text explores are the following: - Web server logs and PHP logs can be analyzed to yield relevant information that assists in the design, architecture, and administration of online and blended learning courses. - Technology in the writing classroom does not necessarily solve traditional problems associated with the composition classroom. Technology is a tool, not a solution. - Technology has changed the rhetorical situation of the composition classroom. As a result, instructors must adapt to the changed rhetorical environment. Via this study, readers will hopefully gain a better understanding of the relatively unexplored margins between instruction, composition and technology paradigms. Instructors, trainers, technical writers, pedagogues, industry and academia alike must step forward to research technology-assisted pedagogy so that they can de-privilege the paradigms that position technology itself as a solution, and move forward toward realistic and real-world expectations for instructors in technology mediated learning environments.

For many students in basic writing classrooms the language of writing assignments, essay prompts and required reading is especially difficult. Therefore, some teachers are using approaches other than logical or linguistic methods to assist these students. This thesis details some of the methods teachers and researchers are using. Most significant is a case study that explores the use of visuals in a basic writing classroom. The results of the case study and a survey instrument suggest that there is a niche for alternative methods and the use of visuals in the basic writing classroom.

The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to explore the support of juvenile offender learners in correctional schools from a wellness perspective. The support of juvenile offender learners on the six dimensions of wellness is crucial since it has a wide range of benefits, it links achievement of teaching and learning, and rehabilitation and avoid recidivism. The study integrates Ubuntu and Wellness frameworks (Hettler, 1984) as a lens to understand the support of juvenile offender learners’ wellness in the correctional schools. The two frameworks informed the formulated Wellness framework as an approach to address and support wellness in active teaching and learning of the juvenile learners in the correctional schools. Data collection methods used was semi- structured interviews, open-ended questionnaires and observations. The research used purposive sampling of 12 teachers and 21 juvenile offender learners from seven correctional schools in four different provinces in South Africa. Ethical considerations are followed this include how best to negotiate access to the correctional schools, signed consent forms, anonymity, and confidentiality. The findings of the study revealed inadequate support structures and challenges that threaten the wellness of juvenile learners. However, it was revealed that teachers make an effort to support juvenile offender learners’ wellness in the correctional schools. Conversely, there are gaps in terms of policy, theory, and practice on how they can effectively support juvenile learners. The major impediment is that teachers are trained to teach in mainstream schools not in the environment of imprisonment. The study recommends that teachers, Learner Support Assistant (LSA), Peer Educators (PE), and security official be trained on how to identify intellectual, physical, social, emotional, spiritual, and career challenges of juvenile learners and address them in order to improve their learning, and rehabilitate. The DCS can do this through collaboration with various stakeholders who have knowledge and expertise in the six-wellness dimensions. Hence, the study formulated the model called Collaborative Intervention Support for Wellness framework. It consists of five strategic support structures (DCS, and other governmental department, non-governmental stakeholders LSA and PE) that are to assist the teachers in the correctional schools to support and enhance the juvenile offender learners’ wellness. / Morero oa thuto ena ea boleng bo phahameng ene e le ho hlahloba tšehetso ea baithuti ba tlolo ea molao dikolong tsa tikolo tsa tikoloho ho tloha boemong bo botle. Ts’ehetso ea baithuti ba tlolo ea molao lilemong tse tšeletseng tsa bophelo bo bottle e bohlokoa, hobane enale melemo e mengata, e hokela phihlello ea ho ruta le ho ithuta, le ntlafatso le ho qoba ho iphapanya. Boithuto bona bo hokahanya meralo ea Ubuntu le Wellness (Hettler, 1984) joalo ka lense la ho utloisisa tšehetso ea bophelo ba barutoana ba litlolo tsa molao dikolong tsa tlhabollo. Meralo ena e mebedi e tsebesitse sebopeho se hlophisitseong sa Wellness e le mokhoa oa ho sebetsana le ho ts’ehetsa bophelo bo botle ho ruteng le ho ithuteng ha barutoana ba basenye dikolong tsa khalemelo. Mekhoa ea ho bokella ya tsebo ya ditaba e sebedisetsoeng ene ele dipuisano tse hlophisitsoeng hantle, dipotso tse bulehileng le dipotso. Patlisiso e sebelisitse sampole e nang le morero ae barutisi ba 12 le baithuti ba 21 ba molato hotsoa dikolong tse supileng tsa khalemelo diprofinseng tse nne tse fapaneng tsa Afrika Boroa. Mehopolo ea boit’oaro e lateloa ho kenyeletsa kamoo ho ka buisanang ka mokhoa oa ho buisana leho kena dikolong, liforomo tsa tumello tse saennoeng, ho se tsejoe lekunutu. Se fumanoeng ke liphuputsi li fumane meetso e sa lekaneng ea tšehetso le liphephetso tse sokelang boiketlo ba barutoana. Leha ho le joalo, ho ile ha senoloa hore barutise ba etsa boiteko ba ho tšehetsa bophelo ba bana ba botlokotsebe bo bottle dikolong tsa khalemelo. Ka lehlakoreng le leng, ho na le likheo ho latela melaoana, teori, le boikoetliso bah ore nab a ka tšehetsa baithuti ba basenye joang. Tši tiso e kholo ke hore barutisi a koetliselitsoe ho ruta dikolong tsa kantle eseng tikolohong ea chankaneng. Boithuto bona bo khothaletsa hore barutisi, LSA, PE, le ofisiri ea tšireletso ba koetlisoe mabapi le mokhoa oa ho khetholla mathata a kelello, mmele, sechaba, maikutlo, memoya le tsa mosebetsi oa baithuti tsa bana ba basenye le ho libua le bona bakeng sa ho ntlafatsa thuto ea bona, le ho nchafatsa.DCS e ka etsa sena ka tšebedisano mmoho le bankakarolo ba fapaneng ba nang le tsebo le boiphihlelo maemong a tšeletseng a bophelo bo bottle. Kahoo, thuto e thehile mohlala o bitsoang Collaborative Intervention Support for Wellness. E beha maemong a bohlano a tšehetso (DCS, le Lefapa le leng la mmoso, barekisi basing bammuso, LSA, le barupeli ba dithaka) tse tla thusa barutiši dikolong tsa khalemelo ho tse’etsa le ho ntlafatsa boiketlo ba barutoana ba molato. / Die doel van hierdie kwalitatiewe, fenomenologiese studie was om die ondersteuning van jeugoortredende leerders in korrektiewe skole vanuit ‘n welstandsperspektief te ondersoek. Die ondersteuning van jong jeugdige oortreders in die ses dimensies van welstand is van kardinale belang, aangesien dit ‘n wye verskeidenheid voordele inhou, verbind dit die prestasie van onderrig en leer, en rehabilitasie en vermy herhaling. Die studie integreer Ubuntu en wellness-raamwerke (Hettler,1984) as ‘n lens om die ondersteumning van jeugoortreders se welstand in die skole vir korrektiewe te verstaan. Die twee raamwerke het die geformuleerde welstand-raamwerk ingelig as ‘n benadering om welstand in die aktiewe onderrig en leer van jong leerder in die korrektiewe skole aan te spreek en te ondersteun. Metodes vir die insameling van data wat gebruik is, was semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude, oop vraelyste en waarnemings. In die navorsing is doelgerigte steekproefneming van 12 onderwysers en 21 jong oortreders van sewe korrektiewe skole in vier verskillende provinsies in Suid-Afrika gebruik. Etiese oorwegings word gevolg, dit sluit in hoe om die beste toegang tot die skole vir korrektiewe, ondertekende vorms van toestemming, anonimiteit en vertroulikheid te beding. Die bevindings van die studie het onvoldoende ondersteuningstrukture en uitdagings ontdek wat die welstand van jong leerders bedreig. Dit is egter aan die lig gebring dat onderwysers moeite doen om die welstand van die jeugoortreders in die korrektiewe skole te ondersteun. Daarteenoor is daar leemtes in terme van beleid, toerie en praktyk oor hoe hulle jong leerders effektief kan ondersteun. Die grooste struikelblok is dat onderwysers opgelei word om in hoofstroomskole onderrig te gee, nie die omgewing van gevangenisstraf nie. Die studie beveel aan dat onderwysers, LSA, PT en veiligheidsbeampte opgelei word in die identifisering van intellektuelle, fisieke, sosiale, emosionele, geestelike en loopbaanuitdagings van jong leerders en om hulle aan te spreek ten einde hul leer te verbeter en te rehabiliteer. Die DKD kan dit doen deur samewerking met verskillende belanghebbendes wat kennis en kundigheid het in die dimensies van ses welstand. Daarom het die studie die model genaamd “Collaborative Intervention Support for Wellness raamwerk geformuleer. Dit is ‘n kompromie van vyf strategies ondersteuningstrukture (DKD, en ander regeringsdepartemente, nie- regeringsbelangheggendes LSA, en portuurstudente) wat die onderwysers in die korrektiewe skole moet help om die welstand van die jeugoortreder te help en te verbeter. / Psychology / D. Phil (Psychology)

Group relations events are intended to enable transformation through learning, but such collective experiential events are not explicitly focused on enabling individual group members to derive meaning from them. This research aims to explicate individual learning from the experiences of a group relations event, in order to formulate a process for meaning-making post an intensive experiential event. Literature reviewed provides construct definitions of systems psychodynamic aspects, as well as insight, meaning-making, coaching methods and other approaches to facilitating meaning-making. Systems psychodynamics is the theoretical paradigm that informs a qualitative phenomenological research approach. Data analysis adopted hermeneutic phenomenology to allow for the interpretation of the rich data collected. Multiple case studies were adopted using multi-pronged data collection methods, including semi-structured interviews conducted before the event, as well as both a focus group and Free Association Narrative Interviews (FANI) conducted after the event. The results are reported by case, and this is followed with an interpretation of results by various systems psychodynamic themes. Furthermore, the relationship between personality types and defences mechanisms, with the associative techniques to use for each, have been set forth as additional findings in the thesis. The research hypothesis produced by the study is a meaning-making model to facilitate post-group relations event reflections and debriefing, with the aim of enabling insight formation, learning and adaption by individuals who have participated in such events. / Psychology / Ph. D. (Psychology)

Research suggests that recently graduated librarians are failing to find work in the traditional library context and consequently are seeking employment in related fields; also that internships are recognized as a valuable component of professional training, that students find them useful in developing skills, with demand outstripping supply. This study consisted of setting up, running, and analyzing an experimental intern training programme for MLS students outside the traditional library context. Its aims were to : i) Develop and manage an intern training programme (ITP) specifically focused on mentoring recent graduates and students in the application of their library skills in a non-library work context; ii) Use this model to facilitate students and recent graduates in transferring their library skills to a non-library work context; iii) Gauge whether participants found the ITP effective in preparing them for finding work – either in a traditional library or outside the traditional library setting. Through setting up this programme and running it since 2013, this study has made a primarily applied contribution to the discipline. In this written component of the study the researcher offers the documentation of the programme as a live case study analysed using a combination of tools including surveys, interviews and both qualitative and quantitative methods. Findings show that interns expect to use internships in the job searching process; that they expect to acquire new skills not developed on their MLS programmes; that they would still prefer traditional library jobs but that they expect their careers to involve non-traditional work contexts. Related to this, participants believe the internship has raised awareness of a wider range of suitable jobs. This indicates that they see the nature of librarianship changing – something reinforced by the way they believe librarianship is evolving through, for example, integrating social media into the role of the librarian. This study and its findings contributes to raising awareness in the library sector of the changing nature of the world of work for the next generation of librarians and, in turn, contribute to MLS programmes by indicating how they may adapt as the 21st century workplace continues to evolve. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are now adopting the management styles that are being practised in profit-making organisations in the private sector. The top management in HEIs embark on monitoring performance of all categories of their employees, including academic staff. This has become necessary in order to encourage and enhance quality in teaching and also to achieve increased research productivity. This means that the same principles involved in managing the private sector, such as introducing performance management systems, are now applied in the public sector. Empirical evidence from previous studies suggests that the introduction and implementation of performance management systems in academic institutions often result in tension between academic employees and management, thereby heightening the age-long debate on the necessity for academic freedom in institutions of higher learning globally. The present study evaluated the perception of academic staff members regarding the implementation of a performance management system in an open distance learning institution in South Africa. The study adopted a survey research design, using a quantitative research approach. The total sample of the study comprised of 492 academic staff members of the institution. A structured self-administered web-based questionnaire that was tested for high reliability and validity content was used to collect primary data from the respondents. The data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential (one-way sample t-test) statistics. The research findings indicate that academic staff members at the institution are satisfied with the performance management system implemented by management. The study further found that academics do not consider the resultant performance bonus from the implementation of the performance management system sufficiently motivating and that it should therefore be reviewed by management. Overall, the outcome of the present study was to a large extent inconsistent with the empirical evidence presented by previous studies. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)