EQUIPPING MINDS: APPLYING A BIBLICALLY BASED CURRICULUM FOR IMPROVING WORKING MEMORY Carol Thompson Brown Ed.D. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2016 Supervisor: Dr. Danny R. Bowen Recent findings in neuroscience confirm the neuroplasticity of the brain. There has been strong interest in applying these discoveries to learners with learning disorders focusing on increasing working memory capacity. The aim of the present study was to explore the effectiveness of cognitive intervention with the Equipping Minds Cognitive Development Curriculum (EMCDC), based on Feuerstein’s theory of structural cognitive modifiability. Feuerstein’s theory states that a learner’s cognitive functioning can be modified through mediated learning. EMCDC is aimed at enhancing processing, working memory, comprehension, and reasoning abilities. Participants were learners with Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) Learners were randomly assigned into one of two groups. The active control group received small group intervention in academic subjects an hour a day five times a week for 7 weeks. The training group received small group intervention in the Equipping Minds Cognitive Development Curriculum an hour a day five times a week for 7 weeks. Both groups were tested on measures of working memory, verbal and nonverbal ability, and academic attainment before training and re-tested on the same measures after training. Analysis of the pre-to post-test scores demonstrated significant (p<0.05) advantage of the training over the active control group on the KBIT-2 in verbal, nonverbal, and IQ composite, as well as far transfer effects in science. This study’s design could be replicated in multiple educational settings with other neurodevelopmental disorders. Key words: Neuroplasticity, cognitive development, Feuerstein, Equipping Minds, mediated learning, working memory, Specific Learning Disorders

Education and skills training are proven remedies in overcoming poverty and unemployment and creating equitable, prosperous and sustainable economies. The government has recognised the critical role post-school education plays in ensuring South Africa realises Vision 2030 which has set a lofty target of 1.25 million student enrolments in Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions by 2030. While considerable success has been achieved in enrolment rates, student throughputs at these institutions are weak; on average, only 20% of all students who enter these institutions graduate with a qualification. However, despite all these challenges, there is also reason to be optimistic. The dramatic impact of technology on the world today; how we learn and connect with others and the affordability and accessibility of mobile devices have meant that knowledge acquisition is now available to almost everyone. The purpose of this case study is to explore how mobile technology can be used to enhance the learning experience for students at post-school institutions such as Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges. Research participants are drawn from False Bay College in the Western Cape. These 50 young people ranged in age from 18 to 29 years and are split across two study disciplines; namely, Travel and Tourism, and Hospitality. A qualitative case study is conducted, using an inductive approach in a constructivist paradigm. Different data sources (observations, interviews, and WhatsApp group chats) were used to provide an understanding of how mobile technology made the learning experience richer and more rewarding to participants. Data were analysed using Thematic Analyses. The findings indicate that participants feel positive about the use of mobile technology for learning as well as its contribution to the enrichment of their overall learning experience. The accessibility of the technology used in the study, as well as the accessibility afforded by the technology (access to experts, rewards, support services, and industry information) were considered by participants to be the main contributory reasons for the positive enhancement of their learning. However, factors that detract from the use of mobile technology for learning are also listed. Given the increased focus on improving TVET graduate throughput rates, against a backdrop of cost-cutting and demands for a workforce armed with 21st Century skills, educational leaders need to further explore and better understand how ubiquitous technology, like mobile phones, can be used to enhance learning for students to be better equipped to meaningfully participate in the knowledge economy.

Master of Public Health - MPH / Background: The appointment system learning initiative (ASLI) was introduced in 2016 as a way of implementing appointment systems in the City of Cape Town, in response to lengthy waiting times at PHC facilities It was intended as a safe space for learning, and piloted facility-generated planning in which knowledge was shared in workshops over 18 months. Variability in how well appointment systems had taken root was noted at the second feedback workshop. Currently, there is little information on the experiences, perceptions and roles of managers with regard to the initiative, or what unforeseen issues may have had an impact. Aim: This study aimed to reach an understanding of how the Appointment Systems Learning Initiative approach and its implementation was experienced by participating facility and PPHC managers at City Health facilities in Cape Town. This includes an exploration of the roles and experiences of health managers, including their perceptions of the benefits and challenges of the process. Methods: A qualitative, exploratory design was used. Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of twelve facility managers and two PPHC managers. Manager’s roles were analysed deductively according to Mintzburg’s 2009 framework, while other data analysis was inductive. Ethical clearance was obtained from UWC BMREC prior to commencement. Informed consent was obtained from participants and confidentiality was preserved at all stages of research. Results: Managers viewed the learning experience positively and felt that facility-generated planning was preferable to hierarchical imposition of programmes. They found it motivating to learn how other facilities had solved problems and designed their systems. Contextual changes to the health system affected ASLI by increasing the pace and prescriptiveness of implementation, and impeded the capacity for PPHC managers to offer support. Facility managers fulfilled critical leadership roles according to Mintzberg’s model, but the way in which they carried out roles such as delegation, team building or communicating may have affected implementation. Challenges included issues with human resources, insufficient time available for managing implementation, lack of preparation beforehand, insufficient support and contextual changes. Benefits included shorter working hours for staff, better organisation in facilities, shorter waiting times and improved satisfaction for end-users.

Published Article / The aim of the study on which this article is based was to reflect on the learning experiences of students during integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI) training in an undergraduate programme. IMCI is a set of guidelines that was established by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for cost-effective quality care for children younger than five to prevent diseases and death (WHO, 2004). Skilled primary healthcare workers are required to provide quality care at first contact with these children. The IMCI package was presented as an integral part of the second-year module that focuses on primary healthcare. In order to improve the quality of health services and refocus the health system on primary health-care (South Africa Department of Health, 2010), students have to demonstrate that they have achieved competence. According to Killen (2000:188), competence is a holistic term and focuses on knowledge, skills and values instead of competencies, which refer to specific capabilities. Primary health-care workers who act competently will integrate foundational IMCI knowledge with skills and values as well as with the ability to verify their decisions (Killen, 2000:188). Aqualitative, exploratory and descriptive research design was used to investigate the IMCI learning experiences. Such experiences are one of the indications whether training has been successful and how it can be improved (Suski, 2004:222). Data was collected by means of nominal-group technique (NGT) interviews with second-year nursing students of the training school who complied with the criteria for inclusion. NGT interviews were used effectively to evaluate clinical interaction, education and training.The findings reflected the different emotions experienced during teaching and learning as having been positive, negative or neutral. The consideration of negative emotions will assist with the improvement of IMCI teaching and learning, but all these findings can be useful for other higher-education institutions that present or plan to present IMCI training.

Blended learning has sometimes been calledthe best of both worlds, combining the advantages of face-to-face instruction with the advantages of online learning. It has been in existence for over a decade, and more research needed to be done to determine its efficacy and desirability for community colleges. The goal of this dissertation was to document the ways in which blended learning has changed the community college learning experience. The investigation took place at Ulster County Community College, a small rural college in upstate New York. A mixed method, triangulation design was used. Quantitative data were collected from the college's student database regarding final grades in each of the three delivery modes (face-to-face, blended, and fully online). An analysis of variance looked at difference in achievement among the three modalities. No statistically significant difference was found. Archival end-of-semester student questionnaires were analyzed and it was found that even in the early years of blended learning, students were generally satisfied and appreciated the convenience of the blended modality. Qualitative data were collected through a student focus group and faculty interviews. Student priorities were teacher presence, faculty skill at teaching blended classes, and the support that was available to them from the faculty and administration. Faculty voiced concerns with transitioning from teaching face-to-face or online to teaching blended. The results suggest that it is not the modality of the course that determines whether or not a student is successful; teacher presence, whether online or in person, is a strong indicator of student success and satisfaction. An instructor who is well-versed in the pedagogy of blended learning, a course with skillfully designed and integrated online components, and an administration that provides channels for technical support, combine to provide students with a successful blended learning experience.

This study investigated the effectiveness of Feuerstein’s mediated intervention programme on a sample of the Grade Five population, in a remedial school. The participants (n=20) were systematically sampled and they constituted two groups, namely, Individual Mediation (n=10) and Group Mediation (n=10). It was hypothesised that participants exposed to this programme would yield significant improvement in cognitive functioning as measured by the (Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices (RCPM). As a result of the intensity and the duration of the mediation that was provided to the participants within the Individual Mediation, it was hypothesised that they would perform significantly better than those within the Group Mediation. Set Variations B-8 to B-12 from Feuerstein’s Learning Potential Assessment Device served as vehicle for mediating cognitive deficiencies. Following the intervention, a significant improvement on the RCPM was only obtained within the Individual Mediation. Although there was significant improvement, no significant difference was found between the Individual Mediation and the Group Mediation. The pre-post-test results of the Individual Mediation corroborate existing literature that provision of adequate and appropriate mediated learning experience is effective in improving cognitive functioning. However, non-significant results between the two groups suggest that a pre-post significant finding within the Individual Mediation was as an effect of pre-test differences. These findings are therefore inconclusive. It might be helpful to further replicate this investigation in order to determine whether support is found for the previous or for the present findings.

This narrative inquiry study examines the stories told by seven adult students about learning cognitive therapy and how they experienced being both the subject and the writer of their own case study. At the time of being interviewed, some were completing a Bachelor of Counselling or Alcohol and Drug Studies, while others had completed their counsellor training and had employment in their profession. The students completing the Alcohol and Drug Studies are also trainee counsellors with a particular specialisation. All students completed a ten day, introductory course in Cognitive Therapy. There has been limited research exploring the learning experiences of students on cognitive therapy training. There does not appear to be any research on either the use of self case study in Cognitive Therapy education or the student experience of self case study. The purpose of this study was twofold: firstly, to explore the students’ perspectives on what it was like to learn cognitive therapy and secondly, to explore the students’ experiences of completing a case study on themselves. In this study, narrative interviews were used to invite participants to tell their story. The interviews were audio taped and transcribed. The participants’ in depth stories when analysed, produced clear thematic content as well as unique accounts of personal learning journeys. Analysis involved rewriting each interview as a core narrative, structured to show each participant’s position when they began learning, the essence of the story line, their unique voice, the plot direction, the story’s climax, including the impact on their identity and finally, their core message. These narratives are represented by six short pieces of prose and a poem. The narrators and cognitive therapy are central characters in all stories. Thematic content was depicted as steps in a learning process. All core narratives were sent to each participant for checking that it captured their original story and its meaning. The findings were that adult counselling students found brief introductory training courses in Cognitive Therapy to be very effective for enabling them to learn the cognitive therapy model, to refine their cognitive therapy skills and to enhance their own personal development. Self case study has the potential to provide a complex, multi-dimensional learning opportunity facilitating deep learning. Self case study can result in transformative learning and the development of new stories of identity for the writer (and subject) of the case study. Individual student accounts suggest that Cognitive Therapy can be usefully adapted for some Maori and self case study can be a means of strengthening cultural identity. In addition, for some counselling student trainees, the process of doing a self case study may provide a means of working through childhood trauma. The findings provide some preliminary support for including use of self case study within the counselling curriculum. Self case study can provide opportunities for deepening learning about theory and practice, which is all the more potent when related to students’ own selves. Given support, students might be encouraged to complete self case study as a means of gaining significant personal development. Such curriculum changes would require additional expertise on the part of counselling educators. The narratives analysed in this study suggest that particular support may be needed to enable the safe self development of students from ethnic minority groups and also to provide well for those who had experienced childhood trauma. This is recommended as an area for further research. Given that Counselling education has the task of developing and preparing students for the Counselling profession, students’ perspectives on this experience, are an important and relatively underdeveloped area of research. There is a need for further research specifically on students’ learning experiences in Cognitive Therapy. Ongoing research is needed about the use of self case study as a learning opportunity for student learning and personal development.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the experiences of academic women in order to gain an in depth understanding of factors that encourage and discourage their career advancement. A qualitative design and a Feminist standpoint framework guided the study. 11 faculty members from different faculties were interviewed in this study: eight female academics and three male academics from three Swedish universities: Linköping, Örebro and Stockholm. The study looked at the factors that encourage women academics career advancement such as: personal, family and academic factors. While, factors that discourage their career advancement have been also discussed and such factors are: the lack of support, network and mentorship; the reconciliation of the private life and the professional life; the lack of time: excess academic and administrative workloads. The results of this study also revealed that the lack of academic support, mentorship and the combination of family and work duties appeared to be the greatest barriers for the career advancement of the female academics. study concludes that despite the Swedish government countless series of measures and reforms to improve gender equality and equal opportunity in higher education, the number of female academics in the top ranking especially professorship is still very low and the career progression is also slow compared to their male counterpart.

This narrative inquiry study examines the stories told by seven adult students about learning cognitive therapy and how they experienced being both the subject and the writer of their own case study. At the time of being interviewed, some were completing a Bachelor of Counselling or Alcohol and Drug Studies, while others had completed their counsellor training and had employment in their profession. The students completing the Alcohol and Drug Studies are also trainee counsellors with a particular specialisation. All students completed a ten day, introductory course in Cognitive Therapy. There has been limited research exploring the learning experiences of students on cognitive therapy training. There does not appear to be any research on either the use of self case study in Cognitive Therapy education or the student experience of self case study. The purpose of this study was twofold: firstly, to explore the students’ perspectives on what it was like to learn cognitive therapy and secondly, to explore the students’ experiences of completing a case study on themselves. In this study, narrative interviews were used to invite participants to tell their story. The interviews were audio taped and transcribed. The participants’ in depth stories when analysed, produced clear thematic content as well as unique accounts of personal learning journeys. Analysis involved rewriting each interview as a core narrative, structured to show each participant’s position when they began learning, the essence of the story line, their unique voice, the plot direction, the story’s climax, including the impact on their identity and finally, their core message. These narratives are represented by six short pieces of prose and a poem. The narrators and cognitive therapy are central characters in all stories. Thematic content was depicted as steps in a learning process. All core narratives were sent to each participant for checking that it captured their original story and its meaning. The findings were that adult counselling students found brief introductory training courses in Cognitive Therapy to be very effective for enabling them to learn the cognitive therapy model, to refine their cognitive therapy skills and to enhance their own personal development. Self case study has the potential to provide a complex, multi-dimensional learning opportunity facilitating deep learning. Self case study can result in transformative learning and the development of new stories of identity for the writer (and subject) of the case study. Individual student accounts suggest that Cognitive Therapy can be usefully adapted for some Maori and self case study can be a means of strengthening cultural identity. In addition, for some counselling student trainees, the process of doing a self case study may provide a means of working through childhood trauma. The findings provide some preliminary support for including use of self case study within the counselling curriculum. Self case study can provide opportunities for deepening learning about theory and practice, which is all the more potent when related to students’ own selves. Given support, students might be encouraged to complete self case study as a means of gaining significant personal development. Such curriculum changes would require additional expertise on the part of counselling educators. The narratives analysed in this study suggest that particular support may be needed to enable the safe self development of students from ethnic minority groups and also to provide well for those who had experienced childhood trauma. This is recommended as an area for further research. Given that Counselling education has the task of developing and preparing students for the Counselling profession, students’ perspectives on this experience, are an important and relatively underdeveloped area of research. There is a need for further research specifically on students’ learning experiences in Cognitive Therapy. Ongoing research is needed about the use of self case study as a learning opportunity for student learning and personal development.

Nursing has come a long way to become a subject of university study. Clinical placement is a vital part of the study in preparing students for future nursing roles as providers of care to patients. The placement within nursing homes is a compulsory part of the clinical studies. Major actors in the clinical placement are supervisors. Their actions and support are determinant for the nursing student’s experiences, in learning and development of their clinical skills.