Thesis (MTech (Human Resource Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2007 / South Africa is a country, which is rich in history and has a young democracy, which continues to evolve. The new democratic Government has envisioned a Higher Education (HE) system that would be accessible to all who wants to further their tertiary studies. The White Paper on the Transformation of Higher Education of 1997 reaffirms the purpose of HE with regard to social responsibility, since it incorporates community engagement as a scholarly activity, which places emphasis on developing students as future citizens of South Africa. HE can produce different forms of community engagement, which include but is not limited to distance education, community based research, participatory action research, professional community service and service learning. The Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) accepts that South Africa has social and economic challenges, as any young democracy has, and incorporates Service Learning as a mechanism, which may contribute to the solutions of such challenges. In this research study, emphasis is placed on Service Learning as a teaching methodology to enhance students’ interpersonal and diversity skills, while it also develops their professional learning experience, as well as their corporate social responsibility. Students are encouraged to reflect on their learning experiences, both academically and personally. The literature survey reveals that South African HE is a member of the Talloires Declaration (2005) that unites universities globally to a uniform framework on the civic role and social responsibilities of HE. South African HE has partnerships with both the United States Fordand Kellogg Foundations in order to promote, develop and create awareness regarding social responsibility.

M.Tech. (Public Relations Management) / Learning through experience or experiential learning is an aspect of learning that proved to be very challenging to study. This study aimed to investigate the contemporary view of experiential learning and the practices used by higher education service providers In South Africa in the implementation of experiential learning activities in public relations qualifications. Higher education service providers play a significant role in determining the content of a curriculum and for that reason it was decided to start this investigation by focusing on higher education service providers. The study aimed to explore and analyse the concept of experiential learning as it pertains to public relations education and training and develop a framework for effective and standardised implementation. Experiential learning can be defined as a holistic approach to learning in which the learner is actively involved in the learning process by means of concrete experience, abstract conceptualisation, observation and reflection as well as active experimentation. Higher education service providers have included experiential learning activities in their education and training programmes for a number of years. International and local public relations qualifications have as part of the proposed curriculum, internships or cooperative education programmes included as a credit bearing component to the qualification. The research study began by determining what experiential learning is, how higher education service providers view experiential learning, its relevance to public relations education and training and how it is implemented in public relations qualifications across South Africa. Educators, learners and future employers all form part of the stakeholder group involved in the education and training of public relations practitioners for the South African industry. The expectations of these groups of individuals need to be taken into consideration when designing qualifications, and partnerships are needed to ensure that all are involved in achieving the set objectives. Developments in higher education and training in South Africa include the forming of closer working relationships between education and labour...

Thesis (MTech (Education))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2005 / This research study attempted to identify the computer science needs of a rural school and then attempted to see to what extent a higher education institution could meet those needs and to what extent it could not, through a service-Ieaming project. The study also attempted to develop a framework to guide the implementation of a serviceleaming project in computer science for a rural school. The study was set against the literature on the need for higher education to transform and demonstrate greater responsibility and commitment to social and economic development of society in general, and the need for increased participation, collaboration and partnership formation through service-learning projects in particular. The literature on computer use in schools and best practice for service-learning in higher education was also reviewed. Using qualitative approaches and data production methods the school teachers, learners, students and lecturers in a higher education institution were interviewed in order to establish the computer science needs of the school and to find out how the students and lecturers could address those needs through service-learning. The research findings indicated that the rural school in De Doorns has a serious lack of essential computer-related infrastructure such as the computer laboratory, computers, and well-trained staff in using computers. Other computer science-related needs included proposal writing, technical assistance and security personnel. The research findings also revealed that students and lecturers in the departments of Information Technology, Office Management, Human Resource Management and Education could be involved in the training of staff, enhancement of computer skills and proposal writing. From the research findings, it became evident that the two school community needs, Le. the provision of computer laboratories and security services, could not be addressed through service-Ieaming, but through funding proposals and fundraising that involved the Western Cape Education Department and the private sector. The study therefore demonstrates possible partnerships between schools and higher education institutions and calls for collaborative efforts that include government departments and the private sector in order to make education beneficial to the development of school learners, students in higher education and South African communities in general.

The focus of this research is Service-Learning. The research aims to construct a Service- Learning theory that is grounded in South African practice. The dynamic and challenging early decades of South Africa’s new democracy constitute the context into which Service- Learning has been introduced into Higher Education in the country. The potential of Service- Learning to make a meaningful contribution to the development of Higher Education, particularly in relation to its multiple roles in African society, is recognised. There is concern, however, that lack of adequate theorisation means that Service-Learning is poorly understood and that its practice and impact are erratic. I undertake the study from an underlying paradigm of constructivism, adopting a qualitative approach and employing Grounded Theory methods. Aligning with Charmaz’ (2006) “constructivist stance” on Grounded Theory, and conscious of the need to be informed by as wide a variety of experiences and voices as possible, I access a range of formal and informal documentation that cover Service-Learning activities at module/ project, institutional and national levels. The activities include the promotion of Service-Learning in all sectors of society, its implementation in a variety of disciplines and communities, policy and research initiatives and scholarly publications from South African authors. Coding and memo writing yield the major concepts on which I construct the theory, namely, Context, Identity, Development, Curriculum, Power and Engagement. Centered on the core concept of Engagement, the theoretical framework comprises four Discourses, namely Service-Learning as Scholarly Engagement, Service-Learning as Benevolent Engagement, Service-Learning as Democratic Engagement and Service-Learning as Professional Engagement. The Discourses each have a primary focus, i.e. knowledge, service, social justice and resource development respectively. The Discourses framework has implications for the definition, practice and evaluation of Service-Learning. In addition, the framework offers conceptual tools for the understanding of engagement in contexts other than Service-Learning. By their nature, the Discourses may be split, merged or elaborated as new knowledge and practice come to light. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

D.Phil. / In today's knowledge-intensive economy, an organisation's available knowledge is becoming an increasingly important strategic resource. The effective management of this resource is, consequently, one of the most important challenges facing today's organisation. Organisational learning processes which are responsible for the creation and sharing of knowledge should produce a core competence, which represents a form of valuable intellectual capital for the organisation and this has become a business imperative in the knowledgeintensive economy Without knowledge sharing between individuals, in groups, amongst groups and in the organisation as a whole there can be no knowledge and no sustainable competitive advantage through the use of organisational knowledge. Discovering the enablers and barriers to knowledge sharing is one of the aims of the study. I believe the proposed study could contribute to the "how" of knowledge sharing. This study will explore what the systemic relationship between knowledge management; knowledge sharing and organisational ethos is with the aim of developing a substantive knowledge-sharing model that explicates the knowledge-sharing processes. Based on the literature review, the reasons for organisations to focus on knowledge management and knowledge sharing are relatively consistent across organisations. At one level, organisations are concerned with keeping people informed regarding information and business processes to avoid duplication of effort, but also to stimulate collaboration and encourage group sharing. On a deeper level, most executives would agree that focusing on knowledge management is likely to increase organisational adaptability and competitiveness. Knowledge sharing can be viewed as a type of constant business innovation process.

Despite the fact that the facilitation of inquiry learning is a core methodology in the General Education and Training (GET) band of the South African National Curriculum Statement, rote learning and memorization of algorithms remains common practice in many mathematics classrooms. The inquiry-based Family Maths professional development programme, offered by the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, attempts not only to support the transformative education practices targeted by the South African National Department of Education, but also to extend them beyond the school walls to the community at large. This study investigates the extent to which the Family Maths professional development programme develops facilitators’ ability to implement inquiry-based learning. It also seeks to explore which aspects of the programme are effective in developing an inquiry-based approach. The research undertaken is an empirical study of 39 facilitators and uses both qualitative and quantitative methods. The facilitators’ inquiry beliefs and ability to implement inquiry learning was measured by means of questionnaires, observation schedules and interviews. As the ‘teacher as facilitator of inquiry-based teaching and learning’ is a requirement of all South African teachers, the findings of this research should make a meaningful contribution to the field of mathematics teacher education in the South African context.

Bibliography: pages 141-151. / Distance education promises to broaden access to education to an increasing number and variety of learners in the "new South Africa". The construction and presentation of course texts is a critical factor in whether that promise is fulfilled. The producers of texts, working in their specific socio-cultural contexts, select and sequence the concepts they teach and create voices in the text which work in place of actual teachers. These textual voices interact with readers in a variety of communicative and educative ways, opening to greater or fewer styles of learning, and constructing a wider or narrower range of identities for readers. This results in learning styles being more or less able to be engaged, and learners being more or less able to identify with identities constructed for them by the text. The learner identities so constructed are sustained by combinations of political, educational and global discourses which reflect, challenge or perpetuate social power relations, such as gender

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

This study explored the participants‟ perceptions of their service-learning experiences in the Department of Interior Design at the Durban University of Technology (DUT), KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The point of departure of the study was a Community Higher Education Service Partnerships (CHESP) Pilot Project initiated by JET Education Services (JET). The study is placed in the context of Higher Education transformation, where "community engagement" is a national imperative. In higher education such engagement includes service-learning. The key focus of the study was on how the participants perceived their experiences in terms of their academic learning, personal growth and social responsibilities. Of interest, too, were the participants' ideas of how service-learning could be improved, if indeed retained, in the interior design programme. Data comprised of reflective reports which were completed by the participants shortly after the service experience and from semi-structured interviews conducted one year later. The qualitative research design involved my immersion in the setting, the collection and categorization of the data and a review of the findings in relation to the current literature. This research highlights the social purpose of Higher Education and the opportunity service-learning presents to nurture the three domains of learning, namely academic, personal and social. Recommendations for future service-learning within the programme are made. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

The project describes the action research implementation, and evaluation of learning, of a service-learning component in a second year undergraduate organic chemistry course. The research aims to explore the learning that takes place in a service-learning context while utilizing an action research methodology within the critical theory paradigm. This occurs in response to the world-wide call for Higher Education to produce people with civic competencies and responsiveness to the society in which they live (Boyer 1996). Educating young Chemists to see the importance of their knowledge and their responsibilities in society is an important pedagogical step in the effort to cross boundaries and make connections between people communities (Eyler and Giles 1999). The goal of this project was to explore and categorize the learning that takes place in a service-learning context and discover how these areas of learning impact the awareness of the parties involved with regard to the discipline of chemistry as well as social issues. The project makes use of Kolb‘s (1984) Experiential Learning Theory, and Eyler and Giles‘ (1999) categories of learning in service-learning and results indicate that service-learning can be a powerful pedagogical tool to increase learning in chemistry as well as in the areas of critical thinking, personal and social development, reflection and citizenship. Students‘ perceptions of themselves, their discipline and their responsibility to society were transformed by their experience of service-learning in their undergraduate chemistry course.