People often have very little knowledge about the impact of unsustainable human population growth on the environment and social well-being especially in developing countries. Therefore, an efficient method should be explored in order to educate, and if possible, to convince the members of the public to realize the environmental and social problems caused by the unsustainable population growth. Digital Game-Based Learning (DGBL) has been highlighted by some studies as an innovative tool for learning enhancement. While only a handful of studies have scientifically evaluated the impact of DGBL on knowledge outcomes, the approach is an attractive tool to increase knowledge and motivate engagement with environmental issues surrounding population growth because of its potential to improve learners’ motivation and engagement thereby compared to traditional learning approaches. Therefore, the three primary research questions for this study are: 1) "Can a single-player digital game be an appropriate and attractive learning application for the players to gain insight about the relationship between the growing human population and the environmental issues?" 2) "How can we design environmental games for the players to gain insights about the relationship between the growing human population and the environmental issues via playing a game?" and 3) "What are the obstacles preventing the players from adapting environmental knowledge obtained from the learning mediums into the real-life?" To inform the development of an efficacious DGBL game to impact learning outcomes, critical reviews of environmental issues related to population growth as well as critical reviews of commercial and serious environmental games in terms of their educational and motivational values were undertaken in this study. The results of these critical reviews informed the development of a Guideline for Environmental Games (or GEG). The GEG was developed by combining the engaging game technology with environmental learning and persuasion theories. The GEG was then used to inform the development of a prototype game called THE GROWTH; a single-player, quiz-based, city-management game targeting young adolescents and adults. Multiple evaluation methods of the game were used to answer the three key research questions mentioned earlier. These methods included: 1) The Randomized Controlled Trial approach (RCT) where the participants were systematically divided into the experimental and the control group respectively and their knowledge scores (quantitative data) compared and analyzed, 2) The participants’ abilities to recall and describe the environmental and well-being issues were collected and analyzed qualitatively using The Content Analysis method (CA) and, 3) The participants’ overall feedback on the learning mediums was collected and analyzed to evaluate the motivational values of THE GROWTH itself. To this end, THE GROWTH was evaluated with 82 Thai-nationality participants (70 males and 12 females). The results showed that participants assigned to play THE GROWTH demonstrated greater environmental and social-well-being knowledge related to population growth (F(1,40) = 43.86, p = .006) compared to the control group participants assigned to a non-interactive reading activity (consistent with material presented in THE GROWTH). Furthermore, participants who played THE GROWTH recalled on average more content presented in the game when compared to participants who were presented with similar content in the reading material (t (59) = 3.35, p = .001). In terms of level of engagement, the study suggested that participants assigned to the game were more engaging with their learning medium on average when compared to participants assigned to the non-interactive reading activity. This is evidenced by the longer time participants spent on the task, the activity observed from participants’ recorded gameplay, and their positive responses in the survey. The semi-structured interviews used in this study highlighted the participants’ attitudes towards the environmental, social, and technological issues. Although the participants’ perceived behavioural intention towards the environmental commitments were not statistically differed between the two study group, their responses still provide some evidences that leaps may occur from the learning mediums to the real-world context. Furthermore, these responses can be valuable evidences for the policy makers and for the future development of environmental serious games. Overall, the results suggested that digital environmental games such as THE GROWTH might be an effective and motivational tool in promote the learning about sustainable population size, the environment, and the social well-being. The game’s ability to convince the participants to change towards sustainable lifestyles, however, might be subjected to the future research and other real-world circumstances such as the governmental and public supports. In summary, the research in this thesis makes the following contributions to knowledge: • The Guideline for Environmental Games (GEG) contributes to knowledge about making theoretically-based environmental games. It has particular significance because the guideline was validated by demonstrating learning improvements in a systematic randomized controlled trial. • The use of Multi-Strategy Study Design where multiple systematic evaluation methods were used in conjunction to provide conclusive findings about the efficacy of DGBL to impact outcomes. • THE GROWTH itself is a contribution to applied research as an example of an effective DGBL learning tool.

The results of mathematics level 3 have always been a problem at TVET colleges as this hampers the certification rate and the progress of the students to level 4. Students who did not do well in the current subject are not allowed to register that subject in the following level. Even though the students are allowed to progress to level 4 they won’t be certificated for both levels until they pass the remaining subject. The above challenges made the researcher to check during the marking and moderation of November / December examination the course of poor results for mathematics level 3. In the process of checking the researcher discovered that rectangular hyperbola is one of the topics that the students of mathematics level 3 are struggling with. This study therefore focuses on exploring the challenges faced by TVET Level 3 NCV students in understanding the hyperbolic function in mathematics. In addition to the literature review, an empirical investigation based on a qualitative approach and involving semi-structured interviews with the students of a TVET college in North West was conducted to collect data. The analysis of documents relevant to the study was also used as the other method. The study used participatory action research, where the researcher, collaborators and students work alongside each other to collect data and to improve practice and follow the spiral pattern of reflection, analysing the results and adapting the action. The research design and methodology was qualitative. This helped the researcher to understand the challenges students faced in the learning of rectangular hyperbola and also came up with ways to minimise those challenges. The data collection methods used was interviewing using semi-structured questions, pre-test and post-tests. During data collection different interventions (IN1 –IN3) was used depending on the understanding of the students. For ethical consideration, ethical clearance was obtained from UNISA. DHET, the principal of the college, collaborators, parents and students will also give written consent on forms which will be sent out explaining what we envisage. Since research was voluntary, an explanation was given that this was not compulsory and that participation was completely voluntary and that they could withdraw at any time. In this study, various methods to empower students were recommended. Recommendations are also made on what was found in this study, as are recommendations for further study. / Mathematics Education / M. Ed. (Mathematics Education)

1 online resource (xii, 171 leaves) : illustrations (chiefly color), color graphs / ADHD negatively impacts academic performance, and the traditional classroom setting conflicts with the symptoms of ADHD. This research examined the potential of teaching through play and peer-teaching as alternative teaching methods to improve the mathematical performance of Grade 1 children with symptoms of ADHD; by answering, would adapting teaching methods to include teaching through play and/or peer-teaching, in the South African classroom, improve the mathematical performance of children with symptoms of ADHD? A pre-test-post-test control group design was employed in this comparative experimental study. Participants were purposively selected then randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups. An eight-week intervention was implemented as teaching through play or peer-teaching. Pre-test and post-test scores were analysed using a dependent t-test, a Wilcoxon Signed Rank test, and a Kruskal Wallis test. Teaching through play and peer-teaching have the potential to improve the mathematical performance of Grade 1 children with symptoms of ADHD. Special precautions were taken in the process of minor research participants, adhering to the ethical principles of beneficence and non-maleficence, justice, and autonomy. / Psychology / M. Sc. (Psychology (Research Consultation))

Объектом исследования является тревожность. Предметом исследования стала связь изменений показателей уровня тревожности в результате предтестовой беседы со стратегией прохождения СПФИ. Магистерская диссертация состоит из введения, трех глав, заключения, списка литературы (61 источник) и приложения. Объем магистерской диссертации 99 страница, на которых размещены 16 рисунков и 16 таблиц. Во введении раскрывается актуальность проблемы исследования, разработанность проблематики, ставятся цель и задачи исследования, определяются объект и предмет исследования, формулируются основная и дополнительные гипотезы, указываются методы и эмпирическая база, а также этапы проведения исследования, научная новизна, теоретическая и практическая значимость работы. Первая глава включает в себя обзор иностранной и отечественной литературы по методу специального психофизиологического исследования с применением полиграфа. Представленные разделы посвящены описанию метода СПФИ и роли предтестовой беседы в СПФИ. Выводы по первой главе представляют собой обобщение по изучению теоретического материала. Во второй главе описаны представления о тревожности в психологии и обозначены методы диагностики тревожности в психологии. В выводах по второй главе обобщён материал по данной тематике. Третья глава посвящена эмпирической части исследования. В ней представлено описание организации и методов проведенного исследования и результатов, полученных по всем использованным методикам и методам: специальное психофизиологическое исследование с использованием полиграфа (СПФИ); метафорические ассоциативные карты (МАК); шкала ситуативной тревожности Спилбергера-Ханина; 10-и бальная шкала самооценки тревожности; измерение вегетативных показателей на основе данных тонометра. Также в главе представлен сравнительный анализ Манна Уитни и корреляционный анализ результатов исследования. Выводы по главе 3 включают в себя основные результаты эмпирического исследования. В заключении в обобщенном виде изложены результаты теоретической и эмпирической частей работы, а также выводы по выдвинутым гипотезам и обоснована практическая значимость исследования. / The object of the study is anxiety. The subject of the study was the relationship of changes in anxiety level indicators as a result of a pre-test conversation with the strategy of passing the SPFI. The master's thesis consists of an introduction, three chapters, a conclusion, a list of references (61 sources) and an appendix. The volume of the master's thesis is 99 pages, which contain 16 figures and 16 tables. The introduction reveals the relevance of the research problem, the elaboration of the problem, sets the purpose and objectives of the study, defines the object and subject of the study, formulates the main and additional hypotheses, specifies the methods and empirical base, as well as the stages of research, scientific novelty, theoretical and practical significance of the work. The first chapter includes a review of foreign and domestic literature on the method of special psychophysiological research using a polygraph. The presented sections are devoted to the description of the SPFI method and the role of the pre-test conversation in the SPFI. The conclusions of the first chapter are a generalization of the study of theoretical material. The second chapter describes the concepts of anxiety in psychology and identifies methods for diagnosing anxiety in psychology. The conclusions of the second chapter summarize the material on this topic. The third chapter is devoted to the empirical part of the study. It describes the organization and methods of the study and the results obtained by all the methods and methods used: a special psychophysiological study using a polygraph (SPFI); metaphorical associative maps (MAC); the Spielberger-Khanin situational anxiety scale; a 10-point scale of self-assessment of anxiety; measurement of vegetative indicators based on tonometer data. The chapter also presents a comparative analysis of Mann Whitney and a correlation analysis of the results of the study. The conclusions of Chapter 3 include the main results of an empirical study. In conclusion, the results of the theoretical and empirical parts of the work are summarized, as well as conclusions on the hypotheses put forward and the practical significance of the study is substantiated.