Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW) / Despite the vast research on drugs, gang violence and gangsterism in South Africa and specifically in the Western Cape, little is known about the experiences of school-going adolescents who reside in the areas ravaged by these gangs. The general image that emerges from the literature is negative and apathetic about the plight of adolescents residing in gang infested communities as they are usually seen and referred to as part of the problem. Previous studies and literature have therefore omitted the actual experiences of non-gang related adolescents as a result of the existence of gangs and gangsterism in their communities. This research explored these experiences in detail focusing specifically on school-going adolescents between the ages of 16 to 18 and mostly targeting Grade 11 in Hanover Park- Western Cape. The population of the study was therefore all adolescents within the area of Hanover Park with the specific sample of study targeting mainly the school-going non-gang affiliated adolescents of Hanover Park, preferably those doing Grade 11 and registered at a Hanover Park school. The researcher also explored and looked at the experiences of the school-going adolescents through use of focus groups with at least eighteen (18) learners from each of the two selected high schools in Hanover Park. These 18 participants from each school were divided into three different groups implying that the researcher ran three separate focus groups at each of the schools. This was also be supported by the use of qualitative semi- structured interviews that were conducted with at least 6 participants from the focus group sessions with 1 participant being selected from each group. This ultimately gave perspective on the unexplored views and experiences of school-going learners in Hanover Park that are assumed to be non-gang affiliated but experience the pressures and existence of gangs in their communities

This research paper aims to look at the social impact of the Internet on Gauteng high school learners. This study was conducted to establish the kinds of activities that learners performed on the Internet and the length of time they spent on the Internet in order to evaluate the social impact that these activities may have on them. Using a sample of 50 learners from two high schools in the Gauteng region, qualitative and quantitative data was collected through the use of questionnaires. The results suggest that there is both a positive and a negative social impact of the Internet on Gauteng high school learners. Learners engage in Internet chat rooms and reveal their personal information to people they meet online. Further, they arrange for face to face meetings with their online friends. This puts the learners at risk of getting hurt because they meet people whose intentions they do not know. The positive social impact of the Internet is that it creates an environment where learners seek information which is needed for educational purposes. The research concludes that parents, teachers and the government need to be aware of the social impact of the Internet so that where need be they can work together to come up with strategies that will minimize the exposure to harmful content on the Internet by the learners. / Dissertation (MIT)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Informatics / unrestricted

Magister Artium (Sport, Recreation and Exercise Science) - MA(SRES) / Childhood obesity and its associated major health risk factors such as dyslipidaemia, type II diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease, is a growing problem across the globe, with physical inactivity being considered a major contributing factor. At present it appears that we are losing the fight against inactivity and obesity in young people. According to some researchers we are raising the most sedentary and unhealthy generation in history. However, the existence of Physical Education in schools is under continuous threat. An overview of the literature on the global status of Physical Education highlights the nonexistence of the subject in many parts of the world especially in developing regions, while some national governments proposed either the removal of Physical Education from the curriculum or a reduced curriculum time allocation. Therefore, the overall aim of the study is to assess the current status of Physical Education in the Zambezi region of Namibia and to assess the attitudes of senior secondary school learners towards the subject. Quantitative and qualitative research approaches were used to obtain information about the official status of Physical Education in Namibia and the Zambezi region in particular; whether it is offered and taught; barriers (facilities; teacher qualifications; time-tabling, etc.) and learners' experiences, feelings, beliefs and perceptions on the status of the subject in the region. Questionnaires and focus group discussions were used to gather the data. The study population consisted of all the PE teachers and Grade 11 and 12 learners from all 10 senior secondary schools in the Zambezi region. Learners' and teacher's responses to each item in the questionnaires were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences V22 (SPSS) software programme. The study was conducted according to ethical practices pertaining to human subjects, as specified by the Faculty of Community and Health Sciences Research Ethics Committee of the UWC. A lack of qualified teachers was found to be one of the factors that cause low status of Physical Education in schools in the region. The study further found that lack or shortage of facilities was established to be a major crisis in all schools across the Zambezi Region. The 'non-educational' status of Physical Education come forth when earners were accorded time to express their feelings by answering the questions: "Do you consider Physical Education to be an important subject at a school?" and "Do you consider Physical Education to be as important as other subjects like Mathematics?" The findings too revealed that learners felt Physical Education is not as important as Mathematics, because Physical Education is a non promotional subject with no examinations written, while Mathematics is a promotional subject with examinations. Physical Education was found to be offered to both boys and girls without discrimination based on gender or cultural background. Girls and boys differed on all items tested. Boys were found to be a lot more negative about Physical Education. The study further found that monitoring, supervising and inspection of Physical Education in schools were inadequate. There were no inspectors from the regional education offices to oversee whether the subject was being taught according to the national standards outlined in the curriculum. Both phases of the study found that the school curriculum's goals and objectives were clearly stated in some of the schools' syllabi, though it was not fully emphasised or given effect to in the implementation phases. This was also one of the factors contributing to the low status of Physical Education in schools in which learners established that the curriculum was uninteresting.

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 leaners 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. Hence, this study investigated the impact of using technology through cooperative learning on learners’ performance on grade circle 11 geometry. It was thus an attempt to focus on blending these two teaching methods with an emphasis on the use of technology. The research took place at a Khayelitsha school and the scope of technology was limited to using a mathematical computer programme called Heymath.

Thesis (M.A. (English Studies)) --University of Limpopo, 2016 / Local and international assessments on reading have shown over the past years that South African primary schools learners fail to perform at the expected levels in comparison to their counterparts in other parts of the world. However, efforts by the Department of Education to improve the situation through the introduction of intervention programmes, like the Foundations for Learning do not seem to yield the expected results. This was evident in the Annual National Assessment reports which provided a gloomy picture despite the FFL’ s declared intention to improve reading performance to nothing less than 50%. This study therefore, sought to evaluate the implementation of the FFL reading guidelines. This study followed a qualitative research approach wherein observations and interviews were used to engage teachers in four selected Grade 6 rural schools. The resultant data was further corroborated by document analysis that confirmed the findings arrived at. The main finding emerging from this study was that schools treated the FFL reading guidelines as optional. Other findings were that the participating schools found it difficult to integrate the prescribed time allocated to reading activities into their school time tables without interfering with times allocated to other subjects. They therefore, resorted to their own discretion on how best to use the available time to engage learners in reading activities. The implications of the findings are that the reading guidelines were differently and partially implemented by the schools. The other implication was that the reading instruction conducted by the participating schools focused more on reading for assessment than on reading for pleasure. The ultimate goal of reading, which is to develop learners into independent readers, was therefore compromised.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the views of master trainers for life skills and the views of secondary school learners concerning the information they receive on HIV/AIDS. Master trainers are educators who were identified by the Department of Education to train groups of people and learners in various schools about life skills. Life skills can be described as the adaptive and positive behaviour that enables individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. My assumption was that there may be a relationship between how the messages are communicated and understood and adolescent behaviour. There may also be factors that contribute to a lack of change in behaviour - despite the information disseminated on HIV/AIDS. To reach out to young South Africans with effective prevention programmes has become a key to slowing the rate of HIV infection and ensuring a stronger future for the country (UNAIDS, 2006). This is done through awareness programmes in school-based life skills education, which is part of the life orientation programme. Knowledge of the views would be important to all people involved in the battle against the pandemic and may benefit, particularly, those educators who have been assigned the special role of disseminating HIV prevention messages. Learners receive messages from different sources, such as media, peers, parents and educators in various institutions. The problem is that despite the knowledge acquired through various programmes, learners are still unwilling to translate that knowledge into positive behaviour (low risk sexual behaviour). Girls are still falling pregnant and, therefore, it is very important to look at the messages learners get and how they understand them as this may have an influence on their behaviour. This research has used a qualitative approach to collect and analyse data. Semi-structured interviews were used because to obtain rich descriptive data that helped the researcher to understand the participants’ construction of knowledge and social reality (Maree et al., 2009).Two master trainers from each of the three identified secondary schools were interviewed. Group interviews were used for and learners. The study was conducted in Barberton in the Ehlanzeni region of Mpumalanga. The data was collected using a tape-recorder. Permission and consent was sought and obtained to collect data in the schools that were involved in the study. The data was analysed and several themes were identified. The messages that the learners received from the Life Skills programmes were perceived in different ways. The different sources of knowledge concerning HIV/AIDS that the learners accessed at the time contained conflicting messages. More emphasis was placed on the debate around the use of condoms, while there were other issues that needed attention, such as decaying moral standards, lack of parental support, peer influence and material needs - all factors that lead to risky sexual behaviour in teenage learners. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

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 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.

Thesis (MScPhysio (Physiotherapy))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / The Western Cape Education Department initiated a project that aims to provide all the learners from the province with computer access and to promote computer use in schools. Prolonged sitting in front of computers and psychosocial factors have been associated with musculoskeletal symptoms internationally. However, the impact of computer use on musculoskeletal pain among South African high school learners is yet to be determined. Objective The objective of the study was to determine whether sitting postural alignment and psychosocial factors contribute to the development of upper quadrant musculoskeletal pain in grade ten high school learners working on desktop computers. Study design An observational analytical study was performed on a sample of 104 asymptomatic high school learners. Methodology Six high schools in the Western Cape metropole were randomly selected 322 grade ten learners who are using desktop computers, were screened for upper quadrant musculoskeletal pain. Measurements at baseline were taken of the 104 asymptomatic learners, 49 girls and 55 boys. The sitting postural alignment was measured by using the Portable Posture Analysis Method (PPAM), which measured head tilt; cervical angle; shoulder pro- and retraction angle and thoracic angle in the sagittal plane. Depression and anxiety were described by using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC) respectively. The exposure to computer use was described in terms of duration and frequency of daily and weekly computer use. At three and six months post baseline, the onset and area of upper quadrant musculoskeletal pain was determined by using the Computer Usage Questionnaire. Results After six months, 27 of the 104 learners developed upper quadrant musculoskeletal pain due to seated or computer-related activities. There was no difference in computer exposure between the learners who developed upper quadrant musculoskeletal pain symptoms and the learners who remained asymptomatic. An extreme cervical angle (<34.75° or >43.95°; OR 2.6; 95% CI: 1.0-6.7) and a combination of extreme cervical and thoracic angle (<63.1° or >71.1°; OR 2.19; 95% CI: 1.0-5.6) were significant postural risk factors for the development of upper quadrant musculoskeletal pain. There was a tendency for boys to be at a greater risk for upper quadrant musculoskeletal pain than the girls (OR 1.94; 95% CI: 0.9-4.9). Weight greater than 54.15kg and a depression score greater than 11 was found to be significantly associated with a poor posture (OR 3.1; 95% CI: 1.0-9.7; OR 1.02; 95% CI: 1.0-1.1). Discussion and conclusion The study concluded that poor posture, relating to extreme cervical and thoracic angles, is a risk factor for the development of upper quadrant musculoskeletal pain in high school learners working on desktop computers. South African boys were at a greater risk of developing upper quadrant musculoskeletal pain than the girls. However the study found no causal relationship between depression, anxiety and upper quadrant musculoskeletal pain among South African high school learners and computer usage.

Magister Educationis - MEd / This research has employed an intentional teaching model to investigate the algebraic reasoning of grade 9 learners from a low socio-economic background. It has also sought to study how learners engage with algebra to make generalizations and to scrutinize any misconceptions deriving from the experience. They looked for patterns, paid attention to aspects of the patterns that are important and then generalized from familiar to unfamiliar situations. Algebraic reasoning underpins all mathematical thinking including arithmetic because it allows us to explore the structure of mathematics. This study is based on the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement which states that learners are expected to investigate patterns to establish the relationships between variables, as well as represent and analyse the change of patterns. The study also had a huge emphasis on algebra. According to Mphuthi & Machaba (2016): “Algebraic expressions form part of the senior phase CAPS curriculum in South Africa. A substantial amount of time is allocated to this section on evaluating expressions and simplifications of algebraic expressions in grade 7-9.” The study is premised on a qualitative research paradigm and a design-based research methodology for data collection. A set of tasks based on algebraic patterns and generalizations was given to an opportunistic sample of 20 grade 9 learners in a school in Delft, a low socio-economic suburb about 30 kilometres from Cape Town in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Three weeks after completing the tasks, learners were interviewed to identify their reasoning and how they felt about the tasks. The results of the study show that the majority of the learners struggled with tasks especially when asked what the rules they could derive from the patterns. Learners did not seem to understand what they were doing because they were unable to articulate the given tasks in words and did not have knowledge of concepts like the perimeter.