M.A. (Geography) / The provision of open space m cities is important in creating a pleasant atmosphere, in dividing incompatible land zones and m providing recreation facilities. Researchers on this topic agree that with rapid population growth and urbanization it is necessary that, in future, city planning should be done to enhance the quality of life of city dwellers ...

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / There has been a growing concern for the number of first year students who drop out of university before completing the course they have registered for. The increase in technological development and the creation of new and more demanding job opportunities requires a highly. skilled workforce. Therefore it is imperative that each individual should reach his highest potential. Numerous studies have been undertaken to determine the reasons for the high incidence of student - drop out. Both academic and social factors have been investigated. One factor that has only recently been investigated is the learning strategies of the student. Learning strategies entail the way in which a student plans and executes his studies, and the processes that are involved in this activity. This study was undertaken to determine if there exists a difference between the learning strategies of a first year student who is impersonally well adjusted versus a first year student that is maladjusted with regard to interpersonal adjustment.

M.Ed. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.A. (Clinical Psychology) / Hypertension is a current health science priority. This is because it is associated with chronic diseases such as coronary disease. Further it is known to cause end organ damage. It has been clearly established over the last 20 years that antihypertensive drug therapy decreases mortality in those with moderate or severe hypertension. However, the use of drugs for long-term prophylaxis carries with it the risk of long-term side effects. It is for this reason that the need for non-pharmacological treatment of hypertension has risen. The wider acceptance of a more cautious. conservative approach towards drug therapy in general seems necessary. Biobehavioral approaches to the treatment of hypertension have been a 'promising' aItemative or adjunct to drug treatment programmes. However. these approaches have been met with limited success due to the fact that they fail to take into account the effect of family systemic variables as a contributing factor in the causation and maintenance of hypertension. This study investigated the possibility that biopsychosocial techniques offer an added dimension to the biobehavioral approach to the treatment of hypertension by taking into account the familial systemic variables which may contribute to maintaining hypertension. The biopsychosocial techniques may playa significant adjunctive role in permitting control of blood pressure to be maintained without the side-effects seen with the chronic use of medication. An exploratory study was conducted in which a single-subject. AS design was utilized in order to determine whether the added component of a systemically based family intervention would add to decrease or increase the effects obtained with the Fahrion Mayo-protocol. In this context five subjects were consecutively Subjected to health information. muscle relaxation training and biofeedback-assisted training. The systems-based family intervention occurred-throughout the procedure. There was significant decrease across all five subjects of baseline to follow-up systolic blood pressure. This could indicate that the programme as a whole provided an effective decrease in systolic blood pressure. Of particular interest is the possibility that the biofeedback-assisted training intervention could be a placebo intervention associated with the technological nature of the intervention. It is therefore quite clear that the data would be indicative of a non-biofeedback, but relaxation. health information and systemic family intervention to be effective in the treatment of hypertension.

M.Ed. (Psychology of Education) / In this study an attempt has been made to ascertain whether the creative gifted child experiences more difficulties with socialization than the gifted child who is less creative. In Chapter 1 the problem and objectives were conceptualized and formulated. A literature survey in Chapter 7 dealt with the concepts of creativity and their interrelatedness. The literature pertaining to creativity and socialization was surveyed in Chapter 3. The method of research was formulated in Chapter 4 and the findings, conclusions and recommendations in Chapters 5 and 6 respectively. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking and the Interpersonal Relationship Questionnaire of the Human Science Research Council were administered to 75 gifted std 5 pupils. The complete group was divided into a highly creative and a low creative group. When the socialization scores of the two groups were compared, they did not statistically differ in a meaningful way.

M.Cur. (Professional Nursing Science: Nursing Management) / The history of nursing focuses almost exclusively on a female-dominated profession, created with the assumption that such a role is inherently natural to women only. Yet, men have worked as nurses since the profession’s infancy, 250 BC, but their contributions seem to be unnoticed and underrepresented. Male nurses ascribe to a minority status within the nursing profession, with only 6.8% currently registered with the South African Nursing Council. Men who enter the nursing profession will fall victim to prejudice, stereotyping, role strain and isolation (often referred to as the islands in nursing). International literature provided significant evidence that men are well served with nursing as a career. It is unclear how South African male professional nurses experience nursing as a career in the light of the deterring factors mentioned previously. The purpose of this qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual study was to explore and describe the experiences of male professional nurses regarding nursing as a career in a private hospital in Johannesburg in order to develop strategies to support them in their career. The target population consisted of male professional nurses working in all disciplines in the private hospital. A purposive sampling technique was used. Data were collected by means of four (4) in-depth, semi-structured individual interviews, five (5) naïve sketches and field notes until data saturation was obtained. Data analysis was done by following Tesch’s open coding strategy (Creswell, 2013:158). The data obtained was incorporated into existing literature during the conceptualisation phase of this study. Trustworthiness of the study was ensured by employing the model promulgated by Denzin & Lincoln (2005:290 – 326), focussing on credibility, transferability, conformability, dependability and authenticity. The principles of ethical considerations, as suggested by Dhai & McQuoid-Mason (2010:14 – 15) pertaining to privacy, confidentiality, anonymity, informed consent and beneficence were applied in this study.

D.Cur. / The primary objective of the study was to ascertain the effects of the use of water during birth on maternal outcomes. The main maternal outcomes evaluated were maternal experience of the second stage of labour, and trauma to the birth canal. The second objective was to set guidelines for midwives whether or not to conduct deliveries under water.

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / The object of this research project was to determine if learning strategies of first year students with different intellectual abilities differed and if these differences also applied to male and female students of different language groups. The project comprised of two parts. The first part consisted of a literature study which defined the concepts of intelligence, learning, cognition, metacognition and learning strategies. This was followed by a discussion of possible reasons why intelligent students fail to use effective learning strategies . The second part included an empirical investigation of the differences in the learning strategies of first year students with different intellectual abilities. The students were divided into the following groups: Afrikaans speaking male students, Afrikaans speaking female students, male students from other language groups and female students from other language groups. It was evident from the literature stUdy that learning strategies consist of self-management skills that the learner acquires, presumably over a period of years, to govern his own processes of attending, learning and thinking. Researchers agree that the mastering of learning strategies by a student can influence the success of his university career. When attending university even the intelligent students need effective learning strategies. Some students fail to acquire affective learning strategies while still at school. These students cannot cope with the large quantities of study material and consequently they may underachieve or even fail.

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Ed. / This is a qualitative research that explored the effectiveness of leadership of four schools in West of Johannesburg. The perception and contribution of all role players in these institutions were explored. The study interrogated the topic through the use of focus group interviews; personal interviews and through observations. This study was necessitated by the changes that are taking place in educational institutions and the outside forces that are putting pressure on educational institutions to change. The researcher argues that the ensuing change is received and perceived differently by individuals and groups within and outside these institutions. This investigation is important because it reminds and helps managers of their responsibilities as professional educators and as executive officers of schools.