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

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

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / This investigation examines empirically, the perception of educational system and educational policy as determinants of educational standards. Changes in the community lead to changes in the educational system. The present educational system does not enjoy the support of all South Africans, many maintaining that the education system must be co-ordinated into a flexible unit for the maximum benefit of pupils, parents, teachers and the broader community. The aim of the study was to determine what perceptions are, how they are formed, and what peoples perceptions are of educational systems and educational policy as determinants in educational standards. In order to achieve this, a questionnaire of eleven questions was developed based on the literature studied in chapter two of this dissertation. These were investigated for validity and reliability, and were used as a scale for the measurement of educational system and educational policy as determinants of educational standards. The variables obtained from this analysis, were applied to test structure and detailed hypotheses concerning the various groups. In this comparison the Hotelling P test was used to examine the combination of the eight facets of educational standards. Where significant multivariate differences were found, they were further investigated by means of the Student's t test. For three or more groups, the multivariate hypotheses on the eight facets of educational standards were investigated with the use of the one-way Manova. Where significant multivariate differences were found, the detail differences were investigated further with an Anova and a Scheffe, An analysis of the results revealed the following: * The education system and policy are considered an important determinant of education standards, with emphasis on: pupil teacher ratio, mother tongue instruction, financial support and support for indigent pupils * * * * * * Women's perception of the education system and policy as determinants of education standard rated higher than that of men. The Afrikaans group perceived the education system and policy as determinants of education standard more important than their English peers. Qualifications playa role in perceptions. Professional groups also differ in their perception as to the importance of the education system and policy as determinants of education standards. There are considerable differences in the perceptions of the staff of the various school models. Model Aschools placed the lowest premium on this aspect whereas Model C considered it important. A comparison of age groups revealed that the higher the age of the respondent the lower the perception that education system and policy influenced the education standards. There have alsobeen different perceptions between people of different religions affiliations, families with oneor more children, different income groups and married or unmarried people. j Education must change to keep pace with changing demands. Certain principles will still form the basis of education i.e, mother tongue tuition, Christian upbringing and differing cultures. Futureeducation system planners and politicians must take the above into account especially the teacher-pupil ratio.

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

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / The purpose of this study is to determine whether parents can be classified as a facet determining or influencing educational standards. The researcher aims at describing the importance of the parent as determinant of educational standards by means of: a literature study, which confirms the importance of the parent, as well as an empirical study, based on a questionnaire which was submitted to respondents closely involved with schooling aspects. The literature study describes the parent and its role with reference to specific aspects like personality development, cognitive development, moral development, motivation, socialization, biographical and milieu aspects. Validity and reliability of the empirical components of the investigation was ascertained by means of Factor Analyses and Item Analyses. The identified variables (ie parents and their colloquial usage, their expectations, educational qualifications, handling of discipline, moral attitude, child motivation, involvement in school affairs, socio-andeconomic status, studyfacilities offered to the child and parents' marital state), constituted the multi-dimensional role used to investigate this specific facet. Multi-variate Analyses (MANOVA and HOTELLING T-SQUARE) as well as Singlevariate Analyses (ANOVA, Student t-test, Scheffe test) were used in the statistical analysis of the data. Hypotheses on gender, home language, educational qualification, professional capacity, involvement in either High School/Primary School, school model involvement, age, place of residence, religious commitment, marital status, size of family, language medium ofschools of own children and income category were set. The most important findings were: • parents are generally regarded as positive determinants of educational standards; • specific respondents, grouped according to biographical data, eg home language, involvement in either High School or Primary School, marital status, size of family and place of residence, indicated no differences in perceptions regarding the parent as likely determinant of educational standards. • parents' motivation and assistance offered to children; their moral beliefs and attitude; parents' discipline and study guidance and facilities offered at ho.,me were rated most important by the respondents. Recommendations are: • positive training of parents in eg. child motivation and study guidance can afford them psychological backup to support and motivate their children in a structured way; • orientation towards a sound moral belief system can influence children in a positive way; • parental involvement should be promoted intensively at school level as their involvement may stimulate their children's education and schooling (ie educational standards of a high level).

M.Ing. / The modelling of water quality in distribution systems is a relatively new field. It has become necessary to attend to the problem of water quality at the consumer's tap because water quality after treatment is not a guarantee for the water that reaches the consumer. It is increasingly important to design and manage distribution systems carefully to ensure safe drinking water up to the consumer's tap. This report gives the results and a discussion thereof on the chlorine decay in laboratory batch tests as well as on pipeline systems. Significant contributions were made to the different objectives of the study. Standardised test procedures for both free chlorine and monochloramine were developed. It was found that the n th-order, 1 parameter model described the decay of chlorine significantly better than did the generally assumed first order mathematical model. It was also found that the reaction orders are different for different water sources, and even different for the same water source at different times. It was also clear that the rate constants are dependent on temperature - the higher the temperature, the higher the decay rate constants. The reaction order for free chlorine varied from 0.36 to 1.22 with no apparent underlying pattern. For monochloramine, the reaction order fell into two distinctively different categories. For monochloramine decay up to 24 hours, the reaction order varied from 0.02 to 0.05. For monochloramine decay from 24 hours onwards, the reaction order varied from 0.92 to 0.95. As was expected, the free chlorine decay rates obtained in pipelines were higher than in parallel bulk decay rate tests. On the assumption that the bulk decay reaction order is equal to one, the mass transfer coefficient between the bulk flow and the pipe wall varied between 0.0065 m/h and 0.0457 m/h. Further research is highly recommended on the effect of secondary and tertiary chlorination as well as on more direct methods of estimating pipe wall-related chlorine reaction constants.

M.Cur. / The recently introduced fetal growth monitoring technique - the symphysis fundal height measurement (SFHM) - has brought along a few problems. This technique was introduced in conjunction with the new antenatal card system. With this system the card is no longer kept at the health institution but carried by the mother. This mother carried antenatal card (MCAC) has a gravidograph on which measurements of fundal height are plotted graphically. Midwives in most clinical settings have experienced problems when making recordings on the gravidograph. In some centres doctors were also complaining that the symphysis fundal height measurements (SFHM) are plotted incorrectly. Midwives started to feel inadequate when doctors were constantly complaining that the gravidograph is not plotted correctly. The SFHM technique then became unpopular with midwives and most of them decided to go back to abdominal palpation - an old system which was used to monitor fetal growth. The problem most commonly found with the SFHM technique was that different midwives performed it differently. There was no uniformity in performance. This resulted in vast discrepancies of fluidal height measurements. Due to this, many problems arose with regard to proper management of pregnancy. A lot of literature surveyed by the researcher supported the fact that the SFHM technique was the best method for monitoring fetal growth. The graviphical display of SFHM on the gravidograph also facilitated early identification of intra-uterine growth retardation (IUGR). IUGR has also been found to be a major contributory factor in perinatal mortality. The survival rate of infants who have suffered IUGR can be increased through early diagnosis of IUGR and prompt referral. A seminar was staged by the researcher at the initial stages of the study to obtain views and opinions from other stakeholders regarding the SFHM technique and the MCAC. A considerable'amount of input was gained at this seminar and this contributed a great deal to the data needed for the completion of this study. The goal of this study is, therefore, to assess the ability of midwives in: performing the SFHM technique; and making recordings on the gravidograph section of the card. A quantitative, descriptive and exploratory design was followed. The study population consisted of a total of 15 registered midwives and 45 pregnant mothers. Each midwife was allocated 3 mothers according to selected criteria. This study was done within the context of two specific hospitals and two specific clinics. Tools were first tested for validity and reliability in a pilot study. Testing of the tools was done with the assistance of an experienced midwife researcher. No major changes were made. Data was gathered in two phases. Phase I was completed by direct observation, using a checklist. Phase II was a semi-structured interview. The medium of communication was English. Informed verbal consent was obtained from both midwives and pregnant mother subjects. Their right to refrain from participation was also explained. Data was analysed according to descriptive statistics in the form of tables and graphs. The concerns of the researcher were validated by the results in that the findings revealed that both the SFHM technique and recordings made on the gravidograph were done incorrectly in most cases. The results of this study have highlighted the need to formulate the SFHM technique standard. This would serve as guidelines and also as criteria against which performance can be measured. Delays in standardizing the technique may result in increased instead of decreased perinatal mortality rates. There is also a need to ensure that the gravidogram section of the card is filled in correctly. It is recommended that midwives should be thoroughly in-serviced about new procedures before being expected to implement them. Standards which serve as guidelines for practice should also be formulated, together with new procedures, so that excellence in practice is achieved.

M.Cur. / The occupational health nurse working degree of decision-making authority. deficiencies with regard to the health in industry. in industry has a certain It seems that there are decision-making process In a descriptive study by way of a literature study and empirical investigation the contribution of the occupational health nurse in the health decision-making process of an organisation was analysed. This study was conducted on the East Rand, 66 per cent (N=25) of the region's occupational health nurses being involved in the sample. The research design is embodied in the analysis and interpretation of the empirical data. Important conclusions culminating from this study include deficiencies with regard to: first level management skills of the occupational health nurse; authority structures which obstruct lines of communication; the decision-making authority of the occupational health nurse and the accountability of the occupational health nurse in respect of decision-making. Some recommendations were made in connection with improvement of practice, additional education and further research. These recommendations were made with a view to improving the first level management, communication and diagnostic skills of the occupational health nurse.

This study investigates the assessment criteria of Unit Standard 115789: Communication Studies and Language. In general unit standards are registered, standardised statements of expected education and training outcomes including assessment criteria and other regulatory information required by training providers and assessors to train and assess learners under the Skills Development Act of 1998. However, it was found that many training providers and assessors share the view that in the case of Unit Standard 115789, among others, the assessment criteria and their descriptors are generic, vague and non-context specific to the extent that trainers and assessors have difficulty in developing appropriate and reliable assessment tools and instruments that allow them to adhere to the basic principles of assessment, namely transparency, validity, reliability, consistency, practicability, fairness, flexibility and usability. The main concern of the study is that learners will be declared communicatively competent individuals in a variety of professional and industrial environments when in fact they are not. The study traces the origins and development processes of Unit Standard 115789 in order to gain a clearer understanding of the problems experienced by training providers and assessors in the implementation of the assessment criteria. It then proposes a set of guidelines that will assist training providers and assessors to make the assessment criteria more accessible and the assessment processes more reliable, valid and consistent. Finally, it makes a number of recommendations to ensure that the problems of implementation of Unit Standard 115789 currently experienced by training providers and assessors are alleviated.

At Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), disagreement existed in terms of the role of human resources in performance management, which resulted in different role expectations and perceptions, often leading to conflict. An overview of existing literature reviewed that performance management was mostly presented from the view of line management, and that the role of human resources was not well defined. The purpose of this study was therefore to clarify the role of human resources in performance management, and with specific application at Transnet National Ports Authority. The purpose of performance management in Transnet is to influence each employee to perform optimally in his/her position by ensuring that each employee understands his/her role in the performance management process. A very important aspect of performance management is that it does not entail one activity only; it is part of the employee development life cycle in which the employee agrees with the manager on the expected performance of tasks, evaluation standards, tools required and important dates when performance will be formally discussed. The objectives of the study were achieved by means of a literature review. Following the literature review interviews were conducted with the Group Performance Manager, a line manager and a human resources practitioner at TNPA to get their views of performance management at TNPA and specifically of the role of human resources in performance management. The interviews, in addition to the literature study, also served as a basis for a survey questionnaire, which was used to probe the views of line iv management and human resources practitioners at TNPA on the role of human resources in performance management. The results of the interviews and the survey showed that performance management was not applied as a continuous and developmental process at TNPA, and that it was often perceived as punitive. The results also indicated that human resources at TNPA should be well versed in the use of the score card method and apply quality assurance in performance management. Recommendations were made for the role of line management and the role of human resources in performance management at TNPA, as well as for the relationship between the two parties.