Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Student Preparedness for Academic Writing examines perceptions of student preparedness for academic writing in the first-year literary studies course, English 178, located in the English Department at Stellenbosch University. The research was conducted during 2011 and 2012 making use of a survey which was completed by the 2011 first-year English 178 class, and also utilising a series of interviews with students, tutors and lecturers in 2012. Preparedness for English 178 is framed in terms of Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of socially constructed habitus. In addition to the thought of Bourdieu the thesis draws on the writings of Peter Elbow, Arlene Archer and Pamela Nichols, among others, to analyse and frame the quantitative and qualitative information yielded by the study. The dissertation assesses multiple interlocking elements that comprise student preparedness and finds striking discrepancy between student perception of their preparedness and that of the lecturers and tutors. While tutors, lecturers and the report of the National Benchmark Test all suggest that at least half of all first-year students are poorly prepared for academic writing, only about 21% of students perceive themselves to be poorly prepared. Possible reasons for the difference in views between students and other sources are explored. The thesis concludes by asking if the English 178 course at Stellenbosch University truly tests the students’ academic writing abilities and if the course is balancing its “obligations to students [with the]… obligation[s] to knowledge and society” (Elbow 327). / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie verhandeling ondersoek persepsies van studentevoorbereidheid vir akademiese skryf in die eerstejaars-letterkundekursus, Engels 178, gesetel in die Departement Engels aan die Universiteit Stellenbosch. Die navorsing is gedurende 2011 en 2012 gedoen deur gebruik te maak van ’n vraelys wat deur 2011 se Engels 178-eerstejaarsklas voltooi is, asook van ’n reeks onderhoude met studente, tutors en lektore in 2012. In hierdie verhandeling word voorbereidheid vir Engels 178 in terme van Pierre Bourdieu se konsep van sosiaal gekonstrueerde habitus beskryf. Benewens Bourdieu se denke word daar ook na die werke van onder andere Peter Elbow, Arlene Archer en Pamela Nichols verwys om die kwalitatiewe en kwantitatiewe inligting wat uit die studie voortgekom het, te ontleed en te situeer. Die verhandeling assesseer die veelvuldige ineengeskakelde elemente wat studentevoorbereidheid omvat, en bevind ’n opvallende teenstrydigheid tussen studente se persepsie van hulle eie voorbereidheid en lektore en tutors se persepsie van studente se voorbereidheid. Terwyl tutors en lektore se ervaring en die Nasionale Normtoetsverslag alles daarop wys dat ten minste die helfte van alle eerstejaarstudente swak voorbereid is vir akademiese skryf, beskou slegs ongeveer 21% van studente hulself as swak voorbereid. Moontlike redes vir die verskil in beskouings tussen studente en ander bronne word ondersoek. Die verhandeling sluit af met die vraag of die Engels 178-kursus aan die Universiteit Stellenbosch werklik studente se akademiese skryfvaardighede toets, en of die kursus wel ’n ewewig handhaaf tussen verpligtinge teenoor studente en ’n verantwoordelikheid teenoor kennis en die samelewing (Elbow 327).

Health care administration programs have transitioned to using the competency approach to better prepare graduates for workplace success. The responsibility of preparing graduates lies with the program faculty, yet little is known about faculty perceptions of the competency approach. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to assess the perceptions of graduate-level health care administration faculty about the competency approach, the approach's effect on graduate preparedness, and employer expectations. Adult learning theory and the theory of self-efficacy were used as the theoretical foundations for the study. Faculty demographics related to personal information, workplace/teaching experience, and program information served as the independent variables, while survey item perception ratings were the dependent variables. Nonprobability sampling of graduate-level health care administration faculty (n = 151) was used and data were collected using an online survey developed by the author. Descriptive statistics, independent samples t tests, correlation analyses, and multiple linear regressions were used to examine and describe faculty perceptions. Findings indicated that faculty generally support the use of the competency approach and that it effectively prepares graduates. Teaching in a CAHME-accredited program predicted perceptions about the approach adequately addressing employer expectations (β = .343, p < .05). Issues including need for standardization and use for accreditation versus educational purposes were identified. Social change implications include contributing to professional development efforts for faculty and improving the quality of health care administration graduates and the future leadership of the industry.

Curriculum assessment has been an important tool in measuring the effectiveness of the curriculum to evaluate student learning and preparedness. This study develops a conceptual framework, based on course offerings and descriptions of the Hospitality and Tourism Management Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, to evaluate how the curriculum contributes to students’ preparedness for their future career. Using an online field survey, this study examines the skills that contribute to students’ preparedness. Besides putting forward the strengths and weaknesses of the program, and identifying the significant skill areas that contribute significantly to students’ preparedness, findings of this study indicate that students are quite well prepared and overall satisfied with the program. Results also highlight the importance of work experience as an integral part of the curriculum in affecting students’ preparedness.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / High attrition, low retention and low throughput are major problems facing South African higher education institutions. These problems have been attributed to student under-preparedness as a result of the legacy of apartheid education provision and associated limited academic opportunities available to working-class learners. South African studies indicate that black and working-class students are less likely to perform well than their middle-class peers. In the health sciences poor academic achievement is frequently associated with poor clinical competence. Diminished clinical competence has the potential to compromise patient treatment success. This study, therefore, set out to examine the influence of diversity, with particular reference to race and social class, and the educational climate in shaping the clinical competence of students in an oral health program at a Faculty of Dentistry in South Africa. The purpose of the study was to understand the relationship between diversity, educational climate, and clinical competence so as to better support the learning of all students in the oral health program. Two concepts informed the theoretical parameters of the study – diversity and educational climate. In addressing diversity, Bourdieu’s construct of economic and cultural capital provided the conceptual tools for examining the extent to which students’ race and social class locations shaped their readiness for higher education and hence influenced their experiences and performance in the program. In terms of the educational climate, Tinto’s constructs of social and academic integration, provided the lens for explicating students’ persistence in the program, taking into account their social and academic experiences. Set in a qualitative paradigm, a case study design was used, based on its characteristic principles of bounded place, context, time and activity. The cohort was the first-year class of 2007 in the oral health program. The students of the cohort were tracked longitudinally from 2007 to 2010. Data was gathered from a range of quantitative and qualitative sources, such as, analysis of faculty documents, observations, mark schedules, student reflective writing, focus group and individual interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. This process involved drawing on the literature related to diversity and educational climate to identify emergent patterns and themes from the data, and then interpreting their meaning through the lenses of capital and social and academic integration. This study illuminated many ways in which student performance was affected by diversity, with particular reference to race and social class locations and associated access to economic and cultural capital. Differences between middle-class and working-class students were noted in their performance, their preparation for university and its academic demands as well as in how these two groups of students interacted in the classroom. Significant differences were also noted in their transition and integration experiences at a social, professional and academic level. In addition, the study explicated ways in which the faculty, through its culture, structure, and pedagogy, appeared to contribute to an educational climate which either supported or deterred student integration, both in social and academic ways. Cumulatively the challenges experienced by working-class students in particular appeared to have had real effects. The most significant effects were on their morale, their intent to engage and integrate and their consequent learning, academic performance and clinical competence. This study did not intend to solve but rather to understand the issue of differential performance. The findings of the study are envisioned to inform faculty and institutional strategies toward increasing effectiveness and responsiveness to differing student needs.