The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) nursing candidates related to the four-year comprehensive nursing training programme at a Nursing Education Institution in Gauteng. To this end an exploratory descriptive qualitative research design was undertaken. The research sample comprised of 13 purposefully selected participants. Face-to-face individual interviews, using open-ended questions (Grand tour), were used to collect data, which was analysed using Tesch’s approach. Findings from the study highlighted the challenges faced by nursing RPL candidates as adult students. These included challenges related to their theoretical learning as well as their clinical facility experiences. Based on the study results, recommendations were formulated in assisting them to successfully and timeously complete their nursing programme / Health Studies / M.A. (Nursing Science)

The dropout of students funded by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is a perennial problem in many higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa. Despite this, little research has been conducted to investigate this phenomenon, and this study sought to address this gap by investigating the dropout of NSFAS-funded students from HEIs in Northern Gauteng. The study adopted a qualitative methodology and a phenomenological design to explore the lived experiences of students who dropped out of HEIs. Thirty-one NSFAS-funded students, three senior management officials from three HEIs and one NSFAS senior official were purposively selected to form part of the study. Semi-structured interviews, document analysis and observations were utilised as reseach instruments and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was employed to analyse data. The findings of the study established that a lack of support for students, and personal, socioeconomic, institutional and health factors contributed to the dropout of students from HEIs. It was further established that the majority of students who dropped out did so because of the inefficient operations of NSFAS and the new student-centred model. The study also found that insufficient funding, late allocation of funds, stringent NSFAS requirements, lack of communication, late payment or nonpayment of allowances contributed to students’ dropout. To address these shortfalls, the study recommends that the student-centred model should be overhauled and replaced with an integrated system including departments such as DOH, SARS, DSD and DOL to identify students who are eligible for funding and assist in the efficient administration of NSFAS. It is further recommended that funding administered by both the national and provincial government departments be centralized and administred by the NSFAS to circumvent double dipping. Finally, it is recommended that students who fall within the R0 – R350,000 per annum household income category including SASSA beneficiaries be flagged by the system to automatically qualify for funding. / Educational Management and Leadership / D. Ed. (Education Management)

The aim of this study was to investigate the educators‟ perceptions of the effects of teenage pregnancy on the behaviour of secondary school learners in Mankweng area, Limpopo province. The study sought to establish whether teenage pregnancy has an effect on school attendance, school performance and emotional behaviour of pregnant learners as perceived by educators. Fourteen educators from seven secondary schools in Mankweng area were purposively sampled for the study. Data was collected using in-depth interviews to allow the researcher a platform to ask open-response questions and to explore the educators‟ perspectives about the effects of teenage pregnancy. The data was analysed thematically by carefully identifying and expanding significant themes that emerged from the informants‟ perceptions about the effects of teenage pregnancy. The study revealed that teenage pregnancy has a negative or detrimental effect on the school attendance, academic performance, emotional behaviour and relationships between pregnant teenagers, their peers and educators. The study recommends that sex education should be taken seriously in secondary schools; educators should liaise with health professionals in the community; pregnant learners to be supported and not humiliated or stigmatized by school stakeholders; educators to encourage teenagers to use preventative and protective measures and to encourage learners to delay engaging in sexual relationships. / Inclusive Education / M. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

MPM / Oliver Tambo Institute of Governance and Policy Studies / Adult basic education and training in South Africa is viewed as an instrument for social, economic and political development. However, over the years, the programme faced challenges relating to recruitment and retention of suitably qualified practitioners, resulting in high staff turn-over. The study focused on the perception of adult learners about the adult basic education and training practitioners turn-over at the Witbank education circuit to gain insight into the magnitude of the problem and recommend ways and strategies to address the identified challenges. The study used a mixed method approach, incorporating elements of both quantitative and qualitative research approach. The research sample comprised adult learners, educators, Adult center managers and adult basic education and training coordinators using purposive sampling technique. Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires and analyzed using the eight steps of Tesch in Cresswell (2009:186). The results of the study revealed that the participants were to a large extent, aware that ABET practitioners’ turnover is a serious problem at the Witbank education circuit. The study participants revealed that lack of commitment and recognition by government to address ABET practitioner turnover decisively is impacting negatively on learners’ motivation, morale, study progress and their relationship with practitioners. This leads ABET learners to not take the ABET programme seriously, and drop of the programme due to lack of progress whereas most ABET practitioners take ABET as a waiting station for better jobs. A number of strategies can be employed to address the challenge of ABET practitioners’ turnover. Amongst others are the following: the basic working conditions of ABET practitioners should be improved. This will automatically translate into job satisfaction and long tenure, thereby counteracting current levels of high staff turnover. ABET practitioners should also be afforded relevant skills development programmes to ensure continuous professional growth and development. / NRF

MEd (Educational Psychology) / Department of Foundations of Education / This study examined the impact of guidance and counselling on learning outcomes. The study was comparative study of two high schools in Vhembe district located in the Northern part of Limpopo Province, South Africa. A mixed method design was employed, consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches. For the quantitative part an experimental design and a questionnaire were used. Independent samples entailed t-tests to compare the performance of the experimental and control group, a chi-square of association was used to determine the presence/absence of alignment between career and subject choices after counselling, while paired samples t-tests were used to ascertain if there was any improvement in the performance of the two groups. In addition, written mark schedules of pre-test, post-test and a short questionnaire for learners were analysed quantitatively. For the qualitative component face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were used while the purposive sampling technique was used to select 8 Life Orientation teachers, of which 4 were from school A and the other 4 were from school B. In addition, 2 Life Orientation heads of department were interviewed on challenges in implementing Guidance and Counselling in the school curriculum. For the quantitative data analysis, the chi-square and t- test of association was used to determine if there was any difference in career and subject choices alignment and performance between learners exposed to counselling and those not exposed to the program. The overall mean scores were calculated, and the chi-square test was used to indicate if there was any significant difference in career choices and subject alignment and performance between the group that received guidance and counselling and the group which did not receive such support. Fifty learners from the two selected schools were randomly selected, whereby 25 were used for the experiment and the other 25 as a control group. The experimental results indicated that learners who were exposed to guidance and counselling showed improvement in their learning outcomes while those who were not exposed to counselling showed no improvement in their learning outcomes. The fact that group that received guidance and counselling improved suggest that guidance and counselling services should be strengthened in all schools through departmental policy review meetings. / NRF

High school students need to be equipped with the competencies that may enable them to adapt to the increasing demands of learning in the school and beyond. To this end, the main research question of this study was, namely How can the self-regulated learning of adolescents be developed at high school? The aim of the study was to design, implement and evaluate a study skills programme for high school students. The social-cognitive theory, in particular the self-regulated Learning (SRL) theory, was used as the conceptual framework on which this study was based. An explanatory, sequential, mixed-methods research design was implemented. Purposeful sampling was used to select the participants in the three phases of the research project. Two classes of Grade 10-students (an experimental and a comparison group) from one school participated in the study, as follows: (i) in the first quantitative phase both classes wrote a pre-test, using the Learning and Strategies Inventory - High School Version (LASSI-HS); (ii) this was followed by a qualitative phase over 10 weeks. During this time a programme was implemented with the experimental group, once per week for 30 minutes (during school hours), and a 30 minute session in the afternoons. Individual work was also done with eight students, who were purposefully sampled. Between one and four sessions were held with each of the eight students. During the 10 weeks data were collected continuously by means of individual interviews with the eight students, as well as from their journals. In addition, the researcher collected data by means of field-notes. (iii) After the 10 weeks, the final quantitative phase involved both the experimental and the comparison groups in the writing of a post-test. The results indicated that the programme to enhance the students’ goal-setting, self-monitoring and self-evaluation strategies was successful. The students also indicated an improvement in their attitudes, motivation, information-processing, and in selecting the main ideas in their study material. However, shortcomings were noted in certain areas. Based on the literature and the empirical findings of the study, an improved programme for the development of the adolescents’ SRL in high school was designed. The programme recommended the early commencement of the programme, and that the two problem areas that were identified, namely time-management and motivational strategies be emphasised. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

This study was aimed at finding reasons for nonparticipation in sport by black learners at secondary school level. It was carried out with a group of grade 9 to 12 learners who do not participate in sport at secondary schools in black townships. A nonparticipation in sport at secondary school level questionnaire was developed to measure the most important reasons for nonparticipation. Among the reasons learners cited were lack of sport facilities, political factors, social factors and factors related to self-image. Social circumstances were found to be intimately linked and overlapping with political circumstances. For learners coming from impoverished backgrounds, sport comes a very poor second. Based on the results of the study, a number of recommendations were made for education managers and sport administrators. Contributions of the study were highlighted and suggestions for further research made. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

The main purpose of this study was to examine the use of mobile phones by Generation Y students in the city of Johannesburg in order to increase understanding of this segment's consumer behaviour. Generation Y is an important market segment in that it is making more independent purchase-related decisions and has a large amount of disposable income. The primary data for this study is based on focus group interviews and a quantitative study of a sample of 200 Generation Y tertiary students. Some of the findings are as follows: * Generation Y's use of mobile phones: Generation Y respondents have owned a mobile phone for between three to five years; the majority own Nokia mobile phones, are on prepaid packages and are not big spenders on airtime; furthermore, SMS is seen as the most cost-effective way to communicate. * Competition in the mobile phone market: The perceptions of this segment are that Vodacom is the "cool" operator, MTN is the most "expensive" network operator and Cell C is "cheap and youthful". * Mobile phone brand awareness: Nokia was the most cited brand of mobile phone and was found to be the first choice of many of the respondents. Samsung was reported as the second most cited brand with Motorola, Siemens and Sony Ericsson following. The results have implications for network providers, handset manufacturers and marketers alike as they will ultimately improve these stakeholder's chances of marketing effectively to this dynamic youth market. / Business Management / M. Comm. (Business Management)

The high unemployment rate, especially amongst schoolleavers could be counterbalanced by raising awareness of entrepreneurship as a career option. This investigation explores the relationship of entrepreneurial attitude, entrepreneurship and who the entrepreneur is, as is presented in the literature. The focus has shifted from testing for personality traits to identifying entrepreneurial attitude, attributes, behaviour and activities. A questionnaire, the GET (General Enterprising Tendencies test) was used to determine the levels of entrepreneurial attitude amongst a group of grade ll learners in three South African secondary schools, with the aim of raising awareness of their personal levels of entrepreneurial attitude and making them aware of entrepreneurship as a career option. It was found that inter alia, a culture of entrepreneurship is not prevalent amongst learners and prospective school leavers in South Africa. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Guidance and Counseling)

The purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions/views of student nurses, nurse educators and unit supervisors on accompaniment of student nurses in clinical settings of the Northern Province of the RSA A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional survey was used in this study to describe the perceptions/views of student nurses, nurse educators and unit supervisors on apcompaniment of student nurses in clinical settings. Data was collected during February and March 200 I when student nurses, nurse educators and unit supervisors in the Northern Province completed questionnaires. The study revealed positive and negative perceptions regarding accompaniment of student nurses in clinical settings, including that: • accompaniment in the clinical settings enhanced student nurses' clinical learning experiences • the presence of nurse educators in the clinical settings improved student nurses' accompaniment • facilitators played an important role in the accompaniment of student nurses • accompaniment enhances correlation of theory and practice / Health Studies / MA (Advanced Nursing Sciences)