Stress in non-traditional students may be associated with psychological stress which could adversely affect academic and job performance. Sense of Coherence a resource enabling people to manage tension in a health promoting could positively affect performance. The objective of this study was to investigate how SOC, time-to-degree and academic achievement influence each other in non-traditional students. A cross-sectional survey design was used in this descriptive study. The convenience sample consisted of three hundred and sixty six non-traditional students at a distance learning institution in South Africa. Secondary data for this research came from students who had completed the short form OLQ-13 as part of the official study material for a research module at a particular distance education institution. No theoretical relationship could be found between SOC, time-to-degree and academic achievement. The empirical relationship proved that SOC could not be used as a predictor of time-to-degree and academic achievement of the particular sample under investigation. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Summaries in Afrikaans and English / The aim was to establish factors related to learning motivation and learning attitude of learners in historically coloured schools. An eclectic approach was followed because theoretical views on motivation could not furnish a comprehensive theory. The definition emerging from this approach states that motivation is a process started within a person to create a state of need for satisfaction and happiness that can be reached by instigating and sustaining goal-directed activity. The link between learning and motivation, as well as related factors, was ascertained. Determinants of high and low levels of learning motivation were established. Programmes aimed at higher motivation levels were explored. Empirically it was proven that grade 9 learners in historically coloured schools leaned more towards an extrinsic orientation; grade 12's more intrinsic. An intervention programme is suggested. / Die doel was om vas te stel watter faktore hou verband met die leermotivering en leerhouding van leerders in histories bruin sekondere skole spesifiek. 'n Eklektiese benadering is gevolg omdat die teoretiese beskouings oor leerrnotivering nie 'n bevredigende allesomvattende teorie kon verskaf nie. Die werksdefinisie van motivering is 'n gevolg daarvan en lui as volg: motivering is die proses wat in die persoon aan die gang gesit word om 'n staat van behoefte na tevredenheid en geluk te skep wat bereik kan word deur doelgerigte aktiwiteit aan te stig en aan die gang te hou. Die verband tussen leer en motivering is bepaal asook die faktore wat verband hou met leermotivering. Bepalers van hoe en lae leermotiveringsvlakke is vasgestel en ingrypingsprogramme gemik op verhoogde motivering is ondersoek. Empiries is bewys dat die graad 9-leerders meer geneig is tot ekstrinsieke orienterings rakende leermotivering; graad 12-leerders meer intrinsiek. 'n lngrypingsprogram word voorgestel. / Teacher Education / M. Ed. (met spesialisering in Voorligting)

Summaries in English and Afrikaans / This research was triggered by the need to assist first year students in a way which had not been addressed by the people involved with the upliftment of disadvantaged students. The aspect which was addressed was the personal growth of the adult learner within the academic situation with consideration of his own personal circumstances and ideals. This means that a micro level approach was generated by creating the Academic Enhancement Programme (AEP). The purpose of the programme is to give adult learners the opportunity to understand themselves and their own value systems better on a micro, meso and macro level, to experience personal growth or self-actualisation and to see how these factors influence the adult learners' interaction with the tertiary academic situation. Eight possible value systems were discussed and introduced to the adult learners who participated in the Academic Enhancement Programme. The adult learners were given the opportunity to measure themselves against the value systems and to evaluate how these influenced their realistic academic self-actualisation. The psycho-andragogical categories were utilised during the application of the programme as criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme. The following recommendations were made • the creation of a faculty specific induction programme • linking study packages directly to the context of adult learners • organising personal academic contact • giving personal academic support • making the evaluation procedures transparent • creating and supporting informal study groups Although the study has certain limitations, it should be of great value to the university system during the transformation phase that it is experiencing at present. The main aim of the study is, however, the contribution to the academic growth of the adult learner in the tertiary situation / Hierdie navorsing het ontstaan vanuit die behoefte om eerstejaarstudente op 'n bepaalde wyse te ondersteun. Hierdie wyse is nog nie aangespreek deur mense wat met benadeelde studente gewerk het nie. Die aspek wat ondersoek is, is die persoonlike groei wat volwasse leerders ervaar binne die akademiese situasie met inagneming van hulle eie persoonlike omstandighede en ideale. Dit het beteken dat daar deur middel van 'n mikrobenadering 'n Akademiese Verrykingsprogram geskep moes word. Die doel van die program is drievoudig: Dit meet aan volwasse leerders die geleentheid bied om hulleself en hulle waardesisteme beter te verstaan in 'n mikro-, meso- en makroverband; om persoonlike groei I selfaktualisering te ervaar en om tot die besef te kom dat hierdie aangeleenthede hulle interaksie met die tersiere akademiese situasie be'invloed. Agt verskillende waardesisteme is bespreek en aan die volwasse leerders wat aan die Akademiese Verrykingsprogram deelgeneem het, voorgehou. Die volwasse leerders het die geleentheid gekry om hulself aan hierdie waardesisteme te meet. Hulle kon ook in die loop van die program vasstel hoe dit hulle realistiese akademiese selfaktualisering be'invloed. Die psigo-andragogiese kategoriee is tydens die toepassing van die program as kriteria gebruik om die effektiwiteit van die program te bepaal. Die volgende aanbevelings is gemaak: • dat 'n fakulteit-spesifieke induksieprogram geskep meet word, • dat studiepakkette direk aan die volwasse leerder se verwysingsraamwerk gekoppel meet word, • dat persoonlike akademiese ondersteuning gebied meet word, • dat persoonlike kontak op akademiese gebied bewerkstellig moet word, • dat evalueringsprosedures deursigtig gemaak meet word, • dat informele studiegroepe tot stand gebring en onderhou meet word. Alhoewel die studie aan verskeie beperkings onderhewig is, behoort dit vir die universiteitswese tydens die huidige transformasiegebeure van groot waarde te wees. Die belangrikste doel van die navorsing is egter die bydrae wat dit kan lewer tot die akademiese groei van die volwasse leerder in die tersiere situasie. / Psychology of Education / D.Ed. (Psychology of Education)

The question the researcher set out to answer during this research is: How is a caring concern maintained by the (student nurse) as caregiver? It stemmed from unresolved plausible hypotheses stated during a previous qualitative study into the phenomenon caring, from media reports on the "poor care" rendered in health institutions in South Africa, and a concern about the Tylerian rationale in nursing education. The theory generation required was achieved through Wertz's Empirical Psychological Reflection and existential phenomenology. Heidegger's theory of"Care as the essence of being" constituted a central concept in this research. A linguistic epistemology and expanded definition of the term empirical were also pertinent in this research. The literature review focussed on the methodology, ontology (caring and maintenance) and epistemology, serving a purpose towards bracketing. A purposive sample of informants was extracted according to students' performance on the Personal Orientation Inventory (POI). Sixteen qualitative research interviews were conducted. Analysis was conducted through open coding, categorisation and axial coding. At the idiographic level, twelve individual psychological profiles were constructed serving the purpose of imaginative variation. At the nomothetic level four major themes emerged, namely: The Caring Phenomenon (Contextualisation); Factors Eroding a Caring Concern; Factors in the Maintenance of a Caring Concern; and Core Experiences. The dialogue among the four intra-psychic processes of Care, will, meaning attribution and conscience accounts for all events encountered in the data. This dialogue results in either reason or intuition, displaying caring and the maintenance of a caring concern. Positing will and conscience as thesis and antithesis, the resulting synthesis postulates the basic ethical concepts of autonomy, authority, responsibility and accountability as existentially inherent to being and existence, and to the maintenance of a caring concern. The final manifestation of the object ofintention, maintenance, is proposed as an anthropological model. When extended to the fields of (nursing) education, human motivation and the teaching of (nursing) ethics, emotional intelligence, social intelligence, the self-science curriculum and life-skills training become imperative to (nursing) curricula. It is also proposed that human caring be studied as a manifestation of human motivation. / Health Studies / D. Litt et Phil. (Advanced Nursing Sciences)

The specific aim of this research study was to identify, explore, describe and interpret the factors related to school refusal of black adolescents. An overview of literature was used to arrive at a broader appreciation of issues pertaining to school refusal phenomenon and also to black adolescents. Ten subjects participated in this study. Data were gathered qualitatively using ethnographic interviews. The following factors were found to be contributory to the problem of school refusal: School refusers who stay with grandparents instead of staying with biological parents; fear of something specific at school; lack of insight into the refusal problem; lover plays a role in refusal behaviour; protective parents; poor social relationships; fathers that play a marginal role in the family; parents' worldview; emotional problems and weak or no attempts to stop behaviour. The emphasis was on the understanding of the refusal phenomenon rather than on cause and effect. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (with specialisation in Guidance and Counselling)

The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of unit managers towards the training of student nurses coming to their units for clinical practica. The sample consisted of students training in the four nursing colleges in the Cape Peninsula, and unit managers working in health services accommodating students for clinical practica in the same area. The findings revealed that the majority of unit managers were teaching students whenever they had the opportunity. Generally unit managers were prepared for their teaching function, but many students were not satisfied with some clinical learning opportunities presented to them, for example drawing up patients' care plans, discussing patients' treatment plans when handing over report, giving assistance regarding patient care decisions and lending support when students are confronted with patient care problems. There appears to be a need to educate unit managers regarding these and other aspects of the students' training programme. / Health Studies / M.A. (Nursing Science)

The main hallmarks of the novel problem-based curriculum are self-directed, student-centred learning, clinical reasoning, small group tutorials and the facilitation of learning in an integrated way. These features differ significantly from the traditional curriculum which is teacher-centred, discipline-based and more content orientated. The innovative programme was implemented at the University of Transkei with a view to improving medical education. In this study, the perceptions of second year medical students regarding the implemention of and transition to the new curriculum, was assessed, as part of the evaluation of the curriculum. The results showed that students had grievances about the overwhelming volume of information they had to cover, time constraints, examination methods and bias of tutors towards their own subjects. Nevertheless, they considered the innovation to be favourable, exciting, relevant to life and to future tasks, and more motivating than the traditional curriculum. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Didactics)

Aggression in South African schools is a matter of great concern. A review of the existing literature indicated that physical exercises contribute to people’s well-being. This study thus investigated to what extent physical exercises could be used to address the aggression of students in a secondary school. An empirical investigation was done by means of a mixed methods case study design. A purposive sample of 25 students was chosen from students in grades 9 to 11. The students completed an adapted Buss-Perry questionnaire on aggression to determine their levels of aggression. Thereafter they embarked on a 10 week physical exercise programme (30 sessions of 40 minutes each), before completing the same questionnaire. The results indicated that the programme alleviated their feelings of aggression, especially in the boys. Qualitative interviews with 10 of the participants who benefitted most from the exercises indicated how they experienced the programme. Recommendations were made for similar programmes and for future research. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Information literacy is a skill and forms the basis for life-long learning. The aim of this study is to investigate the information literacy skills of first year students at the Vaal Triangle Campus of the North-West University (NWU), with specific reference to the role of the academic library. The NWU‟s Vaal Triangle Campus Library supports first-year students in their studies by helping them to improve their information skills and teach them to find, evaluate and organise information in different formats. The purpose of this is to help first-year students to find relevant information that meet their information requirements. Students who are information literate not only have the necessary skills; but also have insight, comprehension, and knowledge at their disposal, while being life-long learners. A compulsory literacy module forms part of the curriculum for first-year students at the NWU‟s Vaal Triangle Campus, and is presented by academic staff. The credit-earning module (known as AGLE 121) consists of three components, namely computer and information literacy, reading literacy, and academic literacy. This study focuses on the module for basic information literacy, which is mainly of a theoretical nature. First year students were tested by questionnaires and interviews before and after completion of the information literacy module, to determine what contribution the module makes to their information literacy. This studyconcluded that after completing the information literacy module, first-year students have the theoretical knowledge at their disposal, but still do not know where to find databases or information. The role of the campus library regarding information literacy is to expand and improve students‟ information skills as well as being involved in the planning and development of the information literacy module. A recommendation is made that the information literacy module should already be offered during the first semester (instead of the second semester), so that students can use their information skills effectively for their studies. / Information Science / M. (Information Science)

The aversion to the study of mathematics and the resultant poor performance by students generally cannot be overemphasized and this still poses a great threat to the needed skills in the science, technology and commerce sector in South Africa. This study therefore tends to explore the importance of Mathematics to students and the economy globally by focusing on which contributive psychological factors are responsible for low performance in mathematics among Pre degree students as a case study. In addition also, the teaching and learning strategies used in the classroom that will help curb mathematics anxiety among students will be looked into. Furthermore a test to ascertain if poor teaching methods or pedagogical content knowledge of mathematics’ teachers influence anxiety thereby leading to poor performance in mathematics will be carried out. By utilizing a mixed method approach, an integration of the qualitative and quantitative approaches, the study attempted to provide an insight into the poor performances in Mathematics by Pre-degree students in a Private Institution of higher learning by exploring the following affective domains: 1) Anxiety 2) Motivation (lack of either the Internal & External type) and also considering the teaching strategies adopted on the other hand. The theoretical framework applied to this study was three fold in nature, namely, to investigate the nature of the relationship between mathematics anxiety and mathematics achievement on one side, secondly, to investigate the nature of the relationship between motivational orientation and mathematics achievement on the other side. Finally, it will investigate the relationship between teaching methods and mathematics achievement. The major findings that emanated from this study were as follows: there is a strong impact of the affective factors (anxiety, beliefs, emotions and motivation) on mathematics learning and success rates among Pre-degree students in South Africa. This study shows the importance of affective factors (such as anxiety, negative attitude, lack of motivation) in determining the success and or failure of mathematics learning, with the intention of promoting and encouraging positive traits, attitudes and beliefs in the students. The issue of teaching strategies was however not of a strong impact on success rates in bridging mathematics among the students as their lecturers were commended to be on top of their subject, but only that strategies to teaching mathematics must be dynamic, effective and varied as much as possible to meeting the students diverse learning styles . / Mathematics Education / M. Ed. (Mathematics Education)