M.Cur. (Nursing Education) / Humour, as an instructional approach is used to facilitate learning and it has been found to have immeasurable benefits to nursing education (Ulloth, 2003b; Chabeli, 2008). However, the use of humour is a challenging activity, especially in nursing education, owing to the profession’s serious nature. Previous studies recommended continued exploration of the teaching and learning situations in order to improve the way nursing education students are educated. Despite the studies conducted about the use of humour to facilitate learning, there is still an absence of guidelines to assist nurse educators to use and integrate humour into the teaching content to enhance the learning of learner nurses at a nursing education institution in Gauteng. The purpose and objective of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of learner nurses regarding the effects of humour in facilitating learning in order to describe the guidelines to facilitate learning through humour at a nursing education institution in Gauteng. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and phenomenological research design that is contextual in nature was employed (Burns & Grove, 2009:54; Mouton, 1996:102– 107). A non-probability purposive sampling method was used to select participants. The study was conducted into two phases. Phase one consisted of the exploration and description of the experiences of learner nurses with regard to the effect of humour in facilitating learning, through focus group interviews. Phase two of the study consisted of a conceptualization of the findings and a description of guidelines to facilitate learning through humour at a nursing education institution in Gauteng. Tesch’s qualitative open coding method of data analysis (in Creswell, 2012:244 - 245) was used to analyse the data obtained. Trustworthiness was ensured in accordance with Lincoln and Guba (1985:316-327). Ethical considerations were observed using DENOSA’s ethical standards (DENOSA, 1998:7). The three main categories that emerged from the data were positive effects of humour, negative effects of humour, and the effects of an absence of humour. These main categories and sub-categories in conjunction with their related themes were conceptualized and supported by the relevant literature.

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

As the title indicates, this is a study of the historical emergence of geography as a subject in Cape schools, and covers the period 1772-1951. The account is not merely descriptive and factual, for wherever possible an attempt is made to assess the nature and scope of the geography which was taught at different periods in relation to modern, authoritative ideas concerning the pedagogic application of the subject in the school. The work as a whole is predominantly concerned with the historical development of geography in the secondary school. However, in the initial four chapters the slight and insubstantial nature of the available data precludes the possibility of differentiating between geoeraphy of primary standard and that of secondary standard, and in these early chapters all references to the subject are consequently generalized. In Chapter 5, which deals with the period during which Langham Dale was Superintendent-Genera l of Education, geography of secondary standard becomes distinguishable from that of primary standard for the first time, and from this point onwards the two are differentiated to the fullest extent possible, and the former is chiefly emphasized. The entire study is presented against a broad background of relevant, educational developments of a general nature.

This study examines the small group work management techniques of a teacher of English in a second language classroom in Bophuthatswana. The school at which the observation takes place, is a black secondary school in Mmabatho which follows the Department of Education and Training (DET) syllabus and writes the DET external matriculation examination. The goal of the research is to assess and evaluate the methods the teacher uses in managing group work according to five specified areas. These areas are noted for their importance in the successful management of group work. The report on the findings of this research reveals that the teacher's understanding of the nature of small group work differs from the accepted characteristics of successful group work management as interpreted by authorities in this field. This gives rise to management techniques that are sometimes inappropriate and ill-considered. Although this study observes only one teacher, the findings indicate the need for more classroom-based research in order to establish the true nature of classroom practice. Assumptions about classroom practice are too readily made by innovators, syllabus designers and textbook writers who design materials based on methodologies which can be complex and difficult to implement. These methodologies require understanding and commitment from the teacher. However, the pre-service and in-service education and development that the teacher receives often does not guarantee understanding of the processes involved nor does it generate the necessary commitment to small group work as an effective teaching technique.

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Despite the fact that the facilitation of inquiry learning is a core methodology in the General Education and Training (GET) band of the South African National Curriculum Statement, rote learning and memorization of algorithms remains common practice in many mathematics classrooms. The inquiry-based Family Maths professional development programme, offered by the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, attempts not only to support the transformative education practices targeted by the South African National Department of Education, but also to extend them beyond the school walls to the community at large. This study investigates the extent to which the Family Maths professional development programme develops facilitators’ ability to implement inquiry-based learning. It also seeks to explore which aspects of the programme are effective in developing an inquiry-based approach. The research undertaken is an empirical study of 39 facilitators and uses both qualitative and quantitative methods. The facilitators’ inquiry beliefs and ability to implement inquiry learning was measured by means of questionnaires, observation schedules and interviews. As the ‘teacher as facilitator of inquiry-based teaching and learning’ is a requirement of all South African teachers, the findings of this research should make a meaningful contribution to the field of mathematics teacher education in the South African context.

Reading and understanding algorithms is not an easy task and often neglected by educators in an introductory programming course. One proposed solution to this problem is the incorporation of a technological support tool to aid program comprehension in introductory programming. Many researchers advocate the identification of beacons and the use of chunking as support for code comprehension. Beacon recognition and chunking can also be used as support in the teaching model of introductory programming. Educators use a variety of different support tools to facilitate program comprehension in introductory programming. Review of a variety of support tools fails to deliver an existing tool to support a teaching model that incorporates chunking and the identification of beacons. The experimental support tool in this dissertation (BeReT) is primarily designed to encourage a student to correctly identify beacons within provided program extracts. BeReT can also be used to allow students to group together related statements and to learn about plans implemented in any semantically and syntactically correct algorithm uploaded by an instructor. While these requirements are evident in the design and implementation of BeReT, data is required to measure the effect BeReT has on the indepth comprehension of introductory programming algorithms. A between-groups experiment is described which compares the program comprehension of students that used BeReT to study various introductory algorithms, with students that relied solely on traditional lecturing materials. The use of an eye tracker was incorporated into the empirical study to visualise the results of controlled experiments. The results indicate that a technological support tool like BeReT can have a significantly positive effect on student comprehension of algorithms traditionally taught in introductory programming. This research provides educators with an alternative way for the incorporation of in-depth code comprehension skills in introductory programming.

This study used diagnostic tests, questionnaires and interviews to investigate explore teachers’ subject content knowledge (SCK) and pedagogical subject knowledge (PCK). It also explored teachers’ and learners’ misconceptions within the topic of graphicacy and how teachers’ SCK and PCK possibly affect learner achievement. A small sample of teachers were drawn from the Keiskammahoek region; a deep rural area of the Eastern Cape. These teachers were part of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) Amathole Cluster Schools Project who were registered for a three-year BEd (FET) in-service programme in mathematics education. As part of the programme they studied mathematics 1 and 2 at university level and received quarterly non-formal workshops on teaching mathematics at FET level. The findings of this study suggest that teachers with insufficient SCK will probably have limited PCK, although the two are not entirely dependent on each other. In cases where teachers’ displayed low levels of SCK and PCK, their learners were more likely to perform poorly and their results often indicated similar misconceptions as displayed by their teachers. This implies that we have to look at what teachers know and what they need to know in terms of SCK and PCK if we are to plan effectively for effective teacher development aimed at improving learner performance.

Feedback has an important role to play in the performance of learners. This study looks to identify the challenges that the learners are faced with when the teachers provide them with feedback and the ways they would like like it to be used in order to see feedback assisting them in their learning and improve their performance. Feedback contributes a lot to assessment and has a close link with performance. The study used the qualitative approach to identify the challenges the learners experience when they receive the feedback from their teachers. The participants were sampled from grade 12 learners in the form of a focus group (seven to ten per school) and individual respondents. The method used semi-structured interviews and portfolio observations to collect the data from two high schools in East London (EL) district to look at the nature of the feedback provided to learners. The data was later analysed and interpreted. It has been identified that for both schools feedback conveyed certain messages to learners such motivation to do better, a need to do better and, lastly, affirmation that the learners are on the right track or they are neglected and left to figure out how to do the tasks. The study discovered that, according to Hattie and Timperley (2007)’ there are four levels of feedback. It was found that for the task level learners from school A mainly received oral feedback which was often seen as denigrating them; however, in school B learners received both the oral and written feedback. They felt that the feedback assisted them to understand the task at hand. They also saw this as a way of building up their confidence in all the tasks they come across. Secondly, in the process level, learners in school A did not report receiving feedback at this level but only oral feedback which does not show their mistakes step by step in the task, yet in school B they reported that they got feedback from their teacher individually to help them understand the task. Thirdly, for the self regulation level, in school A there was no data to confirm this. Regarding school B, learners were being assisted by the feedback they received from their teacher and this caused them to monitor their progress. The fourth and last level is the self or personal evaluation where in school A learners were not able to evaluate themselves because they did not receive written feedback, whereas in school B learners could do that freely referring to the written comments from their teacher. The research therefore concluded that in one of the schools the four levels that the study was looking at were not all addressed and thus no meaningful feedback was given. For school B the teacher gave them the feedback which has contributed a lot in their learning. The study recommends that feedback should not be used for right or wrong answers but it must also state clearly why the learner has obtained such mark or grade and what to do to correct the wrongs. Teachers should consider that learner errors also assist them to have a broader picture on what more they need to do in their subjects. It is also recommended that teachers should consider various strategies in giving feedback and the learners’ work has to be monitored timeously for the purpose of the learning process. Lastly, a good approach when feedback is provided is also important because it builds high self-esteem and develops the teacher-learner approach accordingly.

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