What is the work of the Durban Holocaust Centre museum educators and how are they shaping Holocaust education there? These questions provided the impetus for this study. Education about the Holocaust has been included in curricula not only in South African schools but in various countries around the world. The reasons for this extends beyond the hard historical facts and figures and go to the heart of a human search for meaning and the desire to promote democracy and human rights in society. The Holocaust was an event in which millions of Jewish men, women and children were murdered as well other ethnic groups. The dilemmas they faced and the decisions taken at that time differentiated the participants into victims, perpetrators, bystanders and upstanders. In the years since the end of World War II, people have strived to extract meaning from those events and to teach it to new generations in order to create a better world - a world in which bullying, racial and ethnic taunts and tensions, violence, discrimination against minorities and strangers, and genocide still occur. The findings show that as in other places in the world, this is the educational focus at the DHC. Teaching the history and events is the bedrock on which this social Holocaust education rests but it takes second place in the educational programme to this social goal. The findings show the local context for this learning is significant and that apartheid, racism and xenophobia all underpin the museum educators' educational philosophies while mother-tongue language moulds their teaching strategies. The museum educators play a pivotal role in presenting the educational programme and in so doing shaping the Holocaust for the visiting learners and teachers. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2011.

Background: Case-based learning (CBL) is one approach which is gaining popularity. The selected School of Nursing adopted this approach to learning in 2000. The school reviewed all the old case studies and introduced new ones in 2010. These new case studies were used for the first time with the 2011 Decentralised PHC programme. Hence, the need for a study that explored students perceptions towards case-based learning. Research Methodology: A quantitative approach and descriptive exploratory design were adopted in this study. A total number of 101 students were from the three Decentralised Primary health care (PHC) programme participated in this study. Data was collected from three decentralised sites used to offer PHC programme to students; Durban, Port Shepstone and Pietermaritzburg. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire – a self-reporting instrument which included 62 structured questions. Data was analysed statistically for frequency distributions and the relationship between the results from three sites were explored using a Chi Square Pearson Test, with a p value set at .005. Results: The results of this study show that, overall, students view case-based learning in a positive light. Although the majority reported that cases were distributed in case study booklet form (n=66) 65.3%, other modes such as cases presented to students in each class session using transparencies (n=52) 51.5% as well as through emails was reported. Regarding benefits about (n=90) 90.1% of the respondents stated that cases presented added a lot of realism. The researcher also explored to see if there were any variations of results across the three delivery centres. The findings of this study demonstrated that there was a significant difference for seven items, some of these items included teachers feedback and advise after class was relevant for students to cope on their own p<.000; case studies preparing student for working in PHC institutions in South Africa p<.042; preferred lectures more than CBL p<.003 and CBL was too demanding in terms of preparation and the content p<.004. Discussion: Students enjoyed the experience but also identified their own limitations and mistakes. They were able to plan their own learning needs. The students experienced personal and professional growth using cases which represented the real-life challenges. They had the opportunity to apply the theory, their experiences and their newly developed skills from the use of CBL in there clinical practice. The end product was visible and of benefit to the clinical settings as students was now competent in analyzing cases and solving practical problems systematically. Providing a real-life challenge to students in CBL instead of teaching a predominantly theoretical course proved to be beneficial. Recommendations: The researcher felt that a follow-up study, taking into account all six sites where students are placed could result in a difference in the students’ perceptions of CBL as a teaching methodology, as the students in the other three sites are in the more rural areas which limits their resources. There was some inconsistency with presentation and distribution of cases also feedback to students, staff may require development with teaching skills to co-ordinate all centres in a similar way. Port Shepstone and Pietermaritzburg struggle with CBL, maybe they are not incline with Self directed learning (SDL), therefore a follow up study in these centres would assess in students are inclined with SDL. / Thesis (M.N.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

Background: Within nursing and other health professional education, clinical mentorship is an integral part of students’ clinical learning experiences. Clinical mentorship is a widely relied upon strategy to ensure that students benefits positively in the clinical placements and is perceived as not just as a support mechanism for students but also as the main vehicle for the activities associated with learning, teaching and assessment of practice. In South Africa, mentoring in the clinical settings is not yet formalized, there are no guidelines from the regulatory body to serve as a guide to mentors in clinical settings and mentors do not undergo special preparation and it is not yet a common practice in South African nursing. Purpose: This study was aimed at exploring and describing the phenomenon of clinical mentoring as perceived and experienced by the student nurses and clinical mentors in a selected hospital in Durban. Methodology: A qualitative approach guided by the naturalist interpretive paradigm was used in this study. The research designed used was a descriptive phenomenological approach. The total population for this study was 48 registered nurses working in medical and surgical wards at a selected nursing college campus in Durban, and 47 first and second year students who were doing the Diploma in Nursing (General, Psychiatry, Community) and Midwifery. The sample size consisted of eight mentors and eight mentees working at the selected wards in the selected hospital. Individual interviews were conducted to collect data. Findings: The findings revealed that mentorship in nursing education and training remains an integral part for student’s clinical learning experiences. The nature and vi quality of the relationship between the mentor and the student continues to be of vital important for an effective mentoring process. It emerged that the assistance and guidance that the clinical mentors are offering to students are most crucial for growth and the development of students and gain of quality clinical skills. While the befriending role of clinical mentors perceived as useful to facilitate students’ settling into the clinical milleu. The roles of mentors emerged as assisting, supporting, teaching, motivating, befriending and advising students. The ability to give feedback, experience, availability of time and a positive attitude were the elements considered important qualities for a good clinical mentor. The benefits of clinical mentoring outweighed the drawbacks. The benefits of mentoring were both for the student and for the mentor. For mentors, benefits were immaterial and included closer follow-up of new developments, teaching and sharing of experiences. For the students, benefits are based on the level and quality of grooming and nurturing students gets that help to bridge theory-practice gap, motivating students to be highly interested to what they do in the clinical settings. Challenges included limitations on time, shortage of resource, dual responsibilities of patient care and student teaching, high workload and lack of formalised mentoring programmes. Recommendations: This study suggests that the educational and clinical settings needs to work together to ensure that a formalised mentorship programme is put in place where clinical mentors will be trained for the role and formally appointed to the roles. Further research is suggested where the operational management staff of the organisations and academic college staff will participate to understand how mentoring is done in the clinical settings, and what criteria the clinical mentors use to measure the student performance who properly or poorly mentored. / Thesis (M.N.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

Orientation: Teachers have a vital role to play within any society. Of late, it can be seen that, generally, teachers within South African schools are becoming increasingly unhappy and dissatisfied with their work. This can be seen as a result of the various strikes and protests over the recent years. Since the South African education system is still very much fragmented and unequal, a legacy of the apartheid era, teachers working within former model C schools, in particular, can be seen as having numerous job demands placed on them in spite of low levels of job resources with which to cope. It is thus important to determine the impact that certain job resources and job demands have on the levels of work engagement and organisational commitment of teachers working within former model C schools in particular. Research Purpose: The purpose of this research was three-fold. Firstly, to determine the relationship between work engagement, organisational commitment, job resources and job demands. Secondly, to determine whether a differentiated approach to job demands (challenge demands and hindrance demands) impacted on positive organisational outcomes, such as work engagement. Thirdly, to determine the mediating role of work engagement in the relationship between certain job resources and organisational commitment; and between challenge job demands and organisational commitment. Motivation for the Study: This study was aimed at enabling an identification of the relationship between work engagement, organisational commitment, job resources and job demands. Further, the study was aimed at identifying the impacting role that specific job resources and job demands have on positive organisational outcomes, such as work engagement and organisational commitment. Research Design, Approach and Method: A cross-sectional survey design was used. A sample (n= 117) was taken from teachers working at former model C high schools in Durban North, KwaZulu-Natal. A demographic questionnaire, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), Organisational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) and Job Demands-Resources Scale (JDRS) were used to collect data from the sample. Main Findings: The findings of the study suggest that job resources are positively related to work engagement. The differentiated classification of job demands within the study was tested in terms of its relationship with work engagement. Interestingly it was found that overload (a challenge job demand) was both statistically as well as practically significantly related to work engagement; while job insecurity (a hindrance job demand) was not. Further, it was found that the job resources of organisational support and growth opportunities held predictive value for work engagement. Lastly, findings suggested that work engagement mediated the relationship between job resources and the positive organisational outcome of organisational commitment. The hypothesised mediating role that work engagement could play in the relationship between overload (a challenge job demand) and organisational commitment could not be tested in the present study. Practical/Managerial Implications: Job resources play a vital role in harnessing positive organisational outcomes such as work engagement and organisational commitment. Further, some job demands are positively related to work engagement. Therefore, managers and heads of schools need to look seriously at evaluating the state of the job demands and resources that are available to their teaching staff, and implement interventions that could increase various job resources and decrease major hindrance demands faced by teachers. These interventions could go a great way in developing more work-engaged as well as organisationally committed teachers. Contribution/Value-Add: The present research study contributes greatly to the knowledge pertaining to teachers working within former model C high schools within South Africa. Further the present study can be seen to extend the existing literature with regards to the Job Demands-Resource Model by adopting a differentiated approach to job demands and thus consequently investigating the positive relationships that certain job demands may have in terms of organisational outcomes. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

Cannot copy abstract. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012

The main issue in this study is how students conceptualise mathematical learning in the context of calculus with specific reference to the chain rule. The study focuses on how students use the chain rule in finding derivatives of composite functions (including trigonometric ones). The study was based on the APOS (Action-Process-Objects-Schema) approach in exploring conceptual understanding displayed by first year University of Technology students in learning the chain rule in calculus. The study consisted of two phases, both using a qualitative approach. Phase 1 was the pilot study which involved collection of data via questionnaires which were administered to 23 previous semester students of known ability, willing to participate in the study. The questionnaire was then administered to 30 volunteering first year students in Phase 2. A structured way to describe an individual student's understanding of the chain rule was developed and applied to analyzing the evolution of that understanding for each of the 30 first year students. Various methods of data collection were used namely: (1) classroom observations, (2) open-ended questionnaire, (3) semi-structured and unstructured interviews, (4) video-recordings, and (5) written class work, tests and exercises. The research done indicates that it is essential for instructional design to accommodate multiple ways of function representation to enable students to make connections and have a deeper understanding of the concept of the chain rule. Learning activities should include tasks that demand all three techniques, Straight form technique, Link form technique and Leibniz form technique, to cater for the variation in learner preferences. It is believed that the APOS paradigm using selected activities brought the students to the point of being better able to understand the chain rule and informed the teaching strategies for this concept. In this way, it is believed that this conceptualization will enable the formulation of schema of the chain rule which can be applied to a wider range of contexts in calculus. There is a need to establish a conceptual basis that allows construction of a schema of the chain rule. The understanding of the concept with skills can then be augmented by instructional design based on the modified genetic decomposition. This will then subject students to a better understanding of the chain rule and hence more of calculus and its applications. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2011.

Introduction e-Learning has been integrated and implemented in education and training to the level that it is now a well-established global practice. If used judiciously, e-Learning is a tool that enables active, individual and flexible learning. When integrated into medical education, it offers features that allow lecturers to be not merely content distributors, but also facilitators of learning. Aim The aim of this study was to assess the readiness of students to make the shift from traditional learning, to the technological culture of e-Learning. Methods An observational, cross-sectional, analytical study design was used and data was collected using a validated questionnaire. The sample comprised of all students enrolled in the first year nursing programme at the Durban University of Technology registered for anatomy and physiology in 2013. Informed consent was obtained from each participant prior to conducting the study. Results Three quarters (77/101 76%) of the participants were females. The psychological readiness score was noted to be high in the “could be worse” category (pre-72%, post- 64%). The technological readiness score was noted to be in the “dig deeper” category (pre- 58%, post- 65%) whilst the equipment readiness score fell in the e-Learning “not ready category” (pre- and post- 68%). Discussion The Chapnick Readiness Score Guide was used to analyse psychological, technological and equipment readiness. e-Learning has been identified as a multi-disciplinary field, which is dominated by information technology. Technological and equipment readiness factors of e-Learning are easier to resolve than the psychological readiness factor. Recommendations Although e-Learning could be a key tool in nursing education, a few factors require attention before it can be effectively implemented in this tertiary level education facility. / Thesis (M.Med.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2014.

Nursing throughout the world is striving for international competitiveness and accountability for effectiveness and trust to the students, patients and the community they serve, thus making the issue of accreditation increasingly important. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of the heads of private nursing education institutions on accreditation process by nursing education and training quality assurance body at eThekwini district. Reviewed literature has revealed that the South African Government has facilitated and encouraged the establishment of quality assurance through the South African Qualifications Authority Act, the National Qualifications Framework Act (NQF) and the Nursing Act. Data were collected by means of in-depth interviews with each of the heads of the seven selected private nursing education institutions. Qualitative content analysis using an editing style was performed in this study. Findings of this study revealed that nursing education institutions lack their own internal quality assessment processes as quality of teaching and learning depends on the interaction between the teacher and the students, the collective integrity as well as the professionals in the nursing education institution. Recommendations focused on periodic internal self-assessment as a vehicle to promote the culture of institutional internal self-assessment practices, as quality is seen as logical approach for conveying the importance of excellence to individuals who are nursing care recipients. Reports from the internal review should be provided by the institution to the external evaluation team prior to the external evaluators visit. / Thesis (M.N.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

Intensive care units in South Africa have been faced with various challenges which in turn affect the working condition of critical care nurses, thus leading to poor productivity. Nurses in the work environment blame this poor work quality of nursing to the way critical care nurses are trained and assessed in nursing schools. There is general concern that graduate nursing students lack the knowledge and skills necessary to equip them to work in intensive units. Objectives: To measure the perceptions of critical care nursing students as well qualified critical care nurses on the use of OSCE as a valid and reliable tool to assess clinical competence in critical care nursing students. Methods: A quantitative approach and descriptive survey was administered to critical care nursing students and qualified critical care nurses who had participated in OSCE examination. The intensive care departments of two provincial (states) hospitals and (provincial) nursing college that trained critical care nurses were used. Results: The findings revealed that OSCE was still overwhelmingly accepted as a relevant tool for assessing clinical competencies in Critical Care courses by both students and staff. It was also clear that the students did not believe that all the competencies required in the ICU environment can be assessed using the OSCE method. Discussion: Critical care nursing educators are facing a challenge to develop more comprehensive method for assessing clinical skills in critical care students nurses since OSCE x examination cannot assess all the skills that are necessary in intensive care environment. In order for effective learning to take place during assessment, it is extremely important for nurse educators to give formative feedback in OSCE. / M.N. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2012.