M.Inf. / The information society is placing new demands on the LIS profession which could soon be facing an identity crisis. Certain issues need to be addressed to make the traditional LIS more viable and active today. One of these issues is the suitable education of potential employees of the LIS. The purpose of this study was to establish, by means of empirical research, to what extent the IT education offered by Departments of Information Science (DIS) at South African universities are preparing graduates for an electronic information service (EIS). A literature survey was undertaken to establish the nature of an EIS. Three major categories of information technologies which make up an EIS were identified, viz network technologies, communications technologies and retrieval technologies. A second literatyre survey was then undertaken to ascertain the state of IT education in DIS both in developed and developing countries. The motivation for distinguishing between these two nation types was based on the fact that South Africa comprises both developed and developing nations. Based on the information gleaned from the two literature surveys, a questionnaire was compiled and posted to all heads of DIS at South African universities. The purpose of the questionnaire was to establish the extent to which those technologies that comprise an EIS have been incorporated into the curriculum of South African DIS, as well as the attitudes of DIS heads towards the role and significance of IT education in their curricula. The main finding was that although the importance of an IT component in the curriculum is recognised by all DIS, the majority are not placing sufficient emphasis on IT in their curricula. There is a general willingness and a positive attitude towards the incorporation of more IT into the curricula but various constraining factors inhibit this willingness. Problems faced by all DIS is finding the space in their curricula to allocate to IT training and maintaining a healthy balance between theory and practice. Some DIS have the added burden of a lack of facilities as well as catering for students from previously disadvantaged backgrounds.

M.Cur. / The recently introduced fetal growth monitoring technique - the symphysis fundal height measurement (SFHM) - has brought along a few problems. This technique was introduced in conjunction with the new antenatal card system. With this system the card is no longer kept at the health institution but carried by the mother. This mother carried antenatal card (MCAC) has a gravidograph on which measurements of fundal height are plotted graphically. Midwives in most clinical settings have experienced problems when making recordings on the gravidograph. In some centres doctors were also complaining that the symphysis fundal height measurements (SFHM) are plotted incorrectly. Midwives started to feel inadequate when doctors were constantly complaining that the gravidograph is not plotted correctly. The SFHM technique then became unpopular with midwives and most of them decided to go back to abdominal palpation - an old system which was used to monitor fetal growth. The problem most commonly found with the SFHM technique was that different midwives performed it differently. There was no uniformity in performance. This resulted in vast discrepancies of fluidal height measurements. Due to this, many problems arose with regard to proper management of pregnancy. A lot of literature surveyed by the researcher supported the fact that the SFHM technique was the best method for monitoring fetal growth. The graviphical display of SFHM on the gravidograph also facilitated early identification of intra-uterine growth retardation (IUGR). IUGR has also been found to be a major contributory factor in perinatal mortality. The survival rate of infants who have suffered IUGR can be increased through early diagnosis of IUGR and prompt referral. A seminar was staged by the researcher at the initial stages of the study to obtain views and opinions from other stakeholders regarding the SFHM technique and the MCAC. A considerable'amount of input was gained at this seminar and this contributed a great deal to the data needed for the completion of this study. The goal of this study is, therefore, to assess the ability of midwives in: performing the SFHM technique; and making recordings on the gravidograph section of the card. A quantitative, descriptive and exploratory design was followed. The study population consisted of a total of 15 registered midwives and 45 pregnant mothers. Each midwife was allocated 3 mothers according to selected criteria. This study was done within the context of two specific hospitals and two specific clinics. Tools were first tested for validity and reliability in a pilot study. Testing of the tools was done with the assistance of an experienced midwife researcher. No major changes were made. Data was gathered in two phases. Phase I was completed by direct observation, using a checklist. Phase II was a semi-structured interview. The medium of communication was English. Informed verbal consent was obtained from both midwives and pregnant mother subjects. Their right to refrain from participation was also explained. Data was analysed according to descriptive statistics in the form of tables and graphs. The concerns of the researcher were validated by the results in that the findings revealed that both the SFHM technique and recordings made on the gravidograph were done incorrectly in most cases. The results of this study have highlighted the need to formulate the SFHM technique standard. This would serve as guidelines and also as criteria against which performance can be measured. Delays in standardizing the technique may result in increased instead of decreased perinatal mortality rates. There is also a need to ensure that the gravidogram section of the card is filled in correctly. It is recommended that midwives should be thoroughly in-serviced about new procedures before being expected to implement them. Standards which serve as guidelines for practice should also be formulated, together with new procedures, so that excellence in practice is achieved.

D.Ed. / The aim of this research is to determine teaching for the development of meaningful learning by Educational students at Vista University. determine these teaching strategies, the objectives were formulated: To determine the factors which have an influence on earning strategies. To determine the learning strategies of the first year Education students at Vista University. To identify teaching strategies that would encourage meaningful learning. Firstly a review is given of the research done in the field of learning strategies. The work done in Sweden, the United Kingdom, Australia and the USA is discussed. The learning strategies identified by these researches are then divided into two groups, those encouraging a surface learning strategy and those encouraging a deep learning strategy; The latter resulting in meaningful learning. In the second instance, factors influencing learning strategies are discussed. These factors aredivided into personal factors (cognitive style, previous experience, motivation, conception of learning, background knowledge, intellectual ability, personality, self-concept, age, sex and cerebral hemispherisity) and institutional factors (subject area and departmental context, the nature of the task and task demands, the student's perception of the teaching and learning context, teaching and evaluation). An indication is also given of which factors and which specific aspects of the factors give rise to either a surface learning strategy or a deep learning strategy. Thirdly, one of the factors, namely teaching is discussed by referring to how it influences a student's choice of a learning strategy. Aspects such as teaching styles, teaching methods, media, effective teaching and the student's perception of teaching are discussed. Fourthly, a second factor, evaluation is discussed by looking at evaluation and objectives, ways of evaluating, evaluation techniques, criteria and prerequisites for evaluation, the role of evaluation in the teaching situation and the relationship between evaluation and the student's learning. Throughout the discussion on teaching and evaluation, an attempt is made to give an indication of the status quo concerning these aspects at Vista University. An attempt is also made to identify which aspects of these two factors encourage either a surface or a deep learning strategy. In order to determine the learning strategies of first year Education students at Vista University, an empirical research is undertaken. In the quantitative part of the research the measuring instrument used is the Approaches to Studying Inventory developed by Entwistle and Ramsden. The SOLO Taxonomy as developed by Biggs and Collis is used in the qualitative part of the research. The research group consists of the first year Education students at the Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein, Welkom, Sebokeng and Soweto campuses of Vista University during 1988. From the research the conclusion can be drawn that the students do have a meaning orientation towards learning but the learning strategy that they apply is reproductive. Lastly, an attempt is made to determine teaching strategies that would encourage meaningful learning. The conclusion is reached that the lecturer's intention with regard to his teaching must be brought in line with the student's perception of the teaching situation. In order to bring this about meta-teaching strategies are proposed as the teaching strategies that would lead to meaningful learning.

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

The research presented in this thesis is a case study, based on ethnographic principles, located in the interpretive paradigm of qualitative research. The focus is specifically on the development of a collaborative approach ro teacher professional development: an approach that recognises and celebrates teachers themselves as resources for their own and other teachers' professional development. The study was carried out over a period of four years with a group of twelve teachers who had recognised the need and expressed the desire to develop their teaching. The research evolved in two main phases. The initial phase was based on the implementation and evaluation of a project designed to encourage a collaborative approach to teacher development based on mutual peer support. This led to a second phase, the main focus of the research, aimed at gaining a greater understanding of the teachers' situation and situating their practice in the wider context generated by this understanding. Conversations with the teachers led to the identification of dimensions and tensions characterising their experience. The research presented here, represents an attempt to understand, interpret and make recommendations relating to the professional development of teachers. The understanding is linked to the teachers' educational biographies and experience of the culture in which they are situated. The interpretation is based on what may be viewed as a dynamic ongoing construction of meaning - a journey of negotiation. The text, described as a narrative collage, a tapestry of voices interwoven by threads of negotiation, represents a collaborative accomplishment. The teachers' words have been interpretively framed and these constructions validated in an interpersonal construction of social reality. The reader is invited to engage in an act of complicity, to collude with the text in the construction and negotiation of shared meaning, possibly finding resonance with their own situations. Reflections on the teachers' experience reveal journeys which resonate with that of the society in which the school is located - 'a case in transition' - situated between an environment characterised by constrained cooperation and an environment characterised by freer collaboration. The overall tension may be viewed metaphorically as a 'Tug o' War'. On one end of the rope is a cultural legacy of authority, isolation, social division and conservatism, while on the other end there is a pull towards greater autonomy and interaction, to adapt rather than conserve and to work together in mutual collegial support: a struggle between cooperating with what is and collaborating towards what could be. The main contention of this thesis is that we ought strongly to support and encourage collaborative approaches to professional development based on mutual peer support. We need to look towards a future of open professionalism where the teachers are regarded as key persons in the process. The attainment of such an ideal needs to be seen as part of systemic changes in management, policies and structure geared towards greater inclusivity and democratic practice; it necessitates a coherent approach that is based on relationships of mutual respect and appreciation.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (PhD (Education Management))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

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.

M.Cur. / The attitude, insight and contribution of a group of unit managers into student nurse education, as well as the problems related to this function, was explored in an exploratory descriptive survey in contextual relation. The target population was confined to hospitals affilliated to the Western Transvaal Nursing College. The attitude of unit managers was found to be positive towards their training function although a lack of insight regarding the program content and training policy regarding the new comprehensive four year course was illustrated. A lack of collaboration between the college and unit managers was also evident, regarding standards and student evaluation. The main recommendations include the design and implementation of inservice education programmes and improved liason between teaching and unit personnel including differentiation of the student-teaching function for unit managers.

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

M.Ed. (Educational Management) / The present crisis in Black education in South Africa centres largely around the problem of educating and re-educating principals. Major deficiencies in the teaching of Mathematics and Physical Science exacerbate the acute shortage of adequately qualified teachers. During the past two decades there have been even greater uncertainties, fears and instabilities in the field of professional development. The problem of upgrading Black principals also seems to have received limited and sporadic attention. Central to this problem is the quality of the professional development of educational leaders. Hartshorne (1990:4) argues that" ...although it is crucial to highlight the fact that while there has been a marked improvement in the professional qualifications of Black teachers, there has been a disturbing and remarkable increase in the number of professionally under-qualified teachers in Black schools". Comments such as these highlight the severity of the education crisis, the need for skilled principals and the demand for effective professional development to improve their management skills. They also outline the context and rationale of this investigation. The three major resources in meeting the challenge of the provision of education are teachers, classroom facilities and effective managers or educational leaders. This investigation will suggest that innovative methods and strategies will have to be found in both pre-service and in-service education and professional development to increase the quality of principals available to the present system of schooling, without resorting to "quickfix" and 'cheap solutions. The first step could be the removal of the past educational inequalities: size of classes, teacher qualifications, funding disparities, educational facilities and equipment (Hartshorne, 1990:85). The recipe knowledge approach to professional development in the initial training programmes is becoming increasingly difficult to justify or sustain...