M.Ed. (Subject Didactics) / The focus in this study is on roleplay as a technique for second language education, wi the specific reference to oral communication. The field study as well as the theoretical framework is placed against the background of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) as language education approach or; The theoretical research encompasses role-play as Anthropological phenomenon and especially also as a didactic principle. This framework is complemented by a brief exposition of LT as language education paradigm. The field work is based on qualitative observation. The researcher had participant observation st.atus at a school for a month. A multi-faceted analysis of two oral communication lessons were made. The qualitative observation is triangulated with structured interviews (questionnaire type), open-ended interviews, document analysis as well as structured systematic analysis of two recorded lessons. It was found that there was a significant difference in interpersonal social language usage in the two lessons. The lessons in which role-play was implemented as a technique showed a qualitative increase in language production. It is to be concluded that role-play accommodates oral communication in second language context meaningfully as a mode of pedagogic discourse, supported by a simulated naturalistic milieu.

Ph.D. (Leadership Performance and Change) / Organisations worldwide have made substantial investments in the training of their employees even though it is generally understood that only a small amount of learning is usually transferred to the work environment. The knowledge of the extent of employer investments in training compared to the benefits that accrue from this training for the organisation underlies the continuous debate concerning the return on investment and the effectiveness of the transfer of learning. Learning Transfer is defined as the application of knowledge, skills and attitudes learned from training and the subsequent maintenance of it over a period of time. This paucity of learning transfer, in spite of the substantial investment in training by employers, must be considered against the reality of organisations continuously being confronted by demands emanating from developments such as globalisation. Equally, technological developments necessitate change in the nature of work and consequently in the knowledge and skills required by employees to perform the work, as well as for organisations to remain globally competitive. The aim of this study is to determine whether a causal relationship exists between management support for learning and the effectiveness of learning transfer. In pursuance of finding causes for the lack of learning transfer, the study has the further objective of determining whether management support could be elevated above other differentiators, such as motivation of the trainee, training design and the workplace or organisational climate factors. The study is premised on the perception that management exercises a great deal of influence over their employees and that they determine organisational outcomes because of their decision-making authority. This gave rise to the presumption that management plays a leading role in ensuring that effective learning transfer is achieved and that the nature and extent of management‟s influence determines whether effective and efficient learning transfer is realised.

A supportive work climate is critical for successful transfer of learning. Influences in the work environment affect the trainee's ability to apply new skills to the job. The supervisor can be a significant figure in the trainee's perception of a supportive transfer climate. Little is known of the effect of supervisor participation in the training on transfer climate. The purpose of this study was to identify differences in trainee and supervisor self-perceptions of the factors affecting transfer climate. Additionally, this study examined the effects of supervisor participation in the training program on perceptions of transfer climate. The participants in this study were trainees in a union-sponsored instructor training program and their supervisors. The study found perception gaps between the overall perception of transfer climate and supervisor support. The level of supervisor participation in the training program was not to be a factor in the differences between the trainee and supervisor perceptions. No statistically significant difference exists in the perception of other transfer climate factors: supervisor sanctions, peer support, resistance/openness to change, and feedback/performance coaching. In addition, the study found that supervisor participation in the training made little difference in the perceptions of transfer climate by supervisors and trainees. Studies comparing trainee and supervisor perceptions of transfer climate and the effect of supervisor participation in the training on these perceptions are needed from other organizations before extensive generalizations can be made.

Thesis (M. A. (Education)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / Poor performance, by English Language Learners (ELLs), in Science examinations remains a thorny issue in countries where English is not the home language. Research around the world and the Department of Basic Education in South Africa have long recommended the integration of Language Literacy skills in the teaching of Physical Sciences in order to solve this issue. Despite that, learners’ poor performance in Physical Sciences examinations has been found to be positively related to low language literacy skills. The questions are: Do Physical Sciences teachers integrate language literacy skills in teaching the subject?; If yes, to what extent is the integration of language literacy skills practiced in Physical Sciences classroom? In an attempt to answer the above questions, a quantitative survey was carried out in Riba Cross District of Sekhukhune Region of Limpopo Province in South Africa. 211 learners and five teachers from selected nine schools took part in the study and questionnaires were used to collect data. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 was used. The results indicate that Language Literacy skills are integrated into the teaching of Physical Sciences in Riba Cross District, despite concerns raised by the teachers. The areas of concern include letting learners to argue using evidences and writing reports. Furthermore, schools with large classes have challenges in integrating Language Literacy Skills in the teaching of Physical Sciences. Therefore, further studies are recommended which should integrate both qualitative and quantitative approaches in school contexts.

This dissertation reports an evaluation study which was done with an educational programme for Automotive Service Technicians which was adapted for South African conditions and derived from a programme used internationally, and originally developed in Schweinfurt, Germany in 2005. The programme was designed to answer to particular problems experienced during automotive driveline-component installations. Since the inception of this programme, ZF Germany had been training representatives from their different subsidiaries over the world on the essential elements of automotive driveline installation protocol. The representatives were trained to adapt the core programme in accordance with the particulars of the vehicle populations in each respective country, and the researcher has performed this task The aim of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of one particular module known as “Guidelines to clutch replacement” with regard to bringing about the desired changes in knowledge, attitude and behaviour within the trainees. Previous anecdotal feedback from the industry had suggested that the programme had been helpful in the reduction of installation errors, but the extent of the successes and failures of the programme had been unknown until this study. The training department at ZF South Africa was tasked to design further training modules based on the findings of the module under study in order to establish the successes and failures of the core concept for improvement of successive programmes. The approach for this programme evaluation was utilization-focused which allowed the researcher to choose from and combine a variety of data collection strategies over the complete range of summative and formative evaluation approaches. However, in keeping with the stated aim of this study, this study had been limited to a summative inquiry by employing a quantitative data collection strategy at the hand of a quasi-experimental research design. This research report presents the findings of a one-day intervention programme that was offered to Automotive Service Technicians in the Gauteng area. The conceptual framework that was adopted for the research was based on the four level evaluation framework of Kirkpatrick (1998) with the first three levels having been empirically tested and the fourth level discussed on the basis of empirical information. Findings suggest that although the levels of knowledge-acquisition could not to be considered as high, behaviour modification had indeed been observed to be in alignment with the clutch-installation-protocol and almost all the respondents had adopted the protocol as their preferred way of executing clutch installations. In addition, most respondents found the programme to be pleasant and of a high utility value. Certain problems with the programme became evident, such as the pace having been too fast; printed hand-outs were not considered to have high utility value, and sensitivity to personal and cultural differences were found to be lacking. The low levels recorded for knowledge acquisition may be language related which possibly relates to the fast pace of the course. The research findings suggest that the course should be spread over two days instead of one day and be augmented with practical demonstrations and re-designed printed hand-outs. In order to effectively measure level four of the Kirkpatrick framework, criteria of concern should be negotiated with participating organisations in order to provide relative data for answering research questions on this level. Procedures for collecting data over the course of several years need to be established and agreed upon by all stakeholders for such data to be reliable and valid in the inclusion of a time-series study. Regarding a relatively simple programme such as the programme under study with programme objectives that have a predominant procedural-knowledge focus, the Kirkpatrick framework has been found to be effective and its procedures may be applied in other industry-based training programmes. An added academic contribution to the previous one is that the Kirkpatrick framework as utilised in this study has shown that the framework offers a high utility value for fast-paced short courses where contact time with trainees are limited and evaluation designs need to fit in with the practical limitations. The high utility value of the Kirkpatrick framework became evident in the findings of this study where transfer of learning had evidently taken place regardless of possible learning problems such as language barriers. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / MEd / Unrestricted

The effectiveness of using virtual labs to train students in computer networking skills, when real equipment is limited or unavailable, is uncertain. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of using virtual labs to train students in the acquisition of computer network configuration and troubleshooting skills. The study was conducted in the developing country of Zambia, where there is an acute shortage of network lab equipment. Effectiveness was determined by the transfer of skills learned in a virtual lab to a real lab. A two stage true experimental design, that compared the proficiency of randomly assigned experimental (virtual-lab) and control (no-virtual-lab) groups, was used to determine effectiveness (N = 56). In the first stage, the virtual-lab group practiced in a virtual lab while the no-virtual-lab group did not. Both groups were subjected to a lab test where the speed and accuracy of network configuration and troubleshooting of real equipment was measured, prior and after treatment. In the second stage, both groups practiced using real equipment and the speed and accuracy was again measured. An independent t-test was used to determine if there was a significant difference in the final performance between the two groups. It was found that there were significant differences between the groups in the configuration time (p = 0.011) and troubleshooting time (p = 0.03), favoring the virtual-lab group. On the other hand, there were no significant difference in configuration accuracy (p = 0.06) and troubleshooting accuracy (p = 0.440) between the two groups. In addition, there was positive transfer of training from the virtual lab to the real lab for configuration accuracy, configuration speed, troubleshooting accuracy and troubleshooting speed. There was also evidence that students showed performance gains both in using virtual and real labs by comparing their pre-test and post-test results. From the results, there is evidence that the use of virtual labs contributes positively to the transfer of practical computer networking skills from the virtual to the real lab environment. Hence, virtual labs were found to be effective in the teaching of computer networking skills relating to configuration and troubleshooting. / Ph. D.

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An important goal for machine learning is to transfer knowledge between tasks. For example, learning to play RoboCup Keepaway should contribute to learning the full game of RoboCup soccer. Often approaches to task transfer focus on transforming the original representation to fit the new task. Such representational transformations are necessary because the target task often requires new state information that was not included in the original representation. In RoboCup Keepaway, changing from the 3 vs. 2 variant of the task to 4 vs. 3 adds state information for each of the new players. In contrast, this dissertation explores the idea that transfer is most effective if the representation is designed to be the same even across different tasks. To this end, (1) the bird’s eye view (BEV) representation is introduced, which can represent different tasks on the same two-dimensional map. Because the BEV represents state information associated with positions instead of objects, it can be scaled to more objects without manipulation. In this way, both the 3 vs. 2 and 4 vs. 3 Keepaway tasks can be represented on the same BEV, which is (2) demonstrated in this dissertation. Yet a challenge for such representation is that a raw two-dimensional map is highdimensional and unstructured. This dissertation demonstrates how this problem is addressed naturally by the Hypercube-based NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies (HyperNEAT) approach. HyperNEAT evolves an indirect encoding, which compresses the representation by exploiting its geometry. The dissertation then explores further exploiting the power of such encoding, beginning by (3) enhancing the configuration of the BEV with a focus on iii modularity. The need for further nonlinearity is then (4) investigated through the addition of hidden nodes. Furthermore, (5) the size of the BEV can be manipulated because it is indirectly encoded. Thus the resolution of the BEV, which is dictated by its size, is increased in precision and culminates in a HyperNEAT extension that is expressed at effectively infinite resolution. Additionally, scaling to higher resolutions through gradually increasing the size of the BEV is explored. Finally, (6) the ambitious problem of scaling from the Keepaway task to the Half-field Offense task is investigated with the BEV. Overall, this dissertation demonstrates that advanced representations in conjunction with indirect encoding can contribute to scaling learning techniques to more challenging tasks, such as the Half-field Offense RoboCup soccer domain.