This study centred on factors contributing to the perceived organizational effectiveness within an educational service provider. The guiding assumption of this research was that the general public supports effective organizations because they are perceived as rendering an effective and efficient service. This results in a reciprocal relationship between the organization and its clients. The Kip McGrath Education Centres was studied since it is an organization that has been rendering educational service in South Africa since 1996. There are to date thirty-five centres operating in the country. However, while there has been phenomenal growth in terms of geographical expansion, no studies have been done to establish what has contributed towards this organization's perceived effectiveness. Literature sources informed this study of the indicators that characterize effective organizations. Some of these indicators of effectiveness were used in this research to determine whether the organization under study can be viewed as one such effective organization. The theoretical underpinning of this study is that there are inherent contradictions within models of effective organizations. As such, effectiveness should be determined according to a given model and relevant indicators. This study surveyed perceptions of the major stakeholders on matters pertaining to the organizational effectiveness of the Kip McGrath Education Centres at Newholmes. Both the qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used. That is, questionnaires were used to obtain information from large samples of educational stakeholders and interviews schedules and check-lists were used to collect qualitative data from small samples and observations of facilities and activities at the centre. The findings revealed that the organization under study was rendering an effective service that clients seem to have valued. This consequently led to their support of the organization which led to its growth in size, judged by student numbers. The conclusions derived from these findings were that an effective organization is one that is able to develop because it possesses salient features necessary for delivering an effective and efficient service to its clients, thus ensuring their continued support. A major finding was that parents were willing to pay for the services offered by the Newholmes KMEC because they felt they got their money's worth. This leads to the conclusion that when the public has confidence in an education provider, the public is willing and able to pay for the services. A recommendation arising out of this would be to determine the extent to which perceived effectiveness translates into genuine effectiveness judged by the quality of programmes offered by a number of private education providers. This would offer evidence and support for the role of the private sector in educational provision which can guide government policy and practice. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Over the last two decades, the deteriorating academic performance of first-year university students has led to the implementation of teaching and learning interventions, such as tutorial programmes, in various subjects at universities world-wide, including in South Africa. The changing nature of higher education has also led to the incorporation of more student-centred teaching approaches (such as tutorials) along with the traditional teacher-centred approaches (such as lectures). Consequently, tutorial programmes have become the topic of many research projects aimed at describing the function or operation of these programmes, or assessing their efficacy. As a compulsory or potentially compulsory subject for at least seven courses in three faculties at Stellenbosch University, English 178 has one of the highest annual student intakes at the institution. Considering the important role the subject is generally perceived to play in equipping all manner of students for the professional environment, it was imperative that the English 178 course’s primary learning intervention – its tutorial programme – be thoroughly evaluated in order to ensure its usefulness and the accomplishment of its purposes. This study investigated the role of tutors in the achievement of the English 178 course outcomes as perceived by students and tutors respectively. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed to effect this assessment. The study found that when students arrive at English 178, they are underprepared for academic writing. According to the results, the course then equips students for the more basic aspects of this skill, such as formulating and developing an argument, and structuring an academic essay. However, advanced skills such as independent research and referencing are still problematic for many students by the end of English 178. In supporting students to acquire these academic skills, tutors have four roles, according to student and tutor perceptions: expositor, chairperson, teacher, and scaffolder. Based on these results, the English 178 course can be seen as an example of facilitated textual enquiry (FTE), a teaching and learning model introduced by this study, which constitutes a selective application of problem-based learning (PBL) principles to literary studies. FTE entails the scaffolded, partially-guided instruction of close reading, critical thinking and academic writing skills by a tutor-facilitator. The study posits that this type of model is indispensable in the achievement of course outcomes in the 21st-century academic landscape. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In die afgelope twee dekades het eerstejaar-universiteitstudente se verswakkende akademiese prestasie gelei tot die implementering van onderrig- en leerintervensies, soos tutoriaalprogramme, in verskeie vakke aan universiteite wêreldwyd, insluitend in Suid-Afrika. Die veranderende aard van hoër opvoeding het ook gelei tot die inlywing van meer studentgesentreerde onderrigbenaderings (soos tutoriale) by tradisionele dosentgesentreerde benaderings (soos lesings). Gevolglik het tutoriaalprogramme die onderwerp van vele navorsingsprojekte geword wat daarop gemik is om die funksie of werking van hierdie programme te beskryf, of die doeltreffendheid daarvan te assesseer. As ’n verpligte of potensieel verpligte vak vir ten minste sewe kursusse in drie fakulteite by die Universiteit Stellenbosch het Engels 178 een van die hoogste jaarlikse studente-innames aan die instelling. Gegewe die belangrike rol wat die vak volgens algemene persepsie speel in die toerusting van allerlei studente vir die professionele omgewing, was dit noodsaaklik dat die Engels 178-kursus se primêre leerintervensie – die tutoriaalprogram – deeglik geëvalueer word om die dienstigheid en die vervulling van die doelwitte daarvan te verseker. Hierdie studie het die rol van tutors in die bereiking van die Engels 178-kursusuitkomste ondersoek vanuit die oogpunt van onderskeidelik studente en tutors. ’n Kombinasie van kwalitatiewe en kwantitatiewe navorsingsmetodes is gebruik om hierdie assessering te doen. Die studie het gevind dat wanneer studente by Engels 178 aankom, hulle ondervoorbereid is vir akademiese skryf. Volgens die resultate rus die kursus hulle dan toe vir die meer basiese aspekte van hierdie vaardigheid, soos om ’n argument te formuleer en ontwikkel, en om ’n akademiese opstel te struktureer. Gevorderde vaardighede, soos onafhanklike navorsing en verwysings, is egter teen die einde van Engels 178 steeds vir baie studente problematies. Wanneer tutors studente ondersteun om hierdie akademiese vaardighede aan te leer, het hulle volgens studente en tutors se persepsies vier rolle: uitlêer (expositor), voorsitter (chairperson), leermeester (teacher), en steieraar (scaffolder). Gegrond op hierdie resultate kan die Engels 178-kursus gesien word as ’n voorbeeld van gefasiliteerde tekstuele ondersoek (facilitated textual enquiry of FTE), ’n onderrig- en leermodel wat deur hierdie studie bekendgestel word en wat bestaan uit ’n selektiewe toepassing van probleemgebaseerde leerbeginsels op letterkundestudie. FTE behels die gesteierde (scaffolded), gedeeltelik geleide onderrig van stiplees (close reading), kritiese denke en akademiese skryfvaardighede deur ’n tutor-fasiliteerder. Die studie voer aan dat hierdie soort model onontbeerlik is in die bereiking van kursusuitkomste in die 21ste-eeuse akademiese landskap.

This auto-ethnographic study (i.e. an autobiographical genre of writing and research, written in the first-person voice, where the workings of self are expressed both cognitively and emotionally) qualitatively explores the changing assumptions of a training therapist. It shows how various therapies were negotiated during the training period, and explores how meaning was constructed according to basic, underlying epistemological assumptions. Significant experiences and therapies are presented, showing how the therapist's most basic, linear assumptions, were directly challenged by eco-systemic training. The study produces an in-depth, thick description of both the emotional and the cognitive journey of a training therapist, and traces the therapist's movement away from the stability and certainty of a linear epistemological 'way of knowing' to the instability and uncertainty characteristic of an eco-systemic 'way of knowing'. Conclusions are idiosyncratic and are not intended for generalization. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Family Therapy training programmes have recently come to appreciate the importance of addressing the personal growth of the trainee-therapist, in addition to the traditional focus on skill development. Suggestions in the available literature on how this "person-of-the-therapist" issue could best be addressed, represent almost exclusively the ideas of authorities (authors, clinicians and trainers) in the field of systemic therapy. Constructivist thought endorsed by the UNISA training programme, encourages and values different viewpoints. According to this view, students and faculty co-construct the training process. The aim of this study is therefore to present the voice of the trainee. Several training contexts, the essential qualities of the different supervisory relationships and difficulties encountered, are explored from the trainee's perspective. It is hoped that this "inside story" about the author's experiences on her journey toward becoming a psychotherapist, will engender sensitivity for and a deeper understanding of the complexity involved in training the person of the therapist. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Managerial and Financial Management (MAF) has traditionally been perceived by students as a difficult subject. Students do not fully grasp the underlying disciplinary concepts and struggle to transfer knowledge from one context to another. There is a dearth of research, particularly in South Africa, into how students learn in accounting programmes. This study sought to explore MAF students’ experiences of learning in a Writing Intensive Tutorial (WIT) programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The WIT programme is based on the principle of using informal exploratory writing, writing-to-learn, to support students’ learning of MAF. Informal writing is low stakes, ungraded, and encourages critical thinking and the learning of concepts, rather than focusing on grammatical correctness. The study was informed by the tenets of social constructivism and was conducted within a qualitative interpretative framework. Principles of case study research were applied in the data generation process. Purposive sampling was applied that reflected the MAF population in regard to race and gender demographics and academic ability. The participants were 15 MAF students who voluntarily participated in an 18-week WIT programme. Interactive Qualitative Analysis (IQA) (Northcutt & McCoy, 2004) was used for the research design and as a data analysis tool. Following IQA protocol, focus groups were used to generate affinities (themes) of students’ experiences of learning in the WIT programme. From the affinities generated a system diagram was constructed. In-depth semi-structured individual interviews were conducted at the end of the programme to further probe participants’ learning experiences. The primary affinity driving the system was the programme structure. which drove the other affinities – understanding of concepts, challenging the participants, the written tasks undertaken (secondary drivers), making learning fun, improved study techniques and test preparation, criticism of the programme (secondary outcomes), increased personal confidence and the interactive nature of the programme (primary outcomes). The thesis concludes with a proposal of an inductively theorised model. The model derives from the major findings in the study regarding students’ experiences of learning in the WIT programme. The model offers insights for higher education programme designs that utilise writing-to-learn pedagogies and can provide opportunities for students’ to develop deep, conceptual learning in higher education. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

This auto-ethnographic study (i.e. an autobiographical genre of writing and research, written in the first-person voice, where the workings of self are expressed both cognitively and emotionally) qualitatively explores the changing assumptions of a training therapist. It shows how various therapies were negotiated during the training period, and explores how meaning was constructed according to basic, underlying epistemological assumptions. Significant experiences and therapies are presented, showing how the therapist's most basic, linear assumptions, were directly challenged by eco-systemic training. The study produces an in-depth, thick description of both the emotional and the cognitive journey of a training therapist, and traces the therapist's movement away from the stability and certainty of a linear epistemological 'way of knowing' to the instability and uncertainty characteristic of an eco-systemic 'way of knowing'. Conclusions are idiosyncratic and are not intended for generalization. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Family Therapy training programmes have recently come to appreciate the importance of addressing the personal growth of the trainee-therapist, in addition to the traditional focus on skill development. Suggestions in the available literature on how this "person-of-the-therapist" issue could best be addressed, represent almost exclusively the ideas of authorities (authors, clinicians and trainers) in the field of systemic therapy. Constructivist thought endorsed by the UNISA training programme, encourages and values different viewpoints. According to this view, students and faculty co-construct the training process. The aim of this study is therefore to present the voice of the trainee. Several training contexts, the essential qualities of the different supervisory relationships and difficulties encountered, are explored from the trainee's perspective. It is hoped that this "inside story" about the author's experiences on her journey toward becoming a psychotherapist, will engender sensitivity for and a deeper understanding of the complexity involved in training the person of the therapist. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Using Margaret Archer’s social realist methodology, this study critically examines the construction of the tutorial system in several departments and faculties at the Auckland Park campus of the University of Johannesburg. The purpose of the study is to investigate the extent to which tutorials support the acquisition of programme and disciplinary epistemologies. Social realism calls for analytical dualism of ‘the people’ (agents) from ‘the parts’ (structure and culture). This requires the separate consideration of structures (social systems, rules, roles, practices, policies, institutions, and organisational structures like committees, units, departments, faculties), culture (ideologies, theories, beliefs and values as evidenced in discourses), and agency (people and their ability to act within and upon their own world in terms of their social roles and positions dependent on their ability to activate their emergent properties and powers). Through this investigation, an understanding was gained into how the emergent properties and powers contained within the material, ideational and agential elements helped to generate certain events and practices in the tutorial system. These generative mechanisms were examined to explore whether they enabled or constrained the construction of the tutorial system to provide epistemological access. The study shows that while many official policy documents construct the tutorial system as being an intervention to support academic success, particularly for first-years, there are some tensions within the document discourses, where, on the one hand, student success is constructed in terms of throughput numbers, or, on the other hand, as being about becoming a particular kind of person who is able to access and add to powerful knowledge. Furthermore, the study found that policies are not being consistently implemented. While certain key agents and actors, in the form of management, academics and tutors, were found to be able to overcome constraints and introduce innovative ways of enhancing access to target epistemologies, there is a need for consideration of structural and cultural constraints. For example, structures in the form of funding, venues and timetabling were found to constrain the tutorial system as did some of the discourses in the cultural domain: for example, in the form of certain dominant discourses around teaching and learning, beliefs about the purpose of the tutorial and the relationship between academics and the tutorial system. The study also found that the ontological aspects of ‘learning to be’ were not fore-grounded to any great extent in the ways in which the tutorial system was constructed. There needs to be more consideration of the ontological as well as the epistemological aspects of first-year study so as to take cognisance of the different learning needs of an increasingly diverse student body and to encourage the development of the student agency necessary for a deep engagement with the disciplinary epistemologies.

In South Africa students from disadvantaged educational backgrounds enrol at institutions of higher learning underprepared for the academic work expected of them. One reason for this is that English in South Africa is primarily an urban language and both Black children and teachers, especially in rural areas, lack sufficient exposure to it (Lemmer 1995) and at tertiary institutions students are expected to communicate efficiently in the language of instruction. The real-world problem at issue is ultimately the need for these students studying through the medium of English to develop their ability to participate actively in tutorials to improve both their academic understanding and their spoken discourse competence, which includes the ‘highly complex task of participating in talk-in-interaction’ (Dalton-Puffer 2007:280). Underlying the present study, then, is the conviction that through frequent interaction in the language of instruction, students will not only gain competence in speaking skills, but also deepen and expand their knowledge of their subject areas. This conviction led to the introduction of tutorials on a trial basis in my department and the study sought to develop a framework for analysing patterns of interaction in the tutorials that would also address the question of how the quality of such patterns might be assessed. The main construct investigated was ‘participation effectiveness’ (the quantity of speaker discourse acts and turns and speaker initiative at discourse act and turn-taking levels) and the overall findings indicated that third-year students participated more effectively than first-years; females performed better than males; and males in male-led tutorials used more discourse acts than females; while females in female-led tutorials did better than males. The analyses of effects of tutor discourse behaviour on student participation revealed that the types of questions tutors used and how they were combined were strong determinants of students' participation effectiveness. Although the approach of the study is essentially quantitative, the operationalisation of this main construct's two key components, namely 'participation' and 'initiative', forms a basis for also deriving more qualitative insights into this academically very important genre of spoken discourse. / Linguistics / D. Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)

Facilitation of learning through the use of tutors is a worldwide approach that is supported by most Open and Distance Learning institutions. This approach was expanded by integrating face-to-face mode of delivery and online delivery with the purpose of increasing access and participation of students at Unisa. However, the practicality of this integration cannot be overlooked and this reality led to this study. Given the background, this dissertation presents a study on tutors’ perceptions of effective facilitation through the use of an integrated tutor model (ITM) in an Open Distance Learning (ODL) environment. This study sought to explore the views of Unisa tutors focusing on the success factors, challenges and the impact this model has on tutors’ behaviour in terms of tutorial delivery in the implementation of the integrated tutor model in tutorial classes. This was done with an aim of expanding access and participation. A qualitative research method was conducted with Unisa Gauteng Region tutors. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews. The findings of the study showed that the level of academic staff involvement in the tutorial program is very low and there was no involvement at all in other colleges. The training and development provided to ODL tutors is highly appreciated by tutors, however, it needs to be intensified to yield the desired outcomes. Findings further revealed that the institution needs to attend to the provision of access to students. Based on these findings, recommendations were made that academic staff members need to increase their level of involvement in the tutorial program in order to support tutors who provide support to students. Practical training of tutors on the use of technology is necessary and the institution must increase access to computers and the internet for students. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Open and Distance Learning)