Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / In this study a mixed methods approach was employed to investigate how exposure to a teaching strategy based on spiral revision, productive practice and a mainly direct expository instructional method would influence the mathematical competencies of procedural fluency and conceptual understanding of pre-service mathematics teachers at a South African university. A secondary concern of the study was how retention and transfer abilities of participants would be influenced if they experience mathematics through a teaching strategy underpinned by spiral revision and productive practice. A revised version of the taxonomy table of Anderson et al (2001) was utilized to classify learning and instructional activities in the study in terms of mathematical reasoning and knowledge requirements. In this revised taxonomy the cognitive processes are understood to operate on knowledge structures during the process of cognition (i.e. reasoning categories based on knowledge categories.). The categories of the revised taxonomy table were the main measuring instrument for the study. The findings of the study indicate that the competencies of procedural fluency and conceptual understanding were positively enhanced by the teaching strategy. Some categories however did not show the same level of positive enhancement. Arguments are presented as to why this might be the case and possible solutions are mooted. Findings also indicate that retention and near transfer abilities of participants were positively enhanced. Far transfer abilities were unchanged post intervention. Explanations are offered for this finding and possible resolutions are suggested.

Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS) / Transformational leadership has received considerable attention within the organizational sphere in the last decade. Leadership in higher education institutions has also received attention as there is a concern about the retention rates of students. Academic leaders have identified unclear educational goals, dissatisfaction with academic programmes, and unclear career objectives as reasons for student attrition. Therefore, skills training and development programmes became the priority of academic institutions for the purpose of retaining students to sustain a competent and efficient workforce generation in all spheres. The University of the Western Cape’s Peer Mentoring Programme offers a strategy to increase retention of students because it addresses several causes of student drop out such as, inadequate academic preparation for tertiary institutions, lack of knowledge about social or academic resources and adapting to new surroundings for first year students. Based on a review of empirical findings, this research elucidated the theoretical terrain of mentoring, transformational leadership and trust. The exploration of the literature highlighted the similarities and differences between transformational leaders and mentors are discussed. An adapted version of the Multifactor leadership questionnaire (MLQ), and the workplace trust survey (WTS) was administered to a sample of 54 mentors in a university’s peer mentoring programme within the Western Cape South Africa. The University of the Western Cape’s peer mentoring programme (PMP) was utilised as a case study and a convenience sampling approach was employed. The results emanating from this research indicate that there is a significant relationship between transformational leadership and trust. Biographical variables namely gender, age and previous experience within the mentoring programme as a follower (mentor) were examined amongst the sample of PMP to determine if any of the variables contributed towards the differences in perceptions of transformational leadership and trust in the leader (head mentor). These biographical variables demonstrated no significant difference in transformational and trust levels. Notwithstanding the limited generalizability of this study, implications for research and practice are suggested and recommendations are made to facilitate improved functioning of the PMP.

Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / African foreign nationals face many challenges when attempting integration into South African society. Perceived discrimination is one of the major challenges faced by immigrant populations. African international students form a large contingent of the international student population in tertiary education in South Africa. However, no comprehensive profile exists. The present study aimed to establish a comprehensive demographic profile on the African international student population in Community and Health Sciences (CHS) at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), as well as to establish the relationship between demographic variables, perceived discrimination, and perceived stress. The sampling frame comprised of a list of all international students from the African continent who were registered in the CHS faculty. A survey design was adopted and a response rate of 21% was achieved resulting in the final sample of 68.

<p>Advancement in education has ensured that there is parity in terms of enrolment for both females and males at tertiary institutions. However, women students continue to face challenges to advancing in education. Given that South African society remains highly gendered and that universities are historically male-dominated sites that do not necessarily cater for the particular&nbsp / needs of women (or children), one area of challenge may relate to having to balance parenting roles with the demands of being a student. For example, at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), students with children are prohibited from access to the residences, leaving them with no option but to seek alternative accommodation, where they can remain with their babies or look for childcare support from their relatives. While there is a growing body of work on the experiences of school-going pregnant and parenting learners, there is little work in the South African&nbsp / context of the experiences of women who are both parents and students at tertiary institutions. Since the national education system clearly supports and encourages life-long learning, an investigation into the conditions and experiences of learning for parenting students is important. The focus on women students was motivated by existing findings that show how normative gender roles persist and that women continue to be viewed as the primary nurturers with respect to the care of children. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of&nbsp / motherhood among young female students at UWC. The study was situated within a feminist social constructionist framework and a feminist qualitative methodology was employed. Two or more interviews were conducted with a group of eight participants, selected by convenient sampling, and aged between 18 and 30 years, each with a child or children under the age of five&nbsp / years. Interviews were conducted at the participants&rsquo / choice of location and at a time that was convenient to them. All interviews were audio-recorded and the tapes were kept safely in the researcher&rsquo / s home. All standard ethical procedures for research with human subjects were followed. Data was transcribed verbatim and a qualitative thematic analysis was conducted. Key themes were elucidated and data presented thematically. The key challenges cited included time management, self motivation and the social demands of being a mother. These tend to have&nbsp / adverse repercussions on academic excellence. The analysis revealed that though the young women are allowed to return to universities after becoming mothers, they face many challenges&nbsp / in trying to balance motherhood and the demands of schooling. Furthermore, the findings highlight the tension and ambivalence experienced by participants as they negotiate the social and cultural expectations of motherhood and their personal reality, in meeting the demands of motherhood as student mothers. In their struggle to meet the social and cultural expectations of&nbsp / motherhood, they placed tremendous emotional and physical stress upon themselves which manifested as guilt, physical exhaustion, psychological stress, physical illness and the desire to&nbsp / &nbsp / leave studies notwithstanding the value they attached to it. Although the participants challenged these expectations in various ways, the underlying nuances when they recounted their&nbsp / experiences, remain embedded in these societal and cultural expectations. However, in voicing their experiences, it was clear that they were not always simply accepting the status quo but at&nbsp / &nbsp / &nbsp / times challenging it, and thereby deconstructing the myths of motherhood that are so salient in current social and cultural contexts. The study also found that student mothers at UWC, at least&nbsp / &nbsp / on the basis of this small sample - do not appear to receive sufficient support on campus (physically, materially and emotionally). The study&nbsp / concludes that this group of student mothers face serious challenges as mothers and&nbsp / students and, further, that these challenges are exacerbated by the continued social expectations of women to be &lsquo / perfect&rsquo / mothers which, together with the material gender inequalities in sharing parenting care, could impede effective academic studies. The study recommends that universities play a stronger role in alleviating the challenges for&nbsp / &nbsp / such students. In addition, it recommends that more research be conducted in the area, possibly longitudinal studies, as well as studies that may be more generalisable.</p>

<p>Advancement in education has ensured that there is parity in terms of enrolment for both females and males at tertiary institutions. However, women students continue to face challenges to advancing in education. Given that South African society remains highly gendered and that universities are historically male-dominated sites that do not necessarily cater for the particular&nbsp / needs of women (or children), one area of challenge may relate to having to balance parenting roles with the demands of being a student. For example, at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), students with children are prohibited from access to the residences, leaving them with no option but to seek alternative accommodation, where they can remain with their babies or look for childcare support from their relatives. While there is a growing body of work on the experiences of school-going pregnant and parenting learners, there is little work in the South African&nbsp / context of the experiences of women who are both parents and students at tertiary institutions. Since the national education system clearly supports and encourages life-long learning, an investigation into the conditions and experiences of learning for parenting students is important. The focus on women students was motivated by existing findings that show how normative gender roles persist and that women continue to be viewed as the primary nurturers with respect to the care of children. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of&nbsp / motherhood among young female students at UWC. The study was situated within a feminist social constructionist framework and a feminist qualitative methodology was employed. Two or more interviews were conducted with a group of eight participants, selected by convenient sampling, and aged between 18 and 30 years, each with a child or children under the age of five&nbsp / years. Interviews were conducted at the participants&rsquo / choice of location and at a time that was convenient to them. All interviews were audio-recorded and the tapes were kept safely in the researcher&rsquo / s home. All standard ethical procedures for research with human subjects were followed. Data was transcribed verbatim and a qualitative thematic analysis was conducted. Key themes were elucidated and data presented thematically. The key challenges cited included time management, self motivation and the social demands of being a mother. These tend to have&nbsp / adverse repercussions on academic excellence. The analysis revealed that though the young women are allowed to return to universities after becoming mothers, they face many challenges&nbsp / in trying to balance motherhood and the demands of schooling. Furthermore, the findings highlight the tension and ambivalence experienced by participants as they negotiate the social and cultural expectations of motherhood and their personal reality, in meeting the demands of motherhood as student mothers. In their struggle to meet the social and cultural expectations of&nbsp / motherhood, they placed tremendous emotional and physical stress upon themselves which manifested as guilt, physical exhaustion, psychological stress, physical illness and the desire to&nbsp / &nbsp / leave studies notwithstanding the value they attached to it. Although the participants challenged these expectations in various ways, the underlying nuances when they recounted their&nbsp / experiences, remain embedded in these societal and cultural expectations. However, in voicing their experiences, it was clear that they were not always simply accepting the status quo but at&nbsp / &nbsp / &nbsp / times challenging it, and thereby deconstructing the myths of motherhood that are so salient in current social and cultural contexts. The study also found that student mothers at UWC, at least&nbsp / &nbsp / on the basis of this small sample - do not appear to receive sufficient support on campus (physically, materially and emotionally). The study&nbsp / concludes that this group of student mothers face serious challenges as mothers and&nbsp / students and, further, that these challenges are exacerbated by the continued social expectations of women to be &lsquo / perfect&rsquo / mothers which, together with the material gender inequalities in sharing parenting care, could impede effective academic studies. The study recommends that universities play a stronger role in alleviating the challenges for&nbsp / &nbsp / such students. In addition, it recommends that more research be conducted in the area, possibly longitudinal studies, as well as studies that may be more generalisable.</p>

Magister Scientiae (Occupational Therapy) - MSc(OT) / Fieldwork is seen to be an essential component in the curriculum of an undergraduate occupational therapy (OT) program through which students develop their professional behavior and apply theoretical education to clinical practice. Students in their final year of the undergraduate OT program at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) use the UWC Community Process as a guide to community fieldwork in community settings. This process follows a community development approach to allow students to focus on the needs of the community. The community fieldwork placement is compulsory for all final year OT students. The main aims of the placement are for students to develop their understanding of the role of an occupational therapist in a community setting and to enhance their understanding of the occupational nature of communities. This study focuses on final year UWC OT students' experiences of the supervision they received while following the steps of the Community Process as well as their perceptions of the relationship between their supervision and their learning about occupation based community practice. The aim of the study was to explore how the 2009 final year OT students experienced fieldwork supervision during their community fieldwork placement. The study followed an interpretivist paradigm with a qualitative research methodological approach and a phenomenological design. Purposeful sampling was used to select participants from the UWC OT department who undertook their community fieldwork placement in 2009. All the data utilized in this study was directly linked to the students' experiences of supervision during their learning of the Community Process. Therefore, the methods of data collection that were used included the students' daily reflective journals, their portfolio files and an evaluative focus group held at the end of the year 2009. All data was critically analyzed through a process of thematic analysis in order to meet the research objectives. The techniques of triangulation and a detailed description of the research process were employed to ensure trustworthiness of the study. The ethical principles of autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence as well as informed written consent were adhered to in the study. The findings of the study highlighted the emotions that the students experienced, the development of their professional judgement and the challenges and experiences they encountered in their personal and professional development. The findings further showed that the process of becoming a part of the community allowed the students to define their role as an OT in a community setting and to increase their understanding of community development in the context of their role within the community. The findings also emphasized the students' experiences with regards to various teaching and learning techniques and approaches used within the supervision of their community fieldwork placement. The significance of this study lies in its contribution to the generation of an understanding of how supervision influences students' understanding of occupation-based community practice in occupational therapy.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / Advancement in education has ensured that there is parity in terms of enrolment for both females and males at tertiary institutions. However, women students continue to face challenges to advancing in education. Given that South African society remains highly gendered and that universities are historically male-dominated sites that do not necessarily cater for the particular needs of women (or children), one area of challenge may relate to having to balance parenting roles with the demands of being a student. For example, at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), students with children are prohibited from access to the residences, leaving them with no option but to seek alternative accommodation, where they can remain with their babies or look for childcare support from their relatives. While there is a growing body of work on the experiences of school-going pregnant and parenting learners, there is little work in the South African context of the experiences of women who are both parents and students at tertiary institutions. Since the national education system clearly supports and encourages life-long learning, an investigation into the conditions and experiences of learning for parenting students is important. The focus on women students was motivated by existing findings that show how normative gender roles persist and that women continue to be viewed as the primary nurturers with respect to the care of children. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of motherhood among young female students at UWC. The study was situated within a feminist social constructionist framework and a feminist qualitative methodology was employed. Two or more interviews were conducted with a group of eight participants, selected by convenient sampling, and aged between 18 and 30 years, each with a child or children under the age of five years. Interviews were conducted at the participants choice of location and at a time that was convenient to them. All interviews were audio-recorded and the tapes were kept safely in the researchers home. All standard ethical procedures for research with human subjects were followed. Data was transcribed verbatim and a qualitative thematic analysis was conducted. Key themes were elucidated and data presented thematically. The key challenges cited included time management, self motivation and the social demands of being a mother. These tend to have adverse repercussions on academic excellence. The analysis revealed that though the young women are allowed to return to universities after becoming mothers, they face many challenges in trying to balance motherhood and the demands of schooling. Furthermore, the findings highlight the tension and ambivalence experienced by participants as they negotiate the social and cultural expectations of motherhood and their personal reality, in meeting the demands of motherhood as student mothers. In their struggle to meet the social and cultural expectations of motherhood, they placed tremendous emotional and physical stress upon themselves which manifested as guilt, physical exhaustion, psychological stress, physical illness and the desire to leave studies notwithstanding the value they attached to it. Although the participants challenged these expectations in various ways, the underlying nuances when they recounted their experiences, remain embedded in these societal and cultural expectations. However, in voicing their experiences, it was clear that they were not always simply accepting the status quo but at times challenging it, and thereby deconstructing the myths of motherhood that are so salient in current social and cultural contexts. The study also found that student mothers at UWC, at least on the basis of this small sample - do not appear to receive sufficient support on campus (physically, materially and emotionally). The study concludes that this group of student mothers face serious challenges as mothers and students and, further, that these challenges are exacerbated by the continued social expectations of women to be perfect mothers which, together with the material gender inequalities in sharing parenting care, could impede effective academic studies. The study recommends that universities play a stronger role in alleviating the challenges for such students. In addition, it recommends that more research be conducted in the area, possibly longitudinal studies, as well as studies that may be more generalisable. / South Africa

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / The traditional approach to physiotherapy education is that of an applied science, in which scientific theory and therapeutic skills are taught in a classroom, and then implemented in a clinical setting. Many difficulties were demonstrated by students during the clinical practice component of the undergraduate course at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). This raised the question of whether current strategies of clinical education were effective in facilitating the development of the clinical skills deemed necessary for professional practice. Furthermore, it appeared to me that the teaching strategies which I employed did little to integrate classroom teaching with clinical practice. During 1993 and 1994 I initiated two cycles of workshops as an action research project, in collaboration with students and colleagues at UWC. The purpose of the workshops was for me to investigate my practice as a clinical educator, whereby I hoped to understand more fully, and therefore enhance, my teaching practice. The study revealed that clinical education is a complex and dynamic process strongly influenced by many factors. Personal perceptions of the educator's role in clinical teaching and learning, as well as the interaction with, and expections of those participating in clinical education, shape teaching practice. The concept of a positive learning environment was explored, and it was found that collaboration_with students and classroom democracy has a significant impact on student motivation. The effect of a variety of reading and writing tasks, co-operative learning and structured group discussion are some of the teaching strategies that were implemented, and positively evaluated by students and colleagues. Ethical considerations relating to the role of the patient during clinical practice and clinical education developed as an important aspect of the workshops. The conflict which can arise between the related roles of clinical educator and clinician, evolved as a professional dilemma. It is suggested that the process of clinical education requires further investigation. Educational change and innovation proved to be a difficult personal, and co-operative, process. Unique responses by different groups of individuals to similar situations or strategies make this issue more complex. In order to practice more competently, it would be appropriate that the clinical education process be thoroughly investigated in order to be more fully understood by physiotherapy educators, rather than be taken for granted. Action research proved to be an effective and flexible vehicle for investigating, and responding to, the dynamic teaching process. The action research study documented in this thesis, being similar in effect to the therapeutic process, would serve the physiotherapy clinician as effectively as it would the physiotherapy lecturer.

Magister Educationis (Adult Learning and Global Change) - MEd(AL) / This study examines student activism and student protests that occurred at South African higher education institutions (HEIs) during the academic years 2015 and 2016. These protests were inspired by multiple grievances experienced by students at HEIs, which included protesting against the maintenance and celebration of imperial symbols at universities as well as the unaffordability of academic and residence fees. These protests were different to previous student protests in that student discontentment and protests were popularised and advocated through social media under Twitter hashtags such as #RhodesMustFall (RMF) and #FeesMustFall (FMF).

Magister Artium - MA / The year 2015 and 2016 marked a period of heightened turmoil for the universities in the Western Cape. The three leading institutions in the province were each affected by student-led protest during that year. The Rhodes Must Fall Campaign occurred at the University of Cape Town (UCT), followed by Luister at Stellenbosch University (SU) and later the Fees Must Fall Campaign happened at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). Of the three universities, UWC was the most affected by the student-led protest in the province. Aside from the financial costs incurred by the physical damages to the university, the effects of the movement also lead to the extended shutdown of UWC in 2015 and again in 2016. / 2021-11-25