Magister Artium - MA / This thesis explores the precarious nature of authenticity as it manifested itself in the activities of H.I.M. Society, the Rastafarian student organization at the University of the Western Cape. Ethnographic research was conducted, to explore the above mentioned issue, which involved observation of various activities and in depth interviews. I also inquired about outsiders' perspectives on Rastafarianism and H.I.M. Society in particular. Authenticity, as it is conceived in this thesis, is about what a group of people deem culturally important. Three important ideas follow from this. The first is that not everyone in a group agrees on what is important. Put differently authenticating processes tend to be characterized by legitimizing crises. Therefore, secondly, social actors need to invest cultural ideas, objects and practices with authenticity. Lastly the authenticating processes are predicated on boundaries not necessarily as a means of exclusion but as fundamental to determining the core of cultural being and belonging

Magister Public Health - MPH / Interprofessional Education (IPE) for the undergraduate health sciences students has been seen as a vehicle that could prepare health professionals for improved collaboration in health care (Reeves, 2000). Early health curricula did not allow interaction among students of different disciplines. As a result students were equipped to only function in their own disciplines for their own professional purposes (Beatty, 1986). The Faculty of Community and Health Sciences (CHS), at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), introduced IPE in 1994 and established an Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning unit(ITLU) to coordinate the interdisciplinary structured modules for undergraduate community and health sciences students.This research is an additional qualitative inquiry which is part of a bigger IPE study. The main aim of the bigger study, coordinated by the Collaboration for Health Equity in Education and Research (CHEER), is to investigate the impact of Collaborative Interprofessional Education and Practice on the development of socially responsible graduates who are well equipped to practice in rural and disadvantaged areas. This researcher aimed to explore the insights and attitudes of the current third and fourth year undergraduate community and health sciences students who are involved in the IPE programme regarding their appreciation of the other students‟ profession and their attitude to future interprofessional collaboration. Students were asked about their experiences in the IPE programme focusing on their initial experience, interaction in interprofessional groups and insights, and attitudes to being involved in the programme.Based on their experiences, they were also asked to provide recommendations for the programme. An exploratory qualitative study was conducted using focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews. Six focus group discussions were held with 3rd and 4th year students from occupational therapy, psychology, social work, physiotherapy and nursing at UWC to explore in-depth students‟ insights and attitudes towards the IPE programme. Two additional interviews were conducted with students individually. Six semi-structured interviews were conducted to obtain background information from key informants (Unit coordinator, Course convenor, two field coordinators and two lecturers) involved in the IPE programme at the UWC. The data collected were then transcribed and analysed by thematic content analysis.The findings revealed that the UWC IPE programme is very useful and important and can be potentially beneficial in health professional training especially in fostering collaboration. The results show both positive and negative attitudes by students at their initial encounter with the programme and a shift to a positive attitude and greater insight as students became more involved in the programme. The positive attitude is linked to an appreciation of their own and other professions‟ roles; recognition of the importance of a collaborative role in the health care setting and the relevance of the programme (content, practical work) to their work. The negative attitudes emanate from uncertainties and structural challenges within the programme (timing, lecturing process, etc). There are also challenges linked to course organisation which are important to improving the programme and have a potential to influence the attitudes of students.

Magister Artium - MA / South Africa is a diverse, multilingual country with a majority of its youth owning or using cellular phone technologies. The cell phone interaction between multilingual individuals from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds suggests that a range of multilingual styles are being developed in the electronic domain, particularly when sending SMSes (Short Message Service messages). This study uses the Systemic Functional Linguistics Perspective (SFL) to analyse how English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa are being transformed through the medium of text messaging at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). In using methods such as thematic analysis and SFL this research is interested in the linguistic choices individuals make when engaging in SMS/Mxit messages to express themselves. The study aims to look at the effects of concepts such as globalization, stylization, polylingual languaging and transidiomatic practices on text messaging itself; and in turn to see how these text messages are typified by the mixing and blending of languages and their multimodal aspects are then considered to be a coherent and cohesive social practice among the youth. In addition, considering new developments in language studies, particularly the notions of language as social practice and hybrid languaging practices, it also looks at SMS/Mxit messages and examines them against the ‘traditional’ monolingual concepts of codeswitching and code-mixing. The linguistic analysis of this text based data presents a framework for exploring how members of the youth portray their identities as it allows the researcher to deal with interpersonal dimensions of language in texts in a systematic manner. These interpersonal dimensions view the relationships between participants in relation to their performance of identity. Drawing on SMS/Mxit data from 60 third year university students, the focus of this thesis is to investigate if the languages used during SMS/Mxit interactions are being modified and transformed by this medium of communication. It simultaneously looks at these student communicators performing a range of identity options. The study concludes that English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa are not used as separate language entities but are instead used as one language resource. It highlights how speakers use features of any language as linguistic options for a communicative event. Ultimately, the study demonstrates that SMS speak is not seen as an alternative language used within a third space but has instead become a norm in terms of language practices among the youth.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / The aim of the thesis is to research the difficulties that first year mainstream mathematics students at UWC experience when solving Related Rates problems in calculus. In chapter 2, an in-depth study was made of the nature of Related Rates problems by studying a number of examples. The findings of this study are summarized in section 2.12. The study adopted the same model of the solution of all types of Related Rates that was used by Martin (2000) for the solution of geometric Related Rates problems. In chapter 3 of this thesis, many examples were used to illustrate how the seven step solution procedure of the Standard Solution model is applied. In the literature review in chapter 4, the underlying concepts which underpin Related Rates problems are identified and specific examples of research on each of these concepts are given. For example, the review of the literature on word problems is done comprehensively and covers extensively the range of issues involved in this topic. Drawing on the work in chapter 2 on the nature of Related Rates problems, it is explained in chapter 5 why this study is underpinned by Constructivism as a theoretical basis. Chapter 6 of the thesis is devoted to answering the 3 research questions posed in chapter 1. The thesis contains many worked examples of Related Rates problems which can be used by the lecturers assigned to the MAT105 course.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The work of the International Defence and Aid Fund (IDAF) conducted between 1956 and 1991 gave rise to a collection of records that traverse 35 years of support work. As a solidarity organisation IDAF provided support to liberation movements in South Africa through their legal and welfare assistance programmes. Equally significant, IDAF also sought to highlight the oppressive machinery of the apartheid government through the deployment of their research, information and publications programmes as a way of creating awareness and ‘keeping the conscience of the world alive.’ When the administrative records of IDAF were relocated to South Africa, with the Mayibuye Centre for History and Culture as chosen location, they were turned into an archival collection which also became a memorial to IDAF’s resistance work located in the foremost anti-apartheid university and politically in a new project that intended to create a museum about apartheid. Later the collection was incorporated into the Robben Island Museum (RIM) through an agreement between the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and the Museum. The dissertation examines the cultural history and the political life of the IDAF archival collection and the processes through which it was made and continues to be remade.

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 Educationis - MEd / This study does an in-depth exploration of how students experience full-time study and part-time employment, focusing on participants in the work-study programme of the University of the Western Cape. By means of the work-study programme, the university provides on-campus term-work opportunities for students in teaching, research, administration and other support services. In particular this study looks at: the reasons why students partake in the work-study programme and the benefits they gain; the type of work that students do; how demanding the work is; the number of hours they work; and the way this impacts on students' experience of higher education. It further looks at the kinds of challenges students face while participating in the work-study programme and the strategies that they use in order to balance working and studying. Student employment is not a new phenomenon but there is limited knowledge available on the students' experiences of campus employment. According to Metcalf (2003:316), research into part-time work of full-time students is important because of the "potential impact [of term-work] on the nature and effectiveness of higher education and equality of provision of higher education". Existing research shows that students who take part in part-time work are as diverse as the situations that compel them to work and study. It further highlights that students of all genders, ages and class have been observed as taking part in part-time work while pursuing full-time studies. Moreover, there are diverse reasons why students take part in term-work: to pay tuition fees and for their subsistence; to maintain their lifestyle; or to gain work experience. The literature also shows that students experience various challenges because of term-work, mainly due to their multiple time commitments. The effect is that working students may find it difficult to meet academic demands and succeed at the same level as non-working students. As a way of studying student experiences on the UWC work-study programme, this study will use quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection by means of a two-stage methodology. The first stage will involve an electronic survey that will provide baseline data on the students in the programme. This stage lays the ground for the second, qualitative stage of the methodology where the researcher will conduct in-depth interviews with some students involved in the programme. The findings show that students’ reasons for participating in the work-study programme are not necessarily about addressing their financial needs, but also about gaining work experience which puts them a step ahead of their peers. Students from the work-study programme worked varying hours. The number of hours was influenced by students’ classes, and also by the number of hours they were allowed to work, as the work timetable is designed around their academic work. The challenges that students experienced were both positive and negative, depending on their personal situation. Furthermore, the students reported many ways of coping and balancing working, studying and maintaining a social life. In terms of benefits, students indicated that they thought that both the students and the university were benefiting from the work-study programme. After the data was collected, analysed and discussed, a student experience typology in relation to the students on the programme was created. The empirical findings in this study provide a new understanding concerning students who are employed on campus. The study found that students, depending on various variables, were finding ways to manage academic demands, social lives and working part-time on campus. Taken together, the findings suggest an added role for work-study programmes in enhancing students’ university experience As a way of studying student experiences on the UWC work-study programme, this study will use quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection by means of a two-stage methodology. The first stage will involve an electronic survey that will provide baseline data on the students in the programme. This stage lays the ground for the second, qualitative stage of the methodology where the researcher will conduct in-depth interviews with some students involved in the programme. The findings show that students’ reasons for participating in the work-study programme are not necessarily about addressing their financial needs, but also about gaining work experience which puts them a step ahead of their peers. Students from the work-study programme worked varying hours. The number of hours was influenced by students’ classes, and also by the number of hours they were allowed to work, as the work timetable is designed around their academic work. The challenges that students experienced were both positive and negative, depending on their personal situation. Furthermore, the students reported many ways of coping and balancing working, studying and maintaining a social life. In terms of benefits, students indicated that they thought that both the students and the university were benefiting from the work-study programme. After the data was collected, analysed and discussed, a student experience typology in relation to the students on the programme was created. The empirical findings in this study provide a new understanding concerning students who are employed on campus. The study found that students, depending on various variables, were finding ways to manage academic demands, social lives and working part-time on campus. Taken together, the findings suggest an added role for work-study programmes in enhancing students' university experience.

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 Artium (Sport, Recreation and Exercise Science) - MA(SRES) / Over the years cricket has developed from a traditional and conservative game into an extremely lucrative sport, which requires a great deal of professionalism in all surrounding areas. In recent years cricket has evolved and resulted in the emergence of Twenty20 cricket. The aim of this study focused on identifying batting trends through a comparative analysis between Varisty Cup winning teams and the University of the Western Cape Cricket Club between the age group of 18 – 25. The study used a quantitative research approach with a content analysis methodology research design. Nine key batting variables were analysed in three phases of a cricket match (Powerplay, Middle overs and Death overs) between winning teams and the University of the Western Cape Cricket Club to establish the magnitude of differences (Cohen’s effect size). The top indicators for success in the tournament were averaging a higher number of boundary fours, accumulating a higher number of single runs throughout the match, averaging a high number of sixes during the Middle and Death Overs of a batting innings and accumulating two’s throughout all three phases of a match. The overall summary of this study’s results navigates to a batting strategy that should focus on batting trends by maintaining a higher batting run rate, target to scoring more boundary fours and sixes, good running between the wickets to accumulate two’s, select batsmen with a low dismissal rate and select batsmen with a high single scoring rate [equates to better strike rotation].

Master of Public Health - MPH / Background:Theoutcomeofpregnanciesinmanyinstancesislargelypredicatedon availabilityofSkilledBirthAttendants(SBAs).Despitethisphenomenon,illiteracyand financialdisadvantagehavebeenvariouslycitedastwinfactorspromotingtheinterest andpatronageofTraditionalBirthAttendants(TBAs)bywomenfolk.Itistherefore expected thatwomenhavingtertiarylevelofeducationandpossessing adequate economic resources would naturally prefer to use the SBAs.However,these http://etd.uwc.ac.za/ 9 observationshavenotsignificantlyreflected therealityin thechoiceofmaternal healthcareprovidersinNigeriaandthecityofLagosinparticular.Yet,accessto maternalservicesoftheSBAshasbeenwidelyacceptedasoneoftheleadingwaysof loweringmaternalmortality.Therefore,inordertoimprovethepatronageofSBAsand correspondinglylowermaternaldeathrates,itbecomesimperativetounderstandthe rationalebehindthepreferencefortheTBAs’usebywomenwhoarenotordinarily expectedtodosobyvirtueoftheirhighlevelofeducationandgoodfinancialcapacity. Aim:Theaim ofthisstudywastoexploreandunderstandtheexperiences,perception and beliefsystems influencing well-educated,middle income women and their reasoningfortheuseofTraditionalBirthAttendantsratherthanSkilledBirthAttendants fordeliveryservicesinLagos,Nigeria. Methodology:ThisisaqualitativestudyconductedinAlimoshoLocalGovernmentArea ofLagosinNigeria.Tenwomenwithtertiarylevelofeducationandbelongingtomiddle incomeeconomiccategorieswereenrolledasparticipants.Inaddition,itinvolved3 FocusGroupDiscussionscomprising7TraditionalBirthAttendantspergroup. Results:Behaviouraland attitudinalshortcomings by the SBAs;misconceptions regardingsurgicaldeliverybywomen;bureaucraticdelaysandbottlenecksexperienced attheSBAs’centres;thebeliefbythewomenthatpregnancyisasacredandspiritual eventwhichonlytheTBAshaveabilitytomanage;women’sconfidenceintheTBAsas havingbettercapacitytomanagecertaincoexistingmedicalconditionsinpregnancy; andmisinformationonmanagementmodalitiesforcertainconditionslikeinfertilityand fibroidallcombinetoinfluencepreferenceforutilizationofTBAsbywell-educated, middleincomewomeninthestudyarea.