D.Ed. / The University of Venda is situated in an educationally disadvantaged environment. The study skills training programme was introduced in the Faculty of Humanities, Management Sciences and Law Foundation Programme to enhance students’ academic performance through structured interventions incorporating learning strategies, effective time management, and self-concept enhancement, among other skills. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the study skills training programme for disadvantaged students in the Foundation Programme at the University of Venda, and to modify the current study skills training programme based on the findings of the research. Comparison was done between students exposed to the study skills training programme (experimental group) and those students that were not exposed to the programme (control group). The comparison focused on study habits, attitudes, study methods as well as academic performance of both groups. The study was completed in two phases. In the first phase, quantitative and qualitative data were collected through the mixed methods sequential explanatory research design. The researcher first collected and analysed the quantitative data. The qualitative data were collected and analysed second in the sequence and helped to explain the quantitative results obtained earlier. The Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes (SSHA) and the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) were used to collect quantitative data. Qualitative data collection was done by means of focus group as well as individual interviews. The results indicated that the academic performance of the experimental group was lower as compared to that of the control group. The current study skills training programme did not do enough in raising the motivational levels of students in the Foundation Programme (experimental group). One would therefore conclude that there were some deficiencies in the programme. The control group appeared to be a better group academically compared to the experimental group. The main determinant therefore appears to be potential rather than training. The literature review has yielded important information regarding the enhancement of academic performance of students. For example, it was noted from the literature that the use of a particular learning approach (strategy) should be linked to the learning context as well as the type of learning task.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Institutions of higher learning have always had relationships with their surrounding communities. The current study focuses on the research relationship that the University of Venda has with its surrounding community. The literature shows that although the nature of the relationship takes different forms, each university has a certain kind of a relationship with the surrounding community. In this study, I used the qualitative approach and I conducted one focus group and four individual interviews. I explored the research needs of the communities surrounding the University of Venda and the ways in which they think the university could address those needs. The findings of this study revealed that the communities are not at all happy with the services that are rendered by the university. They show that instead of benefiting from its existence within their communities, they are even more disadvantaged by its presence. The respondents also identified certain schools and departments at the University of Venda that they felt could be of assistance to the surrounding communities if they redirected their research projects into applied research. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hoër onderwysinstellings het nog altyd Onbepaalde verhouding met hulle omliggende gemeenskappe gehad. Die huidige studie fokus op die navorsingsverhouding wat die Universiteit van Venda het met sy omliggende gemeenskap. Die literatuur wys daarop dat alhoewel die aard van die verhouding verskillende vorme kan aanneem, elke universiteit ° n sekere vorm van verhouding het met die omliggende gemeenskap. In hierdie studie is die kwalitatiewe benadering gebruik. Ek het navorsing onderneem na die navorsingsbehoeftes van die gemeenskappe in die nabyheid van die Universiteit van Venda en ook na die maniere waarop respondente dink die universiteitsgemeenskap hierdie behoeftes kan aanspreek. Die bevindinge van die studie toon dat die gemeenskappe nie gelukkig is met die dienste wat deur die universiteit verskaf word nie. Daar word onder meer getoon dat in plaas van voordeel trek uit die bestaan van die universiteit binne hulle gemeenskappe, hulle eintlik meer nadelig beinvloed word. Die respondente het ook sekere skole en departemente aan die Universiteit van Venda geidentifiseer wat tot hulp kan wees vir die omliggende gemeenskappe indien hulle navorsingsprojekte omskep word in toegepaste navorsing.

PhD (Health Sciences) / Department of Advanced Nursing Science

This study focused on the possible determinants of operational efficiency at the University of Venda, which was premised on the extent to which stakeholders are involved in the strategic planning of the institution. The aim of the study was to establish the stakeholders’ involvement in the strategic planning of the University of Venda. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data during August and October 2011. The study was conducted at the University of Venda, Vhembe District in the Limpopo Province. A non-probability sampling procedure was used to select respondents. The results revealed that whilst the stakeholders seem to be involved in the process of the strategic planning, the extent of stakeholders’ involvement has largely remained contentious. The results further indicate that not all stakeholders are involved in the strategic planning process at the University of Venda. Although stakeholders are invited to participate, the process of strategic planning is absolutely dominated by the management cadre, reducing the rest participants into the doldrums. Those who are directly affected by the strategic plan are least involved in the process of the planning. Because of the lack of involvement and communication regarding the strategic planning process, the findings reveal that the majority of stakeholders were de-motivated in that regard, culminating in their lack-lustre approach towards the implementation of the orchestrated plan. The resultant lack of buy-in by the affected stakeholders, essentially the internal stakeholders (staff members and the student community), eventually hamper the actualisation of the targeted goals of the strategic plans. These results suggest that the strategic plan review should be an on-going process in order to update and involve the university community of the strategic planning processes. Proper feedback and communication on strategic planning processes should be implemented. More importantly, the stakeholders’ involvement and consultation on the strategic planning should be galvanized, since most of the staff members and students seem to be unaware of the strategic planning process at the University of Venda, let alone its contents and aspirations. / Business Management / M. Tech.(Business Administration)

This study focused on the possible determinants of operational efficiency at the University of Venda, which was premised on the extent to which stakeholders are involved in the strategic planning of the institution. The aim of the study was to establish the stakeholders’ involvement in the strategic planning of the University of Venda. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data during August and October 2011. The study was conducted at the University of Venda, Vhembe District in the Limpopo Province. A non-probability sampling procedure was used to select respondents. The results revealed that whilst the stakeholders seem to be involved in the process of the strategic planning, the extent of stakeholders’ involvement has largely remained contentious. The results further indicate that not all stakeholders are involved in the strategic planning process at the University of Venda. Although stakeholders are invited to participate, the process of strategic planning is absolutely dominated by the management cadre, reducing the rest participants into the doldrums. Those who are directly affected by the strategic plan are least involved in the process of the planning. Because of the lack of involvement and communication regarding the strategic planning process, the findings reveal that the majority of stakeholders were de-motivated in that regard, culminating in their lack-lustre approach towards the implementation of the orchestrated plan. The resultant lack of buy-in by the affected stakeholders, essentially the internal stakeholders (staff members and the student community), eventually hamper the actualisation of the targeted goals of the strategic plans. These results suggest that the strategic plan review should be an on-going process in order to update and involve the university community of the strategic planning processes. Proper feedback and communication on strategic planning processes should be implemented. More importantly, the stakeholders’ involvement and consultation on the strategic planning should be galvanized, since most of the staff members and students seem to be unaware of the strategic planning process at the University of Venda, let alone its contents and aspirations. / Business Management / M. Tech.(Business Administration)

Thesis (Ph. D. (Educational Psychology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / For the past two to three decades, there has been a large influx of students with disabilities into institutions of higher education worldwide. In South Africa, in these past three decades, records of intake of students with disabilities were not recorded as services and support of this kind were not institutionalised. Within this transformation process, which involved including previously under-represented groups, institutions of higher learning are currently facing challenges of what kind of educational support to offer to students with disabilities, in order to help them to succeed academically. This study investigated the educational support offered to students with disabilities at the University of Venda (UNIVEN) as experienced by the students themselves. The study, therefore, gives an insider perspective. The study followed a qualitative research approach, and used classroom observations, document analysis and focus group interviews to collect data. Ten students with various disabilities participated in the study. The findings of this study reveal that there are some degrees of support that UNIVEN offers. However, some gaps to meet students educational needs still exist. These gaps include lack of information about the programmes that UNIVEN is offering, physical infra-structure barriers and lack of disability knowledge. This study recommends the establishment of a forum in which students with disabilities can discuss and address their educational needs on campus. Other recommendations include the following: lecturers’ training, disability awareness, the installation of an online interactive portal to increase communication between students and the university, and an online survey measuring lecturers’ attitudes and knowledge. The study suggests that future research could include factors that predict graduation rates among students with disabilities. Key words: Educational support, Disability unit, Medical Model of disability, Social model of disability.

MA (Youth Development) / Institute for Gender and Youth Studies / Sexual harassment is identified as a widespread form of aggressive behavior with severe consequences for victims, organizations and institutions. The objectives of this study were to explore the perceptions of students on sexual harassment, to discover the common type of sexual harassment among students, to find out locations where sexual harassment occurs in the university, to explore contributory factors influencing sexual harassment among students, and to explore the effects of sexual harassment on students. The methodology that was applied in this study is was qualitative in nature. The researcher used open ended questions in interview to assess sexual harassment among students in the university. Non-probability sampling was used to select 16 respondents made up of 8 males and 8 females. Data was analyzed thematically by identifying and expanding significant themes that emerged from the informants’ responses. Ethical measures and trustworthiness were ensured. It appears common for sexual harassment victims to experience negative physiological effects and treatment for the victims and harassers is hindered because victims abscond reporting the incident. Sexual harassment occurs in and outside university buildings as shown in the study. Perpetrators of sexual harassment have evolved from males harassing females to female lesbians harassing other lesbians and male gays harassing other gays however, men are the harassers of others to a greater extent. Alcohol and drug use, dress code and age and level of study were major contributory factors of sexual harassment. It seemed common that verbal, physical and visual sexual harassment occur among students verbal sexual harassment being the most prevalent.

MPM / Oliver Tambo Institute of Governance and Policy Studies / The study investigated the implementation of Quality Assurance as a policy instrument at the University of Venda. Within the study, the researcher critically analyzed the implementation of Quality Assurance policy as a system and the procedures within the University. To universities around the world, quality assurance in higher education institutions has become a matter of great importance. In South Africa, quality assurance roles and practices are closely guided by legislative guidelines, which are primarily structured to report and comply with universities ' obligations to DHET, CHE and SAQA, and so, too the national demand for universities to contribute to the study and advancement of higher education policy. This study used a qualitative research approach which included ethnographic method to address the question on the implementation of quality assurance as a policy instrument using University of Venda as a case in point. The study findings revealed that the illustration of the quality assurance as a policy instrument in higher education context is very critical to enable an institution of higher learning to execute its core business in a way that quality uncompromised. Stakeholders should have faith in the institution and that the university should undertake a syst ematic cycle of external program assessments based on teaching and learning concerns and a ke the necessary steps to build capacity and provide support in curriculum design and program development processes at the school and departmental level. The study concluded by giving recommendations on what are the strategies that the University can apply in enhancing the “quality of its core business of teaching and learning, research and community engagement.” / NRF

MCom (Economics) / Department of Economics / This study assesses the level of financial literacy and its impact on financial decision making exercised by the tertiary students in South Africa, using the University of Venda (Univen) as a case study. The study does this in three steps. First, it provides the financial literacy levels of students at Univen assessed through an evaluation score that the sampled students responded to. Second, it analyses the relationship between the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of students and their financial literacy levels. Third, it assesses the possible effects of financial literacy on financial decision making among students using correlation and regression analysis. The study uses primary data gathered by the author from the University of Venda registered students in the form of questionnaires. A stratified random sampling method was used to identify the students to form the sample of the study, which is 373. Percent slightly above 50 per cent of these students were found to be financially literate and there were more female students who were financially literate compared to male counterparts. Using the odds ratios, the study compared the financial literacy levels of all schools to the school of Management Sciences, respectively. Only students in Environmental Sciences and Law have higher literacy levels, which are statistically significant, compared to the students in the school of Management Sciences. The results also show that the age and the parent’s educational background have a statistically significant relationship with the student being financial literate. Furthermore the results indicate that there is a statistically significant relationship on good financial decision making (that is, budgeting, savings and investments) and being financial literate, compared to being financial illiterate. This result is not true when borrowing is used as a measure of financial decision making. / NRF

MPH / Department of Public Health / South African youth, like many young people the world over, experience obstacles related to accessing age-specific health care services. School-based health centres, therefore, represent a mode of delivery of youth-friendly services tailored to meeting the healthcare needs of young people, such as university students. The aim of the study was to investigate the barriers faced by University of Venda (UNIVEN) students in accessing the institution’s health services.The objectives of the study were to assess the level of awareness of the respondents regarding the UNIVEN campus health services and to determine the availability and acceptability barriers experienced by students in accessing the campus health services.The study is quantitative using a self-administered questionnaire, informed by literature review, to collect data from the respondents. The study population consisted of all the students who were resident on campus. The sample size were five hundred and thirty four (534) respondents drawn from all the residences on the university campus and comprising of students from all the schools and levels. Questionnaires were administered face-to-face to respondents in the respondents’ rooms. The validity and reliability of the study were ensured. Ethical considerations, such as informed consent, right to privacy, and no-harm to participants, were observed and addressed in this study. Data was entered and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences 23. For continuous variables such as age, descriptive variable was calculated. For categorical variables, frequencies and percentages are presented.The results indicated that the average age of the study population was 21.85 years with almost all of the respondents (95%) being aware of the existence of a health clinic on the Univen campus. However, only 63% had gone for consultation at the clinic. Awareness of the clinic’s services appears to be poor, with HIV Counselling & Testing being the most known service, while minor illnesses’ management was the most utilised service (48%). Barriers experienced by the respondents were related to waiting times and opening hours of the clinic, with only 33% and 39% respectively, describing them as ideal.The study provides evidence that although university health services may be provided at no cost students still experience barriers in accessing them. Effective measures are needed to increase students’ awareness of the clinic’s services and to shorten waiting times and improve clinic opening hours.