<p>In the thesis, I endeavour to create a platform on which to construct an understanding of &lsquo / integration&rsquo / in a multilingual and multicultural setting, post-apartheid. I have selected UWC as the research site as it is an institution of higher education and an inherently South African one which houses a large number of diverse ethnicities, cultures and languages. I appeal to the poststructuralist approach as it is one that explores the possible sociopolitical, economic and historical influences on which I argue and which forms the backdrop to understanding integration amongst the various groups. I am especially drawn to the topic of integration as there is to date no well-defined definition of what that means in the &lsquo / new&rsquo / South Africa. Different identities are explored in relation to how students identify themselves within their social networks, across various cultures and through language choices. In particular, I look at the three dominant &lsquo / South African&rsquo / groups, namely: Indians, Blacks and Coloureds and also two international student groups, the Batswanas and Chinese. use a qualitative approach and undertake focus groups and one-to-one interviews as well as participant observations and analyzing documentation. Data analysis is achieved through Discourse Analysis of transcribed interviews. One of the conclusions is that integration will not occur overnight. However, the broadening and exercising of linguistic options could be seen as a step in right direction to integration across the various ethnic groups. The study ends with recommendations and gives an overall view of integration at UWC. One of the recommendations is that UWC needs to give students more opportunities to practice their multilinguality and thereby broaden their linguistic repertoire which could in turn facilitate integration.</p>

<p>It is not mandatory for the student to declare a pregnancy to her educational institution. It does however become more complicated for the student nurse, because she has to provide a health service while she is a student during her clinical placement. The researcher has noticed that student nurses do fall pregnant during their undergraduate studies at the University of the Western Cape. The researcher was unsure why this phenomenon is occurring amongst undergraduate nursing students. He identified the need to measure the level of knowledge of pregnancy prevention amongst undergraduate nurses, their level of utilization of such services and their attitudes towards falling pregnant during their studies. This study is of a quantitative nature whereby the researcher made use of a descriptive design. The method of data collection utilized was an anonymous self administered questionnaire form. The population under study was the registered undergraduate nursing students in 2008 at the University of the Western Cape. This population consisted of 1031 individuals. Their ethnic background represents the South African demography. An exhaustive sampling approach was used and 401 individuals gave consent to participate in the study. Through this research the researcher hypothysed and proved that the level of knowledge of contraception amongst undergraduate student nurses is indeed inadequate and that this low level of knowledge on the subject area leads to incorrect and inconsistent and non use of contraception in their own lives.</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>

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No description available.

Magister Bibliothecologiae - MBibl / The purpose of this research was to investigate the use of Web 2.0 technologies by Library and Information Science (LIS) students at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). This research provided answers to the following questions: • Which Web 2.0 technologies are used mostly by LIS students? • What do LIS students use Web 2.0 technologies for? • How is the LIS curriculum crafted to include training on Web 2.0 technologies? • What benefits (gratifications) do LIS students derive from the use of Web 2.0 technologies? • Which Web 2.0 technologies are LIS students being taught? Blumer and Katz’s (1974) Uses and Gratification Theory which explains the reasons behind people’s use of Web 2.0 technologies was used to provide meaning to the research findings. A mixed methods case approach was used in this study and as a result, a questionnaire, content analysis and interviews were used to collect data. Findings of this study revealed that, between 72% and 97% of the LIS students do have accounts on the following Web 2.0 technologies: YouTube, Skype, Google Apps, WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook. It has been highlighted in this research that LIS students use Web 2.0 technologies for both academic and general purposes. Over 80% of the LIS students use Web 2.0 technologies for entertainment, keeping up-to-date, and meeting people as well as for communication with peers and lecturers. Analysis of the LIS Department’s curriculum documents, assignments as well as key informant interviews revealed that, while a module entitled "Web 2.0" does not exist, elements of Web 2.0 technologies are embedded in some of the LIS modules. The research results also showed that, between 89.4% and 96.5% of the LIS students either agreed or strongly agreed that Web 2.0 technologies plays a significant role in improving technology proficiency, extending learning beyond the classroom, providing a platform for entertainment, facilitating collaborative learning, improving knowledge sharing and collaboration, providing cheaper and efficient communication platforms, providing easier and faster access to information; and that a low level of complexity is needed to use Web 2.0 technologies (ease of use). Ninety five per cent of the LIS students indicated that they support the inclusion of Web 2.0 technologies in the LIS curriculum a sentiment also shared by five of the interviewed key informants. Based on the research findings the researcher has recommended that the LIS curriculum should be regularly renewed to address new trends and technologies.

Magister Artium - MA / This study used a multisemiotic/multimodal discourse analysis approach to analyze tattoos of selected female students at three Western Cape Universities: the University of the Western Cape (UWC), the University of Cape Town (UCT), and Stellenbosch University (SUN). This study looked at the popular cultural practice of tattooing as a site for identity formation. The aim of this research project was to establish how popular culture is semiotized and resemiotized on corporeal landscapes. The focus was on the kind of semiotics that female students draw on when getting their tattoos, and also where they put these tattoos. The researcher intended to investigate the semiotics of female bodies within the broader field of linguistic landscaping, with a specific look at corporeal linguistic landscapes (Peck & Stroud, 2015). This research was also interested in establishing whether the historical background of each university has an influence on the student population, and subsequently, the tattoos they choose to inscribe on their bodies. This study sought to answer whether there are similarities and/or differences in the tattoos the participants chose across the different campuses and to what effect the social context affects the type of tattoos they chose. All participants were selected via purposive sampling. This means that only those with visible tattoos were approached, as they met the criteria described above (cf. Patton, 1990; Kumar, 1999). Methodologically, interviews as well as text data collection were used to collect the data. In addition, a multimodal text analysis was used as the tattoos were read as texts. Among others, the findings indicated that female participants negotiate their femininity by acquiring traditionally feminine tattoo designs, relatively small in size, which are typically placed where they can be concealed easily. This in contrast with male tattoo designs which tend to be bigger and more visible. It was found that there was preference for solitary texts designs across the three campuses followed by a combination of text and image. In terms of agency, it was found that participants were agentive by being able to control who read and how others read their bodies. The study concludes that women are mindful of their female identity when they choose the designs, sizes and placements of their tattoos. It was found that they typically defy social norms through getting tattoos, but at the same time adhere to social (and feminine) norms by using small tattoos emplaced in hidden body spaces. This means there is a restriction on who is allowed to consume the tattoos. This study adds to a deeper understanding of tattooing as popular culture at universities in post-apartheid South Africa. It also contributes to recent development in corporeal linguistic landscapes studies. In turn, it offers a profound understanding of the concept of ‘skinscapes,’ which allows for a deeper understanding of how female bodies are ‘authored’ by the tattooee as well as how they are ‘read’ and consumed by onlookers.

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / In this minithesis the researcher explores the experiences of recipients of the HIV/AIDS peer education abstinence programme at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) / South Africa

Magister Curationis - MCur / Background: At the School of Nursing (SoN) of the University of the Western Cape (UWC) students (usually across all levels) carry out reflective practice when they compile a portfolio of evidence (PoE) to be submitted at the end of each semester. This contributes to their formative assessment. The PoE is a great assessment tool, although for various reasons it is often completed late by the students. Registered fourth-year nursing students were the sample population, because they have been actively involved in reflective practice through the process of compiling a PoE towards the end of every semester, and they have been doing this since their first year. In order to accomplish safe clinical judgements, nurses must be encouraged to become analytical and critical thinkers. Development of a PoE while reflecting on their clinical experiences is one of the strategies that can be used to enhance analytical and critical thinking among the students. Also, these learners carried out reflective practice, mostly on clinical activities that they were exposed to, and the PoE requirements and evidence are mostly clinically inclined (for example, incidents that they encountered, record of attendance at the clinical facilities). How the students perceive this process is important if they are to be encouraged to do reflective practice. Compilation of a PoE at an SoN of a university in the Western Cape requires and comprises a record of evidence that the learners put together and thereafter reflect upon. Objective: To describe the perceptions of fourth-year nursing students regarding reflective practice when compiling their PoE. Method: A qualitative design was used to explore the perceptions of registered fourth-year nursing students regarding their reflective practice when compiling their PoE. A purposive sampling method was employed, and three focus group discussion (FGD) sessions were held consisting of 6-8 participants per group. Data saturation was achieved at the third session. Tesch‟s method of data analysis was used. Ethical considerations were employed through the informed consent process, confidentiality, dependability, credibility of participants and appropriate handling and storage of the collected data and the tape recorder. Results: The results of this study show that through reflection the learners gained experience and professionalism from incidents that occurred and activities expected of them, mainly at the hospitals and classroom. Participants reflected on both good and bad experiences, and saw them as challenges preparing them for the future, bearing in mind that they had just about a month until commencing their Community Service Programme. For some of the participants the compilation of the PoE was a great teaching and learning strategy, as learning gaps were identified and it helped them improve their record-keeping and organisational skills.

Magister Curationis - MCur / Due to the inadequate schooling system and the under-preparedness of learners in South African High Schools, Higher Education Institutions are faced with learners who do not meet the minimum criteria for acceptance into mainstream programmes. In an attempt to increase access into the institution and meet the demands of under-prepared students, the School of Nursing at the historically disadvantaged University of the Western Cape introduced the Bachelors Nursing Foundation Programme in 2007. This study investigated the experiences of students in the Bachelors Nursing (B.Nurs) Foundation Programme at the University of the Western Cape. It was noted by the researcher that little research into foundation provision has, to date, been conducted in South Africa. Insights into this programme gained from this study will be of benefit to all educators providing foundation provision on the support of students in foundation programmes. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and describe the support of students by lecturers in the foundation programme, from which recommendations for lecturers were described to support the students in the foundation year. A qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive design was applied, using individual semistructured interviews and field notes. Purposive sampling was conducted and eight participants took part in semi-structured individual interviews. Each interview took around 10 to 30 minutes to complete. Data were analysed using Tesch’s descriptive method of open coding. The findings of this study indicate that a foundation programme is needed to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and to prepare them for life and studies at university level. Some of the participants were of the opinion that the foundation programme was unnecessary and a waste of time and that it only prolonged their studies. However, the majority of the participants were grateful for the support that the Nursing Foundation Programme provided, and they attributed their success to the existence of the Nursing Foundation Programme.