HIV/AIDS has emerged as the leading cause of death in South Africa, with young people being the most affected. Awareness of HIV/AIDS is quite high, yet prevalence rates have not stabilised and are still climbing. Lack of sexual behavioural change among young people is a major factor which explains why prevalence rates are still on the increase among this population. Sexual behaviour change is influenced by perceptions and attitudes, most notably perceived susceptibility. Information on the psychological factors that affect perceived susceptibility can provide an important base for the development of programmes aimed at reducing further transmission among young people. A survey, using a self-administered, anonymous questionnaire with close-ended questions to collect data, was conducted among Grade 11 learners (n = 318) in Rini, Grahamstown, South Africa. One of the constructs (namely Perceived Susceptibility) in the Health Belief Model informed the data collection. The data generated were first analysed descriptively, providing percentages for responses. Secondly cross-tabulations were calculated. The results showed that knowledge about HIV/AIDS is sufficient, young people receive accurate and non-conflictual messages about sex and HIV/AIDS, they are not discriminatory towards People Living With HIV/AIDS, they have adequate access to healthcare and their perceived susceptibility to HIV/AIDS is high. All these are factors which are favourable and conducive for positive sexual behavioural change. However, the study also found that there was little behaviour change among young people especially regarding regular condom use and decreased sexual activity.

AIDS is a serious South African health problem, with HIV infection in KwaZulu-Natal being at the local epidemic's forefront. Adolescents in this province are at additional risk because of their lifestyles. Information on existing risky behaviour and its psychosocial concomitants can provide an important base for educational interventions aimed at reducing further transmission. This study aims to provide baseline information on knowledge, attitudes and reported behaviour, relating to HIV/AIDS, among adolescents in KwaZulu-Natal. A survey, using an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire with closed-ended questions to collect data, was conducted among standard eight Zulu-speaking students (N = 1511) in five parts of the province. The theoretical framework that informed data collection was drawn from the Health Belief Model and Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory. The data generated were first analysed descriptively, providing percentages for responses to individual items. Secondly, cross-tabulations were calculated for relevant items using three independent biographical variables, namely: Locality (rural/peri-urban), gender and students' reports of sexual activity. The results showed inadequate knowledge concerning HIV/AIDS to provide a foundation for developing healthier attitudes. Although most students acknowledged the disease's severity, few reported feeling personally susceptible, denying the immediacy of the threat. Additionally, cues to action and the perceived benefits of adopting preventive behaviours were not influential. Barriers preventing condom use were not primarily logistical, with personal concerns being the main barriers to change. Furthermore, perceived self-efficacy in preventive behaviours was low. Recommendations regarding areas for future research, as well as considerations which will enhance the effectiveness of risk reducing interventions among similar populations, are provided.

Thesis (MTech (Biomedical Technology))--Peninsula Technikon, 2004. / The prevalence of obesity amongst both the adult and paediatric population has assumed almost epidemic proportions in many developed and developing countries. A recent study by the Medical Research Council found that a disturbing 20% of all South African children could be categorized as being obese. Limited data is currently available on the prevalence of obesity in South African children, particularly from the previously disadvantaged population. Given the global epidemic of paediatric obesity, hypertension and type-2-diabetes and the limited available data relating to obese South African children, further studies to enhance the understanding of the risk factors associated with the epidemic are imperative.

The researcher observed a high incidence of pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and abortions, including illegal abortions among adolescents in the Maluti Sub-District in the Eastern Cape Province. The researcher noted when speaking to the adolescents about contraceptives that they appeared to have a lack of knowledge as well as some misconceptions about contraceptives. The study therefore explores the knowledge, attitudes and practices of adolescents regarding contraceptives. To achieve the purpose of this study, a quantitative, explorative and descriptive survey was used to conduct this study. The research population in this study comprised all Grade 11 and 12 female adolescents enrolled at the selected senior secondary schools in the Maluti Sub-District. Simple random sampling was used to select the research sample. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used with the help of a statistician to analyse the data. A pilot study was conducted prior to the actual study being conducted, using the same design and research methods. The study findings revealed that participants had a low level of knowledge about contraceptive methods and there were some misconceptions regarding contraceptives prevailing among the participants. More than half (54%) of the participants are currently sexually active and less than a third of the participants indicated that they were using contraceptives The study concludes with recommendations for nursing practice, education and research. Ethical principles have been maintained throughout the study.

M.Ed. / Many mothers enter the labour force because of the need for workers and the financial position of the family which is worsening in these highly inflationary times. Although this might solve some financial problems in the family, it creates other problems, for instance child care. The question now arises as to how the adolescent daughter will form her own identity if her mother follows a career. It is clear that the working mother has no easy task. Besides her career, she also has her children, her husband and a household to take care of. Furthermore, she has the task of helping her adolescent daughter with the formation of her own identity. Two variables have been identified: * the relationship between mother and daughter * the identity formation of the adolescent daughter. An English and Afrikaans questionnaire was compiled based on these variables. The questionnaire was answered by 1086 girls and boys (Afrikaans, English and other language groups) between the ages of 12 and 18. Mothers were grouped into three categories, namely full time, part time and non - working mothers. The most important findings of this study are the following: * Working mothers develop a relatively better relationship with their adolescent children in comparison with non - working mothers. * The relationship between mother and daughter develops relatively better than that of mother and son. * Younger adolescent daughters develop a relatively better relationship with their mothers than older adolescent daughters. * Afrikaans speaking adolescent daughters develop a relatively better relationship with their mothers than adolescent daughters of other language groups. Guidance to working mothers of other language groups seems to be necessary. * The formation of the identity of adolescent children of working mothers develops relatively better than those of non working mothers. The averages of all the girls are quite high, which indicate that the mother - child relationship and the identity formation of the adolescent daughter develops well, irrespective of the mother's career.

M.Ed. (Multiculturality and Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

This study offers an account of reading clubs as a literacy intervention in a grade 8 English class at a former ‘Coloured’ high school in South Africa. Using Margaret Archer’s social realist methodology, it examines different practices of ‘reading’ used by learners in talking and writing about text. Archer’s analytical dualism and morphogenetic model provided an explanatory framework for this study. Analytical dualism allows for the separation of the parts (structural and cultural elements) from the people (the grade 8 learners) so as to analyse the interplay between structure and culture. The morphogenetic model recognises that antecedent structures predate this, and any study but that through the exercise of agency, morphogenesis, in the form of structural elaboration or morphostasis in the form of continuity, may occur. This study used a New Literacies perspective based on an ideological model of literacy which recognises many different literacies, in addition to dominant school literacies. Learners’ talk about books as well as personal journal writing provided an insight into what cultural mechanisms and powers children bring to the reading of novels. Understandings of discourses as well as of Gee’s (1990; 2008) construct of Discourse provided a framework for examining learners’ identities and shifts as readers. The data in this study, which is presented through a series of vignettes, found that grade 8 learners use many different experiences and draw on different discourses when making sense of texts. Through the separation of the structural and cultural components, this research could explore how reading clubs as structures enabled learners to access different discourses from the domain of culture. Through the process and engagement in the reading clubs, following Gee (2000b), learners were attributed affinity, discoursal and institutional identities as readers. It was found, in the course of the study, that providing a safe space, scaffolding, multiple opportunities to practice and a variety of reading material, helped learners to access and appropriate dominant literacies. In addition, learners need a repertoire of literacy practices to draw from as successful reading needs flexibility and adaptability. Reading and writing inform each other and through gradual induction into literary writing, learners began to appropriate and approximate dominant literacy practices. Following others who have contributed to the field of New Literacy Studies (Heath, 1983; Street, 1984; Gee 1990; Prinsloo & Breier, 1996), this study would suggest that literacies of traditionally underserved communities should not be considered in deficit terms. Instead these need to be understood as resources for negotiating meaning making and as tools or mechanisms to access dominant discourse practices. In addition the resilience and competition from Discourses of popular culture need to be recognised and developed as tools to access school literacies.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the problem solving proficiency of Physical Science learners in Highveld Ridge East circuits in Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. The objectives of this study were to determine the relationship between proficiency in conceptual and algorithmic problem solving, to compare the percentage of algorithmic and conceptual problems that were correctly and incorrectly answered, problems not attempted at all and finally to categorize Physical Science learners according to their stoichiometry problem solving proficiencies. The target population for this study was Grade 12 Physical Science learners in Highveld Ridge East and West circuit in Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. To achieve the aim of this study and its subsequent objectives random sampling was used to select the three schools and the sample after a stoichiometry achievement test was administered by Physical Science teachers, who were teaching the participants at their respective schools. The researcher scored the tests using a memorandum. The results of this study indicated that learners’ proficiency in both algorithmic and conceptual problem solving was low, there was a weak positive correlation between algorithmic and conceptual problem solving proficiency, the percentage of solutions that were correctly solved was the lowest compared to the percentage of incorrect solutions and problems not attempted. The other result of this study was that there were no grade 12 Physical Science learners with high algorithmic and high conceptual abilities, a few learners had high algorithmic and low conceptual abilities and the majority of the learners had low algorithmic and low conceptual problem solving abilities. This implies that Physical Science teachers in these circuits should focus on developing both algorithmic and conceptual problem solving strategies when teaching stoichiometry. / Science and Technology Education / M. Sc. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)

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Text in Afrikaans / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Spesialisering in Voorligting)