Psychometrists have to be capable of stimulating growth and of assisting employees during psychometric assessments, seeing that the content of the instruments used might bring about psychological trauma. Graduate psychometrists often lack the interpersonal skills and knowledge, as well as the intrapersonal awareness, to sufficiently fulfil a helping role in the workplace. The objectives of this research were to conceptualise helping and the competencies associated with helping from the literature, to investigate what the content and methodology of a helping skills training programme should include, and to evaluate the effects of a helping skills training programme for psychometrists. The participants were Industrial Psychology Honours students from the School of Human Resource Sciences at the North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus. The entire population comprising 22 (N = 22) students were utilised. The stratified random sampling technique was used to divide the participants into the experimental and comparison groups. Three measuring instruments (Carkhuff scales, Personal Growth Initiative Scale and the Scales of Psychological Well-being) were administered before and after the training programme. The training programme in helping skills was administered to the experimental group first, where after their interpersonal skills and intrapersonal awareness were assessed during the post-tests. Descriptive statistics, Cronbach alpha coefficients, correlations and an Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were used to analyse the data. The ANCOVA analysis confirmed the statistical and practical significance of three core dimensions of helping, namely empathy, respect and genuineness among the members of the experimental group, as well as the improvement in the helping skills of Responding to content and Personalising meaning. However, the dimension of concreteness did not show significant improvement. There was also no statistical or practical significant differences between the experimental and comparison group for personal growth or psychological well-being. However, one dimension of psychological well-being, namely purpose in life, improved in the experimental group. / Thesis (M.Com. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Psychometrists have to be capable of stimulating growth and of assisting employees during psychometric assessments, seeing that the content of the instruments used might bring about psychological trauma. Graduate psychometrists often lack the interpersonal skills and knowledge, as well as the intrapersonal awareness, to sufficiently fulfil a helping role in the workplace. The objectives of this research were to conceptualise helping and the competencies associated with helping from the literature, to investigate what the content and methodology of a helping skills training programme should include, and to evaluate the effects of a helping skills training programme for psychometrists. The participants were Industrial Psychology Honours students from the School of Human Resource Sciences at the North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus. The entire population comprising 22 (N = 22) students were utilised. The stratified random sampling technique was used to divide the participants into the experimental and comparison groups. Three measuring instruments (Carkhuff scales, Personal Growth Initiative Scale and the Scales of Psychological Well-being) were administered before and after the training programme. The training programme in helping skills was administered to the experimental group first, where after their interpersonal skills and intrapersonal awareness were assessed during the post-tests. Descriptive statistics, Cronbach alpha coefficients, correlations and an Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were used to analyse the data. The ANCOVA analysis confirmed the statistical and practical significance of three core dimensions of helping, namely empathy, respect and genuineness among the members of the experimental group, as well as the improvement in the helping skills of Responding to content and Personalising meaning. However, the dimension of concreteness did not show significant improvement. There was also no statistical or practical significant differences between the experimental and comparison group for personal growth or psychological well-being. However, one dimension of psychological well-being, namely purpose in life, improved in the experimental group. / Thesis (M.Com. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

This study examined the level of awareness, knowledge and practices of primary and secondary schools students with regard to waste management. Only a limited number of studies were found to evaluate school student’s awareness, knowledge and practice of waste management in South Africa. Literature was reviewed dealing with waste management awareness, knowledge and practices of school students and discussed at the hand of the principles, objectives and targets of the South African Government towards waste and waste management. Using a structured, self-administered questionnaire, a total of 815 students were surveyed from four primary schools and three secondary schools from the Embalenhle and Secunda area Govan Mbeki Municipality, Mpumalanga South Africa. The data were analysed by the use of descriptive statistics including frequency count, percentage, mean and standard deviation. Other analyses employed included two-way frequency tables with Pearson Chisquare test, Phi coefficient, in order to determine the significant relationship between students’ socio-demographic variables. The study showed that the students were obviously aware of concerns with waste and waste management practices in their schools and local environment. It was also apparent the school students had an acute awareness that poor waste management would have a negative impact on the country as well as on them as the individual. This prominent awareness was however not evident in the students’ waste management practices. Good waste management practices activities were minimal at both the school and home environment. Since school students are seen as one of the key agent of change to work towards a more sustainable future, they should be engaged as young as possible and given a quality array of continuous learning to improve their knowledge on environmental problems such as poor waste management. Improved knowledge would contribute to improved environmental awareness and a pro-environmental attitude. The critical recommendations of the study are that the South African Government will have to intensify the research to better understand the needs of children to environmental matters such as waste management. / M. Environmental Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This study examined the level of awareness, knowledge and practices of primary and secondary schools students with regard to waste management. Only a limited number of studies were found to evaluate school student’s awareness, knowledge and practice of waste management in South Africa. Literature was reviewed dealing with waste management awareness, knowledge and practices of school students and discussed at the hand of the principles, objectives and targets of the South African Government towards waste and waste management. Using a structured, self-administered questionnaire, a total of 815 students were surveyed from four primary schools and three secondary schools from the Embalenhle and Secunda area Govan Mbeki Municipality, Mpumalanga South Africa. The data were analysed by the use of descriptive statistics including frequency count, percentage, mean and standard deviation. Other analyses employed included two-way frequency tables with Pearson Chisquare test, Phi coefficient, in order to determine the significant relationship between students’ socio-demographic variables. The study showed that the students were obviously aware of concerns with waste and waste management practices in their schools and local environment. It was also apparent the school students had an acute awareness that poor waste management would have a negative impact on the country as well as on them as the individual. This prominent awareness was however not evident in the students’ waste management practices. Good waste management practices activities were minimal at both the school and home environment. Since school students are seen as one of the key agent of change to work towards a more sustainable future, they should be engaged as young as possible and given a quality array of continuous learning to improve their knowledge on environmental problems such as poor waste management. Improved knowledge would contribute to improved environmental awareness and a pro-environmental attitude. The critical recommendations of the study are that the South African Government will have to intensify the research to better understand the needs of children to environmental matters such as waste management. / M. Environmental Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

M. Diac. (Spelterapie) / Text in Afrikaans with summaries in Afrikaans and English / Anorexia nervosa is ‘n komplekse eetversteuring wat hoofsaaklik voorkom onder adolessente meisies regoor die wêreld. Anorexia nervosa word geklassifiseer as ‘n versteuring wat ten spyte van literatuur steeds nie ten volle verstaan of begryp kan word nie, weens die kompleksiteit daarvan. Hierdie kompleksitieit het ‘n tekort aan insig en begrip van ander tot gevolg wat weerstand by die adolessent wek. Die terapeutiese proses met hierdie individue word sodoende negatief beïnvloed en lei tot beperkte groei en verandering. In die betrokke studie is die ervaringswêreld van die adolessent wat lei aan anorexia nervosa nagevors met die doel om lig te bring op hierdie komplekse, tog hedendaagse verskynsel. Na die uitvoering van ongestruktureerde onderhoudvoering met adolessente meisies wat lei aan anorexia nervosa, is verskeie temas, konsepte en kategorieë geïdentifiseer en bespreek aan die hand van Gestalt terapeutiese konsepte. / Anorexia nervosa is a complex eating disorder that mainly affects adolescent girls all over the world. Anorexia nervosa is classified as a disorder that, despite existing literature, cannot be fully understood or comprehended, due to the complexity of the disorder. The complexity of Anorexia nervosa makes it difficult for people to understand these individuals, which causes resistance to occur within the adolescents. The resistance then complicates the therapeutic process, which can lead to inefficient growth and change in therapy. In this study, the experience of adolescent girls that suffer from anorexia nervosa is researched with the aim of shedding some light on this complex, though common, issue. After interviewing adolescents that suffer from anorexia nervosa, certain themes, concepts and categories were identified and explained by the hand of Gestalt therapeutic concepts. / Social Work

This study explored the effect of the Lifeplan® programme, an Africa Unit for Transdisciplinary Health Research (AUTHeR) initiative, on the psychological well–being of the rural community of Taung, in the North West Province of South Africa. A mixed method sequential explanatory research design was followed where quantitative data were obtained in a pre– and post–evaluation phase. Participants were adult individuals (N=99) between the ages of 20 and 83 years, with a mean age of 43 years, living within six rural towns in the Taung community. Participants were randomly divided into an experimental group (n=47) and a control group (n=52). Four standardised scales, the General Psychological Well–being Scale (GPWS) (Khumalo, Temane, & Wissing, 2010), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ–9) (Kroenke, & Spitzer, 2002), the Coping Self–Efficacy Scale (CSE) (Chesney, Neilands, Chambers, Taylor, & Folkman, 2006), and the Mental Health Continuum - Short Form (MHC–SF) (Keyes, 2006; Keyes, Wissing, Potgieter, Temane, Kruger, & van Rooy, 2008), validated for use in a Setswana–speaking group, were administered to measure psychological well–being. Qualitative data were obtained through conducting semi–structured interviews with a simple random sample of 30 participants three months after presentation of the programme. The quantitative findings reflected a small increase in the general psychological and emotional well–being of the experimental group. Between–group comparisons showed small practical significant differences (d=0.19 - 0.40) in the experimental group on most of the measuring instruments. Qualitative results suggest that the participants in this study experienced the Lifeplan® programme as educational, and contributing positively towards their general well–being. Participants felt that they have become more attentive to their health needs especially through exercise, a healthier diet and better attendance to overall hygiene. Suggestions for further research and possible programme interventions include a follow–up study to evaluate the sustainability of skills obtained and changes made as a result of the Lifeplan® programme. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

National and international studies indicate that the preparation of teachers to teach reading is inconsistent across universities worldwide. Teacher preparation programmes lack rigorous research based findings and recommendations point to the fact that evidence–based research and integrated approaches should be incorporated to address this inconsistency. There is a need for a comprehensive curriculum to guide pre–service teachers toward a coherent knowledge base for the effective teaching of reading as teachers do not have an understanding of what to teach or how to teach it. Literature identifies that the inclusion, and explicit teaching of the five reading literacy components (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary knowledge and text comprehension) form the essential components which should be instructed to enable teachers to teach reading. This study analysed a teacher preparation programme to identify what reading literacy components are taught as well as how the reading literacy components are taught within the programme. The results reflect that the reading literacy components are included haphazardly within the teacher preparation programme and there is no evidence–based research incorporated. It is clear that the pre–service teachers are not taught “how” to teach the reading literacy components as the science of reading is not focused on in the teacher preparation programme studied. The findings of this study support the literature base requiring teachers to be equipped with a disciplinary knowledge base to teach reading. Furthermore, teachers should be provided with a rigorous, research–based curriculum which will enable them to become expert reading literacy teachers who will be well prepared to implement research–based programmes and practices. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

This study explored the effect of the Lifeplan® programme, an Africa Unit for Transdisciplinary Health Research (AUTHeR) initiative, on the psychological well–being of the rural community of Taung, in the North West Province of South Africa. A mixed method sequential explanatory research design was followed where quantitative data were obtained in a pre– and post–evaluation phase. Participants were adult individuals (N=99) between the ages of 20 and 83 years, with a mean age of 43 years, living within six rural towns in the Taung community. Participants were randomly divided into an experimental group (n=47) and a control group (n=52). Four standardised scales, the General Psychological Well–being Scale (GPWS) (Khumalo, Temane, & Wissing, 2010), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ–9) (Kroenke, & Spitzer, 2002), the Coping Self–Efficacy Scale (CSE) (Chesney, Neilands, Chambers, Taylor, & Folkman, 2006), and the Mental Health Continuum - Short Form (MHC–SF) (Keyes, 2006; Keyes, Wissing, Potgieter, Temane, Kruger, & van Rooy, 2008), validated for use in a Setswana–speaking group, were administered to measure psychological well–being. Qualitative data were obtained through conducting semi–structured interviews with a simple random sample of 30 participants three months after presentation of the programme. The quantitative findings reflected a small increase in the general psychological and emotional well–being of the experimental group. Between–group comparisons showed small practical significant differences (d=0.19 - 0.40) in the experimental group on most of the measuring instruments. Qualitative results suggest that the participants in this study experienced the Lifeplan® programme as educational, and contributing positively towards their general well–being. Participants felt that they have become more attentive to their health needs especially through exercise, a healthier diet and better attendance to overall hygiene. Suggestions for further research and possible programme interventions include a follow–up study to evaluate the sustainability of skills obtained and changes made as a result of the Lifeplan® programme. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

National and international studies indicate that the preparation of teachers to teach reading is inconsistent across universities worldwide. Teacher preparation programmes lack rigorous research based findings and recommendations point to the fact that evidence–based research and integrated approaches should be incorporated to address this inconsistency. There is a need for a comprehensive curriculum to guide pre–service teachers toward a coherent knowledge base for the effective teaching of reading as teachers do not have an understanding of what to teach or how to teach it. Literature identifies that the inclusion, and explicit teaching of the five reading literacy components (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary knowledge and text comprehension) form the essential components which should be instructed to enable teachers to teach reading. This study analysed a teacher preparation programme to identify what reading literacy components are taught as well as how the reading literacy components are taught within the programme. The results reflect that the reading literacy components are included haphazardly within the teacher preparation programme and there is no evidence–based research incorporated. It is clear that the pre–service teachers are not taught “how” to teach the reading literacy components as the science of reading is not focused on in the teacher preparation programme studied. The findings of this study support the literature base requiring teachers to be equipped with a disciplinary knowledge base to teach reading. Furthermore, teachers should be provided with a rigorous, research–based curriculum which will enable them to become expert reading literacy teachers who will be well prepared to implement research–based programmes and practices. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

M. Diac. (Spelterapie) / Text in Afrikaans with summaries in Afrikaans and English / Anorexia nervosa is ‘n komplekse eetversteuring wat hoofsaaklik voorkom onder adolessente meisies regoor die wêreld. Anorexia nervosa word geklassifiseer as ‘n versteuring wat ten spyte van literatuur steeds nie ten volle verstaan of begryp kan word nie, weens die kompleksiteit daarvan. Hierdie kompleksitieit het ‘n tekort aan insig en begrip van ander tot gevolg wat weerstand by die adolessent wek. Die terapeutiese proses met hierdie individue word sodoende negatief beïnvloed en lei tot beperkte groei en verandering. In die betrokke studie is die ervaringswêreld van die adolessent wat lei aan anorexia nervosa nagevors met die doel om lig te bring op hierdie komplekse, tog hedendaagse verskynsel. Na die uitvoering van ongestruktureerde onderhoudvoering met adolessente meisies wat lei aan anorexia nervosa, is verskeie temas, konsepte en kategorieë geïdentifiseer en bespreek aan die hand van Gestalt terapeutiese konsepte. / Anorexia nervosa is a complex eating disorder that mainly affects adolescent girls all over the world. Anorexia nervosa is classified as a disorder that, despite existing literature, cannot be fully understood or comprehended, due to the complexity of the disorder. The complexity of Anorexia nervosa makes it difficult for people to understand these individuals, which causes resistance to occur within the adolescents. The resistance then complicates the therapeutic process, which can lead to inefficient growth and change in therapy. In this study, the experience of adolescent girls that suffer from anorexia nervosa is researched with the aim of shedding some light on this complex, though common, issue. After interviewing adolescents that suffer from anorexia nervosa, certain themes, concepts and categories were identified and explained by the hand of Gestalt therapeutic concepts. / Social Work