D.Phil. / In 2000, the incumbent Minister of Education, Professor Kader Asmal, mandated the inclusion of school based assessment (SBA) as a component of Senior Certificate (Grade 12) assessment across all examining bodies in the country. Prior to this, the Senior Certificate (Grade 12) examination was a “once off” terminal examination at the end of twelve years of schooling. The rationale for the inclusion of SBA as a component of the Senior Certificate (Grade 12) was to remove the focus from a high stakes examination to a more continuous form of assessment, that is school based, and one that assesses skills beyond the domains of an examination. Since SBA is implemented by teachers, it appears that the management of the moderation process at school level in not being done with the required diligence and thoroughness. This observation is based on various anecdotal reports, district reports and statistical moderation reports. This results in this assessment being questioned in terms of its reliability and validity. Therefore, this study attempts to review the current form of moderation of SBA as it is implemented in the Gauteng province, so as to develop an improved model for the management of moderation of SBA.

Graduate tax is a concept that was only recently introduced into the public discourse in South Africa. Little is known about how it will be implemented and who will be liable to pay such a tax. The purpose of this study is to examine the proposed introduction of graduate tax for South African tertiary education graduates and the public perception of such a tax. To achieve the objectives of the study, relevant literature was reviewed that explained the concept of a graduate tax and the possible advantages and disadvantages of its imposition. Data collected by means of a questionnaire was analysed, which revealed the public perception of a graduate tax as well as its possible consequences. The analysis of the data collected indicated that graduate tax is perceived as an additional tax to be paid by graduates from tertiary institutions, whereas the literature defined it as a tax paid by tertiary institution graduates who received their tertiary education at no cost. Furthermore, it was found that the imposition of a graduate tax may deter some from pursuing a tertiary degree in order to avoid liability for such tax. The imposition of a graduate tax could also lead to an outflow of skills, as graduates would be likely to seek employment outside South Africa in order to avoid paying graduate tax. It is recommended in this study that more clarity should be given to the public as to what this proposed graduate tax would entail and who would be affected by it. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / am2014 / Taxation / unrestricted

All people seek information for various reasons sometime during their lifetime. How this process has been researched and documented by various researchers is covered in this thesis, showing how the insights and lessons from various Information Seeking Models in the literature have informed and enriched this study. These models provide a good understanding of the study field and frameworks to explain the different elements of the information seeking process. All available Information Seeking Models, however, are developed based on the assumption that information seeking is performed by people with sight. How applicable these Information Seeking Models are for people who are blind and/or visually impaired is not addressed in the research. There are a number of different realities for a blind and visually impaired person seeking information, e.g. the accessibility of the technology to access the information, the accessibility of the information once it is located, the availability of technologies to assist the blind and visually impaired person to enable him/her to seek information, the availability of other people to assist the blind and visually impaired person during the information seeking process are just some of the challenges not addressed by existing Information Seeking Models. The purpose of this study is therefore to give an overview of existing Information Seeking Models and then to focus on the two leading researchers in the field, i.e. C. Kuhlthau and T.D. Wilson. These models of the information seeking process were contextualised and assessed in relation with the information needs model of N. Moore who researched the information needs of blind and visually impaired people. Based on the work of the three researchers a survey instrument was developed to determine the information seeking process of Grade 12 learners at five South African Schools for the Blind. Since Grade 12 learners must decide about their future, after completing school, it was decided to research how Grade 12 learners seek information to assist them to decide about tertiary studies or work options. The study included learners who had not yet started the information seeking process in this regard. A research instrument was designed to collect data to investigate the information seeking processes of the Grade 12 learners in order to assess the extent to which they correlated with the Information Seeking Models of Kuhlthau (1991) and Wilson (1999). The qualitative research method was followed in this study which was located in a constructivist paradigm. Interviews were conducted with 43 learners at the five schools for the blind representing the total population of Grade 12 learners registered at the selected schools. The literature confirms that low population sizes are customary when researching blind and visually impaired people. Face-to-face interviews were conducted at the five schools. The findings of the interviews were analysed through a framework analysis. Thereafter, a gap analysis was conducted to determine to what extent the findings correlated to or differed from the Information Seeking Models. From this analysis seven components were identified as part of the design of the Inclusive Information Seeking Model applicable to blind and visually impaired Grade 12 learners, a major outcome of the study. A broader application of the model is suggested. This Inclusive Information Seeking Model will raise awareness and assist people working in an information environment to make the necessary provisions, to ensure that the information seeking process for blind and visually impaired people is as successful as possible with available resources.

Thesis (M.Ed.) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / The aim of this study was to investigate the availability and potential utilisation of educational technology in the teaching and learning of Geography in Grade 12 in Mankweng Circuit, in the under resourced area of Limpopo Province. The researcher used the constructivist theory with an emphasis upon constructivism as a theoretical framework. A qualitative research approach and a case study design were adopted for this study. Furthermore a purposive sampling strategy was used to sample seven teachers and four principals. In this study all the Secondary Schools fall under Quintile one-the Department of Basic Education’s classification category for no fee paying schools. There are no private or independent high schools that are privately owned, governed or funded in the Circuit. Government has made several attempts to improve the results by providing policies, resources such as infra-structure like classrooms and books, extended additional training of teachers and in some cases, schools took learners to camps for further studies. However, despite these efforts, the problem of the declining of results continues unabated. Data was collected through three methods, namely interviews, observation and document review. Data was analysed through the use of thematic content analysis method. The study came up with three major findings on availability and the use of computers in Grade 12 Geography, namely: (a) inadequate supply of and access to computers in schools and lack of security,(b) Lack of skill on the use of computers by teachers and (c) intermittent power interruptions at these schools influence the performance of learners negatively. These findings have major implications for the use of computers in the teaching of Geography in schools. Firstly, there is an urgent need to supply schools with computers if teachers and learners are to use them to enhance their teaching and learning of Geography and other subjects. Secondly, there is a need to train teachers in the use of computers in the teaching of subjects like Geography otherwise the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution will overtake these schools and performance of learners will not improve. Thirdly, principals should attend training workshops to learn about their responsibility as ICT leaders at schools moreover there is a need to tighten security at schools in order to safeguard computers and other valuable equipment that support teaching and learning

The decisions and actions of management in organisations have an increasing impact on individuals, other organisations and the community. The importance of the exercise of corporate social responsibility can no longer be based on the assumption that the self–interest of the owner of the property will lead to the public good, or that self–interest and public good can be kept apart and have nothing to do with each other. On the contrary, it requires of managers that they assume responsibility for the public good, that they subordinate their actions to an ethical code of conduct, that they restrain their authority wherever their exercise would infringe upon the common will and upon the freedom of the individual. South Africa is one of the countries with the highest illiteracy rate in the world. There are more children dropping out of school in South Africa than any other country in the world. The social and economic impact of the lack of education is difficult to comprehend. Lack of education affects company productivity and competitiveness adversely. A lack of education increases the training costs of organisations immensely. Hence, companies cannot sit on the sideline, but should rather be involved in education through corporate social responsibility programs. The primary objective of the study is to investigate the relationship between corporate social responsibility spending by companies, especially on education, and improvement in standards of education, thereby increasing the overall annual Grade 12 pass rate. In order to address the primary objectives of the study, the following secondary objectives were formulated: * To understand and obtain insight into the dynamics of social responsibility programs of companies that are involved in education; * To analyse and identify the main reason for companies to be involved in education; * To analyse and assess corporate and school partnerships in and around the designated area; * To measure output for different township high schools by using the grade 12 pass rate as a measuring tool; * To establish the level of satisfaction within companies that have embarked on corporate social responsibility programs; and * To establish the importance of mathematics and science as part of the school education. The most important conclusions that could be drawn from the study are: * Companies had endorsed corporate social responsibility as part of their strategy; * It had been extremely difficult to obtain information about companies' corporate social responsibility programs due to information being classified as confidential by companies. This could be a serious impediment for advancement of literature and research in the country; and * Companies had contributed massive resources to the advancement of education through their educational programs, but this had not yielded the consistently desired results through improvement of the Grade 12 pass rate. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The decisions and actions of management in organisations have an increasing impact on individuals, other organisations and the community. The importance of the exercise of corporate social responsibility can no longer be based on the assumption that the self–interest of the owner of the property will lead to the public good, or that self–interest and public good can be kept apart and have nothing to do with each other. On the contrary, it requires of managers that they assume responsibility for the public good, that they subordinate their actions to an ethical code of conduct, that they restrain their authority wherever their exercise would infringe upon the common will and upon the freedom of the individual. South Africa is one of the countries with the highest illiteracy rate in the world. There are more children dropping out of school in South Africa than any other country in the world. The social and economic impact of the lack of education is difficult to comprehend. Lack of education affects company productivity and competitiveness adversely. A lack of education increases the training costs of organisations immensely. Hence, companies cannot sit on the sideline, but should rather be involved in education through corporate social responsibility programs. The primary objective of the study is to investigate the relationship between corporate social responsibility spending by companies, especially on education, and improvement in standards of education, thereby increasing the overall annual Grade 12 pass rate. In order to address the primary objectives of the study, the following secondary objectives were formulated: * To understand and obtain insight into the dynamics of social responsibility programs of companies that are involved in education; * To analyse and identify the main reason for companies to be involved in education; * To analyse and assess corporate and school partnerships in and around the designated area; * To measure output for different township high schools by using the grade 12 pass rate as a measuring tool; * To establish the level of satisfaction within companies that have embarked on corporate social responsibility programs; and * To establish the importance of mathematics and science as part of the school education. The most important conclusions that could be drawn from the study are: * Companies had endorsed corporate social responsibility as part of their strategy; * It had been extremely difficult to obtain information about companies' corporate social responsibility programs due to information being classified as confidential by companies. This could be a serious impediment for advancement of literature and research in the country; and * Companies had contributed massive resources to the advancement of education through their educational programs, but this had not yielded the consistently desired results through improvement of the Grade 12 pass rate. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Thesis (M. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / Limpopo Province comprises five districts namely Capricorn, Vhembe, Sekhukhune, Waterberg and Mopani. Furthermore, Limpopo Province has been amongst the bottom three provinces concerning Grade 12 results for the past years specifically since the introduction of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) in 2014. The Capricorn District of Limpopo Province has shown a decline in Grade 12 results from 71.6% to 69.9% in 2016. However, there are certain schools in this district that are high performers while some are low performers. Also, the Sekhukhune District has shown a decline in Grade 12 resulted from 63.9% in 2014 to 51.1% in 2016. The purpose of this research study was to investigate and analyse the factors influencing Grade 12 results in low performing and high performing secondary schools in the Capricorn District, Limpopo Province. The objectives of this research study were to identify factors contributing to the high performance and low performance of grade 12 learners in the Capricorn district and investigate the perceptions of teachers and principals with regards to the school’s academic performance. Besides, the objectives include assessing the culture of teaching and learning in the participating low and high performing secondary schools and its influence on academic performance and assessing the roles of the school management team in the schools. This study employed a qualitative research approach in examining the factors that contribute to the academic performance of Grade 12 results of high and low performing schools in Capricorn District of Limpopo province. In addition, a case study was utilised to collect data of this study through interviews, observations and field notes. The sampled population of this study is as follows: Two school principals from the selected two secondary schools, thus one from poor performing school and one from high performing, four grade12 teachers from the two secondary schools, thus two grade 12 teachers from high performing secondary school and two teachers from low performing secondary schools. The data was thematically analysed by highlighting phrases that presented the respondents’ attitudes and thoughts, repeating the interview transcripts, reading to ensure accuracy, highlighting important statements and organising the themes that emerge from the interview. . vi The following themes emerged from the thematic analysis of data in this study (i) Physical resources, (ii) parental involvement, (iii) learner discipline, (iv)school community and (v) senior support. The findings of this study revealed that for the schools to achieve high performance and obtain excellent results, both teachers and learners must be distinctly committed to the teaching and learning process.

Few South African students pass Grade 12 Physical Science with symbols required by university science, engineering and health science faculties. A large number of students who sit for Grade 12 Physical Science and Mathematics exams pass with symbols that are well below those required by the mainstream science courses at South African universities. Most South African universities have introduced Science Foundation Programmes with the aim of upgrading those students who failed to obtain university entrance symbols in the relevant subjects. Amongst the courses offered in Science Foundation Programmes is Foundation Physics. This study investigates the influence of Foundation Physics in order to find out if the programmes in different institutions are successful in empowering the students who failed to get the required entrance mark in Grade 12 Physical Science. Four South African Historically Black universities participated in this study. The Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation test (FMCE) (Thornton & Sokoloff, 1998) and mechanics marks were used to assess students' understanding of Newtonian mechanics. Data was analyzed from socio-cultural perspective. A total of 194 students participated in the study. Two groups of students were compared, i.e. those who did Foundation Physics (Foundation group) and those who did not do Foundation Physics (non-Foundation group). The students were tested after they had completed a mechanics module, which forms a great foundation of Physics I (Introductory Physics). Two focus group interviews were held with selected Foundation and non-Foundation students per institution. Students voiced their experiences in Physics I and Foundation Physics. Students were chosen to represent focus groups according to their performance in the FMCE test. Mechanics class performances were also used to evaluate students' performance. In order to establish how Foundation Physics is taught, Foundation Physics Lecturer interviews were conducted at all four institutions. Analysis of data showed that both Foundation and non-Foundation students performed equally in Physics I mechanics module. Foundation group performed better than the non-Foundation group in the FMCE, which is a conceptual test. Foundation Physics lecturers indicated that there were some differences in the way mechanics was taught in Physics I and Foundation Physics. These differences affected students' performance. The lecturers also indicated that there was minimal interaction between Physics I lecturers and Foundation Physics lecturers pertaining to the teaching of the two courses. What influence does Foundation Physics have on the performance of students in Physics I? This study found that students who did Foundation Physics performed better than those who did not do Foundation Physics in conceptual questions and both the groups perform equally in questions that require memorizing and calculations. This implies that Foundation Physics courses are empowering the students to perform well in Physics I. However, as it is evidenced by this research, the differences in assessment in Physics I and Foundation Physics courses in some institutions hampers Foundation Physics students' learning, because the questions asked require them to memorize without understanding, something they are not used to. The researcher recommends that Foundation Physics staff and Physics I staff should start communicating, not only about how Foundation Physics should be run as was the case in the past, but also on how best Physics I should be run. This might help in making sure that the two courses are assessed similarly at one institution. / Mathematics, Science and Technology Education / D. Phil. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)

This study focuses on challenges and prospects of the teaching of the Doppler Effect to grade 12 learners. The challenges of teaching the Doppler Effect were established and these findings influenced the development of activities. These activities were tested, refined and re-tested in an iterative cycle and finally provided prospects on teaching the Doppler Effect. Educational Design Research (EDR) was used to bridge theory and practice in education. This study was done in the Vhembe district in the Limpopo province. In the first cycle, questionnaires and interviews with 32 teachers and a subject advisor were used to establish the baseline with regards to the challenges of teaching the Doppler Effect. After the analysis of the data which forms the first cycle of EDR, the content and methodological problems faced by teachers when teaching the Doppler Effect were revealed. In the second cycle of the EDR, learning activities were developed that was informed by the analysis and tried out in 2 schools by learners and their teachers. Completed activity sheets were marked and the results were used to determine if there were a correlation between the activity sheets and the written test. Problems were documented and changes to the activities were again made and tried out in 10 schools by 216 learners with the help of 10 teachers. The data collected from the learners` work sheets were analysed. Pearson`s product moment correlation has shown that there is a statistically significant relationship (r = 0.65; p < 0.01) that exists between these design-research activities and solving of problems on the Doppler Effect. An instructional manual was developed comprising of the final activities. This was distributed amongst the district officials and teachers to assist them in the teaching of the Doppler Effect in the Vhembe district. / Physics / M.Sc.(Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)

Thesis (MPhil (Modern Foreign Languages))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The decline in the Grade 12 pass rate in South Africa has been a cause for widespread concern. While this decline in is the result of the interplay of many factors, one of them is undoubtedly that teachers and pupils often find themselves in situations where they do not have access to adequate resources. This study is a formative evaluation of material that was created with the Moodle learning management system, in order to provide teachers and learners with resources that can be made readily available online. These resources are accessible from computers and cellular phones with internet connectivity. The resources not only provide content, but also learning activities that can be used either by individual learners, or with a teacher in a classroom environment. In the absence of a teacher, the activities could also provide meaningful feedback to aid learners in the learning process. Two courses were created in the Moodle Learning Management System that cover work prescribed for Grade 12, English First Additional Language for the period 2009 to 2010; namely the prescribed short stories and the play, Nothing But The Truth by John Kani. A number of activities are evaluated according to usage and feedback that they provide. The outcome of the study is that it is possible to provide learners with online learning materials which will enable them to prepare thoroughly for the final examinations. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die daling in die Graad 12 slaagsyfer veroorsaak kommer in baie geledere. Alhoewel hierdie daling die gevolg kan wees van baie faktore, is een van die redes dat onderwysers en leerlinge hulle dikwels in 'n situasie bevind waar hulle nie die nodige toegang tot die nodige leermateriaal het nie. Hierdie studie doen ‘n formatiewe evaluering van die leerprogram wat ontwerp is met behulp van Moodle, 'n leerbeheerstelsel, om onderwysers en leerders van die nodige leermateriaal te voorsien. Die leermateriaal is toeganklik vanaf beide ‘n rekenaar en 'n selfoon met internet toegang. Hierdie leermateriaal verskaf nie net statiese inligting nie, maar bevat leeraktiwiteite wat deur leerders op hulle eie gebruik kan word, of saam met 'n onderwyser in 'n klaskamer. In die afwesigheid van 'n onderwyser kan die leermateriaal ook die nodige terugvoering verskaf, sodat dit leerders kan help in die leerproses. Twee kursusse is ontwerp as deel van 'n Moodle stelsel wat van die voorgeskrewe werk dek vir Graad 12, Engels Eerste Addisionele Taal vir die tydperk 2009 tot 2010; naamlik die voorgeskrewe kortverhale en die verhoogstuk, Nothing But The Truth, deur John Kani. 'n Aantal aktwiteite word evalueer ten opsigte van die gebruik en ook die terugvoering wat dit voorsien. Die resultate van die studie is dat dit wel moontlik is om voldoende studie materiaal aan Graad 12’s besikbaar te stel wat hulle kan gebruik om voor te berei vir die eindeksamen.