M.Ed. (Psychology of Education) / In this study an attempt has been made to ascertain whether the creative gifted child experiences more difficulties with socialization than the gifted child who is less creative. In Chapter 1 the problem and objectives were conceptualized and formulated. A literature survey in Chapter 7 dealt with the concepts of creativity and their interrelatedness. The literature pertaining to creativity and socialization was surveyed in Chapter 3. The method of research was formulated in Chapter 4 and the findings, conclusions and recommendations in Chapters 5 and 6 respectively. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking and the Interpersonal Relationship Questionnaire of the Human Science Research Council were administered to 75 gifted std 5 pupils. The complete group was divided into a highly creative and a low creative group. When the socialization scores of the two groups were compared, they did not statistically differ in a meaningful way.

M.Cur. (Professional Nursing Science: Nursing Management) / The history of nursing focuses almost exclusively on a female-dominated profession, created with the assumption that such a role is inherently natural to women only. Yet, men have worked as nurses since the profession’s infancy, 250 BC, but their contributions seem to be unnoticed and underrepresented. Male nurses ascribe to a minority status within the nursing profession, with only 6.8% currently registered with the South African Nursing Council. Men who enter the nursing profession will fall victim to prejudice, stereotyping, role strain and isolation (often referred to as the islands in nursing). International literature provided significant evidence that men are well served with nursing as a career. It is unclear how South African male professional nurses experience nursing as a career in the light of the deterring factors mentioned previously. The purpose of this qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual study was to explore and describe the experiences of male professional nurses regarding nursing as a career in a private hospital in Johannesburg in order to develop strategies to support them in their career. The target population consisted of male professional nurses working in all disciplines in the private hospital. A purposive sampling technique was used. Data were collected by means of four (4) in-depth, semi-structured individual interviews, five (5) naïve sketches and field notes until data saturation was obtained. Data analysis was done by following Tesch’s open coding strategy (Creswell, 2013:158). The data obtained was incorporated into existing literature during the conceptualisation phase of this study. Trustworthiness of the study was ensured by employing the model promulgated by Denzin & Lincoln (2005:290 – 326), focussing on credibility, transferability, conformability, dependability and authenticity. The principles of ethical considerations, as suggested by Dhai & McQuoid-Mason (2010:14 – 15) pertaining to privacy, confidentiality, anonymity, informed consent and beneficence were applied in this study.

D.Cur. / The primary objective of the study was to ascertain the effects of the use of water during birth on maternal outcomes. The main maternal outcomes evaluated were maternal experience of the second stage of labour, and trauma to the birth canal. The second objective was to set guidelines for midwives whether or not to conduct deliveries under water.

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / The object of this research project was to determine if learning strategies of first year students with different intellectual abilities differed and if these differences also applied to male and female students of different language groups. The project comprised of two parts. The first part consisted of a literature study which defined the concepts of intelligence, learning, cognition, metacognition and learning strategies. This was followed by a discussion of possible reasons why intelligent students fail to use effective learning strategies . The second part included an empirical investigation of the differences in the learning strategies of first year students with different intellectual abilities. The students were divided into the following groups: Afrikaans speaking male students, Afrikaans speaking female students, male students from other language groups and female students from other language groups. It was evident from the literature stUdy that learning strategies consist of self-management skills that the learner acquires, presumably over a period of years, to govern his own processes of attending, learning and thinking. Researchers agree that the mastering of learning strategies by a student can influence the success of his university career. When attending university even the intelligent students need effective learning strategies. Some students fail to acquire affective learning strategies while still at school. These students cannot cope with the large quantities of study material and consequently they may underachieve or even fail.

Organizations are constantly faced with pressure to make changes. Forecast of changing customer expectation, information processing and communication, and competition force top management to evaluate their organization and consider major changes. Organizational change is a challenge that companies often take on but just as often fail in implementing. Emergency Management Services decided to take on such a challenge when the City of Johannesburg transformed. This was a challenge not only management faced, but all the employees of the Emergency Management Services. The transformation process for the City of Johannesburg began in 1997 and was driven by Political and Social Development. These developments have put emphasis and strain on the relationship between: Municipality, with the unwanted side effects on workers. Societies are getting increasingly intolerant towards poor levels of service delivery. The Emergency Management Services need for change was emphasized through management’s decision to improve on service delivery. The integration of all Johannesburg Metropolitan Local Councils EMS was a big step forward. The integration wasn’t just about growing the City size; JHB EMS also opened various doors for the City to become the World Class African City. When the organization decided to take on the challenge, management needed to review all aspects of the organization. These included culture, values and performance and reward system. The challenge facing the organization leaders today is to become “World Class” or perish. / Prof. S. Kruger

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Ed. / This is a qualitative research that explored the effectiveness of leadership of four schools in West of Johannesburg. The perception and contribution of all role players in these institutions were explored. The study interrogated the topic through the use of focus group interviews; personal interviews and through observations. This study was necessitated by the changes that are taking place in educational institutions and the outside forces that are putting pressure on educational institutions to change. The researcher argues that the ensuing change is received and perceived differently by individuals and groups within and outside these institutions. This investigation is important because it reminds and helps managers of their responsibilities as professional educators and as executive officers of schools.

M.A. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Cur. (Intensive General Nursing) / It appears that the emotions of patients in.the process of undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery have an influence on the rate of mortality. Patients that must undergo this surgery often find themselves in a short term dependent position. The purpose of this study is to determine if the life-style functioning of the patients can be improved by means of a pre-operative rehabilitative educational programme introduced by the professional nurse. A conceptual framework of reference was compiled after completion of the literature review. This served as the preliminary structure of the pre-operative educational programme. The programme consists of three three components, viz. an education booklet, an educational evaluating model and the educationist. A quasi-experimental study was performed on 4 groups (2 experimental groups and 2 control groups) to determine the effect of the structured pre-operative educational programme on the following three factors: - satisfaction with self, others and life; -avoidance of hope threats and -anticipation of a future. From these factors three null hypotheses were formed. An analysis of the data indicated a significant difference between the groups that followed the programme and the groups that did not follow the programme. The null hypotheses were thereafter rejected. The primary recommendation of the study is that all patients in the process of undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery should follow a pre-operative educational programme. This programme has a positive influence on the life-style functioning of the patient and will thus promote the process of rehabilitation.

M.Cur. / Please refer to full text to view abstract