Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) often need to be taught independent living skills in order to reintegrate into community settings. This study examined the use of video modeling to teach culinary skills to three individuals with TBI. Video modeling is easily accessible, inexpensive, and not reliant on an additional person to directly teach skills. For all three participants, video modeling resulted in increases in cooking skills using a task analysis created for each food item prepared. For one participant, the skills maintained over two weeks and generalized to a novel food. For another participant video modeling was insufficient in reaching high skills levels therefore a second phase utilizing reinforcement and corrective feedback was implemented. This phase demonstrated with the additional component including reinforcement and corrective feedback, the third participant reached high skill levels.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The study aimed to investigate the status and practice of life orientation in South African schools. Life orientation is a quintessential new learning area, introduced as part of curriculum transformation in South Africa, and is intented to equip learners with the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes for successful living and learning. Preliminary observations suggested that life orientation has not been optimally implemented in schools, and the low status legacy of life orientation's constituents added further impetus to the rationale for the study. / South Africa

Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / This study investigated the extent to which skills development is implemented within the naval dockyard Simon's Town within the context of the NSDS and the various forms of legislation. In March 2001 the Department of Labour embarked on an initiative called the National Skills-Development Strategy to address unemployment, and thus enhancing the economy. One of the areas that were identified to address the above concerns was the skills-development of its people. It is against this background that this study investigated the implementation of the NSDS within the Naval Dockyard. / South Africa

Magister Educationis (Adult Learning and Global Change) - MEd(AL) / Scholars argue within a human capital perspective that generic employability skills such as critical thinking, computer literacy, independent thinking, problem solving, communication skills must be included in human capital development. Employers are demanding that education and training institutions enable students to develop generic employability skills so that they can be 'work ready' for employment in the 'new knowledge economy'. As a consequence, the implementation of generic employability skills programmes can be found in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges worldwide. Framed within a human capital perspective, this research paper focuses on an investigation into the extent to which the National Certificate (Vocational) Life Skills course, offered at a TVET college in the Western Cape, enables students to develop the required generic employability skills of communication, problem solving, teamwork, leadership and critical thinking. Findings reveal that the NCV Life Skills course was both successful and unsuccessful in enabling participants to develop generic skills which make them 'ready for work'.

In this study an attempt was firstly made to define, describe and explicate the phenomenon of HIV/AIDS providing a basis for understanding the multidimensional nature, key characteristics and impact of HIV/AIDS in terms of its background, the current status as well as the future of the epidemic. Literature concerning HIV/AIDS in general, global and in particular the South African situation was discussed. Secondly the concept AIDS orphans was investigated after which grounding, description and explanation of the problems and needs of AIDS orphans were presented in order to give a clear picture of challenges faced by these children. Problems of orphan-hood such as legal and ethical issues, socio-emotional issues, educational issues, financial issues and child-headed households were identified. The study focused on early adolescent AIDS orphans therefore adolescence, as a life phase with specific emphasis on early adolescence was reviewed. Hereafter, the researcher presented a newly self-developed life skills programme for early adolescent AIDS orphans (i.e. AIDS ORPHANS LIFE SKILLS PROGRAMME) followed by all the empirical research findings, a general summary, conclusions and recommendations. The broad aim of the study was to develop and empirically test the effectiveness of a life-skills programme for early adolescent AIDS orphans. Two research questions and a hypothesis were formulated for the study. The research questions included: (a) what is the nature and prevalence of socio-emotional needs and problems of early adolescent AIDS orphans? (b) What are the life skills needed by early adolescent AIDS orphans? Accordingly the hypothesis of the study read: If early adolescent AIDS orphans undergo a life-skills programme then their skills will be enhanced in order to cope better with their socio-emotional needs and problems. In the context of applied research the type of research conducted in this study was intervention research. This type of research was relevant for this particular study because it is a problem-solving process seeking an effective intervention programme for the promotion of life skills for early adolescent AIDS orphans. In view of the fact that the AIDS orphan situation is a crises for the whole nation innovative preventative positive educational programmes for children orphaned by AIDS are deemed pivotal. The focus of this research study was two-folded using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. The first phase of the study was qualitative and explorative in nature. The aim of the researcher was to have a broader understanding of the phenomenon HIV/AIDS, the socio-emotional needs and problems of and life skills needed by early adolescent AIDS orphans in South Africa. The focus of the second phase was to develop a life skills programme for early adolescent AIDS orphans, based on the information collected in the first phase of the study and then to empirically test the effectiveness of the newly developed life skills programme. The researcher used semi-structured interviews with a schedule to collect qualitative data during the first phase of the research. During the second phase, the researcher utilised a self-constructed group administered questionnaire to collect quantitative data before and after implementation of the life skills programme (pre-test and post-test). In order to explore the socio-emotional needs and problems of and life skills needed by early adolescent AIDS orphans, a phenomenological design seemed appropriate. The research design was selected to reach the first three objectives of the study, namely: To conceptualise theoretically the phenomenon of HIV/AIDS and AIDS orphans, the specific characteristics, needs and problems of early adolescents as well as life skills for early adolescents; a) To explore and identify the nature and prevalence of socio-emotional needs and problems of early adolescent AIDS orphans; b) To explore and identify the life skills which AIDS orphans, in their early adolescent phase need to improve their coping capabilities; Qualitative data through semi-structured interviews with a schedule was collected. The sample thus included 40 respondents i.e. 10 social workers, 10 caregivers and 20 AIDS orphans. The empirical research findings based on the first part of the study confirmed that HIV/AIDS has forced vast numbers of children into precarious circumstances, putting them at high risk of becoming infected with HIV. AIDS orphans are especially vulnerable to HIV infection for a host of social and economic reasons including poverty, sexual exploitation, violence, and lack of access to HIV information and prevention services. The consequence of this is that children are often socially isolated and deprived of basic social services. The findings further confirmed that there are currently no life skills programmes specifically designed for early adolescent AIDS orphans in South Africa. Deficiencies in life skills contribute to the vulnerability and exploitation of these children. Life skills were viewed as crucial in improving the quality of life of AIDS orphans. Life skills can enable adolescents to develop sound and positive view of life. The researcher also applied the comparison group pretest-posttest design (i.e. a quasi-experimental comparison group pretest-posttest design) with respondents to reach the last three objectives of the study, namely: a) To develop a life-skills programme for early adolescent AIDS orphans; b) To empirically test the effectiveness of the developed life skills programme for early adolescent AIDS orphans; and c) To suggest practical recommendations for further utilisation of the newly developed life skills programme for early adolescent AIDS orphans. The researcher developed a life skills programme for early adolescent AIDS orphans namely AIDS Orphans Life Skills Programme. The evaluation of the self-developed life skills programme for early adolescent AIDS orphans was done by a self-constructed group administered questionnaire in the pre-test i.e. before implementation of AIDS orphans life skill programme, and post-test with both the experimental (30 respondents) and comparison group (30 respondents). The sample thus included a total of 60 early adolescent AIDS orphans and the empirical data was collected to include 2 measurements once before and once after the intervention (AIDS orphans life skills programme). The findings confirmed that there was a statistical significance difference in the experimental groups life skills (i.e. sense of identity and self-esteem, communication, assertiveness, self-awareness, coping and stress management, decision making, problem solving, conflict management and a healthy life style) with a 95% chance that the results were due to AIDS Orphans Life Skills. There was not statistical difference in the experimental groups critical and creative thinking skills. Nine out of ten key elements of AIDS orphans life skills programme were thus successful in that they promoted life skills amongst early adolescent AIDS orphans. AIDS orphans life skills programme is perceived as having had the impact that was hoped for. / Thesis (DPhil (Social Work))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Social Work / unrestricted

Writing skills is are an essential requirement to lifelong learner success yet the way teachers teach and provide feedback to their learners on writing is quite challenging. This study sought to explore the teaching strategies to improve writing skills as an essential requirement for effective learning in schools for grade 8 and 9 learners in English First Additional Language. For people living in the townships and rural areas in South Africa, exposure to English is limited, because the majority of people communicate with each other in local languages. With teachers and learners residing in the townships where communication occurs mostly in isiXhosa, problems in language proficiency, in particular writing in English First Additional Language, are often encountered not only by the learners, but by educators as well. This was a case study of four high schools in the Cradock Education District. In-depth interviews were conducted with eight participants in the four schools. There were eight main findings, which are as follows: Lack of support for teachers, lack of a culture of learning amongst learners, and lack of competence in English for both learners and parents, which need to be addressed; and strategies proposed to improve writing skills are: the importance of creative writing; regular feedback and the importance of drafts.

M.A. / 1. Introduction Internationally there has been a paradigm shift towards a developmental and preventative approach in social work. Also, the cost-effectiveness of programs aimed at community development has been noted. 2. Goal of the study The main aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of a life skills program aimed at personal / community enrichment through the extension of self-knowledge according to the themes of temperament, early childhood experiences, transactional analysis, self-presentation and cognitive reconstruction and presented according to experiential instruction methods. 3. Objectives of the study In order to come to a conclusion regarding the impact of the abovementioned program, the following objectives were identified: - Has the program empowered the respondents to enhance their self-knowledge; - Has the program led the respondents to a better understanding of others; - Has the knowledge created a willingness to undertake necessary adjustments; - Respondents’ impressions of the program and the presentation thereof. 4. Methodology A qualitative grounded evaluative research design was used for the study. An availability sampling method was used: In this case the attendants at a workshop where the abovementioned program was implemented. 5. Data collection methods The following methods of data gathering were implemented: - The respondents had to give feedback on what they have realized or learned about each theme. - The theme on self-presentation was introduced by a brainstorming session on which aspects the respondents regarded as important aspects by which first impressions are formed. - Each respondent had to complete a questionnaire (enclosed as annexure 3) at the end of the workshop. - The results were compared with the literature overview. 6. Limitations of study - The researcher had no control over whether the faxed invitations to the workshop (enclosed as annexure 1) actually reached the intended population or not. - Although the invitation was intended for adults as well as teenagers, eventually only one teenager and nine adults were included in the sample. - The category: “Other”, was not included to the biographic questions. Because it was a small group which was known to the researcher, the question on marital status could be rectified and: “Divorced and remarried”, could be included for analysis. - The fact that some of the open ended questions in the questionnaire (annexure 3) didn’t require the respondents to motivate their answers, left a gap in the interpretation of those answers. - After the respondents named so many aspects attributing to first impressions, the researcher assumed that the topic was known so well, that the theoretic information wasn’t presented in full. When the results were analyzed, this seemed to be a wrong assumption, as more discussion was requested on this topic. - Despite the small sample, the results have been confirmed by the literature overview, which means that literature based on Western research also apply to the Afrikaans speaking case sample. 7. Goal achievements The abovementioned goals were conclusively achieved and can be summarized as follows: The life skills program for personal / community development presented according to experiential instruction methods and aiming at the extension of self-knowledge according to the themes of temperament, early childhood experiences, transactional analysis, self-presentation and cognitive reconstruction, has indeed: - Led to the enhancement of the respondents’ self-knowledge; - Created a better understanding for others; - Created a willingness to make adjustments; - As a whole been evaluated positively: As a dynamic, organized, understandable and effective presentation. 8. Recommendations The following recommendations were made: 8.1. Methodology - The program can be marketed as a personal-, marriage- family- or community enrichment program, and even as an employee assistance program (EAP). - Personal invitations, preparation and screening are recommended. - The questionnaire for completion at the end of the program, should be adapted to eliminate the limitations that were identified. 8.2 Program content and presentation - The program content can be perceived as effective for enhancing self-knowledge, to create a better understanding for others, as well as creating a willingness for change and adaptations. - Experiential instruction methods contribute to the success of the program and should be retained. - Do not deviate from the intended theory included in the program. - The participant manual (annexure 2) is a resourceful device which is also useful for future reference. - Permanent transparencies can be added to the program to enhance the efficiency thereof. - The five themes lend itself for presentation during five group sessions. 8.3 With regards to social work profession - This study proved that the case sample were more inclined to change and for adaptations once they got to know themselves better. Thus the social worker should experience less resentment or poor/lack of co-operation with helping programs. Indeed, the more the client gets to know himself, the more inclined should he be to accept responsibility for his own growth as a person in his social environment. - It would be unethical to leave a client who is ready for change and growth without further directions. Therefore the social worker should be capable to either present follow-up programs or to refer appropriately. / Prof. W.A. Mitchell

Social and cognitive skill acquisition were evaluated in 33 (male=24, female=11) outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. A social skills training treatment group (n=19) was compared to a wait-list control (n=14). Participants' mean age was 41 years, mean number of hospitalizations 10.4, and mean number of years with diagnosis 15.8. Assessment measures included WAIS-III Picture Arrangement subtest, Social Cue Recognition Test, COGLAB, WMS-III Word List subtest, and SADS-C. Results did not support the main hypotheses of improved social and cognitive skills in the treatment group. Participants with better memory and attention at pre-testing also did not show an advantage in social skills improvement. Contrary to hypotheses, the control group improved the most on some social and cognitive measures. Several supplemental hypotheses yielded the following results: lack of volunteer participation from paranoid schizophrenia individuals; evidence that schizoaffective disorder participants may be less cognitively impaired and better able to benefit from social skills training; and younger, less chronic participants with better attentional capacities may benefit most from social skills training. Findings are discussed in light of the possibility that improving social skills might not improve social and cognitive functioning, at least with the dosage of social skills training provided in this study. Limitations such as a sampling bias and small study size are also considered as possible explanations for the pattern of findings. Clinical and research implications are discussed to apply and extend the current findings.

Effective training procedures are necessary when teaching behavior analytic techniques because the techniques are so complex and precise; and there is a correlation between the changed skills in the trainees to be beneficial to the client. Instructors who may previously exhibit effective teaching techniques in a one-to-one setting may not exhibit those techniques in an inclusive setting. This study examines the effects of a training package and an instruction on the performance of experienced instructors, and desired responding from both preschool-aged children with autism and typically developing peers. The training took place with 3 triads of one instructor, one child with autism, and one peer in a center-based inclusionary preschool. Instructor skills targeted were prompt and consequence delivery for the target social skills, getting attention and responding to peers. Corroborative data on children's responding were obtained.

This was a mixed methods study designed to investigate the social skills use of adolescents with learning disabilities through an application of Albert Bandura's theory of reciprocal interaction. Data were collected through ranking surveys, observations, interviews, and school records. Three questions were investigated. The first question was to determine whether the language deficits of LD students contributed to their general decreased social competency. Through data from the Social Skills Rating System, the seventh grade participants were considered socially competent to some degree by self report, their teachers, and their parents. Factor analysis revealed students were the best predictors of their social skills use from all data sources. In ranking participants' social skills use, students and teachers were more strongly correlated than were students and parents, or teachers and parents. No relationship of any strength existed between the participants' cognitive ability and their social competence. A use of Bandura's determinants indicated that a relationship existed between some subtypes of learning disabilities and some types of social skills misuse. The participants diagnosed with reading disability, auditory processing disability, receptive/expressive language disability, or nonverbal learning disability all made the majority of their observed social skills errors in the environmental determinant of Bandura's triad of reciprocal interaction. The participants in the four subtypes experienced their information processing deficits in attending to environmental stimuli, or in attending to inappropriate environmental stimuli. The area of the subtype of information processing deficit aligned with the determinant in which the participants in that subtype's social errors were experienced. Bandura's triad of cognition, environment, and behavior was not equilateral because the balance did not exist between the three determinants in participants with learning disabilities.