This study investigates the perceptions of learners and staff of the Dental Technology Extended First Programme (EFYP) currently offered in the Department of Dental Services at the Durban University of Technology. The EFYP has been offered since 1995 in order to meet the needs of under prepared learners in the Dental Technology programme as well as to address transformation of the programme. The Dental Technology EFYP has evolved over a number of years and was one of the first extended programmes offered in South African higher education. No evaluation of this programme has occurred since its inception. Moreover, the present study is particularly relevant as it has been conducted at a time that the Department of Education is concerned with low throughput rates in South African tertiary education. It is hoped that insights into this programme gained from this study will be of benefit to educators either currently providing foundation provision or those contemplating foundation provision in the future. It is noted that little research into foundation provision has, to date, been conducted in South Africa. For this study, learners currently registered in the Dental Technology programme and staff from the programme were interviewed in semi-structured interviews, and the main themes concerning foundation provision emerging from the study were identified. I conclude that the current EFYP is an academically sound programme contributing to the academic development of individual learners as well as to the overall success of the Dental Technology programme. Learners were unanimous in their belief that the EFYP contributed positively towards their academic advancement. Furthermore, learners noted the contribution that the EFYP made to their integration into higher education through a range of interventions such the departmental mentorship programme. Staff, also, favourably viewed the EFYP as academically successful. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

The study examines the evolution of academic support programmes (ASPs) at predominantly White universities in South Africa. The participating institutions include: University of the Witwatersrand, University of Natal, Rhodes University, and University of Cape Town. Since they are selected on the basis of pioneering the establishment of ASP in South Africa and the extent of effectiveness achieved by ASP programmes, the relationship between the stated goals of academic support and the approaches, as well as strategies used to achieve them, are assessed. Throughout the focus is on whether or not the programmes are effective in reducing the failure and drop-out rates at these universities. The important variables in the intervention process are scrutinised. They include the conceptual framework guiding the formulation and implementation of the programmes and the environment in which ASP operates. A more wider context of ASP is explored to determine those factors that have a significant influence on the successful implementation of the programmes. Among those identified are institutional policy regarding the perceived requirements of disadvantaged students and what are considered to be appropriate strategies for dealing with their disadvantages. For this purpose the experiences of international ASPs are investigated to establish similarities, or lack thereof, with the South African experience. The measures adopted in the United States to deal with the inadequacies of the schooling system, as it impacts on the tertiary sector of education, have especially appealed to educationists in South Africa, since the educational context of Blacks in the United States of America is believed to have many parallels in South Africa. For different reasons racism in the educational arena has resulted in Blacks being underprepared for tertiary education in both countries. The important task then is to ascertain whether the strategies used to resolve the problems encountered by these students at colleges and universities in the United States have any relevance for the South African situation. The focus then shifts to what appropriate measures are necessary to bring about a dispensation that will allow maximum benefit to flow from ASP for both disadvantaged students and educational practice in tertiary institutions. It is the author's firm belief that, without scientifically derived solutions, the mistakes committed by local ASPs and elsewhere will be repeated in South Africa, thus delaying ASP from realising its full potential so that institutional policy-makers, staff and students may reap the fruits of functional ASPs that are both efficient and effective. South Africa has the advantage of entering the ASP field when accumulated knowledge on the subject will provide the opportunity to build on the strengths of others and learn from their weaknesses, and so enhance the chances of success for the programmes here. In an attempt to contribute towards making this objective a reality, wenty-four criteria have been formulated from ASP experiences at the four universities surveyed which participated in the investigation. From conducting interviews with ASP personnel faculty staff and students and personally visiting campuses and, among other things, perusing their records and scrutinising annual reports, it was possible to decide that the best way to address the problem of ineffective ASP is to draw up criteria that can be used, in future, for purposes of setting up ASP units and evaluating the performance of both newly established ones and those already existing. Regular attendance at ASP conferences and the invaluable exposure, through presentation of papers at these and other fora and subsequent exchanges of information and sharing of perspectives, have convinced the writer of the urgent need to approach the problem systematically, scientifically and rationally. Finally, it is contended that without a procedure for the implementation of the criteria, there is the risk of selecting and using them randomly. Hence the grouping of the criteria according to their common characteristics and functioning will expedite the implementation process and reduce the risk of failure as a result of poor sequence and incorrect utilisation. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, Durban,1994.

Text in Afrikaans / Die doel van die onderhawige studie is onder meer om loopbaanorientering aan die tersiere student (BSc Agric) teoreties te fundeer. 'n Uitgebreide Europese studiereis is ondemeem met die doel om bestaande loopbaanorienteringsprogramme aan tersiere instansies, veral universiteite, te ondersoek en die effektiwiteit daarvan te evalueer ten einde voortreflikhede te implementeer. In hierdie studie word die loopbaanorienteringsprogram vir BSc (Agric)studente aan die Universiteit van Pretoria wat reeds in 1994 ontwerp en ge'implementeer is, beskryf sowel as die behoeftepeiling wat onder BSc (Agric)-studente (voor en na die implementering van die program), en vennote in die landboubedryf gedoen is. 'n Verdere doel met die studie is om 'n wetenskaplik verantwoorde loopbaanorienteringsverrykingsprogram vir BSc (Agric)-studente aan die Universiteit van Pretoria te begrond, te ontwerp, die implementering daarvan te beskryf en die resultate daarvan te evalueer. Daar is gepoog om beide loopbaanontwikkelings- en studente-ontwikkelingsteoriee te beskryf en uit te le as fundering vir 'n verantwoorde loopbaanorienteringsverrykingsprogram vir tersiere studente. 'n Oorsig en perspektief is gebied op bestaande loopbaanorienteringsprogramme en -inisiatiewe in 'n intemasionale, nasionale en plaaslike konteks. Die verskynsel van die snelveranderende wereld-van-werk is literatuurmatig gepresiseer en die implikasies uitgewys vir die opleiding van en loopbaanorientering aan die student in die Landbouwetenskap. 'n Behoeftepeiling van loopbaan (en lewens-)kundighedeen vaardighede waaroor graduandi moet beskik is gedoen onder BSc (Agric)-studente (v66r en mi programimplementering) en onder vennote in die landboubedryf. Die ontwikkeling, beslaggewing en ,evaluering van 'n loopbaanorienteringsverrykingsprogram vir BSc (Agric)-studente is beskryf en toegelig. 'n Samevatting van die studie is gegee met enkele gemotiveerde aanbevelings wat uit die navorsing voortvloei. Voorstelle is gemaak vir die inisiering van 'n loopbaansentrum vir studente van die Universiteit van Pretoria. / The aim of this study is amongst others to lay the theoretical foundation of career orientation for BSc (Agric)-students. An extensive European study tour was undertaken with the aim of investigating and evaluating existing career orientation programmes and/or student enrichment endeavours at the various tertiary institutions especially universities. The effectiveness of these programmes was evaluated with the aim of utilizing and implementing aspects of them. In this study the career orientation enrichment programme for BSc (Agric)-students that was already designed and implemented at the University of Pretoria in 1994, is described. The needs of the BSc (Agric)-students before and after the implementation of this programme were determined as well as those of the partners in the agricultural industry. Another aim of this study is to describe the foundation, design and implementation of a scientific, accountable career orientation enrichment programme for BSc (Agric)-students at the University of Pretoria and to evaluate the outcome thereof. The various career development and student development theories are elucidated and described as a foundation for an accountable career orientation enrichment programme for tertiary students. An overview is given of career orientation programmes and initiatives in an international, national and local context. The phenomenon of the fast changing world-ofwork is described and defined more precisely through a literature study with reference to the implications for the training of and career orientation regarding the student in the Science of Agriculture. An investigation was done of the career (and life-) skills that graduates have to attain. The needs and views of BSc (Agric)-students (before and after the programme implementation) and partners in the agricultural industry were extracted. A summary is given of the arguments put forward in this thesis together with some recommendations that have emerged from this research. Proposals are made for the initiation of a career centre for students at the University of Pretoria. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Sielkundige Opvoedkunde)

This study examined the way in which the top 100 "most wired" colleges and universities provide online student services. Named by a national publication in May 1998, these colleges and universities were chosen because of their technological infrastructure, courses offered online, public computers on campus, and online student services, among other aspects.

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