The concept of campus environment and its implication to student development is important to any institution of higher learning and student affairs in particular. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

My study is of the provision of career education, health education, personal development and student development programmes for students from Years 7 to 10 in ACT high schools. My purpose was to identify why these programmes are not available to all students and what can be done to make them available. The methods I used were an examination of a longitudinal case study of "Bellbird" High School in parallel with a survey of the current system perspective. Although the study focuses on the ACT in Australia, reference is made to the international literature, as well as local, regarding the attitudes of students, parents and teachers to career education, health education, personal development and student development programmes; data collection and interpretation; and the implementation of change. I have used data from three different survey instruments administered at "Bellbird" High School, at five year intervals, in 1978/79, 1984 and 1989. I have used another instrument at system level twice, in two consecutive years, in 1988 and 1989. Each of the instruments was developed for a specific purpose and not for gathering data for this study. All three surveys at "Bellbird" High School were designed to determine the attitudes of students, parents and teachers to aspects of the curriculum. They provided both quantitative and qualitative data. Basically, I have compared the 1979 and 1989 numerical data, and used the 1984 material for confirmation of significant issues. In addition to using qualitative data from these three instruments, I have also used comments from curriculum committee and School Board documents and evaluation reports from the Living Skills Programme. At system level, a questionnaire was designed to gather data about the provision of career education and health education in high schools in the ACT. This instrument, included questions about barriers to these programmes and strategies for overcoming the barriers. The findings were distributed to the schools. The procedure was based on the 'Research, Development and Diffusion' model. People associated with the successful implementation of the programmes under investigation were interviewed to find out what barriers they had faced, how they overcame them and what suggestions they had for overcoming other baniers to these programmes. Using the data CO-jointly with the literature and my own knowledge of cumculum implementation, I have proposed an action plan for "Bellbird" High School to extend the provision of its student development programme to all students. In conclusion, the suitability of the proposed action plan for use in other ACT high schools is appraised and general principles for the system are drawn out.

This exploratory case study investigated the Graduate Assistant (GA) Scholarship Programme at Technikon Natal (TN) as a staff development mechanism. Although GA programmes are not a new concept and have been used internationally for decades as a means to develop academic staff, the programme at TN has some differences. This programme was initiated to address the development of young Black, and in the main African, academics in order to assist with meeting future employment equity requirements. The programme in its simplest form offers the GA the opportunity to gain teaching experience while studying for a post graduate qualification. Between 1995 and 2000, fifty GAs were involved in the programme at TN, with the majority of GAs studying at the BTech qualification level. This case study identified the juxtaposition of two perspectives of influence, those of the institutional and the individual issues. The institutional issues identified were categorised into policy and procedural issues and the individual issues focused on staff development and mentorship issues. Although the findings cannot be generalised, significant issues have been identified which could prove of value to a wider audience. In addition to developing Black academics, the programme makes a significant contribution to increasing the achievement of higher qualifications from the technikon sector. This is desirable in order to produce the technological foundation for South Africa's future economy. The study identified great potential in the GAs and in the community at TN who have embraced this opportunity to develop young academics of the future. Although there are a number of issues to be addressed, the key stakeholders of this study; the GAs and their Heads of Departments, are well supported by the management and relevant units at TN. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, Durban, 2000.

Aim: This study aims to generate recommendations for enhancing the access and success of historically disadvantaged students to health science education at UDW, based on barriers identified within diverse schooling contexts and local conditions at UDW. Methodology: A case study approach was used to select five former DET schools within the DFR to constitute the sample of historically disadvantaged schools for this study. In order to capture the specific ecological milieu, social and cultural conditions pertaining to rural, urban and informal settlement contexts, three schools were strategically selected from each of these contexts (i.e. Sobonakhona, Ilanga and Inhlanhlayethu High schools respectively). In addition, two former DET schools that displayed relatively high achievement rates were also selected (i.e. Vukuzakhe and Zwelibanzi High schools), in order to contextually understand how barriers to positive educational outcomes might be overcome. A multistage sampling procedure was used to sample 40 standard seven and 40 standard ten scholars from each of the selected schools (n=400) and a purposive sampling procedure was used to obtain a sample of teaching staff involved in career counselling and/or science education in each school (n=16). In addition, saturation sampling was employed to obtain a sample of second year African students in the Faculties of Health Sciences and Dentistry at UDW (n=73). A combination of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods was employed, with questionnaires being administered to standard seven and ten scholars as well as to historically disadvantaged health science students. In addition, a total of five focus groups were conducted with teaching staff from each of the selected schools. Results and discussion: It was evident that a complex and interwoven web of factors impacted on the access and success of historically disadvantaged students in health science education at UDW, including, inter alia, inadequate school instructional resources; limited community economic resources; a paucity of educational opportunities and experiences in the home environment; poverty status; low levels of self-efficacy in academic skill; inadequate school career counselling; university selection procedures with a eurocentric bias; adjustment difficulties in the transition from secondary to tertiary education; financial difficulties; a paucity of 'in-group' academic role models; inadequate ADPs and negative conditions in campus student residences. These results are discussed and interpreted within the context of relevant empirical literature as well as a taxonomy derived from over 60 multivariate school-effects studies undertaken in developing countries, comprising four dimensions, viz. ecology, milieu, social system and culture. Conclusions: On the basis of the findings of this study, recommendations for enhancing the access and success of historically disadvantaged students to health science education at UDW are offered. While these recommendations pertain to a broad range of stakeholders, including the Education Ministry, the schooling sector and higher education institutions, particular attention is paid to the development of practical recruitment, selection and retention strategies to be employed by UDW and its Faculty of Health Sciences. Finally, the limitations of the study are discussed and recommendations for future research in this field are offered. KEY terms: access, success and equity; historically disadvantaged; health science education; educational outcomes. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1999.

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.