Thesis (MCur)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: During the period 2006-2008 more than 50% of midwifery students at the college under study failed the midwifery training programme. The academic performance of students can be attributed to various factors, ranging from personal uniqueness and institutional aspects to the course content itself. Accordingly, this study aims to explore the perceptions and experiences of student midwives with reference to their training programme. The objectives set for the study were set to determine the perceptions and experiences of the student midwives with regard to: • guidance in the practical field, • classroom experiences • assessment procedures and • whether the students attribute their academic successes or failures to the training programme. A qualitative approach with a descriptive design was applied to determine the perceptions and experiences of the undergraduate midwifery students concerning their training programme. The population of this study was fourth-year students who have successfully completed their midwifery-training programme. Nineteen students consented to participate in the study. The trustworthiness of this study was assured by using the Lincoln and Guba’s criteria of credibility, transferability, dependability and conformability. A pre-test was completed. All ethical principles were met. Data was collected through focus group interviews, using an interview guide. The analysis of the data revealed that students attributed their academic failures and success to guidance received in the theoretical as well as the practical field. The findings displayed the frustration that the students experienced with the lecture method as a teaching strategy. Discontentment was perceived among the participants regarding the demarcation, which differed among lecturers. Students were of the opinion that certain content of the curriculum was intended for the doctors, and they indicated a need for the extension of class time, for the instruction of the theory, as the curriculum was perceived as “content heavy”. Guidance in the clinical field, by the clinical educators, was perceived as being positive, yet the student-clinical educator ratio was proving to be a challenge. Marking of tests and examination answer sheets was perceived as too strict. Recommendations Students must be active participants in the learning process, not passive recipients of information. Teaching methods (such as role-play, brainstorming, case studies, simulations, and group work), that expand and reinforce basic communication, intellectual and interpersonal skills, should be employed. Uniformity amongst midwifery facilitators, in terms of content selection, demarcations, classroom activities and assessment techniques, should be agreed upon prior to the commencement of a block period. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Tydens die periode 2006-2008 was meer as 50% van die verloskunde studente by die kollege waar die studie gedoen was, onsuksesvol in die verloskunde program. Akademiese prestasie van studente kan aan verskillende faktore toegeskryf word. Hierdie kwessies wissel van persoonlike uniekheid en institusionele aspekte tot die kursus inhoud self. Dus poog hierdie studie om die persepsies en ervaringe van die student vroedvroue ten opsigte van hul opleidingsprogram te verken. Die doelwitte van die studie was om die persepsies en ervaringe van die student vroedvroue met betrekking tot: • praktiese leiding, • klaskamerondervinding, • assesseringsprosedures te bepaal en • of die studente hul akademiese suksesse en mislukkings aan die opleidingsprogram toe skryf. ʼn Kwalitatiewe benadering met ʼn beskrywende strategie was gebruik om die persepsies en ervaringe van die voorgraadse studente rakende hul opleidingsprogram vas te stel. Die populasie van hierdie studie was studente, in hul vierde jaar, wat reeds die verloskunde opleidingsprogram suksesvol voltooi het. Negentien studente het ingestem om aan die studie deel te neem. Die vertrouenswaardigheid van die navorsing is verseker deur van die Lincoln en Guba kriteria – geloofwaardigheid, oordraagbaarheid, betroubaarheid en bevestiging – gebruik te maak. ʼn Voorafgaande toets is voltooi. Al die etiese beginsels is nagekom. Data is ingesamel deur onderhoude met fokusgroepe te voer. ’n Onderhoudsgids is vir die doeleinde gebruik. Die data-ontleding het getoon dat studente hul akademiese mislukkings en suksesse aan die leiding wat hulle op teoretiese en praktiese gebiede ontvang het, toeskryf. Die bevindinge het die frustrasie wat die studente met die lesmetode as ’n onderrigstrategie ervaar, getoon. Ontevredenheid rakende die werkafbakening, wat verskil van lektor tot lektor, is ook waargeneem. Studente voel dat dele van die kurrikuluminhoud vir dokters bedoel is. Hulle is van mening dat meer klastyd nodig is om teorie te onderrig, aangesien die kurrikulum oorvol is. Hoewel die leiding op kliniese gebied, deur die kliniese opvoeders, positief ervaar is, is die student-opvoeder verhouding as ʼn uitdaging beskou. Die studente het gevoel dat hul toetse en eksamenantwoordstelle te streng nagesien was. Aanbevelings: Studente moet aktief by die leerproses betrek word en moet nie bloot passiewe ontvangers van inligting wees nie. Onderrigmetodes, wat basiese kommunikasie-, intellektuele en interpersoonlike vaardighede aanvul en versterk (soos byvoorbeeld rolspel, dinkskrums, gevallestudies, simulasies en groepwerk), moet ingespan word. Die fasiliteerders moet ooreenkom en ʼn eenvormige beleid, betreffende die kurrikuluminhoud, afbakening van werk, klaskameraktiwiteite en assesseringsmetodes, voor die aanvang van die blokperiode, daarstel.

Simulation in nursing education has become a standard method of instruction to provide nursing students with a realistic and safe environment in which to practice and hone clinical skills. There are three components to a nursing simulation: prebriefing, the simulation experience, and debriefing. While there is a list of minimum criteria recommended for the prebriefing experience at the time of this dissertation there were no published frameworks or models for prebriefing. A quasi-experimental pretest/posttest study assessed the impact of a structured prebriefing method on sophomore level nursing students’ (N = 55) clinical judgment, perception of their ability to care for patients, and their perceptions of the prebriefing and simulation experiences when compared to a group that was exposed to only the standard prebriefing criteria. All participants had the same simulation scenario. Participants were placed in groups of four then groups were randomly assigned to the structured prebriefing (intervention) or standard prebriefing (control). The instruments used in this study were the Satisfaction and Confidence in Learning Scale (SCLS), Prebriefing Experience Scale (PES), Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric (LCJR), and the Perception to Care in Acute Situations (PCAS). This dissertation includes two chapters based on the same study as well as a chapter of lessons learned with commentary on completing nursing education research with postpandemic nursing students. The first dataset reported are results from the SCLS and PES. These instruments are posttest only and were completed after the prebriefing and simulation experience. The second dataset reported are results from the LCJR and the PCAS. The LCJR was used by two faculty members to rate student demonstration of clinical judgment during the simulation scenario. The PCAS was implemented as pretest/posttest; participants completed it upon arrival to their scheduled simulation then again after the simulation scenario was finished. All data were collected prior to debriefing as the groups had different debriefing experiences. The findings of this study indicate that all participants were satisfied with the simulation and prebriefing experiences. No statistically significant differences were found between group perceptions of confidence, satisfaction, or prebriefing. There was a statistically significant increase from pretest to posttest scores on the PCAS on which participants rated themselves higher in their perceptions to care for patients. There was no interaction as there was not a statistically significant interaction between group and time. There were no statistically significant differences between groups for participant clinical judgment scores as rated by two faculty members. Unprecedented attrition and retention were seen in the participant cohort. Though not an aim of this study, this phenomenon is attributed to the changes being seen in the postpandemic learner. More students did not return after their first year than in previous years and 49% were unsuccessful in the Fundamentals of Nursing course compared to the usual 5%. These results show that while participants were satisfied with both interventions, and their confidence in their ability to provide care did increase after the simulation, there may not be a difference between structured and standard prebriefing. Additional studies are needed with different cohorts to determine if structured prebriefing has an effect on nursing student clinical judgment or if the unique variables caused by COVID-19 had lingering effects on these participants.

No description available.

M. Tech. Drama / Sources on musical theatre training by experts Rocco Dal Vera, Joe Deer, Tracy Moore and Allison Bergman, give the impression that there is a lacuna in training when teaching acting skills for singing in musical theatre. This dissertation, in an attempt to fill this lacuna, constructs a strategy of engagement by using cognitive science, together with Stanislavsky's acting techniques and music theory to explain the process from text/sheet music (the 'digital' domain) to performance (the 'analogue' domain). In this dissertation the 'digital' is seen as a metaphor for bounded, specific and singular phenomena (such as a written word or music note), and the 'analogue' is seen as a metaphor for a continuous, undulating and unbroken line of an event. The aim of this dissertation was achieved by conducting a critical literature study on the subjects of second generation cognitive science, Stanislavsky's acting techniques, and music theory and analysis.

M. Tech. Public Management / Young people in South Africa constitute 41% of the population of the country. Therefore, youth development needs to be recognised as a priority by the Government of South Africa. South African youth are faced with many challenges such as a lack of development which may lead to unemployment. Despite the majority of young people in South Africa having completed their tertiary studies and graduated, they still find it hard to get employment. This is a result of a lack of development, as well as skills and training needed to equip young graduates with sufficient practical work experience to enable them to get employment. In this study, an attempt is made to determine whether the Department of Water Affairs Graduate Trainee Programme has the desired impact on the young graduates who have participated in it.

Abstract not available. / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Natal, Durban, 1961.

Orientador: Luiz Carlos de Freitas / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-22T07:37:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Anjos_MarleneGonzagados_M.pdf: 3023425 bytes, checksum: 4bfe7d2c643972822832a43e823d92e0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: Este trabalho discute a temática da avaliação institucional, na perspectiva da Avaliação Institucional Participativa e focaliza o sistema participativo da escola. Diante disso, esta pesquisa teve como objetivo descrever as instâncias do sistema participativo da escola e colher elementos para: identificar que demandas se originam nas práticas que compõem o sistema participativo - (CPA, Conselho de Escola e assembleias) e se elas se voltam para a melhoria na relação entre o professor e os estudantes; identificar a relação entre o processo avaliativo e educativo, se tem se constituído enquanto espaço de formação de valores e quais; identificar que aprendizados (outros) os segmentos apontam serem construídos nesse exercício. Esta pesquisa se trata de um estudo de caso e a metodologia conjugou entrevistas, observações e análise documental. As categorias de análise que emergiram a partir das quais se processou a análise demonstraram a importância do sistema avaliativo e participativo da escola para a instrução e formação de valores. Verificou-se ainda que os temas discutidos no sistema avaliativo, em grande parte se articulam e revertem para a aprendizagem dos estudantes. / Abstract: This paper discusses the issue of institutional assessment, from the perspective of Participatory Institutional Assessment and focuses on participatory school system. This study aimed to describe the instances of the participatory school system and to collect elements: identify demands that originate in the practices that make up the participatory system (Self-Assessment Commission, School Counseling and Student Assemblies) and if they turn into improvement in the relationship between teacher and students. Identify the relationship between the assessment process and education; if it has constituted itself as an area of formation of values and which ones. Identify learning that (other) segments (students, parents, teachers, managers and employees) indicate to be built in this exercise. This research is a case study and the methodology conjugated interviews, observations and documentary analyzes. The categories of analysis that emerged from which the analysis was processed showed the importance of the participatory evaluation system and school for the education and values formation. It was also found that the topics discussed in the evaluation system, largely articulate and revert to student learning. / Mestrado / Ensino e Práticas Culturais / Mestre em Educação

Healthcare simulation is a teaching strategy rooted in cognitive, constructivist, and social learning theories. Simulation–based learning experiences offer a replacement for traditional clinical learning and are widely used across all levels of nursing education. Most simulation activities are focused on student application of cognitive knowledge to clinical situations or practicing psychomotor skills, with little attention paid to student development of core nursing values such as caring and compassion. In fact, few studies have empirically assessed the usefulness of simulation for helping student nurses develop affective characteristics such as empathy. A quasi–experimental control group study was conducted to evaluate affective learning in student nurses during a simulated clinical activity. Students randomized to the treatment condition watched a lesson on the importance of empathy as a professional nursing value along with a vignette in which an actor playing the simulated patient shared a narrative story that detailed aspects of his social, emotional, and physical well–being. Subjects who received the intervention had a greater and statistically significant increase in empathy score than those in the control condition. Students exposed to the intervention also had higher observed empathy scores, but differences between groups were not statistically significant. Since narratives can be useful for helping health profession students understand patient perspectives on their health and well–being, the concept of narrative transportation (i.e., immersion in narrative accounts or stories) was used to assess student engagement in the simulated learning activity. Students in the treatment condition had higher but non–statistically significant engagement scores in response to the intervention. Last, associations between empathy, emotional intelligence, and nursing competence were assessed. Positive and statistically significant relationships between empathy and emotional intelligence, emotional intelligence and nursing competence, and empathy and nursing competence were observed. Further analysis indicated that emotional intelligence partially mediated the relationship between empathy and nursing competence in this sample. The findings of this study demonstrated that patient narratives were useful for facilitating affective learning during simulated clinical activities. The observed results also provide insight on the relationship between affective characteristics and competency development in student nurses.

Academic integrity, while important for all students, is especially so for those enrolled in nursing programs. Nurses are entrusted by the public to care for those in need from birth through death. A nursing student who graduates through dishonest means jeopardizes the safety of patients in their care. Nursing faculty need to understand the scope of academic integrity violations and develop meaningful, targeted interventions to show students the harm their actions could cause. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore undergraduate nursing students’ knowledge and perceptions of academic integrity and to specifically look at their willingness to report peer violations. This dissertation study was a collaborative effort among three doctoral students. Using a research team-modified version of McCabe’s Academic Integrity Survey as well as a research team-created Knowledge Assessment, 442 nursing students were surveyed. Results confirm a hesitation to report peers for violations of academic integrity. Students’ ability to neutralize their behaviors as harmless, their desire to remain loyal to their peers, and age act as positive predictive variables for willingness to report peer violations. Additionally, participants’ perceptions of the severity of various offenses and their perceptions of their faculty’s support for academic integrity policies are positively correlated with willingness to report peer violations. Program improvement strategies, such as implementing an honor code, were supported by participants and may help foster a culture of academic integrity that promotes peer reporting. Lastly, a targeted intervention designed for nursing students to promote academic integrity and peer reporting is explored.

All prelicensure baccalaureate nursing students are expected to graduate with baseline knowledge and clinical judgment skills that will allow them to provide safe and competent patient care to individuals across the lifespan. Research has shown that clinical judgment in new graduates is at an all-time low. There is an abundance of research on how to cultivate clinical judgment skills in both the didactic and simulations settings; however, very few studies have been conducted exploring how to assess and build clinical judgment skills in students in the clinical setting. A pilot study, followed by a quasi-experimental study, and a related correlational study, were performed to explore how clinical judgment can be assessed and enhanced in the prelicensure baccalaureate clinical setting. These studies included outcome variables of knowledge and self-confidence. The studies were guided by Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory as well as Tanner’s Clinical Judgment Model.The pilot study used an adapted form of the focus group method and aimed to determine the best way to apply the structured debriefing method of Debriefing for Meaningful Learning (DML) in the clinical setting. The pilot study included clinical faculty (N = 4) in a baccalaureate nursing program at a small college in Upstate N.Y. The study began with training on DML, followed by an asynchronous pre implementation survey where participants provided answers to interviewer questions via Google forms. Next the study involved 3 weeks of implementing DML with clinical groups in the clinical setting and concluded with a post implementation synchronous focus group that met via Zoom©. The results of the pilot study led to a few adaptations in the DML process including the creation of a faculty script, a student guide, a new concept map, and a change to when students were expected to complete the concept map during their clinical day. The quasi-experimental study took place at the same college and included participants (N = 62) in the course NSG 323 – Concepts II in both the Spring 2023 and Fall 2023 semesters. The intervention was DML and took place during three clinical experiences (one per week) in the first half of the semester. Participants and clinical faculty completed pretest measures in the week prior to beginning their clinical experiences. Pretest clinical judgment was measured during a simulation scenario by the participants’ clinical faculty using the Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric (LCJR). The LCJR is a 4-point Likert-type scale measuring 11 dimensions of clinical judgment under four subscales of noticing, interpreting, responding, and reflecting. Self- confidence was measured using a revision of the NLN Student Self-Confidence subscale of the NLN Student Satisfaction and Self-Confidence in Learning instrument. The revised scale is an 11-item Likert-type scale. The revision involved changing items that include the word “simulation” to the word “clinical experience.” Knowledge was measured, posttest only, using scores on the second Unit Exam of the course. A mixed 2 x 2 Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) followed by simple main effects t tests were used to analyze the clinical judgment and self- confidence data, and independent samples t tests was used to analyze exam scores. Results for clinical judgment did not reveal a significant interaction between groups and time (F (1, 60) = .21, p = .652). There was a statistically significant main effect found for group on LCJR scores overall (F (1, 60) = 7.65, p = .008). Both pretest and posttest mean scores for the LCJR were lower in the intervention group (M = 22.54 and M = 25.88 respectively) than in the control group (M = 27.75 and M = 30.33 respectively). The results for self-confidence did not reveal any significant interaction between groups and time (F (1, 59) = 1.44, p = .235). The mean scores for the posttest were higher in the intervention group (M = 42.65) than in the control group (M = 40.83). Results also showed that while self-confidence scores from pretest to posttest for the intervention group increased, the scores from pretest to posttest for the control group decreased; however, the differences in groups did not reach statistical significance (F (1, 60) = .45, p = .504). An independent samples t test showed no significant difference in Unit II exam scores, measuring knowledge, between groups (p = .451, d = .20). A correlational study was completed exploring the relationships between clinical judgment, knowledge, and self-confidence using the data obtained in the quasi-experimental study. This study also explored the differences between groups for each correlation, and whether having prior health care experience impacted each outcome variable. Results showed no statistically significant correlation between pretest clinical judgment and pretest self-confidence scores (r = .09, p = .502), nor between posttest clinical judgment and self-confidence scores (r = -.22, p = .085) for the entire sample. However, there was a significant negative relationship between posttest self-confidence and clinical judgment in the control group (r = -.36, p = .034). The differences between groups in the pretest correlations of clinical judgment to self-confidence (zobs = .298, p = .764) and in the posttest correlations of clinical judgment to self-confidence (zobs = -1.61, p = .107) were not significant. There was also no statistically significant relationship revealed between both the pretest (r = -.10, p = .439) and posttest (r = -.18, p = .163) self-confidence scores and knowledge, as measured by Unit II exam scores for the entire sample, as well as within groups. The difference in correlations between groups on both the pretest self-confidence scores and exam scores (zobs = -1.29, p = .197) and posttest self-confidence scores and exam scores (zobs = -.643, p = .522) were not statistically significant. However, both pretest (r = .36, p = .004) and posttest (r = .39, p = .002) clinical judgment scores and posttest- only exam scores were revealed to have a positive statistically significant correlation for the entire sample, as well as in the intervention group only (r = .59, p = .002 and r = .632, p < .001 respectively). The difference in correlations between pretest clinical judgment and knowledge was significant (zobs = -2.29, p = .023). The correlation between posttest clinical judgment scores and exam scores for control group was .084, and .632 for the experimental group. The difference in correlations between posttest and knowledge was ~ .55, also statistically significant (zobs = -2.45, p = .0151). There is a long-held understanding in nursing education that the teaching-learning strategies in the clinical environment need to be evaluated and improved. While not revealed to have a statistically significant effect in this initial study, the use of structured debriefing methods should still be further explored in the clinical setting to determine whether the process can be an acceptable pedagogical approach to improve knowledge and clinical judgment in the clinical setting. The moderate positive statistically significant relationship between clinical judgment and knowledge found in this study aligns with Tanner’s (2006) theory that the development of both knowledge and clinical judgment is a related and cyclical process where both should be emphasized. The inverse relationship found between self-confidence and clinical judgment/knowledge, while not statistically significant in this study, suggests that students will benefit from honest and constructive feedback on their performance to accurately evaluate themselves and their ability to perform in the clinical setting.