This study explores the perceptions of the first formal cohort of Extended
Curriculum Programme (ECP) students in the Somatology Department to
determine the effects it has had on the social identity of these students. The
Somatology ECP was one of the pioneer extended programmes offered in higher
education in South Africa. The aim of the programme is to assist under-prepared
students and to attend to the transformation of the programme. It is hoped that
the insight gained from investigating how these ECP students perceive their
situation, opportunities and experiences in relation to their full curriculum peers,
can provide relevant awareness in future curriculum development of any
programme using this type of extended curriculum model. In curriculum design,
the focus is frequently on the academic sphere, with minimal attention to the
social development of the student. In recent years there has been a movement in
academia to understand the students’ experience holistically in order to develop
curricula which successfully improve their academic performance. Although
some research has been conducted into foundation provision offered
predominantly to address the concern of low throughput rates, few studies have
been conducted to determine the effects of these types of programmes on the
students’ social identity.
Thirteen students that were currently registered in the Somatology Extended
Curriculum Programme were interviewed using semi-structured interviews, and
content analysis was used to identify the main themes from the data. The two
main themes that emerged were that students believed the ECP programme had
assisted them with the transition from high school to University. They had also
constructed and adopted a particular group identity but still become fully
integrated with the Full Curriculum students in their second year. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/1320 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Borg, Dorinda R. |
| Contributors | McKenna, Sioux. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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