The purpose of this study was to identify the problems that study leaders from the
School of Nursing, at the University of the Free State encountered with giving study
guidance to students and thereafter to develop strategies to improve study guidance.
The implementation of these strategies would then improve the through put of
postgraduate students.
A qualitative, descriptive study design was used and information was gathered
through the nominal group technique. The findings were that study leaders
experienced a deficit in their training as study leaders, as well as a deficit in
experience of providing study guidance. Study leaders also experienced uncertainty
with regard to administrative procedures and a challenge to stay abreast of the
development regarding research methodologies as well as development concerning
the different sub-disciplines. A high workload was also identified as being
problematic.
Further problems experienced were studentsâ deficit regarding skills needed to
complete research studies. Students also do not keep appointments and reacted
negatively on feedback that were given to them.
It is recommended that study leaders receive training with regard to giving of study
guidance. Other strategies that were formulated are that study leaders be exposed to
group study guidance before they embark on giving individual study guidance. Group
study guidance can also diminish study leadersâ workload. New study leaders can
also initially be allocated as co-study leaders to provide them with experience .
With regard to the students, it is suggested that a contract should be implemented at
the commencement of their studies. Such a contract could address what is expected
from the students as well as the study leaders; it can guide the study guidance process and may diminish possible conflict. The lack of identified skills of the
students can be addressed by implementing a more strict selection process and
implementation of a pre-study module. If other skills deficits are identified during the
study guidance process, it should be addressed either by the study leader or by
referring the students to applicable resources. More emphasis should also be
directed towards the development of research skills in undergraduate programs.
Some of the identified study guidance problems in this study are universal, while
others were unique to the specific institution and situation. Some of the proposed
strategies, such as training of study leader are universal, while others such as
administrative issues are specific to the institution.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-11212013-155459 |
| Date | 21 November 2013 |
| Creators | van Vuuren, Leana |
| Contributors | Dr DE Botha |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-11212013-155459/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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