ETD Collection

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Digital search literacy, self-directed learning and epistemic cognition in a South African undergraduate student sample
    (2016) Herselman, Taryn Elise
    Undergraduate students’ require a certain degree of digital literacy in order to make use of the internet as a resource and educational tool. This report argues that two critical aspects of digital search literacy are the student’s ability to effectively execute and monitor the search strategies used to navigate the ever-increasing number of webpages; and the critical thinking skills required to evaluate those documents in an academic context. Therefore, digital literacy requires effective self-directed learning (SDL) skills and appropriate epistemic cognition (EC). The present research used a sequential explanatory design, which comprised of two phases: Stage 1, N = 119 and Stage 2, N=17. The sample for both phases of the project was drawn from students enrolled for first-year level psychology courses at the University of the Witwatersrand. The sample for Stage 2 was drawn from students who had already completed Stage 1, which required the completion an online questionnaire. During the second phase, students were tasked with conducting a web-based search on an essay topic relating to the discipline of psychology. Several research objectives were examined; general self-reported epistemic cognition and readiness for self-directed learning levels of a sample of undergraduate South African university students; self-reported self-directed learning behaviours, epistemic cognition and digital search literacy issues; the impact of search strategies on the type and quality of information sources located; and the psychology-specific epistemic beliefs involved in the evaluation of source features of web based documents. Findings showed that students did indeed engage specific self-directed learning and epistemic cognition behaviours while searching for resources online. The key components of digital search literacy included, self-directed learning (monitoring and strategy use) and epistemic cognition (source evaluation). In terms of rating the sources, personal justification and justification by authority were the most predominant when students rated the most credible sources; while relevance to task, personal justification and format/style were applied more often when rating the least credible web documents. In conclusion, future research on digital literacy should include the relative contribution of SDL and EC components as important mechanisms for online search strategies and critical source evaluation. Keywords: self-directed learning, epistemic cognition and beliefs, source evaluation, web search, navigation behaviour, strategies
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    Investigating the relationship between attitudes towards tablet usage, access, learning styles, motivation and learner achievement in a blended learning environment
    (2016) Hart, Samantha
    The use of various information technologies in education is becoming more prevalent due to the fact that they are thought to have several advantages over traditional pen and paper as well as the fact that they are seen as a means to decrease the digital divide and ensure equal access to educational resources. In South Africa, initiatives such as the Smart Schools program aim to make schools paperless in the near future through the use of smartboards and tablets. With such emphasis on the success of the integration of educational technology it is imperative that we understand the factors which influence this process. Current research points to the idea that the mere provision of educational technology is not sufficient to garner success and that there are also intrinsic factors which need to be considered when integrating educational technology. This study follows on from this premise of intrinsic factors in that it investigates learner attitudes towards tablet usage in a blended learning environment. An extended version of the Technology Acceptance Model which posits that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and perceived enjoyability are the factors which need to be taken into account when exploring learner attitudes is used as the theoretical basis for this study. Other factors which are thought to influence attitudes as well as the success of tablet integration (as measured by learner achievement) are learning style preferences, motivation as well as access to various form of technology and thus familiarity with such technology. These factors were also explored through this research. Access to technology, learning style preference and motivation as predictors of overall attitudes and the three components of attitudes were thus explored. This study further investigated whether attitudes (and the three components of attitudes), learning style preferences or learner motivation best predicted academic achievement. The sample consisted of 276 learners from one independent and one public school in Johannesburg where tablets had already been introduced into the learning environment. A questionnaire consisting of an Attitudes Towards Tablet Usage Scale, a Learning Styles Scale, a Motivation Scale and an Access Scale was used. The results of this study indicated that overall attitudes towards tablet usage were relatively positive. The most positive component was perceived ease of use followed by perceived usefulness and then perceived enjoyability. Attitudes towards ECT (and the three components) were influenced by learning style preferences, motivation and access to technology while learner achievement was influenced by learner attitudes as well as learning style preferences. This provides valuable insights into the tablet integration process in that we conclude that tablet provision, while necessary, is not sufficient for the successful integration of tablets and subsequent reduction in the digital divide.
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    Culture, cognition and uncertainty: metacognition in the learning and teaching of probability theory
    (2016-08-30) Broekmann, Irene Anne
    This research report investigates the psychological dimensions in the learning and teaching of probability theory. It begins by outlining some problems arising from the author's own experience in the learning and teaching of probability theory, and develops a theoretical position using the Theory of Activity. This theory places education within the broad social context and recognises the centrality of affective aspects of cognition. [Abbreviated abstract. Open document to view full version]
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    A structure of support to address the socio-emotional needs of high school learners: a case study of one government high school in Johannesburg
    (2016-07-27) Brand, Emma J
    South African youth face a variety of challenges and barriers to learning. The prevalence of learners with emotional and behavioural barriers to learning (EBD) in South African schools is significantly increased due to the disadvantaged circumstances that many of the learners live in. Education White Paper 6 states that educational structures of support should be established to provide support to these learners. These structures of support include; the school based support team (SBST), educators, the principal, the school management team (SMT), educational psychologists, the school governing body (SGB), families, communities, professionals such as health care workers, social workers and non-profit organisations (NGOs). This research is a qualitative inquiry that provides a case study of one government high school in Gauteng with the primary aim of examining the structure of support available to address the socio-emotional needs of high school learners. There is limited information on the role of Life Orientation educators within this structure of support. Thus the research examines what role Life Orientation educators could play when working collaboratively to provide socio-emotional support to high school learners. The following data collection methods were used; semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, observation and document review. Through the process of content analysis and through an acquisition of an interpretivist lens, the research gained a deep understanding of the lived experiences of the participants, relying on their perceptions and interpretations thereof. It was found through the examination of the research findings that there is a need for more educational psychologists positioned at the school level and district education levels.
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    Learning styles of urban and rural black South African children
    (2014-05-28) Meyerowitz, Gabrielle
    The learning styles of 30 urban and 30 rural black children were rated by their teachers, using the Learning Style Identification Inventory. The results obtained frtiin the teachers of the rural sample were found to be inaccurate. It was therefore not possible to make comparisons with previous findings. The results of the urban sample suggest that, on the Abstract-Concrete dimension their learning styles tended towards the Concrete end of the dimension, and on the Verbal-imaginal dimension, their ratings tended towards the Imaginal end of the dimension. An analysis of variance and Bonferroni / test indicated that these children were rated significantly more Imaginal than Verbal and significantly more Concrete than Abstract These findings are in contrast with previous research in other countries and tentatively suggest that urban children in South Africa are functioning in a manner more consistent with findings regarding learning styles of rural children in other countries. This has implications for teachers and the teaching styles of teachers in urban schools.