3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item The perceptions of the Wits MPH alumni on the role of the Wits school of public health MPH qualification on their work and careers(2019) Green-Thompson, Barbara LauraOngoing evaluation of the responsiveness of Masters degree programmes in public health in impacting on improvement of public health, is essential. The aim of this research was to explore the perceptions of the Master of Public Health (MPH) alumni from the WSPH regarding the influence of the MPH qualification on their work and career path. The study employed a mixed methods study design using in-depth interviews with a semi-structured interview guide and a self-administered questionnaire. Findings showed that Findings showed that participants’ diversity enabled the alumni to engage confidently in a variety of health system contexts. Participants described stimulating teaching strategies that facilitated the development of new perspectives and enhanced their critical reflection. Their confidence grew through the course contributing to leadership opportunities and work progression. Positive programme outcomes was duplicated in the quantitative results where promotions, career opportunities and further study was identified. Ongoing review ensured responsive, relevant and adaptable programmesItem The role of distance education materials in addressing the professional development needs of high school English teachers in Rwanda.(2015-05-19) Sibomana, EmmanuelDistance education is being used increasingly for both pre and in-service teacher education in both developed and developing countries (Robinson & Latchem, 2003; Kwapong, 2007; Perraton, 2010). In Rwanda, the Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) introduced its first distance education programme in 2001 with the aim of upgrading the qualifications of under-qualified high school teachers, including those who teach English, using printed materials as the main teaching/learning resource. This study has aimed to investigate the role of the 2010 version of these materials in addressing the professional needs of high school English teachers. It was centrally informed by theories of the sociologist of education, Basil Bernstein (1996, 1999), about curriculum and of the sociocultural psychologist, Lev Vygotsky (1978), on mediation, by Shulman’s (1986, 1987) work on pedagogic content knowledge and by literature on English language teaching, on language teacher education and on distance education materials design. The investigation involved textual analysis of a selection of KIE’s distance education materials for English teaching and focused on the content selected for these materials and on the mediation of this content on the page. After this analysis, one section of these was re-designed by the researcher. Nine teacher-learners enrolled in the programme for English teaching were interviewed to determine their responses to both the KIE materials and to the redesigned section. The findings suggest that Kigali Institute of Education’s distance education materials for English do not adequately address the academic and professional needs of high school English teachers for four main reasons. Firstly, the content selected for the materials does not respond sufficiently to the interests and needs of foreign language teachers of English. Secondly, it is not externally aligned to the curriculum at the level that these teachers are supposed to teach. Thirdly, the mediation of this content does not adequately support the development of subject and pedagogic content knowledge and skills of teacher-learners and encourages surface rather than deep learning (Biggs, 1987). Lastly, with the exception of sections on some literary genres, the materials list useful ideas and language teaching approaches and methods but consistently fail to explain to the teacher-learners how to teach different aspects of language. These findings suggest that these materials do not adequately assist teacher-learners to develop pedagogic content knowledge (Shulman, 1987) for the teaching of English. The limitations identified may result from a lack of knowledge, skills and experience in distance education materials and graphic design among the KIE materials designing team and from inadequate resource provision (including time) by the institution and suggest that there is a need for changes to the KIE distance education materials designing process.Item Understanding oral hygiene knowledge and curriculum issues at training institutions in South Africa.(2015-05-07) Vergotine, GlynnisHigher Education is influenced by society and workplace demands, which affects the structure of curricula. The literature review exposed a lack of understanding of knowledge in the Oral Hygiene occupational field. This led to a call to understand which knowledge is most valued by the Oral Hygienist and how it affects professional development. This necessitated the examination of knowledge located in curricula. The aim of this study was to study the perceptions of South African Oral Hygiene lecturers and the organisation of knowledge in curricula, in order to learn about current attempts to professionalise the field. The study makes use of a qualitative descriptive design. The study population is based at two universities, consisted of full-time lecturers teaching Oral Hygiene. Data collection and analysis comprised three methods: semi-structured questionnaires to examine the lecturers’ perceptions about knowledge; curriculum analysis gathering information about the curricula making use of a knowledge type analysis tool developed from the conceptual framework; and examination question analysis to assess the recontextualisation of knowledge from concepts or everyday knowledge of practice. The results show a comparison of lecturers’ perceptions and the organisation of knowledge in the curriculum suggest that although it is clear that the lecturers aspire to professionalise the field, the curricula and their own research identities promote the preparation of practitioners with technical skills. This is shown (inter alia) in the following findings about both curricula: ‘clinical applied knowledge’ is highly valued (UNIV1-73% and UNIV2-53%) with a small amount of time spent on ‘pure’ knowledge (UNIV1-8% and UNIV2-12%). The point to be made here is, that an emphasis on ‘Clinical Applied knowledge’ suggests that a large amount of time is spent on covering procedures for practice, which in turn is an indication that the two curricula are inclined towards preparing students for an occupational model of practice. The lecturers’ research identity focuses on knowledge borrowed from clinical practice. Lecturers use a unifying concept for practice and believe they are experts in clinical teaching. In conclusion, examining South African lecturers’ current views of the Oral Hygiene knowledge base and studying its organisation within different curricula reveal that the knowledge most valued in the field is Clinical Applied knowledge with less emphasis on pure knowledge and knowledge applied from the sciences. This study highlights that lecturers aspire to professionalise the field, even though curricula promote the preparation of practitioners with technical skills.Item The mediation of the integrated approach to literacy instruction programme to grade eight learners in an independent secondary school in South Africa.(2013-09-17) Andrews, Douglas Peter SpencerThe role of literacy skills in learning and the ability to have the cognitive learning skills necessary to receive, process and make meaning of information is core to academic achievement at school. Many learners whose underdeveloped literacy skills prove to be a considerable barrier to learning struggle to make any significant progress at school, particularly at secondary school if these learners have come into their grade eight year from a remedial primary school where only a limited curriculum is taught. Often these learners drop out of the educational system altogether with no real alternatives available to them. Inclusive education policy states that schools must do everything they can to make the curriculum accessible to all learners regardless of their barrier to learning. This research project examined the critical success factors of implementing a one-on-one mediated literacy programme to eight selected grade eight learners as part of their school programme. The learners selected to be participants on the programme were identified from an analysis of background history, educational testing, and parent and teacher recommendations as learners whose specific barrier to learning was associated with inadequate literacy skill ability. The programme was called the Integrated Approach to Literacy Instruction(IATLI), and it combined the mediation of literacy skills simultaneously with metacognitive learning strategies. The research project was participatory in nature, as the researcher was the mediator of the programme to the eight learners. The project was based on participatory action research theory, and was a case-study design implemented at an independent secondary school in Johannesburg. The methodology used to evaluate the research project was a mixed research design incorporating structured surveys of the teaching staff, pre- and post-testing of the eight learners using standardized educational tests that evaluated literacy ability, semi-structured interviews with the teachers who taught the eight learners, and commentary from the learners themselves recorded in the researcher’s journal. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data indicated that the programme was a worthwhile initiative, and that certain critical success factors of the IATLI programme’s implementation emerged. Of these critical success factors, highlighted in the research sub-questions, success was often more evident in some learners than others. The data also highlighted a number of challenges that the programme’s implementation exposed, notably sustainability of the programme in the long term, as the programme was driven by the learning support specialist and the factor of burnout with regard to the intensive nature of the programme and its demands on the learner participants and the school’s internal structures. Other challenges that emerged were the practical aspects of integrating an inclusive education initiative into the demanding high school curriculum, and addressing the paradigm shift necessary to get all educators collaborating with learning support programme outcomes and then supporting initiatives in their own teaching.Item An evaluation of the paediatric physiotherapy curricula of three South African universities(2013-05-29) Vachiat, AamenaPaediatric rehabilitation is currently becoming an independent sub-discipline of physiotherapy (Helders et al, 2003). South Africa has a population pyramid resembling other developing countries with one-third of the population being children younger than 14 years (Saloojee & Pettifor, 2005). To date no national audit of paediatric content of physiotherapy programmes in South Africa has been conducted. The United States has spent almost 18 years on methods to ensure adequate content of paediatric physiotherapy and standardisation of training in programmes across the country. The main aim of this study was to determine whether the paediatric physiotherapy curricula of three South African universities equipped students with the basic knowledge of the variety of paediatric diagnoses seen by physiotherapists at the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital. The study was divided into two phases. Phase 1 analysed paediatric diagnoses treated by physiotherapists at the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital in 2010. Phase 2 evaluated the content of the paediatric physiotherapy curricula of the University of the Witwatersrand, the University of Limpopo and the University of Pretoria. A retrospective review of the physiotherapy statistics at the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital was used to record the types of diagnoses referred for paediatric physiotherapy assessment and treatment. The 2010 statistics of paediatric diagnoses referred for physiotherapy management at the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital were as follows: -‐ Total number of patients seen by physiotherapists = 36490 -‐ Total number of paediatric patients seen by physiotherapists = 8093 -‐ Amount of time spent in treating all patients = 149331 hours -‐ Amount of time spent in treating paediatric patients = 33101 hours More than a fifth of patients referred for physiotherapy intervention at the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital in 2010 were paediatric patients (22,03%). The large number of paediatric patients treated by physiotherapists at the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital in 2010 highlights the need to include paediatrics as an independent module within the physiotherapy curriculum. University A was the only university that had an independent block and lecturer dedicated to paediatrics. Due to limited time available in undergraduate physiotherapy programmes, a minimum of the fifteen most common diagnoses seen at the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital could be included in the curricula of universities in South Africa namely; burns, developmental delay, cerebral palsy, ICU, lower limb fracture, acute lung disease, early intervention, neurosurgery, pneumonia, congenital, routine pre/post operation, haemophilia, TB, head injury and meningitis. Not one of the 15 most frequently seen diagnoses, seen by physiotherapists in 2010, were simultaneously covered by all three universities as recorded by the explicit documented curriculum. Areas that were well covered by all three universities included certain standardised assessments, such as the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM) and the Gross Motor Function Classification Scale (GMFCS) and certain diagnoses, such as cerebral palsy (CP). All three universities incorporated a research based approach in their respective curricula. This study has highlighted the need for an independent paediatric module within physiotherapy curricula and has provided a preliminary framework for paediatri diagnoses within physiotherapy undergraduate degrees.Item Fostering creativity in engineering undergraduates.(2012-02-27) Pitso, TebohoSince their establishment in the 1960s, Universities of Technology in South Africa have been taking pride in providing career-focused qualifications that match the intermediate needs of the economy. In order to provide these career-focused qualifications, these institutions have been focusing on enacting a curriculum framework that emphasizes replication of industrial processes which tended to accentuate routinized, conventional problem-solving. The shift in economic paradigm in the 21st Century and the general dissatisfaction with graduate readiness in the workplace as evident in both local and international literature, framed as employability skills or generic skills, suggest a new impetus being placed on creativity, especially in engineering education. This study attempted to develop final-year undergraduates’ creativity through making visible the key features of a pedagogic practice, by analyzing the existing engineering undergraduate pedagogic practices, and reconceptualizing and testing a pedagogy that could potentially develop undergraduates’ creativity. The reconceptualized pedagogy, enacted as “learnshops”, accentuated teamwork, collaborative inquiry, guided creative problem-solving and the use of case studies to encourage students to seek the higher designs of water, paper and energy technologies within their institution. Design-Based Research (DBR) frames the methodology and methods of data collection and analysis. The research results show that existing engineering undergraduate pedagogic practices remain trapped in the skills training discourse that emphasizes conventional problemsolving in curriculum enactment. Students’ meanings of creativity remain generally eclectic prior and post involvement in the learnshops, although students’ creativity conceptions become more focused on imagination and resourcefulness postlearnshops. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) scores show that students’ creativity increased as a result of exposure to learnshops. Students working in teams of intermediate size to creatively solve given open-ended tasks related to sustainable development were able to achieve cooperation and generate useful ideas with the help of pedagogic interventions implemented during the learnshops. Itinerant membership as an aspect of team formation has little effect on teams’ generation of ideas.Item A case study of South Africa's teachers' understandings of the nature of science and classroom instructional practices.(2011-05-27) Beauchamp, Nondyebo JuliaThis study investigated South Africa’s secondary school teachers’ understandings of the nature of science (NOS) in relation to their instructional practices. The participants were three Grade 10 Physical Science teachers conveniently selected from three schools in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Teacher understandings of the nature of science were elicited through semi-structured interviews. The core questions for the interviews were adapted from the Views of Nature of Science Questionnaire (VNOS) – Form C developed by Abd-El-Khalick, Lederman, Bell and Schwartz (2002). The nature of science tenets explored were: what is science?: the role and purpose of experiments in science: the difference between scientific theories and laws in science and how scientists settle scientific disputes. Teacher instructional practices were ascertained through semi-structured interviews and lesson observations. The results were analyzed using a combination of typological analysis and interpretive analysis. These results show that on the selected NOS tenets, the sampled teachers hold a mixture of naïve and sophisticated understandings. These understandings are, however, largely naïve. It was found that the teachers only teach about NOS implicitly. None of the teachers was found to explicitly teach about the NOS. It also came out that the teachers were experiencing difficulties in both interpreting and implementation of Learning Outcome 3 of South Africa’s new science curriculum. It is concluded that the interaction between teachers’ NOS understandings and their instructional practices occurs without the teachers being aware of it, i.e. unconsciously. Recommendations for teaching, curriculum implementation and future research are suggested.Item Tradition and transformation : a critique of English setwork selection (2009-2011).(2010-03-15T07:49:38Z) Silverthorne, Rosemary AnnThis Research Report critiques the English Home Language Literature setwork selection for the period 2009-2011 in terms of the National Curriculum Statement for English Home Language for Grades 10- 12 to establish whether there is consonance between policy and practice in this section of the syllabus and to determine whether the new national syllabus offers a traditional or a transformational approach to the subject. In order to do this, the National Curriculum Statement is analysed in terms of the principles and outcomes which it intends to be actualised in the study of English and selects those that seem applicable to literature studies. Questions are formulated encapsulating these principles and used as the tools to critique the new national literature syllabus both as regards its individual constituent parts and as regards the syllabus as a whole. A brief comparison between the current prescribed literature selection and setworks set from 1942 to the present day establishes whether the new syllabus has departed from old syllabus designs, whether it acknowledges the new target group of pupils in multiracial English Home Language classrooms by offering a revised, wider and more inclusive selection of novels, dramas, poems and other genres such as short stories, or whether it remains traditionally Anglocentric in conception. The conclusions reached are that although the setworks conform to the letter of the requirements set down in the NCS, the underlying spirit of transformation is not realised. The inclusion of some poets from Africa and South Africa is merely content addition to a Eurocentric core curriculum, a form of tokenism which does not reorientate the syllabus significantly or move it away from its traditional trajectory. The report suggests that literature of merit from both Africa and South Africa be included in every part of the syllabus so that it reflects in some degree the contributions that the continent makes to English literature, in this way including in its scope the interests and identities of the wide range of learners studying English Home Language in the South African context.Item Developing rational prescribing competence in medical school : an investigation of the relation between student perceptions and examination performance.(2010-03-03T10:10:43Z) Moch, ShirraPrescribing medicines is the primary intervention that most doctors offer to influence their patients’ health; however concerns have been expressed about the extent to which graduates are prepared by medical schools to assume prescribing responsibility. Both students and clinical teachers have identified a gap between workplace prescribing demands placed on newly qualified doctors and their preparation for this complex activity during undergraduate training. This study explored the exit-level prescribing performance of final-year students in the Graduate Entry Medical Programme at the University of the Witwatersrand compared with students’ perceptions of their prescribing competence. The results indicated a disparity between students’ competence and confidence. Examination marks showed that 83.6% of students were competent to prescribe according to the graduating standards of the University; however, questionnaire data revealed that 66% of students did not feel that their training had enabled them to prescribe rationally. This inconsistency was explored by analysis of the examination papers according to Bloom’s Revised and the SOLO Taxonomies. It was concluded that students score well on questions which test recall and application of knowledge, but some do not manage questions involving evaluation. Since prescribing is a complex skill that requires evaluative competence, this may explain why, despite high examination scores, students remain insecure. Exploration of the structure of knowledge through a Bernsteinian lens revealed that curricular components including problem-based learning and horizontal integration constrain epistemic access to the structure of rational prescribing knowledge for some students. It is recommended that rational prescribing skills should be taught as a synchronous strand within the curriculum, rather than in the current integrated mode. Learning could also be improved by innovative pedagogies associated with active learning and improved feedback.Item Identifying relevant factors in implementing a chemistry curriculum in Botswana(2009-07-08T11:08:52Z) Tawana, LesegoA general concern in science education is that change in the curriculum has had little impact on the classroom practice. Following the introduction of a new curriculum called the Botswana Government Certificate in Secondary Education (BGCSE) curriculum in Botswana senior secondary schools, this study set out to investigate issues relating to implementation of the proposed curriculum, that is, mapping teaching effectiveness intended to improve students’ learning of chemistry compared with teaching during the old curriculum. This thesis reports the extent to which some chemistry teachers in Botswana senior secondary schools are implementing classroom methodologies that focus on learner-centred and hands-on activities. This investigation involved working with eleven chemistry teachers in four secondary schools in Botswana. The case study research methodology included observations and semi-structured interviews. The sub-constructs from Rogan and Grayson’s (2003) theory were used to guide data collection as well as analysis and interpretation of data. From the categories, it was possible to identify level of operation for the schools as well as the Zone of Feasible Implementation (ZFI) which spelt possible routes for interventions in individual schools. There were common areas observed about the teachers and the schools, in that they · All possessed the right qualifications to teach chemistry at senior school level. · All were relatively young in the teaching field · According to Rogan and Grayson’s (2003) scale, the teachers are operating at a very low level in the science practical and contextualisation dimensions. · Classroom dimensions were characterized by patches of rich interactions for most teachers. These were evidenced by some teaching interactions at level 3 on Rogan and Grayson’s operational levels. Some teachers’ lesson activities were more interactive in that there were presentations that encouraged the use of various communication skills. Learners presented organised information to support their positions, showing there had been a search for information before presentations. The other teachers limited involvement by learners, as their focus was on articulating the content. · Otherwise teachers were generally operating at lower levels in Rogan and Grayson’s (2003) scale. This is a clear indication that to some extent the teachers are not doing much in implementing the teaching ideas intended by the new curriculum. Mind and hands-on activities are still limited. Though teachers possess the right qualifications, there seems to be little desire to try new things. According to the operational levels on classroom interaction, practical work and contextualisation, it was found that teachers generally operated moderately on Rogan and Grayson’ scale. Though interviews results showed that teachers saw the need to have practical work as a way to actively engage learners, classroom observations showed that it was not a favoured method. Classroom observations revealed that the lecture method was still the favoured approach. Some learner-engaging activities in the form of group discussions, group experiments and demonstrations were practiced. Contextualizing of science was still generally low in all schools. The study also looked at the construct of capacity to support innovation. The three sub-constructs which were investigated in this study were physical resources, teacher factors and ecology and management systems. These factors had a great impact on how the sub-construct on profile of implementation panned out. The three factors were found to be higher on the Rogan and Grayson’s (2003) scale than the profile of implementation. This was found to be linked with a great deal of improvement of infrastructure by the Botswana government soon after the curriculum implementation e.g. science related facilities (laboratories, apparatus, chemicals) and teacher qualifications. Though this was the case, it was found out that classroom implementation was not as inflated as the resources on ground seemed to suggest. Several influential factors were found to be linked to the unfolding of a curriculum inside the classroom such as departmental contexts. The contexts were found to relate closely with the nature of communities that existed in science departments, which were linked to how teachers were distributed within departments.