4. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - Faculties submissions

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    Trainee psychologists’ experiences of professional development during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-08) Baloyi, Cindy; Jithoo, Vinitha
    The declaration of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in March 2020 resulted in unprecedented and transformational effects on professional psychology programs. Professional psychology programs were confronted with several legal, practical, and ethical challenges associated with delivering appropriate training while also ensuring the safety of trainees, supervisors, and clients. An emergency remote teaching and supervision plan was launched to mitigate these challenges. However, the online platforms were a foreign territory for most trainees and trainers and required familiarisation before mastery. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of trainee psychologists’ professional development during the COVID-19 pandemic in South African universities. The current study was also undertaken to explore trainees’ experiences of online practical work. Participants in this study were distinctive because they were the first cohort of professional trainees to be exclusively trained online. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of twelve intern psychologists. Subsequently, the data was analysed using thematic content analysis. The findings suggested that only the delivery mode in which learning and teaching took place changed, but the curriculum remained the same. However, the change in delivery had implications for trainees’ mental health, academic goals and expectations. Trainees reported initial anxiety and uncertainty associated with the unknown use of online platforms. Despite support from the university and their lecturers, they noted challenges related to constant academic changes that were implemented on a trial-and-error basis, studying from home in suboptimal environments, managing home and work balance, and counselling clients in a new and different therapeutic framework. Psychological assessments and community work were difficult to adapt to online platforms. In addition to the challenges faced, however, there were unexpected opportunities that positively impacted trainees’ learning and acquisition of profession-wide competencies.
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    Online learning instructional design facilitating participation, engagement, and interaction at a Higher Educational Institution in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022-07) Monyau, Thabiso Rantoana Ivan; Ndlovu, Nokulunga Sithabile
    Online learning is now a practical alternative to traditional methods of instruction for access to education. This mode of instructional delivery comes with adaptations in both teaching and learning, and it demands stable access to digital resources and technological skills. Universities in developing countries like South Africa are still striving to adopt and adapt to new ways of providing education due to lack of capacity and shortage of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure. This study aimed to investigate what informs the online learning instructional design of two online courses offered in a South African university to facilitate students’ and facilitators’ Participation, engagement, and Interaction (PEI). The inductive approach was used to collect and analyse data for this study that adopted case-study research strategy. Facilitator interviews, document analyses, and questionnaires issued to students were used as research instruments. The findings suggested that, the way in which the instruction is designed for online learning determines students’ and facilitators’ PEI, and students’ and facilitators’ PEI impact directly on the learning outcomes. Students’ and facilitators’ PEI also redirect learning to social activity of knowledge construction. On this basis, learning communities, collaboration and discussion play a pivotal role in facilitating students’ and facilitators’ PEI for online courses. Feedback and reflection were found as excellent ways to facilitate students’ and facilitators’ PEI that encourage the sharing of knowledge.” However, learner isolation remains a challenge, especially with large online classes and students that lack technological background.
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    Online and in-person student experiences on the PDBA programme at Wits Business School
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Horo, Sibongile Lungelwa
    This study explores Wits Business School’s (WBS) students, alumni and course administrators’ perceptions of online learning compared to the classroom learning experience in the Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (PDBA) programme. A concurrent mixed methods design was followed in this study whereby quantitative and qualitative methods were employed in data collection and analysis. The study sampled 107 WBS students with experiences with both online learning and in-person classroom learning. Two course administrators and two students were also sampled to explore their perceptions of the two forms of course delivery. The study also intended to assess how these experiences influence students’ satisfaction with learning. Descriptive analysis and deductive analysis were utilised for data analysis for both quantitative and qualitative phases of the study respectively. The results from the survey found that students have more favourable perceptions of online learning in comparison to traditional learning. However students had less favourable perceptions with online learning in terms of student- to-student interaction. Regression analysis revealed that online learning significantly improves student satisfaction through student-instructor and student- content interaction. Results showed that satisfaction with online learning was positively influenced by favourable perceptions of interactions between students and lecturers and students with the course content. There was no evidence to conclude that traditional face-to face learning positively influences student satisfaction with learning. However, the course administrators did not see lack of student-student interaction as a key issue that may influence the performance and satisfaction of students with the courses. The results of the study recommend the implementation of a hybrid leaning model to improve both online and traditional learning.
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    A pandemic shakes our pedagogy: Attempts to honour the integrity of a South African tertiary institution’s Applied Drama and Theatre curriculum in online learning platforms as a result of COVID-19
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-06) Mokoena, Moratoa Trinity; Janse van Vuuren, Petro
    A pandemic shook our pedagogy. The arrival of COVID-19 changed the face of higher education in South Africa and in many parts of the world. As an Applied Drama and Theatre department whose work is predominantly embodied and experiential, we were faced with the question: How do we migrate our kind of work online and honour its fundamental objectives? A characteristic Applied Drama and Theatre practice is embedded in principles of participation and collaboration, reflection through praxis and immersion in social contexts. All of these are largely experienced with physically present bodies in a common space for the purposes of social transformation and education. Due to the pandemic, the effects of the digital divide were rapidly exposed and its limitations on access, connectivity and synchronicity delayed the progress of teaching and learning. Can we honour the integrity of the complete Applied Drama and Theatre pedagogy online and remotely, especially when the digital divide impacts connection with students and the marginalised communities that the pedagogy is suited for? While we acknowledged that digitising our educational practices had become a progressive necessity, would online learning alone be sufficient for the teaching and learning of embodied curricula? Through ethnographic case study and as teaching assistant, I observed University of the Witwatersrand’s Drama for Life department and their Applied Drama and Theatre educators during their encounter of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown periods of 2020 and 2021. By use of interviews, field notes and documentation, this study inquired how we reacted to the pandemic and its anticipated implications on the pedagogy and the academic programme. Furthermore, I established the evident threats that online learning poses to the pedagogy and investigated the disconcerting effects of the digital divide on student access and content delivery. Central to the study is the exploration of these educators’ practical strategies and collective approaches in maintaining the integrity of the Applied Drama and Theatre pedagogy. Through a journey of trial and error, the department and its educators were tasked to re-envision the pedagogy and negotiate appropriate multimodal online modes of delivery, in efforts to save the academic programme and achieve its pedagogical intentions. Even though the data and literature demonstrate the possibilities of migrating similar pedagogies online, remote learning has certainly compromised the practical and physical demands of a conventional Applied Drama and Theatre experience. Additionally, even though the theoretical components could be negotiated online, the findings highlighted that the pedagogical objectives as a whole were fragmented. Thus, in the case of the professionalisation of students and the provision of the full Applied Drama and Theatre pedagogy – the educators’ efforts fell short. The pedagogy, though shaken, still stands. The study concludes that the pedagogy is highly dependent on uninterrupted physical presence and even if the digital divide is managed its integrity remains tainted without connection. The findings emphasise that we cannot do away with contact teaching post-pandemic and any idea of a pedagogical utopia requires a carefully negotiated balance of appropriately designed online and offline approaches. The discussions and findings in this study do not only impact the Applied Drama and Theatre fraternity, departments and practitioners alike, but also shed light on the available possibilities for other multidimensional pedagogies. Institutions are encouraged to take the full repertoire of the pedagogy into account when designing their Learning Management Systems, to provide adequate support for staff and student training and their digital affordances. Moreover, it is noteworthy to address the feasibility and equity of online learning within a particular South African context as a whole.
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    A framework for South African university students' online learning: social presence, digital skills and competencies
    (2022) Lubisi, Ntombizethu
    Over the years, institutions of higher learning across the world have embraced the use of digital technology to facilitate learning. University students require digital skills and digital competencies to take full advantage of online learning. Additionally, one of the most important factors of students’ learning experience in an online environment is the sense of belonging. Students engaging in online learning geographically separated from their instructors and peers often feel isolated. The purpose of the study was to explore digital skills, digital competencies and social presence necessary for an effective South African university online learning. The study used the General Technology Competency and Use (GTCU) framework and the Social Presence Theory as a lens to explore the digital skills, digital competencies and social presence necessary for South African university online learning. A case study approach was used to study in-house first-year students in a South African university learning online. A mixed method research was selected due to its fitness to answer the proposed research questions. The data was collected via an online questionnaire and the semi-structured interviews at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, Johannesburg. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics and the qualitative data was analysed using thematic analysis. Findings from the study indicated that the social-economic background does play an important role in in-house students learning online. The interaction was a challenge, participants felt isolated from their instructors which impacted their online learning experience. They did not feel a sense of belonging to their courses. The study will contribute to policies such as the South African National Development Plan (NDP) 2030 with the focus on lifelong learning, the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal 2030 goal 4. It will also contribute to the university learning and teaching policies where online learning is concerned as well as assist University improve their online learning offering. Our study links to information systems and online learning at universities.