Learner performance at the School of military justice (SoMJ)
Date
2014-02-18
Authors
Make, Maria Mmotsi
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Abstract
The first key to wisdom is this - constant and frequent questioning, for by doubting, we are led to
question and by questioning we arrive at the truth (Pierre Peter Aberlard).
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The purpose of this study is, to investigate possible contributory factors to poor learner1 performance
at the School of Military Justice (SoMJ) on Advanced Military Law Course, the trend that was
noticed after the implementation of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) in 2009. The determination of
the nature of challenges that might contribute negatively to learner performance at SoMJ will be
concluded. My hypothesis is that since the accreditation of SoMJ as a service provider and
implementation of OBE, a trend of poor learner performance has been noticed. This might impact
negatively on the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and ultimately poor performance
at the workplace.
A qualitative method was used, the reason being qualitative method will describe social reality from
the point of vlew of participants within the system studied as well as supported by the relevant data
collected. A qualitative phenomenological method to prove the hypothesis of this study was
conducted. One-on-one semi-structured interviews corroborated by analysis of document relevant to
the research questions and the concept of study was used.
The study explored the perceptions and experiences of twenty seven volunteer learners who attended
the Advanced Military Law Course during 2010, 2011, 2012, the specialists from the management
group and facilitators in terms of the research questions.
As demonstrated by data collection and data analysis processes, five themes emerged, namely global
view of changing approaches to education, South African view of changing education approaches,
Military Education, traditional learning versus OBE and contributory factors to learner performance
(adult learning) .The findings of the study revealed that there is actually a high rate of incompetence
after the first assessment attempt. A lot of factors that might contribute to poor learner performance
were identified and investigated. Recommendations based on the findings of the study will guide the
Defence Legal Services Division (DLSD) on measures to improve the current learner performance at
SoMJ.
Description
Thesis (M.M. (Security))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 2013.
Keywords
Learner performance, Outcome-Based Education, South Africa