Faculty of Education

Permanent URI for this community

https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/12

The vision of the Faculty of Education is to be "acknowledged and respected unequivocally as a leading and engaged research-driven education faculty". In line with this, we pride ourselves on playing a leading role in education, both locally and globally. Central to our vision is a commitment to engage with educational challenges, particularly in South Africa.

Browse

Now showing 1 - 15 of 15

2020-12-31 The role of student feedback in university teaching at a research-led university
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2016-12) Petersen, Melanie; Bitzer, Eli; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. Educational Psychology
ENGLISH ABSTRACT : Student feedback is widely accepted as a useful source of information about the quality of teaching and as a potential professional learning tool to enhance university teachers’ teaching. A review of the literature, however, revealed a shortage of systematic research about how student feedback influences university teachers’ teaching practices. A similar gap in knowledge was identified at Stellenbosch University. Preliminary studies at this institution indicated dissonance between university teachers’ perceptions of the potential value of student feedback and how they actually made use of student feedback in their teaching. In researchled university contexts, teaching is often perceived to have lower status than research. This study therefore set out to explore how university teachers at this particular research-led institution experienced the role of student feedback in their teaching. A case-study research design was followed, with the potential relationship between student feedback and university teaching practice at a research-led university constituting the unit of analysis. Qualitative data was generated by way of semistructured interviews with 16 purposely selected university teachers. Institutional policies relating to student feedback, teaching and learning and human resource management were also included as secondary sources of data to ascertain how university teachers’ experiences of student feedback related to institutional policy directives. Activity theory was used as analytical framework to interrogate the data. The findings of the study indicate that the research-led context at Stellenbosch University plays a significant role in how university teachers experience and respond to student feedback. The perceptions of research being more valued than teaching in terms of recognition and rewards, limits the optimal use of student feedback for the purpose of improving teaching. Raising the stature of teaching would thus be a necessary requirement for promoting the use of student feedback to improve teaching. Furthermore, the potential role of student feedback in university teaching practice at Stellenbosch is influenced by other subsystems, in particular the performance appraisal system. A concerted effort should be made at institutional level to come to a common understanding of what good teaching is considered to be. In the absence of such a common understanding, the growing culture of performativity has led to student feedback being reduced to a mere quantitative measure of the quality of teaching in many cases. Since mid-level university management carries the biggest responsibility for managing the performance appraisal processes in academic departments, they also exert a significant influence on how university teachers would use student feedback for professional learning and the enhancement of their teaching. The diverse practices followed by mid-level managers in the various academic departments represented in this study further pointed to the possible need for a guiding framework to support an ethics of practice approach to the use of student feedback. Based on its findings, this study is considered to have made a contribution to the body of knowledge regarding the contextual and relational nature of student feedback, particularly within a research-led university context.
Aligning the clinical assessment practices with the assessment practices
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2011-12) Maart, Ronel; Bitzer, Eli; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Removable Prosthetic Dentistry (PRO400) is a fourth year module of the undergraduate dentistry programme which consists of a large clinical component. After reviewing relevant literature and conducting module evaluations, clinical tests were introduced and implemented in 2008 as an additional clinical assessment method. The intention of introducing the clinical tests was an attempt to ensure that students were assessed fairly, that their theoretical knowledge and the ability to apply it clinically were properly assessed, and to provide feedback on their clinical performance. The purpose of this concurrent mixed methods study was to compare the relationship between the students‟ performance in the clinical tests and daily clinical grades with their theoretical performance in the PRO400 module. The second part of the study explored the academic staff s‟ perceptions of the clinical test as clinical assessment tool in the PRO400 module. The case study design enabled the researcher to explore the question at hand in considerable depth. The mixed methods approach was useful to capture the best of both the qualitative and quantitative approaches. For the quantitative data-collection, record reviews of the results of fourth-year dental students‟ who completed the PRO400 module at the end of 2007 were used, and included 110 students. For the qualitative component three full-time lecturers within the Prosthetic department were interviewed. The clinical test marks and clinical session marks of all the students (n=109) in PRO400 were compared to their theory mark of that year. The tests marks were entered into a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel and the data analysis was done with the assistance of a statistician. The analytical abstraction method was used to assist with the qualitative data analysis; first the basic level of analysis was done in the narrative form, followed by second higher level of data analysis. The basic and higher levels of analysis were discussed under the following themes: clinical tests, student performances, alignment of theory and clinical assessment and personal influence on supervisors‟ assessment practices and attitude. Role-taking and the supervisors‟ perceptions and concerns regarding the students were explored as emergent themes. The quantitative findings were displayed using tables and graphs. Forty five students. clinical marks were 10% higher than their theory mark, while only 8 students. theory marks were 10% higher than their clinical test mark. There appeared to be hardly any relationship between the students. clinical daily grade assessment marks and their theory marks. The average theory mark was 47%, the average clinical test marks were 55% and the average daily clinical grade was 63%. Integration of the data obtained from the different data collection methods was done at the level of data interpretation. The clinical test as an assessment tool is well accepted by the supervisors and they agreed that it is more reliable and accurate than the clinical daily grade assessment method. The quantitative findings relate well to other reported studies that concluded that the daily grade was poorly correlated with the competency exams (a similar phenomenon in the clinical test of the PRO400 module). From the findings of this study it appeared that there is a better correlation of the clinical test mark and the theory mark, than clinical daily mark and the theory mark. This finding related well with the lecturers. views that the clinical tests were more reliable as a clinical assessment tool than the daily clinical mark.
Community engagement at a higher education institution - exploring a theoretical grounding for scholarly-based service-related process
(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010-12) Smith-Tolken, Antoinette Rachèlle; Bitzer, Eli; Newmark, Rona; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Education. Department of Curriculum Studies. Centre for Higher Education
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation is an interpretive analysis of the meanings and understanding of the construct 'service' in its relation to scholarly engagement with external non-academic communities at curricular level. The study links to other studies relating to community engagement in higher education or focusing on internal service to the university community, but it is unique in its theorising of service with and in external non-academic communities. The specific aim of the study was to develop a theoretical framework to view, understand, analyse and evaluate scholarly-related service activities which represent the community component of experiential learning pedagogies. The primary data for the study were generated through unstructured interviews with the four actor groups participating in such activities, namely module coordinators, students, community organisation representatives and community members. Their responses were interpreted, analysed and triangulated through grounded theory methodology. A substantive theory consisting of four interrelated processes, through which these activities take place, was developed culminating in a theoretical framework that integrates the four processes into one coherent process of cyclical interchange of social commodities. In this process there is a reciprocation of scholarly service and community service where the latter represents the service of the community to the university culminating in the interchange of tangible and intangible products that represent the commodities. The co-creation of useful contextual knowledge represents the ultimate outcome of this process through an interchange of tacit, codified and implicit knowledge of professionals and laymen in society. The theoretical framework provides a better understanding of the difference between the relationships with external communities and the actual service actions that take place during scholarly service activities. Within such understanding the framework suggests rethinking of how service activities are planned and integrated in community engagement at curricular level.
A dyadic analysis of undergraduate peer-mentoring relationships in the context of a formal peer-mentoring programme at a university residence
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015-04) Bosman, Vincent Charles; Bitzer, Eli; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies.
ENGLISH SUMMARY : This study explores the potential reciprocal growth in undergraduate peer-mentoring relationships in the context of a formal peer-mentoring programme at a first-year university residence from a dyadic relational perspective. The investigation adopted a case study research design to study four dyads from a relational point of view within the context of a formal peer-mentoring programme at a university residence. The study used purposive selection procedures to identify actively participating dyads that could contribute to providing a rich description of the research problem. The study was premised on the assumption that, as a reciprocal relationship, peer mentoring is an effective means of facilitating the transition from school to university, and that universities have a joint responsibility in this regard. At the end of the mentorship year, a semi-structured, in-depth interview covering both the psychosocial and academic issues related to their experiences was conducted from a relational perspective with each of the four dyads to harvest their perceptions and lived experiences as participants. Finally, the interviews were processed and subjected to monadic as well as dyadic analysis to develop an understanding of the internal dynamics of each mentoring dyad. The study addressed a number of lacunae, such as the paucity of theoretically underpinned research and mentoring theories in student-peer mentoring, by introducing into peer-mentoring research the triple theoretical framework of social constructionism (constructing meaning by acknowledging the value of a sense of social interdependence as opposed to individual independence), relational theory (acknowledging the reciprocal nature of the mentoring relationship rather than focussing on the single perspective of the mentor or mentee), and the principles of Ubuntu (an African cultural belief system stressing the value of relational interdependence for existence, the importance of family and extended family support, and spirituality). In exploring the theoretical challenges endemic in peer-mentoring research, the study examined role-model theory, attribution theory, attachment theory, and involvement and social integration theories to abstract and highlight elements pertinent to the field of peer-mentoring research. In addition, the study developed a multi-perspective development process for the selection of theories; a theoretical framework for the analysis and interpretation of the data using the computer program ATLAS.ti., as well as a dyadic process for analysing mentoring dyads both from a monadic and dyadic perspective. Finally, the study recontextualised and expanded the meaning of key concepts culled from the literature for use in future peer-mentorship research. Given the rich perspective this study provided on the reciprocal nature and dynamics of peer mentorship on the theoretical, conceptual and practical levels, the research has made a contribution to raising awareness of this crucial field, which could stem the relentless tide of costly attrition.
Experiences of feedback on medical students’ clinical skills performance in a clinical skills centre
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2016-03) Van der Merwe, Charmaine; Bitzer, Eli; Archer, Elize; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Curriculum Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT : Feedback is critical to learning, especially learning of clinical skills, even in simulation. Students are often not satisfied with the feedback they receive on their learning, while lecturers generally report they do provide feedback to students. This imbalance between feedback received and feedback provided may be evident at this Clinical Skills Centre (CSC), where medical students from Stellenbosch University learn clinical skills in the safety of a simulation area. The aim of this study was therefore to determine how fourth-year medical students experience the feedback they receive and how lecturers experience the feedback they provide about the learning of clinical skills in the CSC. As the researcher, I was specifically interested in this study to help guide my own practice as a lecturer in this CSC. This study followed an interpretative approach and used non-numerical data to understand the feedback experiences of the students and their lecturers. A case study design was used which involved the fourth-year medical students and the lecturers involved in learning sessions at the CSC of Stellenbosch University as a particular setting for learning and teaching. The student group, as well as the lecturers were purposefully selected for the case because of their specific experiences in the learning and teaching of clinical skills in the CSC. Non-numerical data were generated through three methods, namely the observation of ten learning sessions, individual interviews with four lecturers and five focus group interviews with 35 fourth-year medical students. From the data analysis it became apparent that medical students generally associate feedback with the information they receive after summative assessments and do not experience guidance during learning sessions in the CSC as feedback. The findings further indicated that students possibly do not receive sufficient feedback in terms of the traditional notion of feedback. This is mainly because of limited follow-up opportunities whereby a change in students’ behaviour can be evaluated and information can be provided on multiple observations of students’ performance of clinical skills. There is however evidence that opportunities may be enhanced in the learning of clinical skills, especially in a CSC where an alternative self-regulated feedback model can be incorporated.
Factors influencing throughput of learners in the Youth Focus Project 2017 to 2020
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-03) Van der Westhuizen, Lana; Bitzer, Eli; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Youth employment is an important factor for social cohesion because unemployed youth tend to undermine societal trust in institutions, while under-employment can inflict serious scars on youth that could last for years. The unemployment level for low-skilled people in South Africa is consistently high as the National Senior Certificate has become the norm as a minimum entry requirement for most workplaces. Further to a Grade 12 certificate, job applicants also need cognitive and technical skills to successfully enter employment. Currently, unemployment is generally higher for youth, even though they are the most highly educated generation in history. For instance, youth who are not in employment or training numbered 40 million in Organisations for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in 2015, while 28 million were inactive job seekers, which has led to the social and labour market integration of young people becoming a policy priority for OECD governments. As of 2019, 19 million South African adults (57% of the adult population) did not hold a Grade 12 school qualification. While there is a strong need for ‘second chance’ interventions for young people who did not complete Grade 12, these youth are often overlooked when such programmes are implemented. In 2013 however, the Western Cape Education Department introduced the Youth Focus Project (YFP) specifically for the cohort of learners who did not complete Grade 12. The present study aimed at finding out what influenced the throughput of second chance learners on learnership programmes such as the YFP. Through a phenomenological approach grounded in an interpretivist research paradigm study participants’ lived experiences were explored. Narrative data indicated that academic failure at school played an important role in entering the YFP learnership. Participants generally responded well to the (Boland) college environment, the workplace-based component included in the YFP and the academic content matter. Furthermore, they also indicated that stipends allowed them to become more financially independent. While bullying, challenging personal relationships and academic challenges influenced their learning at school negatively, aspects which were confirmed to provide positive YFP learner re-enforcement were a nurturing environment and respect, interesting and occupationally directed subject matter, clear career goals and learner grit. The overall findings of the present study support Tinto’s (1993) student integration framework and led to the conclusion that institutional support encouraged learners to persist while smaller class groups and one-on-one attention enhanced learner performance. In addition, a career focused curriculum provided them with the impetus to achieve, while participants reiterated that it was academic success and the prospect of entering a career that inspired them to complete.
An integrative approach to the development of expertise in higher education: an inquiry into the curriculum of a professional master's degree programme
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-03 ) Bester, Marianne; Bitzer, Eli; Fourie-Malherbe, Magda; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The complexity of everyday life in contemporary society compels people to rely on professionals with expertise. Yet, despite the necessity and expediency of professional expertise in today’s modern world, the notion of expertise remains a complex phenomenon. Although much has been written in education about developing professional expertise in higher education over the past few years, very few studies have attempted to explore the nature, kinds, dimensions, theories and models of professional expertise from the vantage point of different disciplinary perspectives such as sociology, psychology, philosophy and education. Furthermore, only a handful of scholars have attempted to develop models and curriculum frameworks to promote an integrative approach with knowledge building and creation as its primary goal. This study aimed to explore and integrate diverse disciplinary perspectives by problematising the concept of professional expertise in higher education curricula using a coursework master’s degree programme in sustainable agriculture as a domain of practice. Selecting sustainable agriculture as the domain of practice for this study brings food security as one of this century’s critical global issues in a world beset by volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous challenges into sharper focus. Recent studies suggest that the world will require increased crop production in the next three decades to feed the predicted increased population growth to 9.7 billion by 2050. Addressing the need to secure an adequate supply of food, fibre and fuel for the world’s growing population must be done in the face of climate change, growing scarcity of water and land, the presence of infectious diseases, war, migration, and changing consumption patterns of people. Professionals, including people with expertise in sustainable agriculture, are thus needed to address these challenges. In this study, an interpretive case study design was employed using second-generation activity theory as an analytical lens focusing on the activity system of the MSc (Sustainable Agriculture) programme at Stellenbosch University. The existing curriculum, as the mediating artefact, served as the primary unit of analysis. Through the dialogical process of data generating and analysing methods, the interaction among the six core elements of this activity system was examined, using qualitative and quantitative data. Additionally, the specialisation codes and semantics codes of Maton’s Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) were used to examine the domain of practice and curriculum logic in more detail. The data analysis findings revealed several major contradictions in the activity system. The indistinctiveness of the functional, manifestational and dispositional dimensions of professional expertise in this domain of practice influenced participants’ conceptions of sustainable agriculture, resulting in polarised perspectives with resulting curriculum implications. Within the existing curriculum as a contested space, these tensions contributed to curriculum incoherence, poor programme coordination, inadequate communication among university teachers, and unsatisfactory learning experiences for students. Although the findings of this case study are specific to the selected academic programme, the integrative approach to developing professional expertise through a multi-layered and multi-dimensional curriculum framework contributes to the growing body of existing knowledge in the field of curriculum studies in higher education with knowledge building and creation as its primary goal.
Leadership development for technical and vocational education and training college leaders in South Africa : a post-graduate curriculum framework
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015-03) Robertson, Catherine Anne; Du Plessis, Catherine Anne; Frick, Beatrice Liezel; Bitzer, Eli ; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The South African public technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges have experienced considerable change in the past 20 years. Recently, these colleges have become the focal point of education and training, ever since the publication of the Green Paper on Post-School Education and Training in 2012, transferring the colleges to the higher education and training system. These colleges are expected to increase their enrolments from 650 000 to 2.5 million by 2030. Leaders in these institutions have been faced with constant challenges in a rapidly changing environment. It has been internationally acknowledged that in order for leaders at all levels of vocational education and training institutions to be capable of and effective in transforming their institutions, leadership development is essential. Even though a leadership development programme was advocated in the Green Paper on Further Education and Training in South Africa (RSA, 2012), this training was not mentioned specifically in the subsequent White Paper (RSA, 2014). This lack of leadership development prioritisation of leaders in this sector differs from governments in other countries where customised leadership development in this complex sector has not only been prioritised but has become a matter of urgency. The purpose of this study was thus to develop a leadership development curriculum framework specifically for leaders, present and future, of public TVET colleges in South Africa. These colleges have also been examined as activity systems with their cultural and historical influences, according to Engeström’s (1987) version of activity theory. Through interactive qualitative analysis (IQA), an interpretive methodology grounded in systems theory (Northcutt & McCoy, 2004) which uses an interpretive approach by means of focus group and individual interviews with different constituency populations, an attempt was made to gain an understanding of what challenges these college leaders face and what knowledge, skills, attributes and attitudes they may need to achieve the mandate of the White Paper (RSA, 2014).
Die oorgang van skool na universiteit : 'n teoretiese raamwerk vir 'n pre-universitêre intervensie
(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2008-03) Nel, Celeste; Troskie-de Bruin, Christel; Bitzer, Eli; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The South African school system is increasingly producing students who do not make the grade in higher education. Universities are concerned about the quality of the students who register as first-years at higher education institutions. The findings of various studies have clearly shown that more and more students are inadequately prepared and therefore not ready for higher education. In South Africa the problems resulting from the gap between school and university have been exacerbated by the inequalities that exist in the secondary school system, and which are still part of the legacy of apartheid. Within the context of learners’increasing unpreparedness for university studies, their difficult transition from school to university and the concomitant high drop-out figures in higher education, this study investigated the extent to which universities – with Stellenbosch University as a case in point – can contribute towards preparing students for university studies from as early as school level, and thus facilitate their transition from school to university. Taking this research question into account, the researcher investigated the extent to which specific variables played a part both in the pre-university phase and after admission. In addition, the study also focused on the extent to which students’ school background (previously disadvantaged privileged school) influences students’ preparedness, and to what extent academic standards (amongst others final examination results)are related to success in the first year at university. The research design was a case study of black newcomer first-year students who participated in a Stellenbosch University bursary project (the Merit Bursary project) in their Grade 12 year. The data generation consisted of two phases, namely a quantitative approach in the pre-university phase and a qualitative approach, after admission, in the transitional phase. The research findings have revealed that the inequalities in the South African schooling system influence the transition from school to university. The classification of schools (previously disadvantaged or privileged school) plays a crucial role in students’ preparedness and how they handle the transition from school to university. There are various academic, social, emotional, cultural and financial factors that impact on this transition. However, the factors are interdependent – no one factor can be regarded as being more important than another. Universities must adopt a holistic approach to the transition that newcomer students are required to make. It was concluded in the study that universities have a responsibility to ensure that the diminishing pool of potential students in higher education be expanded. Universities should also ontribute towards preparing prospective students more effectively so that the transition process will be less challenging. It is believed that this will also improve the throughput rate. In this regard the study proposes a theoretical framework for a pre university intervention.
Re-exploring the anaesthetic and recovery room component of the Diploma in Operating Department Assistance curriculum at a private higher education institution in South Africa
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04) van Zyl, Ann Elizabeth; Bitzer, Eli; Van der Merwe, Anita; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT : The provision of high quality education and training is paramount in healthcare contexts to ensure graduates are trained according to the needs of stakeholders and are competent to enter the 21st century workforce. Healthcare education and training predicates the provision of high quality surgical and medical training which enable healthcare professionals to respond effectively and flexibly to the demands in the healthcare environment − of which the operating department forms a major part. This technological high-impact, fastmoving perioperative environment is staffed by nurses and operating department assistants (ODAs) who deliver patient care with the anaesthetic assistance functions historically provided by nurses. However, due to a shortage of nurses and changes in the higher education landscape in South Africa, anaesthetic and recovery room assistance as an exit-level outcome was added to the training of ODAs. This was mainly done to enable ODAs to fulfil these roles and functions. Thus, the anaesthetic and recovery room assistance course was included in the three-year Diploma in Operating Department Assistance to develop competent ODAs to assist anaesthetists and recovery room registered nurses. Due to critique from different sources it was deemed necessary to revisit and re-explore the anaesthetic and recovery room curriculum. It became clear that the anaesthetic and recovery room module in use was not effective to equip ODAs with the appropriate cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills. These skills are critical to contribute to an effective and competent team approach to address the skills shortage in the operating department. The aim of this study was therefore to inquire how an existing undergraduate curriculum in anaesthetic and recovery room practices could be reconstructed to fit the needs of a private hospital group in South Africa. This aim was pursued against the background of wider theoretical and healthcare education issues which influence curricula in health training environments. The development of theoretical perspectives relevant to the study was based on exploring the following concepts and models: competency-based education, curriculum-mapping, Kerns’ six-step approach to curriculum development and Fishbein’s Integrated Behavior Model (IBM). These key concepts and models guided the investigation in the search for possible curriculum changes. A programmatic case study design using a mixed method of data collection was used to obtain qualitative data through individual, pair and focus group interviews. Quantitative data were gathered via a selfadministered paper-based questionnaire. Data were generated from samples of clinical environment managers, anaesthetists, ODAs, students and educators. An inductive approach through an interpretivist lens of knowledge production was employed to investigate the understanding and needs of the stakeholders. A total of 35 interviews were conducted which involved 71 participants. It included 24 nursing and operating department managers, seven anaesthetists, seven ODAs, 22 students and 11 educators. Sixty-two respondents completed the paper-based questionnaires and the results served to compile a questionnaire on the possible knowledge, technical skills, attitudes and non-technical skills to be included in the anaesthetic and recovery room course. These learning-identified outcomes were verified by means of an online modified Delphi exercise. To obtain consensus a panel of 17 experts (of whom each held either a Diploma in Operating Room Nursing Science or a Diploma in Operating Department Assistance) participated. The study findings indicated that a few of the essential cognitive, psychomotor, affective and non-technical skills ODAs require to assist anaesthetists and registered nurses were lacking. It emerged this was mainly due to the lack of ODAs’ psychomotor skills. The study further confirmed that a number of factors suggested by Fishbein’s Integrated Behavior Model (IBM) impacted on the teaching and learning of anaesthetic and recovery room assistance. Of these factors, mediocre clinical assessments and environmental constraints were found to contribute substantially. Some of the constraints related to the training environment were unclear work profiles and nursing staff shortages. From the factual and conceptual conclusions drawn, a framework for a redesigned undergraduate needs-based anaesthetic and recovery room curriculum within a private higher education institution was proposed. The proposed curriculum aims at contributing towards dealing with the criticisms levelled against the previous curriculum – which was largely the product of a nonparticipative and non-verified curriculum process – in several ways.
The role of context in decision making about professional learning by lecturers at a research-intensive university
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015-12) Herman, Nicoline; Bitzer, Eli; Leibowitz, Brenda; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The professional learning of academics for the teaching function inherently is a change imperative and it has become an important enterprise in the delivering of high quality student learning within the changing higher education landscape. The influence of context on the decision making of academics about becoming involved in the process of professional learning for teaching was explored in this study in order to inform the practice of professional learning practitioners. The landscape of higher education has changed extensively across the world over the past few decades. In South Africa, these changes have been the result of international changes as well as national imperatives and associated institutional policies. The changes include larger student numbers; a higher level of state intervention; a discourse of performativity and managerialism; and the marketization of knowledge. Within this new landscape, academics have been confronted with a number of old, and some new issues concerning how they view their roles, set their allegiances, and identify with their work. Being a university lecturer, however, is but one of the roles of the academic – a role which is not necessarily highly valued and for which most are not adequately prepared. Professional learning, as the continuous learning of professionals, is usually the ambit of institutional centres for teaching and learning and the practitioners of professional learning employed in these centres. At Stellenbosch University (SU), the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) was established in 2003. As professional learning practitioners at SU, we have constantly been reflecting on our work, and this PhD, funded by the NRF, forms part of this reflection. In this study, the concept of ‘professional learning’ is defined as the continuous learning of academics and is an interlinked and sequential three-stage process similar to the three phases of decision making. The concept of ‘context’ is defined as a ‘contextual spiral’ culminating in the daily reality of the academic as big-C-Context. The daily reality of the academic emerges at the intersection of the professional and personal spheres of the life-world through the interplay of various personal and professional considerations. The concept of ‘decision making’ is defined as a trade-off between alternatives with an opportunity cost attached to such a choice. The case study design implemented in this research made use of qualitative and quantitative data gathered from permanently employed members of the academic staff at the institution in an attempt to determine the influence of context on the decision making of lecturers for participating in professional learning for teaching. The findings of the research indicate that intrinsic motivation is important for decision making and the emerging individual context is mostly experienced as a constraint to the decision to participate in the process of professional learning for teaching. Creating an enabling environment where care for the wellbeing of academics is evident would raise the level of intrinsic motivation and could indeed be a wise step in the pursuit of reaching institutional goals and aims in relation to the teaching function and high quality student learning. Although the findings of this study is specific to Stellenbosch University as a research intensive higher education institution, it could also contribute to the growing body of knowledge in the field of the professional learning of academics, as well as inform other professional learning practitioners within higher education.
The role of leadership learning in the developmental needs of the senior managers in a rural municipality : a case study in adult education at Bushbuckridge local municipality
(Stellenbiosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015-03) Mkhabela, Lamson Zondiwe; Frick, Beatrice Liezel; Bitzer, Eli ; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Municipalities are entrusted with the responsibility of providing sustainable social services to local communities. Issues of capacity to facilitate the delivery of such services feature prominently in these municipalities where a number of communities have expressed their frustration and even anger at the slow pace of delivery of services, or the absence of such service delivery. The reported failure by senior municipal managers to facilitate the delivery of the needed services to communities motivated this investigation. In particular, the possible contribution of leadership learning in the developmental needs of senior managers in the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality was focused upon. The main knowledge claim in this study is that the proven lack of competencies and skills of senior municipal managers have much to do with the weak delivery of acceptable services to communities. Consequently, the study indicated the need to identify the developmental needs of senior municipal managers from a leadership learning perspective and to implement developmental interventions to possibly address such needs. The study was conducted in four phases. First, a number of pre-planning leadership learning questions were formulated, which were determined through document analyses and developing theoretical perspectives from review of relevant literature. Next, a needs assessment among senior managers was conducted. This phase was followed by the implementation of a planned intervention based on leadership learning principles. Finally, the potential success of the intervention was evaluated. The study revealed that although the municipality of Bushbuckridge has an acceptable policy framework that supports leadership learning, the leadership competencies and skills required for senior managers to facilitate delivery of municipal services to communities were lacking. The leadership intervention in this study had limited success due to systemic instabilities within the particular municipal system. The study showed that systemic stability appears to be essential for productive leadership development. It also showed that financial investment in leadership development or developmental interventions may contribute less to enhancing the performance of senior managers if a municipality lacks systemic stability. Given the reported large-scale systemic instability within local municipalities countrywide in South Africa, the results of this study indicate that capacity development initiatives are destined for failure if systemic issues are not addressed first.
Stakeholders' perceptions of an institutional quality audit : a case study
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012-03) Jacobsz, Johannes (Jannie); Bitzer, Eli; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis briefly explores the quality phenomenon in higher education and more specifically in the university context. In addition, the experiences of stakeholders who participated in the first institutional quality audit at a merged university are explored and analysed. It is also argued that the world-wide quality phenomenon at universities, although sometimes politically driven and at times undertaken with hidden agendas, may eventually add value to a university‟ cycle of never-ending quality improvement and enhancement. University stakeholders who are either directly or indirectly involved in realising the university‟s vision and mission can provide invaluable feedback about their experience of a quality audit. Feedback by all stakeholders about a quality audit will assist the university to plan and prepare for the next cycle of quality audits. The research findings of this study indicated that a variety of differences exist in the perceptions of stakeholders that participated in the preparation and execution of the institutional quality audit. In some cases the differences may hold some limited risk for the university therefore some recommendations are also made in support of future audits. These and other recommendations emenating from the research findings will hopefully also contribute towards improved engagement between the stakeholders and members of the audit panel.
Towards sustainable lecturers’ learning in Kenyan private universities
(UCTD, 2017-03) Omingo, Mary Odinga; Bitzer, Eli; Leibowitz, Brenda; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies
ENGLISH ABSTRACT : Studies on lecturers’ learning to teach focus mostly on how learning takes place in formal settings. However learning to teach happens in both formal and informal settings. This study answers the question: how do lecturers, based on their own accounts, learn to teach both in formal and in informal settings in private universities in Kenya? The study was mainly explanatory and qualitative in nature. The research approach was abductive in line with realist philosophy. The study, using social realism (morphogenetic approach) as a conceptual and methodological framework, explains lecturers’ learning within formal and informal settings. The morphogenetic approach was useful in explaining the interplay between the structural, cultural and personal emergent properties. Twenty-five lecturers were purposively selected and three academic directors were interviewed. The semi-structured interviews were transcribed and the data was coded and analyzed using content analysis. The qualitative software Atlas.ti was used to analyze data. Lecturers’ learning took place in both formal and informal settings. Application of a learner-centered approach, perceived effect on students’ learning, affirmation of lecturers’ current practices, and lecturers’ personal and professional growth were identified as the outcome of lecturers’ learning. In formal settings they learned from the facilitator and colleagues but in informal settings they learned from students, colleagues and the wider society. In formal settings, funding was found to be a prior condition to enabling lecturers’ learning. The organization of the programmes in terms of facilitation and design were enabling to most lecturers. The practices, the roles played and positions held by lecturers enabled the lecturers’ courses of action in informal settings. The Deans’ support or lack of it was found to be both enabling and constraining. University policies, the teaching and learning conditions and the student composition were identified as the structural and cultural factors (systemic conditions) that prompt lecturers to learn to teach. Lecturers were prompted to learn to teach by what they perceived as constraints to students’ learning. Student development was the lecturers’ main concern but in some cases they cared about their own personal and professional growth. The lecturers mainly learned by being self-aware, committed and intentional. Both formal and informal settings play a significant role in lecturers’ learning. Whereas lecturers acquire knowledge and skills in formal settings, they internalize them in informal settings. Learning in the two settings complement each other in a virtuous cycle. Lecturers as individuals and as a group contribute towards shaping their learning in the two settings. The interplay between the emergent powers in the settings through the reflexive deliberations of lecturers are decisive for their learning to teach effectively. A study on the role personal emergent powers such as values and emotions play in lecturers’ learning to teach may be useful in determining more ways of sustaining lecturers’ learning how to teach.
Towards understanding programmatic quality in private universities in Tanzania
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2016-03) Matimbo, Fulgence John; Bitzer, Eli ; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Department of Curriculum Studies
ENGLISH ABSTRACT : The context of this study is the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) – German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) pilot project on enhancing quality assurance in higher education in East Africa. The purpose was to explore institutional internal quality assurance processes which resulted from participation in the project and critically analyse the use and application of the concept of ’quality’ in private universities in Tanzania. In doing so, the study sought to understand how private universities in Tanzania interpret and apply the quality concept in programme evaluation. In order to answer this question, the study examined the literature on quality assurance in higher education and proposed a simple conceptual framework for a better understanding of self-evaluation of undergraduate programmes in private universities in Tanzania. The framework is based on a judgement that an improved understanding of how private universities in Tanzania interpret and apply the quality concept in programme self-evaluation depends on an understanding of the contexts in which these institutions operate. It is argued that programme self-evaluation is a complex multi-faceted process requiring a pluralistic research design. This was attempted in the study by employing a range of research methods from within an interpretative research paradigm and using a multiple case study design. The study analysed data from documents, interviews and used a Delphi exercise to reach levels of consensus. The study is therefore classified as exploratory and explanatory. It sought to explore the perceptions of quality held by key practitioners and how these perceptions influenced the process of programme self-evaluation. It also sought to explain how context influenced the process of programme self-evaluation. Findings from the study revealed varied perceptions of ‘quality’ in Tanzanian private higher education. These perceptions have a bearing on implementation of programme quality assurance. The findings of the study also showed that the IUCEA did attempt to work communicatively with the higher education community and that it was, in part, due to its consultative effort that private universities restructured themselves by establishing quality assurance units. However, the study also revealed that the adoption of the regional approach to programme self-evaluation was done at the expense of internal institutional quality assurance systems leading to compliance culture. The findings of the study suggest that understanding and operationalisation of the quality concept should not ignore the fact that private universities in Tanzania are facing common as well as distinctive challenges. On the one hand, this study has identified lack of financial resources and poor leadership as among the major of such challenges. On the other hand, the study suggests that bureaucratic power is an important dimension in understanding the dynamics of programme self-evaluation. From its findings and conclusions the study has narrowed the knowledge gap which existed before as little was known about how undergraduate programme quality in private universities were interpreted and applied in Tanzania. The study may contribute to make difference in improving such an understanding and importantly contribute to future programme self-evaluation efforts in Tanzania.

Browse

Browsing Faculty of Education by browse.metadata.advisor "Bitzer, Eli"

Results Per Page

Sort Options