Masters Degrees (Curriculum Studies)

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    Exploring the potential role of adult education in the implementation of the Individual Veterans Projects in the Khomas region, Namibia
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-12) Nangaku, Nahenda Saima; Rule, Peter; Tshuma, Nompilo ; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of the study was to explore and gather rich information on the potential role of adult education in the implementation of the Individual Veterans Projects in the Khomas region, Namibia. The study was qualitative and employed a narrative inquiry to explore the research problem. During the study, six veterans were interviewed to tell their stories relating to their life experiences on how they manage their IVPs with or without necessary skills. The data was collected using an interview guide, through semi-structured interviews and observations. The objective of the interviews was to provide in-depth understanding of the research problem. Furthermore, thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. This study employed experiential learning as the theoretical lens with the purpose of understanding and analysing the experiences with IVPs of war veterans in the Khomas region of Namibia. The study used the age groups, and experiences to identify who could be classified as veterans. As such, for them to be classified as veterans, the subjects of the study, ought to have been involved in the Namibian liberation war. Considering that the war of liberation of Namibia ended in 1989 and independence was in 1990, these individuals are adults with experience of the liberation struggle, meaning that they could provide the necessary information for the research. The main finding from the study is that the veterans who participated in the study for the funded IVPs were faced with many challenges in the running of their IVPs. The key challenges included that: the veterans who own IVPs were operating with no skills or knowledge in terms of business management or entrepreneurship; they had a problem with space to operate their IVPs and they had inadequate funds to sustain their IVPs. It was recommended that the Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs should consider assisting the veterans of the national liberation struggle with mentoring or training programmes. Training Needs Assessment should be introduced, where veterans are encouraged to state their training needs. Also, policy makers in the Ministry should integrate adult education into the implementation guidelines of IVPs. This is considering that it was noted that veterans are elderly citizens and adult learning principles should be considered. These principles include other strategies used in the adult education programmes.Furthermore, the Ministry should create a platform for the media to promote successful stories of IVPs with the intention of promoting these IVPs. In conclusion, the qualifying IVPs should be given necessary support by government and non-governmental sectors, in terms of mentorship, training and finances to encourage them to work hard and successfully grow their businesses. In turn, this would contribute to the national development of the country.
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    Integrating ‘Minecraft’ as a digital game-based tool to support learner engagement in the teaching of coding and robotics in a Grade 7 class
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-12) Vorster, Michael Willem; Nathanson, Renee R.; Feldman, Jennifer; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: he research study investigates learner engagement during a Grade 7 coding and robotics module at an independent high school in South Africa, focusing on teachers’ and learners’ experiences of Minecraft as a digital game-based tool (DGBT). Using the three types of learner engagement by Fredricks, Blumenfeld, Friedel and Paris (2003) and Kiili's (2005a) Experiential Gaming model as interpretive lenses, the study seeks to investigate how Minecraft Education and the Agent can be integrated to support emotional, cognitive and behavioural learner engagement and promote a positive educational experience. The study is an evaluative case study because it focuses on in-depth description and analysis of Grade 7 teachers’ and learners’ experiences in their social and educational settings to better understand learner engagement during a coding and robotics module in its entirety and its surrounding context. The qualitative study is situated in the interpretive paradigm, which views participants’ subjective experiences as central to the study. The study’s research design constitutes seven lesson observations over a period of eleven weeks. Three focus group discussions were conducted with ten Grade 7 learners and an individual semi-structured interview with the Grade 7 ESTEAM teacher and Innovation Centre assistant. The study concluded that Minecraft Education and the Agent demonstrate the potential to initiate a positive educational experience due to the game-based aspects, which include enjoyment through play, appropriate challenges, and progression. The teacher's role is also considered a vital component in creating a positive educational experience and promoting collaboration and learner engagement within the classroom setting. However, the study found that some learners were overly dependent on the help and support of their teachers and did not fully utilise the assignment sheets and other lesson resources. Learner independence could be considered an important goal to promote learner autonomy and learner engagement, which could help learners complete tasks more confidently and become more independent in their learning journey. Furthermore, providing learners with an overview of the module from the start could support learner engagement by helping learners to set clear educational goals and gain a deeper understanding of the purpose of the Agent Coding Module.
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    Examiner’s persception of grade 10 English second language “errors” in Namibia
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-12) Asheeke, Josefina; Van der Walt, Christa; Ruiters, John; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies.
    This study was conducted to explore examiners’ perceptions of Grade 10 English Second Language (ESL) at Junior Secondary Certificate (JSC) level and to increase awareness of varieties of English. The study is situated in the Namibian context. An interpretive approach was employed to understand how examiners perceive Grade 10 English second language learners' ‘errors’. Semi-structured interviews were used to obtain information from six participants who are national markers of Grade 10 ESL papers in the Omusati region. The data were compared to the national examiners' reports for 2012–2016. The study was a qualitative case study. The unit of analysis in this case study was the perceptions of six examiners from the Omusati region of Namibia. This study was based on a sociolinguistic approach to the language. The replies of the six respondents and the examiners’ reports revealed that the Grade 10 learners’ level of proficiency in English is not at the level or grade they are in. In other words, they do not meet the requirements of the Grade 10 level. Both datasets revealed a perceived gap between learners from rural and urban schools. Learners from rural schools were perceived to be disadvantaged in terms of English proficiency compared to those in urban schools. Furthermore, the language spoken in certain areas influences learners' production of language. According to the examiners, learners have difficulty with interpreting questions correctly and as a result, they write off-topic. The findings revealed that 80% of learners do not keep to the word limit. This negatively affects the marks allocated because the examiners have to stop marking at the number of words expected. Most interestingly, the study revealed that learners were creating new forms of English which were seen by examiners as a direct translation from learners' home language into English. These types of translation mostly occur when learners translate idioms into English and when they write about things that relate to their culture. This led examiners to consider the possibility that an indigenous variety of English, colloquially referred to as ‘Namlish’, may be emerging in Namibia. Although this kind of English has not yet been standardised, it was acknowledged to exist in Namibia alongside the preferred British English.
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    Factors that promote students' engagement in an internship accounting programme
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-12) Machera, Precious Charakupa; Frick, Liezel; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to ascertain the factors that promote students’ engagement in an internship accounting programme at a private higher education Institution (PHEI) in Gaborone, Botswana. Student engagement can be defined as the desire to be involved in educationally purposeful activities, hence, the programmes and pedagogies are intended to influence student behaviour. Investigating student engagement within the particular context was warranted because higher education (HE) students are required to acquire lifelong practical skills to be used in the real world of work. Astin’s (2002) input-environment-output (I-E-O) model was used to frame the study theoretically. Due to the inquiry’s exploratory nature, an interpretivist approach was used. A case study methodology was adopted which allowed me to investigate the factors that promote student engagement in their real-life context. The ‘case’ in this study was an internship accounting programme at a PHEI in Botswana. A purposive approach to the case study selection was adopted where the unit of analysis was the perceptions of the third-year accounting students, lecturers and internship supervisors of student engagement. A total of 17 focus group participants from the same institution of higher learning agreed to take part in the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three lecturers and the six internship supervisors. Document analysis was used to interpret the internship supervisor reports (ISRs) of the programme. The findings on the factors that promote students’ engagement in the internship accounting programme were analysed using the themes that emerged in this study. These themes highlight important aspects that promote student engagement in the studied internship programme. The students acknowledged that internship equipped them in acquiring practical, real-world work experience. However, in order for this to be achieved, a collective effort was required from (i) the students who had to actively participate in educationally purposeful activities to acquire knowledge, skills and competencies; (ii) the internship supervisors who needed to show their willingness to train the interns; (iii) the lecturers who had to change the teaching pedagogies and align them to the real world of work; and lastly, (iv) the institution of higher learning which had to provide support such as computer resources and the administrative policies that enhance teaching and learning. Furthermore, based on the themes that emerged from the internship supervisors, the internship supervisors requested the PHEI to provide internship guidelines and for the internship feedback to be implemented by both the lecturers and the institution of higher learning.
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    Aanpassing van wiskunde-onderrigpraktyk vir die integrasie van getalbegrip, wiskundige bewerkings en probleemoplossing vir verstandelik erg gestremde leerders
    (2023-03 ) Cloete, Jevonn; Lampen, Erna; Basson, Magdalene; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study examines the mathematics teaching practice of severely intellectually disabled (SID) learners in the integration of mathematical operations, problem solving and number sense. The study was carried out in a special school for SID learners. Based on the data generated, a teaching intervention was designed and implemented. This investigation was undertaken against the background of a lack of methodological guidelines for the teaching of mathematical operations, problem solving and number sense in the new adapted curriculum for SID learners. Five other mathematics educators in the research school indicated that their choice of learning tasks only included number facts and arithmetic fluency. The methodological decisions of these educators also often seem to be influenced by the learners' need for individualised teaching. This realisation highlighted the need for alternative teaching to SID learners. The lived experiences of the ten learners involved in the investigation were subsequently included in mathematical problems to design context-rich tasks. This study followed a qualitative research approach. Empirical data were generated through action research which included three cycles. The research design and methodology are therefore based on the principles of action research. The data were collected in the following ways: semi-structured focus group interviews with five mathematics educators, two mathematics specialists and ten learners as well as field notes, a literature review, learner's written work and learner drawings. A literature review was conducted to obtain an educational approach as well as a theoretical framework for the study. This study is informed by the social constructivist framework of Vygotsky (1978) as an educational approach. Vygotsky's theory described the importance of social interactions. The problem-centred mathematics teaching approach of Murray, Olivier and Human (1998) in collaboration with the Stages of Early Computational Knowledge Framework of Wright (2006) were used as theoretical underpinnings for the partial planning of mathematics tasks for the teaching intervention. The study's findings were weighed against the main research as background. Three sub-research questions were used to answer the main research question. These questions brought forth findings that indicate which mathematical problem types, real-life contexts and teaching strategies can be developed in learning experiences for SID learners to intentionally integrate number sense and mathematical operations. The teaching intervention suggested adjustments to my teaching intervention and will continue to be used to adjust my mathematics teaching practice.