A programme of academic support for students at the public nursing college of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa
- Senti, Nomandithini Innocent
- Authors: Senti, Nomandithini Innocent
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Nursing -- Study and teaching Nursing -- Study and teaching -- Simulation methods
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/10997 , vital:36128
- Description: A comprehensive academic support at the public nursing college is important. Despite this, there is no such support in public nursing colleges in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The aim of the study was to develop an academic support programme for students in order to improve their success in Higher Education. The study endeavoured to answer the following questions: What are the academic support needs of students at the public nursing college in the Eastern Cape of South Africa? What conceptual framework can be developed for the academic support programme of students? What academic support programme can be developed for students at the public nursing college? What guidelines can be developed for implementation of academic support programme of students? The objectives were: to describe academic support needs of students at the public nursing college in the eastern Cape Province of South Africa; to develop a conceptual framework for the academic support programme for students at the public nursing college in the Eastern Cape of South Africa; to develop an academic support programme for students at the public nursing college in the Eastern Cape in south Africa and lastly to describe guidelines for implementation and evaluation of the academic support programme. The research design used in this study was quantitative, qualitative, descriptive, evaluative, and theory generation. The study was conducted according to four phases. Phase one focussed on academic supports needs of the student. Phase two focussed on development of conceptual framework for the students at the public nursing college in Eastern Cape Province. Phase three focussed on the development of the academic support programme for the students, whereas phase four focussed on description of guidelines for implementation and evaluation of the academic support programme. The population of the study consisted of students undergoing training in a four-year programme at the Public Nursing College. The target population was the students in the same programme from level one to level four of training. The sampling technique used was a probability sampling with multi-stage and cluster sampling techniques being utilized. The total sample was n=333 participants. A quantitative self-developed questionnaire was used to collect empirical data. The questionnaire consisted of eight sections. Descriptive data was analysed using Statistic Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the descriptive data collected in phase one. Concept analysis and identification were done through the utilisation of exploratory factor analysis. The conceptual framework for the academic support programme was identified through the analysed factors. Fifteen factors were derived from the descriptive data. The conceptual framework of the academic support programme discussed in Chapter 5 was used also in the development of the academic support programme. It is in this chapter that assumptions, context, stakeholders, process, outcome, dynamics and, lastly, the recipient were discussed, along with a description of the programme. The programme was evaluated in accordance with the criteria for programme evaluation. The recommendations brought forward for the academic support programme were: The guidelines have to be tested for the implementation of the programme; benchmarking should be done to compare with other institutions of higher learning regarding their academic support programmes; an academic brochure regarding academic support must be available in the college and should be given to students on arrival as part of a package; and neutral researcher should conduct the same research in the same college.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Senti, Nomandithini Innocent
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Nursing -- Study and teaching Nursing -- Study and teaching -- Simulation methods
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/10997 , vital:36128
- Description: A comprehensive academic support at the public nursing college is important. Despite this, there is no such support in public nursing colleges in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The aim of the study was to develop an academic support programme for students in order to improve their success in Higher Education. The study endeavoured to answer the following questions: What are the academic support needs of students at the public nursing college in the Eastern Cape of South Africa? What conceptual framework can be developed for the academic support programme of students? What academic support programme can be developed for students at the public nursing college? What guidelines can be developed for implementation of academic support programme of students? The objectives were: to describe academic support needs of students at the public nursing college in the eastern Cape Province of South Africa; to develop a conceptual framework for the academic support programme for students at the public nursing college in the Eastern Cape of South Africa; to develop an academic support programme for students at the public nursing college in the Eastern Cape in south Africa and lastly to describe guidelines for implementation and evaluation of the academic support programme. The research design used in this study was quantitative, qualitative, descriptive, evaluative, and theory generation. The study was conducted according to four phases. Phase one focussed on academic supports needs of the student. Phase two focussed on development of conceptual framework for the students at the public nursing college in Eastern Cape Province. Phase three focussed on the development of the academic support programme for the students, whereas phase four focussed on description of guidelines for implementation and evaluation of the academic support programme. The population of the study consisted of students undergoing training in a four-year programme at the Public Nursing College. The target population was the students in the same programme from level one to level four of training. The sampling technique used was a probability sampling with multi-stage and cluster sampling techniques being utilized. The total sample was n=333 participants. A quantitative self-developed questionnaire was used to collect empirical data. The questionnaire consisted of eight sections. Descriptive data was analysed using Statistic Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the descriptive data collected in phase one. Concept analysis and identification were done through the utilisation of exploratory factor analysis. The conceptual framework for the academic support programme was identified through the analysed factors. Fifteen factors were derived from the descriptive data. The conceptual framework of the academic support programme discussed in Chapter 5 was used also in the development of the academic support programme. It is in this chapter that assumptions, context, stakeholders, process, outcome, dynamics and, lastly, the recipient were discussed, along with a description of the programme. The programme was evaluated in accordance with the criteria for programme evaluation. The recommendations brought forward for the academic support programme were: The guidelines have to be tested for the implementation of the programme; benchmarking should be done to compare with other institutions of higher learning regarding their academic support programmes; an academic brochure regarding academic support must be available in the college and should be given to students on arrival as part of a package; and neutral researcher should conduct the same research in the same college.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Self-regulation and academic performance in early childhood :an East London study
- Authors: Martin, Glynnis Michelle
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Self-control in children Early childhood education Child rearing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/10949 , vital:35969
- Description: Previous research studies have identified various factors as influential in whether one is successful in obtaining the education necessary for effective living within a given society. Early academic performance is consistently linked to later academic performance, which in turn, relates to physical, mental and even financial health outcomes in adulthood. The recognition that competence with the demands of learning and socialization can set up cycles of success or failure, lead to much research interest directed at the key role of self-regulation, as an executive function skill, in early academic performance. Despite this growing body of research, a comprehensive conceptual model for the predictive role and interaction between complex executive functions, socio-emotional competence, learning aptitudes and visuomotor skills, as predictors in early academic success, is still lacking. Knowledge of the integrated functioning of these predictors in the South African context is particularly scarce. This research was designed to address these knowledge gaps through an exploratory descriptive and causal-comparative study. Purposive, non-probability sampling was used to select a group of 183 Grade 1 learners from a low socio-economic area of East London in South Africa. Ages ranged from 6 to 8 years (M = 6.78, SD = 0.54), whilst 40% were female and 60% were male. Predictors of academic success were measured at the start of the first academic term, and a parent-report measure was used to measure socio-emotional competencies. Second term school report cards were used to measure mid-year academic achievement. Relationships between each predictor and their relationships to academic performance were explored through Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients. vii One-way Analysis of Variance with post-hoc Scheffé tests was used to explore differences between groups of Gender, Age, Home Language, Maternal Marital Status, Maternal Age and whether the grade was being Repeated or not. Two priori conceptual models of the relationships between the predictor variables and academic performance were estimated through Structural Equation Modeling. Results indicate various significant relationships between each predictor and specific aspects of academic performance. Visuomotor skills showed the strongest correlation to academic performance, followed by learning abilities and complex executive functions. Social-emotional competence was not practically significantly related to any of the factors and appeared to affect academic performance primarily through a significant relationship to complex executive functions. Interestingly, results indicate subtypes of visuomotor skills that are significantly correlated to the complex executive, as also highly correlated with academic performance. Precision tasks that were not related to complex executive function, was not significantly related to academic performance. Results furthermore identify the significant influence of caregiver factors on visuomotor skills and that of home language on learning abilities. Regression analysis results confirm a significant mediating effect of learning aptitudes in relation to the effects of complex executive function and visuomotor skills on academic performance. Model comparison supported this mediation-model as superior to a no-mediation model in predicting academic success in Grade 1. This study expands on the understanding of the role of the common executive function in relation to factors associated with crystallized intelligence, visuomotor skills and socio-emotional competencies in predicting early academic success. This study presents an innovative integrated mediation model of the relationships between the identified predictors in relation to academic success.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Martin, Glynnis Michelle
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Self-control in children Early childhood education Child rearing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/10949 , vital:35969
- Description: Previous research studies have identified various factors as influential in whether one is successful in obtaining the education necessary for effective living within a given society. Early academic performance is consistently linked to later academic performance, which in turn, relates to physical, mental and even financial health outcomes in adulthood. The recognition that competence with the demands of learning and socialization can set up cycles of success or failure, lead to much research interest directed at the key role of self-regulation, as an executive function skill, in early academic performance. Despite this growing body of research, a comprehensive conceptual model for the predictive role and interaction between complex executive functions, socio-emotional competence, learning aptitudes and visuomotor skills, as predictors in early academic success, is still lacking. Knowledge of the integrated functioning of these predictors in the South African context is particularly scarce. This research was designed to address these knowledge gaps through an exploratory descriptive and causal-comparative study. Purposive, non-probability sampling was used to select a group of 183 Grade 1 learners from a low socio-economic area of East London in South Africa. Ages ranged from 6 to 8 years (M = 6.78, SD = 0.54), whilst 40% were female and 60% were male. Predictors of academic success were measured at the start of the first academic term, and a parent-report measure was used to measure socio-emotional competencies. Second term school report cards were used to measure mid-year academic achievement. Relationships between each predictor and their relationships to academic performance were explored through Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients. vii One-way Analysis of Variance with post-hoc Scheffé tests was used to explore differences between groups of Gender, Age, Home Language, Maternal Marital Status, Maternal Age and whether the grade was being Repeated or not. Two priori conceptual models of the relationships between the predictor variables and academic performance were estimated through Structural Equation Modeling. Results indicate various significant relationships between each predictor and specific aspects of academic performance. Visuomotor skills showed the strongest correlation to academic performance, followed by learning abilities and complex executive functions. Social-emotional competence was not practically significantly related to any of the factors and appeared to affect academic performance primarily through a significant relationship to complex executive functions. Interestingly, results indicate subtypes of visuomotor skills that are significantly correlated to the complex executive, as also highly correlated with academic performance. Precision tasks that were not related to complex executive function, was not significantly related to academic performance. Results furthermore identify the significant influence of caregiver factors on visuomotor skills and that of home language on learning abilities. Regression analysis results confirm a significant mediating effect of learning aptitudes in relation to the effects of complex executive function and visuomotor skills on academic performance. Model comparison supported this mediation-model as superior to a no-mediation model in predicting academic success in Grade 1. This study expands on the understanding of the role of the common executive function in relation to factors associated with crystallized intelligence, visuomotor skills and socio-emotional competencies in predicting early academic success. This study presents an innovative integrated mediation model of the relationships between the identified predictors in relation to academic success.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
The effect of the van Staden wind farm on the power quality of the rural distribution network
- Authors: Venter, Clement
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Electric transformers , Wind power Electric power production
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/36761 , vital:34051
- Description: Connection of wind farms to weak networks with a typically low X/R and short circuit ratio could result in a larger variation of voltage for corresponding variation in wind farm generation output. This variation in voltage could negatively affect the quality of electrical power in the vicinity of the connected wind farm. The analysis was based on actual on-site measurement data at individual consumers’ point of supply and the effect of the Van Stadens Wind Farm integration as seen by the consumers can be determined. It was found through statistical and correlative analysis that the voltage quality measured at the test sites were not negatively affected by the presence of generation at the Metrowind Van Stadens Wind Farm. The voltage was found to be more negatively affected by the load current drawn by the consumer at the test site and that it is foremost when the loading current was higher. No definitive evidence of an increase in voltage harmonics due to generation output or loading current was found. At two sites it was however found that the 7th order harmonic is eliminated or reduced by an increase in the generation of the wind farm above approximately 20% of maximum output. Power Factory simulations, using the Quasi Dynamic simulation tool, was performed to validate the voltage findings of the on-site power quality measurements and two things were clear from the simulations. Firstly the voltage at the point of connection has a strong negative correlation with the consumer loading current and means that the voltage will usually decrease with an increase in the loading current and vice versa. Secondly, as with the analysis of the on-site measurement results, it can be said that when current is low, then the generation output of the wind farm will have a proportional effect on the voltage. From the findings of the on-site measurements it was concluded that the wind farm did not have a negative effect on the test site consumers in the vicinity and the Power factory simulations confirmed the conclusions on the voltage analysis. It was also concluded that the local consumer load current has a larger effect on the local measured voltage than the generation output of the wind farm.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Venter, Clement
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Electric transformers , Wind power Electric power production
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/36761 , vital:34051
- Description: Connection of wind farms to weak networks with a typically low X/R and short circuit ratio could result in a larger variation of voltage for corresponding variation in wind farm generation output. This variation in voltage could negatively affect the quality of electrical power in the vicinity of the connected wind farm. The analysis was based on actual on-site measurement data at individual consumers’ point of supply and the effect of the Van Stadens Wind Farm integration as seen by the consumers can be determined. It was found through statistical and correlative analysis that the voltage quality measured at the test sites were not negatively affected by the presence of generation at the Metrowind Van Stadens Wind Farm. The voltage was found to be more negatively affected by the load current drawn by the consumer at the test site and that it is foremost when the loading current was higher. No definitive evidence of an increase in voltage harmonics due to generation output or loading current was found. At two sites it was however found that the 7th order harmonic is eliminated or reduced by an increase in the generation of the wind farm above approximately 20% of maximum output. Power Factory simulations, using the Quasi Dynamic simulation tool, was performed to validate the voltage findings of the on-site power quality measurements and two things were clear from the simulations. Firstly the voltage at the point of connection has a strong negative correlation with the consumer loading current and means that the voltage will usually decrease with an increase in the loading current and vice versa. Secondly, as with the analysis of the on-site measurement results, it can be said that when current is low, then the generation output of the wind farm will have a proportional effect on the voltage. From the findings of the on-site measurements it was concluded that the wind farm did not have a negative effect on the test site consumers in the vicinity and the Power factory simulations confirmed the conclusions on the voltage analysis. It was also concluded that the local consumer load current has a larger effect on the local measured voltage than the generation output of the wind farm.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
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