The Effect of Sense of Meaning in the First-year of Study on Throughput at an Institution of Higher Learning in South Africa

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Solomon Makola
Author(s):  
Muchativugwa L. Hove ◽  
Paul N. Nkamta

Today, colleges and universities offer master’s and doctoral degrees in increasing numbers. Many students enrol in these programmes and, in many cases, such students are without appropriate guidance and support in conceptualising, conducting and writing original research. The lack of support and guidance during the M&D journey results in students taking more than the required duration for the programme, withdrawal or abandonment and, consequently, a drop in the number of completed theses and dissertations at colleges and universities. This article adopts a diaristic approach to document and examine the experiences of two PhD students at an institution of higher learning in South Africa. It seeks to demystify the notion that PhD studies are for a select few and proffers to chart some ways towards the successful completion of M&D studies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Njabulo Khumalo

The paper focuses on assessing and identifying the factors that affect the morale of employees in the institution of higher learning in South Africa. Employee morale is a drive to keep the organisation growing and achieve its objectives. In the worldwide ranking there are two institutions of higher learning that are featured in the top 250 of the universities which could be the result that employees are engaged in their institutions. However, it is imperative to maintain or improve more by understanding and dealing with the factors that may contribute negatively in the institutions of higher learning in SA. A quantitative approach was utilised for the paper and a questionnaire was constructed to collect data from 108 academics and support staff. A stratified approach method wad used and divide participant into groups academics and support employees. All data collected was analysed using SPSS version 22 and the findings of the paper reveals that the level of employee morale was very low and further reveals that management support and feedback, conditions of work, remuneration packages, benefits, promotion processes and recognition, communication and understanding of policies as well as treatment and workload were the crucial factors affect the morale of employees. The paper recommends that all institutions of higher learning to review they own policies and ensure that all stakeholders of their institutions understand them effectively. Similar research should be conducted in other institutions of higher learning as well in order to generalise or enrich the findings of the present paper which serve as a wake-up call.


Curationis ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katlego D.T. Mthimunye ◽  
Felicity M. Daniels

Background: The demand for highly qualified and skilled nurses is increasing in South Africa as well as around the world. Having a background in science can create a significant advantage for students wishing to enrol for an undergraduate nursing qualification because nursing as profession is grounded in scientific evidence.Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the predictive validity of grade 12 mathematics and science on the academic performance of first year student nurses in science modules.Method: A quantitative research method using a cross-sectional predictive design was employed in this study. The participants included first year Bachelor of Nursing students enrolled at a university in the Western Cape, South Africa. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed to analyse the data by using the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences versions 24. Descriptive analysis of all variables was performed as well as the Spearman’s rank correlation test to describe the relationship among the study variables. Standard multiple linear regressions analysis was performed to determine the predictive validity of grade 12 mathematics and science on the academic performance of first year student nurses in science modules.Results: The results of this study showed that grade 12 physical science is not a significant predictor (p > 0.062) of performance in first year science modules. The multiple linear regression revealed that grade 12 mathematics and life science grades explained 37.1% to 38.1% (R2 = 0.381 and adj R2 = 0.371) of the variation in the first year science grade distributions.Conclusion: Based on the results of the study it is evident that performance in grade 12 mathematics (β = 2.997) and life science (β = 3.175) subjects is a significant predictor (p < 0.001) of the performance in first year science modules for student nurses at the university identified for this study.


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