Browsing by Author "McGhie, Venicia"
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Item Entering university studies: identifying enabling factors for a successful transition from school to university(Springer Verlag, 2017) McGhie, VeniciaThe South African higher education sector is faced with high attrition and low retention rates. Studies conducted by the Council on Higher Education in South Africa have found that 50% of black students who access university study drop out, and the majority of dropouts occurred in the first year of study. While these studies revealed what the challenges were and why they occurred, not much has been done to overcome or prevent the challenges. Therefore, knowledge on how first-year students could be assisted and guided to adjust successful to the university environment is paramount. The goal of this article is to determine which factors enable new students’ successful adjustment to the university environment. Identifying these factors was deemed important because they could be used to assist and guide new student cohorts. Thirty-two first-year students were the research participants, and data were collected from all of them through a questionnaire, two written reflective pieces, the students’ results and individual interviews. Content analysis, using a three-stage open coding process, was used to categorize the findings into themes and sub-themes. The findings revealed that 20 of the 32 students had difficulty overcoming their transition challenges and failed some or all their subjects at the end of their first year of study. The remaining 12 students overcame their challenges and achieved study success. They identified three overall factors that enabled them to adjust and integrate successfully to the university environment.Item The provision of epistemological access for successful student learning at university: Towards a readiness model for business, commerce and management sciences learners in the further education and training phase(University of Western Cape, 2020) Venter, Antoinette; McGhie, Venicia; Dos Reis, KarenThis study was about the provision of epistemological access to Grade 10 to 12 learners in the business-related subjects of Accounting, Business Studies and Economics at two public high schools in the Western Cape Province. The aim of the study was twofold. Firstly, it investigated whether the Grade 10 to 12 learners had adequate subject content knowledge and skills in Accounting, Business Studies and Economics. Secondly, it wanted to identify the challenges that the learners at the two high schools were experiencing in these subjects and the reasons why.Item The role of civil society organisations in exercising the right to food in the Western Cape Province(University of the Western Cape, 2022) McGhie, VeniciaThis study was about the role of civil society organisations in promoting the right to have access to food for households and communities living in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The aim was to understand how CSOs in the province interacted with the right to food and whether there were barriers to their potential in realising the right to food for households and communities. The study had three objectives. Firstly, to understand how civil society organisations framed the issue of food insecurity in the province.Item Transformation in secondary education: A case of a technical high school in the Western Cape Province(University of the Western Cape, 2023) Siyo, Wendy Thandiswa; McGhie, VeniciaThis study was about the provision of secondary education to learners in a rural agricultural community in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. It was about how the curriculum and the learning environment were made conducive to meet the learners’ educational needs. The aim was to investigate whether social transformation occurred at the school. The objective was to determine to what extent social transformation was taking place and, if there were challenges, to propose suggestions on how the learners’ educational needs could be met so that the learners would complete their secondary schooling.Item Transforming the learning environment: Closing the theory and practice divide in an undergraduate industrial psychology module(University of the Western Cape, 2021) Hamman-Fisher, Desiree; McGhie, VeniciaThis study explored the learning and teaching of students registered for the undergraduate Training Management Module in the Industrial Psychology Department at a traditional university in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The aim of the study was to explore how situated learning can inform a more practically orientated learning and teaching of ETD practitioners. The criticism levelled at institutions of higher learning is that education, training and development practitioners are poorly trained to integrate theory taught, into practical situations.Item Understanding the needs and challenges of a Black community in South Africa(Routledge, 2017) McGhie, Venicia; Keim, MarionThis article reports on a study conducted with an unemployed group of community members residing in the Gugulethu Township in South Africa. The study aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of their needs and challenges, and what they thought could be done to assist and empower them so that they could improve their lives. Their basic human needs were violated during apartheid and as a consequence, they are still battling poverty today. We offer suggestions on how Black communities in South Africa could be supported and empowered in order to become employable and self-reliant.