Education Institutions In South Africa Research Articles

A total quality service framework for private higher education in South Africa

The primary purpose of this study was to develop an industry-specific total quality service framework for private higher education institutions in South Africa. Service quality for higher education operations is a key performance objective due to the increasingly competitive, marketing-oriented, and highly regulated environment. Using a mixed methods research approach (exploratory sequential mixed methods research design), this research was conducted at six private higher education institutions. The first stage consisted of a qualitative exploration of total quality service dimensions from a top management perspective by means of semi-structured, in-depth interviews, followed by a thematic data analysis approach. Instrument development followed in the second primary stage, in terms of the quantitative exploration of the importance of total quality service dimensions from the internal (lecturers) and external (students) customer perspectives. Data analysis included an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) approach followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). A final step was another thematic analysis of narrative data from the only open-ended question, which yielded additional service quality dimensions. Finally, a total quality service framework was compiled consisting of five primary constructs. This study is a pioneering contribution that bridges a significant gap with the development of the first total quality service framework for private higher education institutions in South Africa.

The dimensions of reflective practice: a teacher educator’s and nurse educator’s perspective

ABSTRACTThis article aims to accentuate the value of reflective practices in the lived experiences and professional development of a teacher educator and a nursing educator at a higher education institution in South Africa. Reflective practice promotes the continuous (re)creation of local knowledge through a critical reflection on beliefs, assumptions, experiences and practices in order to identify successful strategies for teaching practice, reflect upon challenges, adapt, and evolve their practice. Reflective practice encapsulates a process of continuous learning and growth that not only resonates with pedagogical and methodological viewpoints and also ontological and epistemological situatedness and is at the same time aligned with national and institutional aims and requirements. In this self-study project based on LaBoskey’s five characteristics of self-study, educators in higher education become both the researcher and the researched and the emphasis of the research is on the self as a theorist, researcher and practitioner. The authors explore and elucidate their journey of discovery towards the various dimensions of their reflective practice through a critical evaluation of their teaching and learning theory and of their teaching and assessment strategies. Both authors have been awarded institutional teaching excellence awards. This article contributes to their joint discourse on higher education as well as their conceptualization of their respective scholarships of teaching and learning.

Towards positive institutions: Positive practices and employees’ experiences in higher education institutions

Orientation: Positive organisational functioning is a paradox. Both positive and negative tendencies could enable positive functioning. While an overemphasis on either the positive or the negative aspect is dysfunctional, positive factors must be given extra emphasis for positivity to occur because negativity usually dominates. Research purpose: This study aimed to investigate how positive organisational practices relate to job demands and resources, person–environment fit and well-being. Motivation for the study: Work in organisations and experiences thereof are not always positive. However, focussing on positive practices even when the context and experiences thereof are negative might facilitate positive functioning of individuals and their institutions. Research approach/design and method: A cross-sectional survey design was used with a convenience sample of 339 academic employees from three higher education institutions in South Africa. The Positive Practices Questionnaire, the Job Demands–Resources Scale, two perceived person–environment fit scales and the Flourishing-at-Work Scale – Short Form were administered. Main findings: Results from latent profile analyses provided evidence of four latent profiles. Analysis showed that a perceived lack of positive practices in institutions was associated with perceptions of overload, lack of role clarity, poor supervisor and co-worker relationships, lack of person–environment fit, and reduced emotional, psychological and social well-being. Practical/managerial implications: Interventions should be employed by leaders to address positive practices in higher education institutions. Contribution/value-add: This study contributes to scientific knowledge regarding the relations between positive organisational practices and experiences of job demands and resources, person–environment fit and well-being of academics.

Psychological contract, career concerns, and retention practices satisfaction of employees: Exploring interaction effects

Retaining employees is a major concern for higher education institutions which are constantly on the lookout for new and innovative ways of retaining knowledge workers. Previous research has highlighted compensation, training and development opportunities, supervisor support, and career opportunities as important retention factors, especially in the context of higher education (Deas 2017). This study consequently explored the interaction effect between employees’ perceptions of the psychological contract and their career concerns in predicting their satisfaction with organizational retention practices relevant to the higher education context (career opportunities, compensation, supervisor support, training and development opportunities). A cross-sectional sample of 579 participants from a higher education institution in South Africa was used. A hierarchically moderated regression analysis subsequently showed that the influence of negative perceptions of the psychological contract on dissatisfaction with training and development practices are conditional on high levels of career development concerns. Thus, career development concerns act as a moderating variable in the relationship between psychological contract perceptions and satisfaction with training and development opportunities as retention practice. The results of this study bring new insight and valuable knowledge to retention theory that could potentially inform human resource practices for retaining valuable employees.

Information Technology in Nursing Education: Perspectives of Student Nurses

Background: Nursing education institutions in South Africa are integrating Information Technology (IT) into nursing programmes to prepare student nurses to meet the demands of a contemporary healthcare landscape. Objective: To explain and describe the perspectives of student nurses at a private nursing education institution on the use of IT in nursing education. Methods: A quantitative, non-experimental descriptive research design was selected. The target population included student nurses registered for basic and post-basic qualifications. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Results: The respondents acknowledged the importance of IT in nursing education but also experienced challenges in terms of training and internet connectivity, owned at least one IT device, used IT frequently for study and work purposes, reported IT competence, and had positive attitudes to IT. The respondents were significantly competent in general IT (M=3.5410, SD=.98619), t (243)=8.569, p<.0005; used IT significantly frequently for medical purposes/learning (M=3.2917, SD=0.76598), t (243)=5.948, p<.0005, and were significantly competent in the use of IT for medical purposes/learning (M=3.3646, SD=.94497), t (242)=6.015, p<.0005; and had significantly positive attitude towards using IT (M=4.2964, SD=0.66557), t (243)=30.426, p<.0005. Conclusion: While there are numerous advantages to IT in nursing education, IT challenges are a reality for student nurses. Identified gaps must be closed to ensure that IT is accepted, adopted and used effectively and efficiently. The inclusion of an IT module in the curriculum is recommended to improve the use of IT in nursing education.

Total Rewards and Its Influence on Job Satisfaction and Organisational Commitment in Higher Education

The shortage of academic staff and the inability of higher education institutions to attract and retain highly qualified talent are critical problems in tertiary education. With the aim of addressing these issues, this article investigates the relationship between total rewards, job satisfaction and organisational commitment in higher education institutions in South Africa. A survey design was used in the study that was conducted. The systematic sampling technique was used to obtain the sample (N = 279) from two universities of technology. The measuring instruments used were the Total Rewards Questionnaire based on the World at Work Total Rewards Model, the Job Satisfaction Survey and the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire. Using the SPSS 24 and AMOS 24 software programs, structural equation modelling (SEM) was performed to analyse the data set. The results revealed that some elements of total rewards had a strong relationship with job satisfaction and organisational commitment among academic staff. The contribution of this study was to enhance the comprehension of existing literature on the relationship between the predictor variables (total rewards elements), job satisfaction and organisational commitment. The findings provided evidence that total rewards played a major role in influencing both job satisfaction and organisational commitment in higher education institutions. Therefore, the rewards specialists in universities of technology could apply a total rewards system to maintain, or even promote, academics’ job satisfaction and organisational commitment.

Total Rewards and Its Influence on Job Satisfaction and Organisational Commitment in Higher Education

The shortage of academic staff and the inability of higher education institutions to attract and retain highly qualified talent are critical problems in tertiary education. With the aim of addressing these issues, this article investigates the relationship between total rewards, job satisfaction and organisational commitment in higher education institutions in South Africa. A survey design was used in the study that was conducted. The systematic sampling technique was used to obtain the sample (N = 279) from two universities of technology. The measuring instruments used were the Total Rewards Questionnaire based on the World at Work Total Rewards Model, the Job Satisfaction Survey and the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire. Using the SPSS 24 and AMOS 24 software programs, structural equation modelling (SEM) was performed to analyse the data set. The results revealed that some elements of total rewards had a strong relationship with job satisfaction and organisational commitment among academic staff. The contribution of this study was to enhance the comprehension of existing literature on the relationship between the predictor variables (total rewards elements), job satisfaction and organisational commitment. The findings provided evidence that total rewards played a major role in influencing both job satisfaction and organisational commitment in higher education institutions. Therefore, the rewards specialists in universities of technology could apply a total rewards system to maintain, or even promote, academics’ job satisfaction and organisational commitment.

Making Sense of Service Recovery in Higher Education Institutions: Exploring the Relationship between Perceived Justice and Recovery Satisfaction

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the relationship between perceived justice and recovery satisfaction in higher education institutions. Design/Methodology/Approach: Responses were collected from a purposive sample of 430 full-time students across three public higher education institutions in South Africa using a self-administered questionnaire. Findings: Based on the data collected, perceived justice viz. interactional and distributive justice is found to have a significant and positive correlation with recovery satisfaction whereas procedural justice has an insignificant and positive correlation with recovery satisfaction. Practical Implications: The results of this study could prove useful to higher education institutions to ensure that fairness is provided to students during the service recovery process. Furthermore, it offers an opportunity for higher education institutional management to review policies and procedures so that they are responsive to the various needs of students. Originality/Value: This study makes the first attempt to model perceived justice and recovery satisfaction in the South African higher education sector.

The Multiliteracies Learning Environment as Decolonial Nexus: Designing for Decolonial Teaching in a Literacies Course at a South African University

In higher education institutions in South Africa, educators working in the fields of language and academic literacy need to be sensitive and responsive to the linguistic and cultural diversity of the student body, and traditional pedagogical approaches are often inappropriate to meet the needs of students and of the wider call to decolonise higher education. As a group of lecturers working at the University of the Witwatersrand’s School of Education in Johannesburg, South Africa, we worked to respond to this context by designing a literacies course that was underpinned by a decolonial and social practices approach to literacy. Using critical reflection as a research method, this article traces our theoretical grounding in designing this course, including New Literacies Studies (NLS), community cultural wealth, and theories in indigenous studies, such as cultural interface theory. This article further demonstrates how we applied this theoretical framework through introducing practical activities that could be used to develop situated literacies and that tapped into the community cultural wealth that students bring to the classroom. We discuss four formative and summative assessment elements that were central to the course, namely online assessments, portfolio tasks, an argumentative essay, and what we termed the triad project, to illustrate how the decolonial approach informed our curriculum design and pedagogy. Our approach allowed us to explore new forms of assessment which opened space for students’ home languages, literacy practices, and identities to become valuable elements of teaching and learning.

Promoting intimate care facilitation in Nursing Education Institutions in South Africa

BackgroundBasic nursing care includes intimate care that requires a nurse and a patient to be in close physical and psychological proximity. The patient's body parts are exposed, and his/her fragile body is seen and touched by a nurse, who is a stranger. The nurse and patient need to establish a relationship based on respect and trust. In South Africa, nursing education institutions use simulation to teach intimate clinical procedures. However, intimate care is not effectively facilitated, and nursing students are not supported when providing such care to diverse patients. PurposeExplore nurse educators’ understanding and experiences of the teaching of intimate care to undergraduate nursing students. MethodA qualitative phenomenology research approach and a social interactionism theory were merged to explore nurse educators' understanding and experiences of teaching intimate care to undergraduate nursing students. Eleven nurse educators working in the selected Nursing Education Institutions in Gauteng Province were purposively sampled. Data were collected using individual in-depth interviews and a focus group. Data were analysed using Moustakas' (1994) phenomenological data analysis method. ResultsFour major themes emerged: the care provided by nurses, facilitation of intimate care, intimate care guidance and support, and intimate care challenges. ConclusionIntimate care should be promoted in NEIs and should form part of the curriculum that promotes caring. It must be facilitated using reality simulation to allow nursing students to experience intimate care realities in a safe environment. This will empower them to be competent, comfortable and confident in providing intimate care to diverse patients.

Records Management Programs in Higher Learning Institution: Case Study of Nelson Mandela Drive Campus Walter Sisulu University, South Africa

NOTE: THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED WITH THE INFORMING SCIENCE INSTITUTE. Aim/Purpose....................................................................................................................................................................................................... The main aim of this study was to investigate the status of records management program at Walter Sisulu University (WSU) using the Nelson Mandela Drive Site of Mthatha Campus as a case study. Background......................................................................................................................................................................................................... For an organization to function effectively, records (both in electronic and paper format) need to be captured, recorded and secured in order to ensure their authenticity, integrity, reliability and accessibility. The core functions of a university are learning, teaching, research and community engagement, and in order to carry out these functions records are created and received. Records therefore, constitute an essential instrument of administration of any institutions without which operational processes and functions cannot be executed (Kendall and Mizra, 2006). Thus, a proper and efficient managing of records is critical to functioning and administration of institutions. Council of Higher Education (2000) pointed out that record-keeping in the higher education institutions in South Africa was inadequate. Effective records management in universities in the Eastern Cape has not been adequately documented. Hence, this study investigates the records management program that exist in WSU. Although legislation regulating the management of records in South Africa exist, they might be ignorance on the part of certain officials entrusted with managing WSU records and that could have adverse effect on the performance of WSU and ultimately on service delivery. Methodology....................................................................................................................................................................................................... This study may have influence in policy formulation and compliance with the judicial directives on records management program of universities. It may also help improve service delivery, by enabling orderly, accountable and efficient management of universities records. Contribution........................................................................................................................................................................................................ This study may have influence in policy formulation and compliance with the judicial directives on records management program of universities. It may also help improve service delivery, by enabling orderly, accountable and efficient management of universities records. Findings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. The major findings of the study revealed WSU fell below the requirements in terms of records management program on maintaining records that document its business activities. Inadequate infrastructure, inadequacy regarding the desirable control of WSU records at each stage as required by the records life cycle framework was also found to be inadequate and limited knowledge of legal requirements regarding records management. Recommendations for Practitioners................................................................................................................................................................. Based on the findings, the following recommendations were made. Effort should be made to implement a Centralized control of Decentralized Registry System (Integrated Registry System), provision of training of staff, as well as proper infrastructural facilities to manage WSU records that document its business activities. Recommendation for Researchers................................................................................................................................................................... There is a need for further studies of this kind in other Universities, Technical and Vocational Education (TVET) Colleges in the Eastern Cape Province in order to establish their practices in managing records that document their business activities. Impact on Society.............................................................................................................................................................................................. The research will assist to highlight to administrators, policy makers of universities that proper records management could help universities to manage their information efficiently, fulfill their mandate, protect them from litigation, preserve their corporate memory, and foster accountability and good governance. Future Research.................................................................................................................................................................................................. A study to check the readiness of institution of higher learning to manage electronic records that documents their business activities in the 21st Century digital era will be vital in this context.

Informetrics Education in Library and Information Science (LIS) Departments at Universities in South Africa

This study sought to explore informetrics education in Library and Information Science (LIS) departments at universities in South Africa. We adopted the pragmatic epistemology and pluralistic ontology for our study. The mixed research methods we employed were survey and content analysis. The survey comprised a questionnaire by means of which we collected data from the LIS heads of department (HODs) and informetrics lecturers, and we employed content analysis to analyse the content of course outlines. The study’s population was the LIS departments at the surveyed tertiary education institutions in South Africa. Nine LIS departments were targeted, and eight of them responded. At the time of the study, five of the nine LIS departments were found to offer informetrics education, namely those at the University of Cape Town, University of KwaZulu-Natal, University of Limpopo, University of the Western Cape, and University of Zululand. We established that the LIS department at the University of Zululand was the only department that offered informetrics education as an autonomous module/course as part of the full LIS programme. Other LIS departments offered it as a chapter or a unit in a module, and the University of Limpopo offered it at an undergraduate level. We found that the institutions surveyed offered informetrics education at different study levels and notches and that there was no uniformity in the content of the informetrics courses across the institutions’ LIS departments. Our findings indicated that the blended learning method was widely used, comprising case studies, group discussions, and online teaching and learning methods. We found that the various LIS departments experienced challenges (e.g. teaching capacity, student preparedness, and ICT support), and we suggested solutions to meet these challenges. We noted that informetrics education in South Africa was limited and we recommended more awareness creation, curricula development, short courses and awareness of global trends.

Interactions between Internal and External Quality Assurance in Higher Education Institutions in South Africa –A Case Analysis of Developmental Challenges Facing Academics

Interactions between Internal and External Quality Assurance in Higher Education Institutions in South Africa –A Case Analysis of Developmental Challenges Facing Academics

Editorial: The need for South African (higher) education institutions to be attuned to Education 4.0

Higher education institutions in South Africa continue to face uncomfortable positions. These uncomfortable positions started with the #fallist movement – an alter-globalisation movement that argues for the decolonisation of the knowledge spheres in South African higher education to place African knowledge at the centre of learning. With the #fallist movement’s rhetoric forcing university academics to adapt the curriculum, content, methodologies and pedagogies aligned to the African experience through research and various platforms, the global context has already begun to shift towards the fourth industrial revolution. This shift towards the fourth industrial revolution thus places South African higher education institutions in an uncomfortable position of having to adapt teaching methodologies and pedagogies in line with the global context (Waghid, Waghid & Waghid 2018).

Numeracy students' perspectives on a new digital learning tool at a South African university

Students thrive in learning environments in which they stay engaged, interested and motivated. MindTap Math Foundations, a digital learning tool, claims to bring elements from the interactive, gamified world to transform learning so that students stay engaged, persist through challenges, feel more supported and connected to instructors, other students, as well as their own learning experience. A South African university was the first higher education institution in South Africa to make use of this personalised learning system. A survey was employed to assess the effectiveness of MindTap Math Foundations as a digital learning tool. The focus of the article is on the analysis of the open-ended questions in the survey. The findings of this research support the claims Cengage make regarding the platform’s benefits. Participants’ responses revealed that the new digital learning tool is generally perceived as positive and beneficial for learning numeracy. Students’ feedback also provided ideas and proposals for potential enhancement. Through students’ experiences shared it was possible to pinpoint the strengths and challenges about aspects needing consideration and improvement.

Efficiency assessment of public universities in South Africa, 2009-2013: Panel data evidence

With ever increasing enrolments of students into the public universities and limited funding, assessing the efficiency of universities is vital for effective allocation and utilisation of educational resources. Are higher education institutions in South Africa making the most efficient use of resources made available to them? This study attempts to provide an answer to this question. We apply a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach to assess technical efficiency (TE) of 22 public universities in South Africa for the period 2009 to 2013. A university is said to be efficient if it is producing maximum output (number of graduates and publications) from a minimum quantity of inputs (number of staff, students’ enrolments, and expenditure). The results indicates that over the study period the average TE of universities declined from 0.83 to 0.78. Research-intensive universities were more efficient than professional-oriented universities. These results can help key decision makers such as the Commission on Higher Education and universities management in identifying possibilities for improving institutional performance by identifying their strengths and weaknesses and benchmarking with their peers.

Gender-based leadership perceptions and preferences of Generation Z as future business leaders in South Africa

Orientation: Given South Africa’s vast diversity, there is little clarity surrounding the most prominent leadership style amongst young male and female (i.e. Generation Z, born between 1995 and 2015) potential leaders. Research purpose: To investigate the perceptions of Generation Z male and female undergraduate business management students at a tertiary institution in South Africa, towards leadership and its link to gender specific leadership traits. Motivation for the study: This study is vital as the importance of gender equality and the fair distribution of organisational opportunities are increasing, and due to undergraduate business management students forming part of Generation Z and being the next generation of possible business leaders. Research design, approach and method: A self-developed questionnaire by the author was distributed to 469 students, and the final realised sample included a total of 320 usable questionnaires. After a comparative descriptive data analysis, SPSS statistical software was utilised to conduct a Wilcoxon’s signed rank test, a Mann-Whitney U test and a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality, respectively of the study’s formulated hypotheses. Main findings: Male and female Generation Z students favour transformational leadership over transactional leadership, and both gender groups perceive feminine traits as more important for a business leader to exhibit. This contradicts previous research findings where masculine traits were perceived as more important for business and leadership success. Practical/managerial implications: As transformational leadership has been most frequently cited in literature as the prominent and successful leadership style of the 21st century, all leadership education development should encourage future leaders to develop a transformational leadership style while implementing the inclusion of the feminine trait theory. Contribution/value-add: These findings help determine which leadership style is favoured by potential future leaders (i.e. Generation Z) at a higher education institution in South Africa and provides guidance in terms of leadership education development.

Effective strategies in new curricula development at Higher Education Institutions in South Africa

Abstract Re-curriculation is currently the most talked about topic in Higher Education in South Africa because of the new Higher Education Qualification Sub-Framework alignment process required by all Higher Education Institutions. However, the lecturer in the classroom, especially new lecturers, are also faced with the task of designing the actual curricula of a subject once the new qualification is to be implemented, in terms of achieving the aims and objectives of the subject area. In other words, ensuring that the outcomes of the subject are achieved by the student. Ideally all lecturers at institutions of higher learning should develop strategies for their “own” curricula. Developing the aforementioned strategies might be challenging to first time lecturers. The methodologies of developing a new qualification and strategies for building curricula is discussed in this paper are different curriculum planning methods and strategies. The aforementioned strategies are focusing on students, mentoring, supportive tools such as software programmes, feedback and assessments. The findings of this paper are proper curricula development to enhance the ability to understand, recall and apply information. The main objective is to use proper curricula development to empower students with a diversity of cultures to understand the material presented by the lecturer. This paper concludes that curricula planning should allow students to be given space to grow and interact and ultimately attain deep life-long learning.

Students' perceptions of some factors influencing academic achievement at a rural South African university

Research has shown that a major challenge facing higher education institutions in South Africa is the success of students in their studies. The long-term plan to increase the participation rate in higher education in South Africa highlights the need for universities to investigate the factors that influence students' success. The present study explored participants' perceptions of factors influencing academic excellence achievement. A qualitative design was used. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire with open-ended questions. The ten respondents (5 males and 5 females) for the study were conveniently selected from a historically black institution of higher learning in South Africa. The data were analyzed through content analysis. The results indicate that students' academic achievements are influenced by various factors, such as self-motivation, self-discipline, peer support, and lecturers' teaching approaches.

(Re) Imagining the Intra-connections in Geography Education through the Notion of Place

One of the challenges facing geography educators at higher education institutions in South Africa is to prepare students by providing them with an integrated conceptual and pedagogical toolkit that would adequately equip them to teach a type of geography that is current and relevant to local (but also global) environmental and social phenomena. As an intra-disciplinary science, Geography offers multiple avenues for fostering this type of integration, yet as argued elsewhere, [1] because of a fragmented school Geography curriculum, teacher educators struggle to foster holistic and integrated learning among novice student teachers. In fact, academic geographers most often privilege their own field of specialisation rather than work towards integration [2]. Ultimately, this perpetuates a fragmented teaching practice and conceptual understanding of geographical phenomena. This paper provides a theoretical exploration to demonstrate how Geography Education could retain its holistic nature and advance integration by (re)turning to its own intra-disciplinarity. It was found that the notion of “place” (one of Geography’s big ideas) could serve as a potential point of departure for fostering integrated thinking in the discipline. The argument is made that place-based approaches offer fertile avenues to pursue in Geography Education programmes for equipping student teachers with a holistic conceptual and pedagogical toolkit.