This article offers a critical reflection upon underlying theoretical and philosophical inclinations which manifest themselves through the type of courses introduced in higher education institutions to meet what is perceived to be students' educational needs. Given the fact that this article seeks to promote an understanding of the nature of…

Becoming a professional teacher is falsely understood to be a simple process: usually consisting of a transference of skills to execute classroom pedagogy or classroom management. This article begins by exploring the many forces which influence the curriculum of teacher education in higher education, signaling the complexity of the practice of…

Our analysis of the phrase "social space" first of all concentrates on the modal or functional nature of the different aspects of reality, including the social and spatial aspects. Subsequently this leads to an analysis of the problem of modal analogies--one way in which an answer is given to the perennial philosophical problem…

This article is contextualised within the field of post-graduate, continuing teacher education in South Africa, through an essentially "distanced", that is, part-time, mixed-mode teaching and learning model. It draws on a broader phenomenological research study into the experiences of students taking a one semester module, "Reading…

This study interrogated the central theoretical statement that understanding and learning to apply the abstract concept of classical dramatic narrative structure can be addressed effectively through a useful audiovisual teaching method. The purpose of the study was to design an effective DVD teaching and learning aid, to justify the design through…

Current literature on teaching research methodology in the social sciences highlights the changing nature of our world in terms of its complexity and diversity, and points to how this affects the way in which we search for answers to related problems (Brew 2003, 3; Tashakkori and Teddlie 2003, 74). New ways of approaching research problems that…

In this article I offer a defence of cosmopolitanism as an enabling condition for university education in Africa. Recent xenophobic outbursts in South Africa suggests that the enactment of defensible virtues in societies remain distant from the practices of many people. My contention is that university education ought to take seriously the…

This investigation elicited the perceptions of thirteen of the most successful research supervisors from one university, with a view to identifying their approaches to selecting research candidates. The supervisors were identified by the university's research office using the single criterion of having the largest number of completed research…

The study explored university students' perceptions of attributions to success or failure. A random cross-sectional survey design was employed. Seventy-two students (male = 44, female = 28) were randomly selected from the student population of a state university of age ranges 20 to 49 years. The data, collected using a self-administered…

Tertiary institutions play a major role in providing relevant education that best meets the needs of the various constituencies served; and an assessment of factors that influence students' choices and satisfaction is thus useful. This article examines the gap between students' perceived experience and the importance they hold of service delivery,…

Mentor development in higher education in Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Botswana is explored in this article. Changes in education policy require mentors to engage in individual as well as organisational change and transformation. Most studies focus on mentee development and the resulting organisational change but there is very little…

Universities worldwide experience continual change in order to achieve what is perceived as improvement. In these changes, there is usually an emphasis on the research function of a university, and the literature contains a number of themes in this regard. We contribute by presenting a detailed case study of a non-research-intensive university…

The decline in civic participation, dwindling support for social services and deficits in state budgets, has created a climate in which higher education, supported by several policies, has to make a commitment to contribute to the reconstruction and development of society by linking academic programmes to community-based priorities (Campbell…

In the light of the uncertainty surrounding the new National Senior Certificate that was written in South African schools for the first time in 2008, this article aims to examine the new Grade 12 National Senior Certificate results quantitatively in the context of the Grade 11 application score for entry into higher education and the Grade 12…

A successful transition from school to university is crucial to academic success--especially in the first academic year. Various studies have, however, shown that students are increasingly underprepared for higher education studies. Not only is the school-university gap increased by the school system that produces inadequately prepared learners…