http://hdl.handle.net/11189/5457 Thu, 13 Aug 2026 16:42:58 GMT 2026-08-13T16:42:58Z http://hdl.handle.net/11189/5284 Title: High school learner’s perceptions of the efficacy of entrepreneurship education: The case of selected high schools in the Western cape, South Africa. Authors: Nchu, Rylyne Mande; Tengeh, Robertson Khan; Hassan, Salochana Lorraine Abstract: Proactive educational institutions have introduced entrepreneurship education in their curricula to improve the employability of their learners. Using learners as the lens, the aim of this paper was to assess the efficacy of such programmes in the context of South African high schools and taking into consideration the ethnic and income dynamics of such schools. We argue in this paper that entrepreneurial intention should be complemented with other measures such as frequent enterprise visits and school business projects especially in the context of junior learners. Purposive sampling was used to select the schools for the case study. Learners (N=403) were drawn from high, medium and low income schools for the study. Quantifying and non-quantifying data analysis methods were used to interpret the data. Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were implored to analyse the survey data. The data set was subjected to chi square tests and multivariate analysis using the SPSS software. It was revealed that an overwhelming majority (62%) of the respondents indicated that they would like to start up a business after their studies. Of these numbers, the overwhelming majority (81%) were black learners. It is also worth noting that a significant proportion (73%) of those that want to become entrepreneurs actually came from the middle income schools. Thu, 01 Jan 2015 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/11189/5284 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11189/5283 Title: Evaluation of a tutor training programme through the frame of activity theory Authors: Hassan, Salochana Lorraine Abstract: This paper reports on an evaluation study that was conducted on a tutor training programme (TTP) at a University of Technology in South Africa. The TTP was dichotomized into a centralized and decentralized model with the former being managed by the Academic Development Department (to provide generic training) and the latter by the respective faculties (to provide discipline-specific training). The evaluation was framed by activity theory in order to help focus the study. A triangulation of methods were adopted and include the following: 1) A qualitative study involving face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with the TTP manager, tutor training coordinators and tutors; 2) A qualitative study pertaining to observation of tutor training programmes and 3) Document analysis of the course materials and other relevant documents. The results showed that the generic training provided (by both models of the TTP) was effective in preparing tutors to cope with a diverse student population. The training was ineffective in that tutors were not trained, within the context of a discipline-specific TTP, on how to facilitate learning so that they would be able to create more meaningful learning places in tutorials. Specifically, during tutor training, too much emphasis was being placed on how to work in a group (in a generic sense) instead of training tutors to facilitate group work (within the context of their disciplines). Among the recommendations made for improvement of the TTP as a place of learning is that there should be a balance between generic and discipline-specific training when conceptualizing and implementing TTPs. Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/11189/5283 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11189/5282 Title: Lecturers’ role in tutor development from an activity theory perspective Authors: Hassan, Salochana Lorraine Abstract: Social interactions in tutoring, particularly from the perspective of tutor-lecturer interactions, remain largely unexplored. From an activity theory angle, this study draws on the notion of knotworking to describe the post-training support that lecturers give to tutors in an attempt to help them cross the tutoring Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). A qualitative paradigm was adopted in this study and involved face-to-face interviews with lecturers and tutors. The theoretical framework used was activity theory. The findings showed that rather than being a structured, formal process, post-training occurred in a loose, flexible, unstructured and informal manner. Knots were tied, untied and sometimes retied as the tutoring community worked together to achieve the object, which was the development of tutors. Hence, knotworking was used as a tool in achieving the object. This article also identified the constraints that impeded knotworking, such as the power struggle that existed between lecturers and tutors and how some lecturers refused to work with and help tutors cross the tutoring ZPD. One of the recommendations advanced is that lecturers themselves need training on how to conduct tutorials and how to mentor tutors in order to create an alignment between student development (training of tutors) and staff development (training of lecturers). Other recommendations for improving post-training support for tutors focus on addressing the constraints inherent in the activity system of post-training support. Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/11189/5282 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11189/5281 Title: The problem-based learning gaze: A foucaultian perspective Authors: Hassan, Salochana Lorraine Abstract: PBL is often valorized but has not, hitherto, been examined in terms of the way in which power manifests through group dynamics and how this might influence learning. In this paper, Foucault’s theory of power, as in “Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison”, is used as a conceptual framework for gaining a deeper understanding of PBL group work. According to Foucault, it is not a person who has a hold on power, but rather visibility that assures the hold of power. Specifically, this paper examines the PBL “gaze” and its hold on students. During PBL tutorials, the tutor (and peers) was able to closely observe and continuously judge the performance of students during both participation and non-participation. Tutors and peers alike were able to judge the functioning of the group at a glance. During PBL tutorials it was this surveillance which kept students under subjection. They may never have known when they were being watched and their performance monitored and, they therefore, held themselves in subjection, controlling their behavior, speech and interaction with one other. Students could have experienced this type of surveillance and self-surveillance as threatening and oppressive, and it could have constrained their learning. This article provides recommendations for PBL tutors regarding the cognizance of the manifestation of power when it comes to the management of group dynamics so that tutorials can be a positive place for all group members. Although this study looked at group dynamics within the context of PBL, the argument regarding tutorials not being power-free zones could be applicable to other forms of collaborative learning. Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/11189/5281 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z