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Biology teachers' attitudes play a vital role in successful scientific investigations. Some biology teachers situated in the central part of South Africa experience challenges that include a lack of the necessary scientific knowledge and skills, which hinders the presentation of scientific investigations. These challenges adversely influence these biology teachers' attitudes towards conducting scientific investigations. The result is that they conduct the minimum number of investigations with their learners, or don't conduct them at all. Professional, in-service training workshops allow biology teachers to develop the necessary scientific knowledge and skills to successfully conduct scientific investigations. This study aimed to understand how a scientific investigation workshop affected biology teachers' attitudes by measuring the ABC attitude model's affective, cognitive and behavioural components. Likert-type, five-point scale items were used for the 20 pre-surveys and the same for the 20 post-surveys that were completed and collected for analysis. This research provided information on how vital in-service training programmes such as this scientific investigation workshop are in fostering positive attitudes toward scientific investigations amongst biology teachers. The findings that emerged from this study imply that implementing this scientific investigation workshop has developed biology teachers' confidence in their science skills and knowledge to facilitate scientific investigations. The findings also indicate that this workshop caused a significant improvement in teachers' intended behaviours in implementing scientific investigations in the science classrooms, as they gained valuable knowledge and skills regarding the science apparatus and the use thereof in conducting scientific investigations.

Although concepts such as research without borders have become more commonplace in recent decades, few studies have investigated the capabilities that global researchers require to cross both cultural and disciplinary borders. This paper explores global capabilities along with strategies and spaces that may facilitate academic researchers' acquisition and development of global research competence. The study's dataset comprises responses of 26 participants across 15 countries -- all of whom are members of a specific comparative education society -- who contributed their views via e-questionnaire. Findings indicate that research capacity building is a dynamic process and global competence calls for complex skills and conscious attitudes. Commitment to expand scientific curiosity beyond one's own culture and academic discipline appears to be a main criterion in achieving global competence. Results of this study are not meant to be prescriptive but rather exploratory and informative for a broad group of academic stakeholders.

The aim of the study was to investigate the reasons why adult learners took longer than required to complete their Master's and Doctoral degrees. A questionnaire and focus group interviews were used to collect data. Twenty adult learners who registered for the Master's and Doctoral degrees at one township campus of a university were targeted, and 16 responded. All 16 participants lived in the townships, and obtained their primary, secondary and tertiary education from the township schools. It was found that the lack of computer skills, poor research skills, inadequate access to the internet, stress, supervision problems, as well as employer's workload contributed enormously to the adult learners' inability to complete their studies within the prescribed period. The study also highlighted the impact of apartheid education on adult learners at postgraduate level. The apartheid education system, which was characterised by poor education provision, played a major role in the slow completion of Masters and Doctoral degrees by the African adult learners. It is recommended that African adult learners who enroll for Masters or Doctoral degrees should do training in research approaches, computer skills, information search and stress management prior to their study. The study duration for both the Masters and Doctoral degrees also need to be reviewed, especially for adult learners or students who obtained their education from the township schools.

In psychology departments in South Africa, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) is routinely used for quantitative analysis. While SPSS has a user-friendly interface, it does not permit application of some of the more sophisticated analytic approaches and therefore has limited functionality. The programming language R can perform most statistical functions. However, research on user experiences of R and its integration into the psychology curriculum in South Africa is lacking in the literature. To better understand the acceptability of integrating R into psychology training at a local residential university, we interviewed ten staff and students with a background in psychology about their experiences of a six-session R training course in November 2017. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and the data were analysed thematically using ATLAS.ti v8. We identified three super-ordinate themes that provided insights into our participants' experiences of the software and the workshop. Participants spoke about the various advantages and useful functionalities of R and described it as a sought-after skill in research. They spoke about challenges they experienced with the software and preferred menu-driven software such as SPSS and perceived such tools as being easier to learn, time saving and more user-friendly. They also indicated that their limited statistical skills and knowledge influenced their willingness to pursue software like R in future. We found that there is sufficient curiosity and interest among staff and students in psychology about learning new statistical programs and integrating R into the curriculum.

The teaching profession has a long history of providing mentorship to mentees (budding lecturers) through focused, collaborative, and one-on-one relationships. However, despite new lecturers' ongoing need for guidance and assistance, mentoring is relatively neglected as a concept in institutions of higher education. This study explores the concept of mentoring in higher education institutions to ascertain whether different mentoring strategies and approaches can be utilized to support junior researchers who are in need of guidance, coaching, and assistance. In this study, purposively sampled mentors and mentees were interviewed about their views of, and experiences with, mentoring. The study extends beyond the mentoring research and highlights that mentoring can promote unintended outcomes due to its dynamic nature. The article also addresses how both the mentor and mentee play important roles in the success of the mentoring process. The article concludes with recommendations for mentoring programs.

This article proposes that the "teaching/practice schools" formally affiliated to initial teacher education programmes at universities, can be utilised more optimally as research sites by student teachers. The argument is put forward with reference to the role that such schools have played historically in teacher education in the United States (US), and more recently, in the successful Finnish teacher education system, in which research is highly valued as a requisite part of a teaching qualification. The authors propose that the single component of these schools, which has historically distinguished them from schools for work integrated learning (WIL), is that they are also research spaces and have retained some of the "lab" character of earlier schools, such as the one established by John Dewey. In such schools, the authors argue, students learn to be reflective practitioners by positioning themselves as researchers, who reflect on practice in a research-rich environment. In a pilot study, the authors found that university and school personnel hold different views about research in the schools. The article recommends that careful consideration be given to the research function in these public schools as part of teacher training.

Experiential learning is touted as an effective way of imparting research skills. This suggests that master's students undergoing training in research psychology should be exposed to managing projects and supervising interdisciplinary research teams and projects before entering the workplace. The Department of Psychology and Department of Town and Regional Planning at a South African university developed a near-peer mentoring programme in which the psychology master's students mentored undergraduate urban planning students who were writing their final-year research reports. Focus group discussions with the psychology students about their experiences of the programme were analysed using phenomenography. The psychology students experienced their role as mentor in five hierarchical variations. The first four were seen as challenging, while the benefits were only experienced at the highest level of the hierarchy. Lessons learnt from the mentoring relationship that mirror certain workplace research skills are discussed followed by recommendations for improving the mentoring programme.

This article draws on a case study of six facilitators who were teaching Publishing Research in 2011 at one of the universities in South Africa. Publishing Research was offered by two campuses of this institution. This article gives these facilitators a voice and also identifies and defines the intended, implemented and attained learning outcomes for the module. The six facilitators claimed to be using the same learning outcomes in helping students to achieve the aims in the module but the results of the module tell different stories about the facilitators' awareness and achievement of the learning outcomes. Data collection occurred through document analysis and semi-structured interviews. A priori analysis theory (Samuel, 2009) was used as a framework for the study and this produced three themes, while this article itself is framed by Bloom's Taxonomies of learning. This article prioritises the alignment of the intended, implemented and attained learning outcomes; as well as the use of the three domains of Bloom's Taxonomies (cognitive, skills and value/attitude) in formulating learning outcomes of the module in order to contribute positively towards the well-being of the module.

With growing international interest in diversifying sites for pedagogical work within the doctorate, doctoral programmes of different kinds are being developed in different disciplinary, institutional and national settings. However, little is known about how the pedagogical work of these programmes is designed and enacted, and with what effects. In this paper, we present two cases of doctoral pedagogical work being undertaken within different disciplinary and institutional settings to describe how learning opportunities were designed and to theorise what it means to be engaged in doing doctoral pedagogy. Starting from the position that working from a design model supports systematic and rigorous documentation and development of pedagogy, we employ the twin concepts of design and action, drawing broadly on rhetorical and ethnomethodological understandings of pedagogy as social action. Of particular interest within the concept of design itself is the concept of enactment, the translation of designs into the practices of doctoral work. Together, the two cases become a resource for "slowing down" and making visible the practices of doctoral pedagogy that often go unrecognised because they appear so ordinary and everyday. This call for examining close-up existing doctoral education practices and relationships is attending to the "next challenge for doctoral education" (Green, 2009).

Post-matric students from under-resourced (historically disadvantaged) black high schools generally encounter difficulties in their academic work at university. The study reported here was intended to empower first year (post-matric) students from these schools with basic research skills in a bid to counteract the effects of their high school under-preparedness. The context of an English and Academic skills module was used to offer a hands-on collaborative research skills experience based on John Dewey's concept of "learning-by-doing." The students were an intact class of Human and Social Sciences first year students involved in a research endeavour based on student-generated topics. The research project was carried out in small groups during the second semester of the year. Qualitative data were collected by means of an open-ended questionnaire and a written report at the end of the year. Students reported that the collaborative research experience had a positive effect on their basic research, reading, writing, and critical thinking skills, and it empowered them to work in groups on a project. They had not been exposed to this experience at high school.

This article was introduced due to a sharp decline in research publication output by 120.69 units at the University of Venda (UNIVEN). Because research publication output is necessary for income generation, ranking of an institution of higher learning and international networks for possible collaborations, UNIVEN may experience long run instabilities if the situation persist. Even though there might be several other issues responsible for the low output, suspicions have been on poor involvement of researchers in research publication enterprise of the University. Whereas this may be true, the reasons are yet unknown, which motivates the current study. The essence is to unpack issues around the phenomena with hopes of suggesting intervention measures. An exploratory sequential mixed research design was followed. A sample of 32 (Masters & PhD students) was drawn from the Institute for Rural Development (IRD) at the University. Data was collected using semi-structured and structured questionnaires of which thematic and descriptive analyses were performed through Atlas-ti v8 and Microsoft Excel 2013 statistical tool, respectively. The qualitative result yielded several issues clustered into three themes namely: student, supervisor and the management. The scores of the casual issues suggest 12 factors that should be taken into account. This include student rewards (17%), student conference attendance (13%), regulations on theft of student researches (11%), strengthening supervision ties (9%), research skills training (8%), and adequate service delivery (8%). Other factors fall between 7% and below.

We reflect on methodological issues arising in two of our own research projects as a form of practice, as a way of engaging in a praxis of project research. The projects chosen for this purpose are themselves concerned with teacher education and curriculum development in environmental education: they include participatory "reflective practice" processes in exploring issues relating to formal education in schools and informal education in communities and are grounded in the specific contexts of developing countries. We discuss issues in participatory research such as: (1) Whose research agenda gets to be explored?; (2) The importance of project partnerships; (3) Participants' preconceptions about the nature of research; (4) What is "rigor" in participatory research in environmental education?; (5) The Colonialist Dilemma: Avoiding the "package or perish" mentality; and (6) The Bigger Picture: Technocratic Rationality and Participatory Research. (Contains 2 notes.)

After decades of decline, African higher education is now arguably in a new era of revival. With the prevalence of knowledge economy discourse, national governments in Africa and their development partners have increasingly aligned higher education with poverty reduction plans and strategies. Research capacity has become a critical development issue; and widening participation to doctoral education is seen as an instrument for enhancing this capacity. Against this backdrop, this paper presents a review of emerging initiatives and policies that have some bearing on the PhD in select sub-Saharan African nations, namely Ethiopia, Ghana and South Africa. The findings show a shared optimism about the economic value of higher education, and explicate divergences and convergences in the framing of problems and policy responses related to doctoral education across the three nations. In the conclusion we reflect on challenges and policy omissions in the pursuit of the African PhD.

This study contributes to existing methodological knowledge by showing how a transformed research methods curriculum, which is beyond the milieu of schooling, can engage postgraduate students in a critical dialogue on how knowledge is produced in industry and higher education. Initial insights are drawn from two interpretive studies that employed interdisciplinary methods, and guidelines are developed to encourage educators and industry experts to be reflexive about producing knowledge that is needed for managerial decision making. Further insights were also drawn from in-depth interviews with 20 postgraduate students and six research supervisors across different universities. The findings demonstrate how the adoption of interdisciplinary research skills is interconnected with moving research students from a position of being disengaged to being engaged when conducting research, and consequently producing managers that are better equipped to deal with the challenges facing industry in a globalized business environment. The authors argue that by embracing traditional and innovative interdisciplinary research skills in the research methods curricula, future managers are presented with richer information that will help to solve industry-related problems. It is further argued that this will also help to sharpen the skills needed in emerging economies to deal with challenges in the world of work.

Career development for full-time Health Sciences academics through to doctoral studies is a monumental task. Many academics have difficulty completing their studies in the minimum time as well as publishing after obtaining their degree. As this problem is particularly acute in the Health Sciences, the PhD Acceleration Programme in Health Sciences was piloted in 2009 by the Faculty of Health Science Research Office at the University of the Witwatersrand to provide deliberate support to staff members registered for a PhD to attain their goals. There is little research on such interventions using coaching and coaching-learning. This article discusses the programme structure, participants' evaluation of the year-long intervention and some longitudinal data, using semi-structured interviews in a qualitative paradigm. The findings indicate that staff found the research writing course the most valuable of the skills courses and noted that the individual, goal-directed coaching helped them in many different ways in completing the thesis and managing their professional lives simultaneously. This structured support programme with coaching provides a low-cost, sustainable innovation for full-time academics during doctoral studies. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

The problem explored is the relatively low research output at a merged Higher Education Institution (HEI). The re-landscaping of how HEIs operate, has impacted on merged institutions, especially those of a comprehensive nature, that are facing the challenge of improving research output. This article is based on research conducted for a Master's study. In this article, the focus is on capacity building as a strategy to develop human resources in the field of research, using mentorship, with the aim of improving research output. The researchers explored a formal research mentorship programme (REMP) at tertiary institutions using a case study and adopting a mixed method approach. The case study was conducted at a merged HEI in Gauteng, viz. the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The study, via a survey and semi-structured interviews, obtained views and perceptions from academic staff members and deans, with regard to the implementation of a formal REMP. The results (from the interviews with the deans) reveal that an informal, spontaneous and collegial type of mentoring was preferred. However, these views differed with that of the findings of the survey (conducted among academic staff), which showed that a majority of the respondents favoured a formal REMP and they also believed that REMP guides young academics in terms of the research process and methodology. Based on some of these findings, a formal REMP is recommended. (Contains 7 figures.)

Postgraduate supervision does not only require academic and research skills from the supervisors--they may also assume a variety of roles to support the postgraduate student from novice to experienced researcher. The role of supervisors in the supervisory process, as well as the views of a purposeful selection of lecturers on the role is the focus of this article. The role of supervisors was determined from the literature and a questionnaire was administered to lecturers in the School of Education (University of South Africa) to investigate their views. Clear views of the role of the supervisor emerged from the literature study, but the lecturers who participated saw very few of these identified tasks as part of their responsibility. To increase the throughput of master and doctoral students, lecturers may have to make a mind shift with regard to their role in the supervisory process. (Contains 5 tables.)

The Management of one college at Unisa initiated a structured mentoring programme to develop researchers, among others. This article reports the views of 43 mentees of the programme one year after implementation. The research design was a survey. The items in a questionnaire were influenced by the self-efficacy theory and the constructivist views of learning. The findings indicate that the mentees learnt to set goals, and to plan to achieve these goals within predetermined time frames; they increased their knowledge of, and skills in research and publication; they gained motivation for research and confidence as researchers; and they matured as academics and learnt how to advance their careers. Certain challenges were identified, which included the mismatching of mentoring pairs, the lack of quality time for research projects, and a need for more institutional research support, e.g. in relation to academic leave and a help desk. The article indicates that mentoring can be largely successful even in exceptional contexts, as pointed out. (Contains 3 tables.)

This article discusses an investigation conducted to identify challenges associated with teaching research methods in a distance education context. Constructivist learning was used as conceptual framework, in particular socio-constructivist theories, activity theory and Rich environments for active learning (REALs). Two research modules in a master's programme in education formed the basis of the investigation. One module required students to complete a portfolio, while the other involved assignments and an examination. Two cycles of action research were completed over three years. Data were collected by means of questionnaires and an analysis of study packages and other documents. The study revealed a need for improved cooperative support, the introduction of blended learning and the provision of anchored instruction by making more resources available in both modules. In addition, it was shown that the research methodology module would be improved through the provision of authentic learning contexts, opportunities for team research and more authentic assessment practices. (Contains 4 tables.)

Transitions in an era of globalisation and universal change impact on postgraduate training of students at higher education institutions. This study aimed to determine completion rates for postgraduate programmes in Education at one higher education institution, to identify the students' needs and to investigate their experiences of postgraduate studies. Questionnaires were administered to students who had graduated and who suspended their studies between 2000 and 2006 (n = 78). In this cohort, more Ph.D. students completed their studies and in a shorter time than M.Phil. students. The research component was regarded as the most difficult aspect of postgraduate studies. The need for supervision support in research skills was noted by more M.Phil. students than Ph.D. students. Academic input of assessing progress and evaluating quality were regarded as the most important supervision need for students. Personal attributes, support from supervisors and institutional support are noted as factors contributing to success. Addressing the postgraduate students' needs is essential in an era characterised by transition to ensure accountability and quality within higher education. (Contains 4 tables.)

The aim of this article is to report on the strategies which were used to teach research design to Masters students, as part of my professional development as higher education practitioner. The focus is on exploring the use of cooperative learning as a vehicle to facilitate the acquiring of knowledge and skills in terms of research methodology. This is an action research project guided by the research question: "To what extent can cooperative learning be used to assist students to acquire and develop research knowledge and skills?" Included in the article are the various activities which I undertook in order to provide students with the opportunity to practically apply theoretical knowledge and thus to improve the understanding of what research entails and how the various elements fit together. Findings indicate that students enjoyed the approach to teaching and learning and found the activities used "enriching". Furthermore, there was a clear progression in which students moved from being "reactionary and see[ing] themselves more like empty vessels to be filled with knowledge" to participating as stated by a student "group work activities expect more of the learner than just sitting and listening to a lecturer". This method of teaching enables students to decide on the "way we learners have to construct our own knowledge". (Contains 2 figures and 2 tables.)

Introduction: In-service education is a widely used means of enhancing the skills of health service providers, for example, in undertaking research. However, the transfer of skills acquired during an education course to the workplace is seldom evaluated. The objectives of this study were to assess learner, teacher, and health service manager perceptions of the usefulness, in the work setting, of skills taught on a health systems research education course in South Africa and to assess the extent to which the course stimulated awareness and development of health systems research in the work setting. Methods: The education course was evaluated using a qualitative approach. Respondents were selected for interview using purposive sampling. Interviews were conducted with 39 respondents, including all of the major stakeholders. The interviews lasted between 20 and 60 minutes and were conducted either face to face or over the telephone. Thematic analysis was applied to the data, and key themes were identified. Results: The course demystified health systems research and stimulated interest in reading and applying research findings. The course also changed participants' attitudes to routine data collection and was reported to have facilitated the application of informal research or problem-solving methods to everyday work situations. However, inadequate support within the workplace was a significant obstacle to applying the skills learned. Discussion: A 2-week intensive, experiential course in health systems research methods can provide a mechanism for introducing basic research skills to a wide range of learners. Qualitative evaluation is a useful approach for assessing the impacts of education courses. (Contains 1 figure and 2 tables.)

Uses historical material from the United States and South Africa in different periods to raise several key issues about the desired outcomes of university education and what is conducive to their achievement, focusing on four clusters of concerns: values, utility and community orientation, research skills, and "arousing interests" (general knowledge and cultural competence). (SM)

Background: The development of research skills is an important aspect of undergraduate medical training that facilitates the practice of evidence-based medicine. The inclusion of research training into undergraduate medical curricula can take various formats and is compulsory for all students at the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine (NRMSM). The evaluation of this training is important, both to ensure that students obtain the required research skills and to improve the quality of the training. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate undergraduate medical students' and staff learning, engagement and experiences in the training and assessment of third-year research projects. Setting: This research was conducted at NRMSM, South Africa. Methods: Questionnaires were administered to third-year medical students after they completed their research project poster presentations and to the staff who assessed the presentations. Responses to the learning process, group work, alignment between module outcomes and assessment and the benefits of poster presentations were assessed. Results: A total of 215 students and 10 staff completed the questionnaire. Many students reported having enjoyed learning about research (78%) and that the training activities facilitated their understanding of the research process (84%). The majority of students (86%) and staff (80%) perceived the posters as an effective way to demonstrate students' ability to collect, analyse and interpret data. Conclusion: Staff and students viewed the research process positively and reported that the poster presentations were an effective way to assess research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Industry 4.0 wave is built on technological advancement that is bringing about significant change. The impact of Industry 4.0 is being felt across all industries, including the education sector. During the 2019 State of the Nation address, the President of South Africa pointed out that the government was seeking to respond to the change in skills requirements. In this paper, a systematic literature review will be performed to investigate Industry 4.0 skills requirements in the engineering profession and the role of capability development in meeting Industry 4.0 requirements. An exploration of the impact of Industry 4.0 on technical institutions as opposed to academic institutions will also be discussed. This paper incorporates this exploratory investigation into detailed research on developing a skills development framework that seeks to bridge the gap between Industry 4.0 skills requirements and development in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to identify the extent to which intrinsic student factors such as cognitive learning style, learning strategies, motivation and statistics anxiety, as well as certain demographic factors, predict performance on a research design and analysis course (RDAIIA) in the Department of Psychology at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, with a view to developing future interventions for improving student performance. Using a sample of eighty students, it was established that the factors most predictive of RDA performance were secondary school performance (p <0.0001) and age (p =0.0106). Excluding demographic factors, self-efficacy (p <0.0001), help-seeking (p =0.0531) and a reflective learning style (p =0.0071) were also found to be predictive. Performance also differed between students who had completed Mathematics on the higher grade in secondary school and those who had completed standard grade (p =0.016). These findings present both possible directions and substantial challenges for future performance-intervention strategies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]