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The use of the Grade one literacy baseline assessment programme of the Western Cape Education Department
No full textThis thesis is presented for the degree of Master of Education at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.Research has revealed that the academic performances of learners in South Africa are below the required level. The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) launched the literacy and numeracy strategy 2006 – 2016, in response to the low literacy and numeracy levels. In addition, the WCED introduced the Grade one baseline assessment in 2006, as part of the literacy and numeracy strategy. The purpose of this study was to observe the implementation of the Grade one literacy baseline assessment programme of the WCED. This study aimed to determine what literacy barriers, if any, the learners were experiencing and to recommend literacy support strategies, in order to inform teaching practices. The learning theories of the two key Constructivist theorists, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky have therefore been explored.
Purposive sampling was used for the selection of the participants for this study. The Grade one class, with English as the language of learning and teaching (LOLT), was selected due to the diverse nature of the learners, in terms of their different home languages. Thirty-seven Grade one learners participated in the study. I used a mixed methods research design in order to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. Multi-method data collection strategies were employed to collect data for this study. The multi-method approach involved: document collection, observation of learners as well as an interview with the Grade one class teacher who conducted the research. The document collection included the learners’ admission forms as well as the written baseline assessment scripts of the learners. The admission forms provided biographical information of the learners in terms of gender, home languages, Grade R attendance and their ages. The collection of data assisted in identifying the literacy barriers that the Grade one learners were experiencing. An interpretivist data analysis style was employed for the qualitative data analyses and the quantitative data analysis was statistical. The results of the quantitative and qualitative data were interpreted together. The triangulation of the data enhanced the reliability of the research findings. The findings suggest that some of the learners experienced literacy barriers in terms of: receptive- and expressive language, perceptual skills and fine motor development. The educator’s perceptions in terms of the administration and usefulness of the baseline assessment have also been included. The data was summarised and the information was used to describe the literacy barriers in terms of the biographical variables and to recommend learning support strategies for literacy development
Management accounting skills of decision makers of small, medium and micro tourism enterprises in Western Cape, South Africa
No full textThesis (MTech (Cost and Management Accounting))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2015.Small medium micro enterprises (SMMEs) in general and small medium and micro tourism enterprises (SMMTEs) in particular are considered as one of the viable vehicles to reduce the high unemployment rate and increase economic participation in South Africa. Due to the lack of management skills, among other factors, SMMTEs may not fully realise their potential. The question that arises is: to what extent do the decision makers of SMMTEs employ management-accounting tools to inform their business decisions? The aim of this study is to investigate and to evaluate the ways decision-makers of the SMMTEs in the Western Cape of South Africa use management-accounting skills to make their decisions. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire that comprised closed-ended questions. The findings may assist SMMEs to improve the management of their businesses as they will be able to see how employees with different management-accounting skills and experience compare to each other when it comes to running the business, and or if management-accounting skills influence business decisions
An analysis of bookkeeping competence of micro-entrepreneurs in the clothing retail industry in Cape Town
No full textThesis (MTech (Business Administration (Entrepreneurship)))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2015.Background: Previous studies have shown an on-going entrepreneurial failure in general and in the South African clothing industry in particular. Insufficient entrepreneurial skills are one of the major causes of entrepreneurial failure of which accounting skills plays a pivotal role towards entrepreneurial success. Previous studies reveal that accounting skills are essential for entrepreneurial success; hence there is a need to conduct further studies on bookkeeping competence
Occupational challenges faced by nursing personnel at a state hospital in Cape Town, South Africa
No full textThesis (MTech (Human Resource Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2015.Occupational challenges exist in all working environments, and affect all levels of organisational personnel from top management to employee levels. State hospitals in South Africa place occupational demands mainly upon registered nurses who make up most of the hospital staff. The focus of the research investigation concentrated mainly on a population of three groups of registered nurses at a state hospital in Cape Town. They are staff nurses, professional nurses and enrolled nursing assistants. These nurses are experiencing a decline in morale, due to staff shortages, a lack of resources and a perceived lack of leadership. They experience various levels of stress, which affect their personal health and morale. The objective of the research was to analyse the impact on the state registered nurses of three main contributors of occupational challenges faced by these nurses, namely a lack of resources, staff shortages and a perceived lack of good leadership. The nurses are employed to provide quality care for patients in state hospitals
The effectiveness of entrepreneurship education in selected high schools in the Cape Town metropolitan
No full textThesis (MTech (Entrepreneurship))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2015.Entrepreneurship continues to play a quintessential role in the economies of many developing countries as well as in South Africa. One of the drivers of the economy is the creation of small business ventures, which has greatly affected the economic growth, created jobs as well as increased the national competitiveness of the nation in the world business market. In South Africa, entrepreneurship presents opportunities for bringing together the relatively younger population and to redress the past social and economic differences among its citizens. However, the lack of efficient educational and professional training in entrepreneurship is hampering the ability of South Africa to benefit from these opportunities that are associated with sustainable small business start-ups.
The aim of this study was to evaluate entrepreneurship education in transferring entrepreneurial knowledge and skills to learners in selected high schools in the Cape Town area. The main questions are: Is the current entrepreneurship education in high schools effective in the development of transferable entrepreneurial knowledge and skills among school leavers? Secondly, what do successful business people deem important to study by high schools learners in order to be able to start up businesses? Finally, what are the learners’ perceptions of entrepreneurship education in transferring entrepreneurial knowledge and skills? These questions were answered by using mixed research methods. A self-administrated questionnaire was distributed to 403 school learners in Grades 10-12 and nine Teachers of Business Studies, to assess the current entrepreneurship education and examine Learners’ perceptions of the current curriculum. Interviews of 30 business owners were conducted to determine the factors that entrepreneurs deem important to study in order to start up and run sustainable businesses. A purposive sampling method was used to select the schools for the case study. Both quantifying and non-quantifying data analysis methods were used to interpret the data. Descriptive analysis techniques were also used to analyse the survey data. The researcher being also an observer in the field explains all his/her observations. Data sets were subjected to multivariate statistical analyses including Chi square, and Kruskal-Wallis statistics test analysis was carried out using the Past (Paleontological Statistics) software. The results of this study indicated that high school learners from middle income schools are enthusiastically interested in becoming entrepreneurs. An overwhelming majority of learners (73%) agreed that they are ready to start up businesses from the knowledge and skills gained in the entrepreneurship education received. On the other hand, 55.6% of the teachers agree that the earners would be capable of starting a business from the knowledge gained. A majority of the teachers (89%) would advise their learners to be employees rather than employers. Small business owners recommended that aspects such as creativity, self-reliance and problem solving skills should be incorporated in the curriculum of entrepreneurship education. Finally, in order to improve the teaching of entrepreneurship education in high schools, all stake holders, business owners as well as parents must be involved. This study recommends the inclusion of hands on practical simulations in the curriculum for the improvement of entrepreneurship education in high schools in South Africa
A pre-evaluation of residents’ perceptions of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ : a case study of an informal settlement in Cape Town, Western Cape
No full textThesis (MTech (Tourism and Events Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2015.South Africa won the right to host the first Fédération Internationale de Football (FIFA) WorldCup™ on the African continent in 2010. The 2010 FIFA World Cup™ has been heralded as a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity with significant legacy benefits for South Africans. Many sport mega-event organisations tend to disregard residents’ perceptions of the events’ social, economic and environmental impacts. There is a lack of research investigating responses of residents where the event takes place, specifically studies on informal residents’ perceptions of sport mega-events. The main focus of this study is to explore the level of awareness, perceptions and attitudes of residents living in an informal settlement area in close proximity to Cape Town Stadium with respect to the impacts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in Cape Town. A systematic, stratified random sampling technique was used to survey 370 household residents of Joe Slovo, which is the nearest informal settlement to Cape Town Stadium, three months before the hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. The findings revealed that the majority of the residents were aware of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, and that communication from stakeholders could have improved. The residents also expressed their support for the event by indicating various levels of participation. They also generally had positive perceptions
towards the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, but highlighted that big businesses and the wealthy and rich would mainly benefit from the event. Social concerns were related to traffic congestion, excessive noise levels, and crime. An investigation of this sort ‘paves the way’ for on-going research into residents’ perceptions of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. It is recommended that the focus should be on longitudinal impacts rather than short-term impacts and that a legacy should be left behin
Development of real-time orbital propagator software for a Cubesat's on-board computer
No full textThesis (MTech (Electrical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2015.A precise orbit propagator was developed for implementing on a CubeSat's on-board computer
for real-time orbital position and velocity determination and prediction. Knowledge
of the accurate orbital position and velocity of a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Cubesat is required
for various applications such as antenna and imager pointing. Satellite motion is
governed by a number of forces other than Earth's gravity alone. The inclusion of perturbation
forces such as Earth's aspheric gravity, third body attraction (e.g. Moon and
Sun), atmospheric drag and solar radiation pressure, is subsequently required to improve
the accuracy of an orbit propagator.
Precise orbit propagation is achieved by numerically integrating a set of coupled second
order differential equations derived from satellite's perturbed equations of motion. For
the purpose of this study two numerical integrators were selected: RK4 - Fourth order
Runge Kutta method and RKF78 - results from embedding RK7 into RK8. The former is
a single-step integrator while the latter is a multi-step integrator. These integrators were
selected for their stability, high accuracy and computational efficiency. An orbit propagation software tool is presented in this study. Considering the processing
power of Central Processing Unit (CPU) of CubeSat's on-board computer and a trade-off between precision and computational cost, the 10 x 10 and 20 x 20 gravity field models, the Exponential atmospheric model and Jacchia 70 static atmospheric model, were implemented. A 60 x 60 gravity field model is also investigated for reference. For validation purpose the developed software tool results were compared with results from Systems Tool Kit (STK) and Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) using SUNSAT satellite reference orbit.National Research Foundatio
Factors contributing to the successful mentorship of women in the South African construction industry
No full textThesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of
Master of Technology: Construction Management
Department of Construction Management and Quantity Surveying
in the
Faculty of Engineering
at the
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
2015This study examines factors contributing to the successful mentorship of women in the South
African construction industry. Mentorship is used as a tool to advance women in organisations,
because they have experienced difficulties progressing in their careers in the past. Even though
women are in mentorship programmes, they still receive less mentorship functions than their
counterparts. As a result, women have limited advancement in the construction industry due to
factors affecting their successful mentorship. This study identifies and examines the factors
contributing to the successful mentorship of women. The objectives of this study were to: (1)
test the extent of the influence that the psychosocial mentoring function has on the successful
mentorship of women; (2) test the extent of the influence of the career mentoring function on the
successful mentorship of women; (3) determine whether the age, gender and race of the
mentor-mentee have an impact on the successful mentorship of women; (4) examine the
perception of the impact of the entrepreneurial ability of women on the mentorship programme;
and (5) to determine whether the mentorship of female mentees is affected by the attitudes of
mentors.
An in-depth pilot study was carried out during the initial stages of the study to gain more insight
about the study. Data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews from female
mentees in the Western Cape Province. Data was analysed by content analysis. Findings
revealed that the gender and the race of mentors did not have an impact on the success of the
female mentees’ mentorship. The age of mentors did impact on knowledge gain. Female
mentees reported having open and positive relationships with their mentors.
A survey study approach was adopted in the main study. A purposive sampling of female
mentees and their mentors was selected. Data was gathered in South Africa. Inferential and
descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. Findings revealed that the psychosocial
mentoring characteristics and career mentoring characteristics that influence the successful
mentorship of women are role modelling, counselling, acceptance-and-confirmation, coaching
and providing challenging tasks. It also emerged that the age and race of female mentees did
not have an influence on the successful mentorship of women and that the successful
mentorship of women is not affected by the attitude of mentors. It was found that mentors have
positive attitudes towards the mentorship of women and that this is contributing positively to the
successful mentorship of women in the South African construction industry. The study also
revealed that female mentees are high performers, whose knowledge and productivity has
increased in the work place.
The study therefore concludes that the mentorship of female mentees in the construction
industry is successful. It is recommended that females in the construction industry should
register themselves to mentorship organisations such as SAWIC, especially those who are not
mentored
Residents’ perceptions of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup: a case study of a suburb in Pretoria, South Africa
No full textMini-Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Tourism and Hospitality Management in the Faculty of Business at the Cape Peninsula University of TechnologySport tourism and mega-events have grown rapidly in size in recent years. Governments have taken a keen interest in bidding for the hosting of mega-events, as part of their overall development plan. This research examines ways in which the residents of a suburb in Pretoria perceived the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. By identifying the different perceptions within the community, it was possible to improve the understanding of both the tangible, and the intangible, impacts of mega-events, and how they affected the quality of life of the local residents at the time of the study.
The aim of the study was to investigate the levels of awareness, as well as the perceptions, and the attitudes, of residents living in a particular suburb that was situated within a 2km radius of the stadium, using a stratified random sampling method. In response to the administration of a questionnaire, 326 successfully completed questionnaires were obtained. The findings revealed that the residents had high levels of awareness regarding the event. The most outstanding perceived benefits of the event were that it provided the community with entertainment, as well as increasing the spending on public facilities, boosting the sense of community pride, and showcasing the area in a positive light, whereas the most negative overall impacts appeared to be the minimal direct economic benefits of the event accruing to the community involved. The residents’ major concerns included, but were not limited to, inappropriate behaviour, and an increase in the crime rate, as well as in the amount of traffic congestion. Excessive noise was also a key concern.
The study encourages the government, and the event organisers, to increase active community involvement, and participation, in the planning, and in the management, of the event, so as to address, and to help alleviate, concerns regarding the perceived negative impacts of the event, as well as of future events
The effects of information systems on end-users and the organisational processes at a university of technology
No full textDissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree MASTER OF TECHNOLOGY: Business Information Systems in the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences at the Cape Peninsula University of TechnologyThe aim of this research was to describe the effects of information systems on staff performance and institutional business process performance at a selected University of Technology (UoT); as an indicative example of a University of Technology. This research was also to investigate different end-users’ experience of the use of certain information systems/processes and performance thereof. This led to the determination of what caused different role players to perceive a varying range of problems in the use of organisational information systems and internal business processes at the selected UoT. The unit of analysis was selected integrated information systems at the UoT and the object of analysis was the staff of the Faculty of Engineering.
The research adopted a quantitative approach in order to investigate verifiable data which was amassed using a questionnaire. This research was undertaken ethically in order to protect all participants, as well as the integrity of the University.
Statistical Package for Social Software (SPSS 22.0) was used for data capturing and analysis. The output was a general framework to guide the determination and effects of information systems on end-users and on institutional processes at a University of Technology. Furthermore, it will guide the design and modelling of institutional business processes to improve operational efficiency