We have less time and focus than ever before, while the demand for attention is increasing. Therefore, it is no surprise that when answering questionnaires, we often choose to strongly agree or be neutral, producing problematic and unusable data. The current study investigated forced-choice (ipsative) format compared to the same questions on a…

Student retention remains an ongoing concern for higher education institutions worldwide. In the present study, we examine the predictive utility of identity styles, professional identity and academic commitment to academic achievement. We asked 120 second-year students in the profession of engineering in an augmented degree programme to complete…

Mobile phones are one of the fastest growing technologies in this century all over the world and these devices are extremely influencing the adolescents. The present study was sought to establish students' views on cell phones usage in university classrooms in an educational district in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The study employed…

This article reports on the design of the Professional Development Needs Analysis Questionnaire for Deputy Principals (PDNAQ) to measure the problems they experienced and the skills they needed. In the literature, no validated questionnaire to measure the problems experienced and skills needed by deputy principals in South African schools was…

Service learning (SL) presents apposite opportunities for students to share with and learn from businesses for mutually beneficial development and experience. This article focuses on a SL project conducted by undergraduate students in South Africa, to devise advertising and marketing strategies for community businesses. The reciprocity of benefits…

This article reports on a study investigating physical sciences teachers' stages of concern (SoC) profiles during the implementation of the curriculum and assessment policy statement (CAPS) in South Africa. Throughout reform implementation, it is conceivable that teachers go through different SoC, ranging from giving low priority to the reform…

I report on an investigation into a group of Free State educators' recognition of bullying, their reactions to incidences of bullying, and their perceptions of the effectiveness of a number of bullying prevention strategies. The research instrument was a synthesis of the Delaware Research Questionnaire and questions based on findings from previous…

Learners' attitude to learning science plays a vitally important role with respect to career choices. This study reflects on the nature of the learners' attitude towards science and the effect of gender. A total of 547 Grade 7 learners from an urban district of Gauteng Province (South Africa) were administered a questionnaire to probe their…

Mathematics proficiency has an acknowledged impact on students' accounting grades. Success in this core business subject is dependent on students' mathematical aptitude, attitude and type of secondary schooling. Our study investigated accounting students' attitudes to mathematics on domains of the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales…

Three different groups in a class of first-year tertiary engineering students had to solve a problem based on a project by applying the distinctive problem-based learning (PBL) approach. Each group's project (PBL project) was then studied by the other two groups after successful completion and demonstration. Each group then had to study the…

South Africa has a high rate of substance abuse among youths both in and out of school with East London in the Eastern Cape Province experiencing an increase in young people ages 20 years and below seeking treatment for substance abuse. The purpose of the study was to explore the knowledge of high school learners (grades 10 to 12) regarding…

Mathematics is a key subject necessary to the promotion of economic development, particularly in developing countries; however, South African learners perform poorly in Mathematics when benchmarked against their counterparts in other countries. One way to address this issue is by taking cognisance of the learners' learning styles when teaching.…

Disciplines such as Geography are well placed to respond to the changing needs of society and the effective application of geographical knowledge to real-world problems. This project surveyed first year Geography undergraduates' understanding of "What is Geography?", both before and after an exercise in which geographic topics were…

This paper reports on an investigation of financial management practices used by small, medium-sized and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa. It was found that more than half the SMMEs examined use external accounting staff to prepare accounting reports and more than 60% rely on external accounting staff to interpret and use accounting…

Prompted by the poor state of mathematics education in South Africa and the shortage of competent mathematics teachers, this study sought to identify what factors influenced 40 Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) students at three universities in the Western Cape Province, with Mathematics as a major subject, to choose teaching as a…