Students’ feelings about the online submission of assignments using Turnitin

The integration of information and communication technologies (ICTs) into teaching and learning, and the implementation of computer-mediated methods of instruction in the form of e-learning in higher education, have led to the emergence of new methods of submitting assignments electronically. One of these methods employs a learning management system (LMS) for teaching, learning and assessment. While significant research has been conducted on this phenomenon in developed countries, little has been published on how students experience and perceive this method of submission in a developing country such as South Africa, where a slow pace of technological innovation in education has been reported. The mixed methods study on which this article is based reports on how the Moodle LMS was used in a business management education (BME) course of a Bachelor of Education undergraduate degree, where students had to submit assignments through Turnitin. The qualitative component had a sample of 15 participants selected from 156 students using phenomenography as a methodological approach. Personal reflective journals, focus group discussions and individual interviews were qualitative data sources. A questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data that was analysed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). The study found that participants viewed this method of submitting assignments as a conduit for monitoring plagiarism in BME. Findings from the study may offer insight into how emerging economies might engage with the crucial aspect of developing student consciousness about the importance of speedy and safe delivery of assignments in ways that promote academic honesty.

Students' experiences of online support in business management education.

Doctor of Philosophy in Education Studies. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood 2015.Learning using online technology has become a popular strategy for addressing diverse learning needs of students in higher education institutions. This strategy is often used to enable students in overcrowded classrooms to gain extended access to their lecturers as not all students are able to consult with their lecturers during normal consultation times. This study was also conducted in the context of a course offering with a large class size where students encountered problems with consultation times that clashed with other lectures they had to attend. The use of online support to complement face-to-face lectures in this course was inspired by the adoption of the Modular-object-oriented and dynamic learning environment (Moodle) learning management system (LMS) by the university as its official LMS. LMS was initially used as an online consultative-forum but was then used as a mechanism to support teaching and learning.by using its various functional properties. Case studies as learning activities were analysed and discussed through online chats and online discussion forums while assignments were accomplished and submitted electronically via Turnitin. Learning resources such as lecture notes and work schedules were also conveyed to students through the LMS. The purpose of this study therefore was to explore students’ experiences of online support in Business Management Education by pursuing the following critical research questions: 1. What are student’s experiences of online-support in Business Management Education? 2. How do these experiences relate to students learning in Business Management Education? 3. Why do these experiences relate to students’ learning in Business Management Education the way they did? Fifteen students in a BME second-year level of study were selected using phenomenographic sampling for purposive variation. This sample was varied according to age, gender, race, background and the regularity with which students engaged with the LMS during the semester. A Mixed-method research was used where a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods of collecting data were deployed. Phenomenography was used as an approach to qualitative research. This approach guided the methods according to which qualitative sampling was conducted, data was collected and also analyzed. A questionnaire was used as a means to confirm the validity of qualitative findings. The research process led to the emergence of the following categories of description as findings in phenomenographic research: repository of resources, support for learning, complexities of epistemological access, conduit for communication, the social effect on learning, and the cognitive effect on learning. The study proposes insights for pedagogy in BME. It goes on to suggest the design of a method of socializing students into online-supported learning, and also to augment the basic computer-literacy course offered to new students at entry level to include elements of online learning. It also proposes a shift from traditional ways of transacting teaching and learning in BME that heavily rely on face-to-face lectures, to include online learning. Importantly, the study deepens insights into the epistemological access challenges that contemporary South African students are likely to encounter. Finally, this study proposes a model for LMS mediated case-based pedagogy for Business Management Education

An exploration of grade 10 teachers' experiences of the new further education and training (FET) economics curriculum.

Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.Political changes of the post 1994 general elections witnessed significant innovations within the education sector of the Republic of South Africa. Most significant of these was the rapid transformation of the existing school curriculum into the new curriculum 2005 (C2005). This confirmed the removal of the unnecessary variations in the curricula used by the different departments, created alongside racial groups. This brought about new challenges for teachers as it was to influence their experiences of how teaching was to be conducted in the context of these changes. As a teacher of Economics, I developed an interest in seeking ways in which teachers could be professionally developed to teach Economics in the new curriculum currently implemented in the FET band, acknowledging that the Department of Education supported the new curriculum by a training programme in the form of a cascading model

Teacher factors influencing Grade 12 Accounting learners’ performance in the Eswatini General Certificate Secondary Examination

This study examined the influence of teacher-related factors on Grade 12 Accounting learners’ performance in the Accounting General Certificate Secondary Examination (GCSE) in Eswatini. A sequential, explanatory, mixed-methods design was employed. A stratified random sample for the quantitative phase comprised 400 Accounting learners and 80 Accounting teachers from 10 schools performing well, and from 10 schools performing poorly. Purposive sampling was used for the qualitative phase to select 6 learners and 4 teachers from schools performing well, and 6 learners and 4 teachers from schools performing poorly to participate in the study. The data collection instruments were questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), while qualitative data were analysed thematically. The study revealed that teacher variables affecting learners’ performance in Grade 12 Accounting GCSE in Eswatini were teachers’ attitude, teachers’ absenteeism, non-completion of the syllabus, revision before the examination,assignments to learners, and regularly giving up-to-standard tests. The researcher recommended inter alia that teachers should teach the relevant Accounting content thoroughly during the first and second terms so that enough time is available for revision intended to address knowledge gaps that may occur as a result of learners having not understood some content during the teaching sessions

School-based factors affecting Grade 12 accounting learners’ performance in the General Certificate Secondary Examination (GCSE) in Eswatini

In the sequential explanatory mixed methods study reported on here we examined school-based factors contributing to the poor performance of Grade 12 accounting learners’ the GCSE in the Lubombo and Manzini regions of Eswatini. The random sample for the quantitative phase comprised 400 accounting learners and 80 accounting teachers from 10 schools performing well, achieving good results, and 10 schools performing poorly, achieving low quality results. Purposive sampling was used for the qualitative phase to select 6 learners and 4 teachers from schools that performed well, and 6 learners and 4 teachers from schools that performed poorly. The data collection instruments were questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), while thematic analysis was used for the qualitative data. Incongruities existed between learners’ and teachers’ perceptions of the school-based factors affecting Grade 12 accounting learners’ performance in the GCSE in Eswatini. The quantitative results indicate the variables contributing to poor learner performance in accounting as lower period allocation; checking of learners’ work; setting a minimum on the number of tests per term; timely delivery of textbooks; provision of study time; discussion of results, and motivation of teachers and learners. Teachers, on the other hand, felt that the variables affecting learners’ performance were setting a minimum on the number of tests per term; awarding pupils for good performance; placing emphasis on science subjects; the provision of reference material; motivation of teachers and learners; checking of learners’ work; subject combinations; lower period allocation; discussion of results, and timely delivery of textbooks. The qualitative results reveal that learners identified common school variables contributing to their poor performance as not receiving textbooks on time, their work not being checked, and a lack of parental involvement. Teachers identified delivery of textbooks, emphasis on science subjects, and teachers’ poor motivation and administration as school variables contributing to learners’ poor performance in accounting. The relationships between school variables and demographic variables were found to be low. This study offers insight into what secondary school accounting teachers in emerging economies may experience as variables that affect learners’ performance in accounting, and the need to pursue pedagogical practices that can respond to these variables

Online discussion forum: A tool to support learning in business management education

The introduction of online-supported teaching and learning in education calls for a better understanding of how online support is experienced by South African students (many of whom encounter this technology for the very first time at university) and how their experiences of online support may influence their learning. The mixed-methods approach used in the study reported on here incorporated a qualitative component that drew on the principles of phenomenography. From 156 students enrolled in a business management education module that forms part of the Bachelor of Education curriculum, 15 participants were selected using phenomenographic sampling. A sequential-exploratory quantitative investigation was then undertaken to test qualitative findings. Qualitative data sources included personal reflective journals, focus group discussions and individual interviews; quantitative data were generated from questionnaires administered to the respondents. In the principal findings participants indicated that the online discussion forum offered them a context for learning through social interaction in qualitatively different ways, and this offers insights into how developing nations might address the need to engage with pedagogical practices in the online space. Keywords: blended education methods; business management education; e-learning; learning management system; online discussion forum; online-supported teaching and learnin

Online chats: A strategy to enhance learning in large classes

Online-supported teaching and learning is a technological innovation in education that integrates face-to-face teaching in plenary lectures, with an online component using a learning management system. This extends opportunities to students to interact with one another via online chats in the process of transacting their learning. There is a need to understand how South African students experience these technologies, where many students encounter them for the first time at higher education level. We are yet to understand variations in students' experiences of online support and how it has influenced their learning. This article explores students' experiences of learning using online chats in Business Management Education. The qualitative component of this mixed-methods research draws on the tenets of phenomenography. Fifteen participants from a Business Management Education class of 156 students enrolled in a Bachelor of Education programme were sampled using pheno-menographic approach. Qualitative data sources included personal reflective journals, focus group discussions and individual interviews, and questionnaires were circulated to the respondents. A quantitative component was subsequently implemented to validate the qualitative findings. Analysis of the data revealed that participants viewed online chats as learning contexts in qualitatively different ways

Teachers' perceptions of the factors influencing rural school Grade 12 Business Studies learner performance in the National Senior Certificate

The purpose of this study is to examine teachers’ perceptions of teacher factors affecting the dwindling Grade 12 learners’ performance in Business Studies National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations at the rural Umbumbulu circuit of Umlazi district, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The study employed a qualitative research methodology to explore teachers’ perceptions. Five Grade 12 teachers were purposively selected from five rural secondary schools that offered Business Studies as a subject of teaching and learning in the Umbumbulu circuit. The case study research design was used to focus on a few participants who had lived experiences of teaching Business Studies at Grade 12 in rural schools and could relate to dominant factors influencing learner performance in this subject. Data were generated through faceto- face, semi-structured interviews, and thematic analysis was used as a method of analysing qualitative data with the purpose of identifying salient traits in data that could develop into themes. The study found that teacher factors influencing learner performance in Grade 12 Business Studies were teacher approaches to teaching Business Studies, timetabling and impediments to innovative teaching and assessment in the form of rural contextual factors such as large classes and a shortage of textbooks. The study nurtures awareness of teacher factors influencing rural school learners’ performance in Grade 12 Business Studies, so that Business Studies teachers in emerging economies can think of ways to address these factors to improve learner performance

Online chats: A strategy to enhance learning in large classes

Online-supported teaching and learning is a technological innovation in education that integrates face-to-face teaching in plenary lectures, with an online component using a learning management system. This extends opportunities to students to interact with one another via online chats in the process of transacting their learning. There is a need to understand how South African students experience these technologies, where many students encounter them for the first time at higher education level. We are yet to understand variations in students' experiences of online support and how it has influenced their learning. This article explores students' experiences of learning using online chats in Business Management Education. The qualitative component of this mixed-methods research draws on the tenets of phenomenography. Fifteen participants from a Business Management Education class of 156 students enrolled in a Bachelor of Education programme were sampled using phenomenographic approach. Qualitative data sources included personal reflective journals, focus group discussions and individual interviews, and questionnaires were circulated to the respondents. A quantitative component was subsequently implemented to validate the qualitative findings. Analysis of the data revealed that participants viewed online chats as learning contexts in qualitatively different ways