Browsing by Author "Prince, Robert"

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    A bridge too far for school leavers
    (2014-08-04) Yeld, Nan; Prince, Robert
    This is an article written in 2012 by Nan Yeld and Robert Prince outlining the worrying decrease in the capacity of South African matriculants to pursue higher education.
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    From Gatekeepers to Gateways: Courses Impeding Graduation Annual Report 2019
    (University of Cape Town, 2020) Shay, Suellen; Collier-Reed, Brandon; Hendry, Jane; Marquard, Stephen; Kefale, Kende; Prince, Robert; Steyn, Sanet; Mpofu-Mketwa, Tsitsi; Carstens, Rondine
    The Courses Impeding Graduation (CIG) Project is a research and development initiative of the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHED) addressing the problem of high failure rates in courses that are obstacles to student retention and progression. This report report lays out the background, aims, objectives, and outcomes of the project in 2019, with a particular focus on first-year Mathematics courses in the Faculty of Science, examining which students are at higher risk of failing these courses. The report includes student perspectives gathered through focus groups.
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    Mathematical literacy of students entering first year at a South African university
    (University of Cape Town, 2003-06-30) Frith, Vera; Bowie, Lynn; Gray, Kate; Prince, Robert
    The results of a mathematical Literacy questionnaire administered to school-leavers entering the Humanities, Health Sciences and Science Faculties at a South African university in 2002 are reported. The motivation for interest in the Mathematical Literacy of these students and the rationale behind the questionnaire are discussed. Some of the mathematics and contexts that caused the most difficulty are highlighted.
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    Mathematical Literacy of Students in First Year of Medical School at a South African University
    (University of Cape Town, 2004) Prince, Robert; Frith, Vera; Jaftha, Jacob
    The literature pertaining to the definition of Mathematical Literacy (particularly in the Tertiary context) is briefly reviewed. A Mathematical Literacy questionnaire, designed in accordance with this definition, was administered to students entering the MBChB Program at a South African university in 2003. In general the level of Mathematical Literacy of Medical students is higher than that of entry-level Humanities students, and comparable with that of Science students doing Earth or Biological sciences. The response to the results of this testing, in terms of curriculum interventions in the first year of MBChB, are outlined and their degree of success is evaluated. The post-testing of the MBChB students indicated a statistically significant increase in the Mathematical Literacy of these students.
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    A new literacies approach to academic numeracy practices in higher education in South Africa
    (UTS ePress, 2008) Prince, Robert; Archer, Arlene
    This paper explores the terms 'mathematical literacy', 'quantitative literacy' and 'numeracy', in order to gain theoretical clarity on their meanings and the ways in which they are used. The teaching-learning situation and the learner are constructed in particular ways by these terms, and different understandings of these terms may reflect the values and rationales of various stakeholders who promote them. We propose the term 'academic numeracy practices' in order to emphasise the socially situated nature of all practices, to avoid reifying 'numeracy' into a set of discrete skills that an individual can either possess or lack, and to avoid extending the characteristics of one mode (namely, writing) to other modes. In arguing for the new term, we draw on the theoretical orientation of New Literacies Studies and multimodality. We exemplify our position by looking at charts as conventionalised practice in Higher Education in South Africa, focusing on BMI charts in the Health Sciences.
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    Predicting Success in Higher Education: The Value of Criterion and Norm-referenced Assessments
    (Practitioner Research in Higher Education, 2016) Prince, Robert
    Higher education’s ability to retain students through to graduate appears to be an international challenge. This is also the case in South Africa where only 27% of student complete their studies in minimum time and where 55% will never graduate. These challenges have meant that extended degree programmes, where degrees are formally done over a longer period of time, have become a feature of South African education. One challenge is determining which students will benefit from an extended programme. In South Africa there are two sets of assessments that are pertinent to this debate: the National school leaving examinations (a statutory requirement for entry into higher education) and the National Benchmark Tests. The first set of assessments are norm-referenced and are therefore often difficult to interpret for the purposes of placement. The second, however is criterion-referenced and is therefore better suited for this purpose. This paper describes the two assessments, tracks the academic standing of a cohort of students over six years at one higher education institution. It argues that using the results of the two assessments in complementary ways is the most productive approach for the purpose of placement at this institution and others in South Africa. The implications of looking at these assessments is briefly explored in broader higher education contexts.
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    Quantitative literacy of school leavers aspiring to higher education in South Africa
    (South African Journal of Higher Education, 2016) Prince, Robert; Frith, Vera
    It is important for higher education educators to understand the quantitative literacy (QL) competencies of incoming students, in order to make appropriate assumptions about prior knowledge and to design suitable curricula. In this article we analyse the results of a National Benchmark Tests project’s (NBTP) QL test written by a large cohort of prospective applicants to higher education, in order to contribute to this understanding. A large proportion of these candidates were unable to cope with quantitative literacy demands of the kinds commonly encountered in higher education. More than half of candidates need some kind of supplementary QL support and at least 30 per cent require extensive support. Candidates’ performance on subgroups of the QL test items and on individual items provides further insights into particular strengths and weaknesses. The results highlight that opportunities for the development of QL competencies should be found and these should be integrated into disciplinary teaching.
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    The quantitative literacy of South African school-leavers who qualify for higher education
    (Pythagoras, 2017-10-31) Prince, Robert
    There is an articulation gap for many students between the literacy practices developed at school and those demanded by higher education. While the school sector is often well attuned to the school-leaving assessments, it may not be as aware of the implicit quantitative literacy (QL) demands placed on students in higher education. The National Benchmark Test (NBT) in QL provides diagnostic information to inform teaching and learning. The performance of a large sample of school-leavers who wrote the NBT QL test was investigated (1) to demonstrate how school-leavers performed on this QL test, (2) to explore the relationship between performance on this test and on cognate school-leaving subjects and (3) to provide school teachers and curriculum advisors with a sense of the QL demands made on their students. Descriptive statistics were used to describe performance and linear regression to explore the relationships between performance in the NBT QL test and on the school subjects Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy. Only 13% of the NBT QL scores in the sample were classified as proficient and the majority of school-leavers would need support to cope with the QL demands of higher education. The results in neither Mathematics nor Mathematical Literacy were good predictors of performance on the NBT QL test. Examination of performance on selected individual items revealed that many students have difficulty with quantitative language and with interpreting data in tables. Given that QL is bound to context, it is important that teachers develop QL practices within their disciplinary contexts.
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    Quantitative literacy practices in civil engineering study: designs for teaching and learning
    (Aalborg Universitetsforlag, 2016) Prince, Robert; Simpson, Zach
    Higher education needs to produce increasing numbers of good quality graduates. Included herein is the need for graduates that can engage in high level quantitative literacy practices, which requires designs for learning that understand how texts are constructed through language, images and mathematical notation, which together form the meaning-making repertoire of quantitative literacy. This paper applies a framework for quantitative literacy events in the analysis of a particular graphical procedure used during undergraduate civil engineering courses throughout South Africa. The framework draws on the New Literacies Studies’ view of literacy as social practice and examines the specific practices that students need to engage with during individual quantitative literacy events. Application of the framework demonstrates that such graphical procedures constitute quantitative literacy events in which students engage in various quantitative practices, the implications of which inform designs for learning in civil engineering in several key respects.
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    Reflections on the role of a research task for teacher education in data handling in a Mathematical Literacy education course
    (Pythagoras, 2006) Frith, Vera; Prince, Robert
    The introduction of the subject “Mathematical Literacy” in the Further Education and Training band from 2006 has created an urgent need for large numbers of teachers to be educated about the nature of mathematical literacy and to become effective teachers of it. In this paper we report on an attempt to contribute to this goal through a curriculum component in an “Advanced Certificate in Education” course. This curriculum component on data handling was structured around a research task which required the teachers on the course to practise mathematical literacy in a context where there is close linkage with other vital competencies, such as verbal reasoning, writing and computer literacy. This approach articulates well with the kind of teaching envisaged by the curriculum statement for “Mathematical Literacy”. We report on an initial analysis of the teachers’ reflections on their experience of the curriculum-embedded research task on this course, the manner in which this task contributed to their understanding of mathematical literacy as a practice and themselves as practitioners.
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    School-leaving and university entrance assessments in explaining performance in Engineering studies
    (South African Society for Engineering Education, 2018-02-16) Prince, Robert
    Only about 40% of South African first-time entering Engineering cohorts graduate within five years. An argument has been made that selection mechanisms will be needed to identify students who have the prior knowledge and ability needed to succeed in regular programmes and that selection tools such as Grade 12 results and other nationally or locally designed placement tests, such as the National Benchmark Tests (NBTs), be used for this purpose. The NBTs are a set of optional standardised tests that assess whether first-time applicants to South African universities are ready for the academic demands of tertiary education. The contribution of the NBTs to admission and placement has been investigated by a number of authors who have examined their effectiveness at forecasting success and for determining the need for additional academic support. None of these studies have focussed on Engineering or used dominance analysis as a method. This study focusses on cohorts from the Engineering and the Built Environment Faculty at a South African University. It uses linear regression and dominance analysis as well as categorical methods to investigate the contributions made by the national assessments in explaining higher education performance to inform Engineering admission, especially placement, policies as well as curriculum practices. The value of this information has significant potential to enhance retention and graduation if used appropriately. If South African universities are to continue to provide access, redress and success, particularly to students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, they should consider not only students’ school-leaving performance but also their strengths and weaknesses as diagnosed through the NBTs.
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    Successful students’ negotiation of township schooling in contemporary South Africa
    (University of the Free State, 2014-09) Kapp, Rochelle; Badenhorst, Elmi; Bangeni, Bongi; Craig, Tracy S; Janse van Rensburg, Vicki; le Roux, Kate; Prince, Robert; Pym, June; van Pletzen, Ermien
    This article draws on data from a larger longitudinal qualitative case study which is tracking the progress of students over the course of their undergraduate degrees at a South African university. For this paper, we used background questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with 62 first-year students from working-class, township schools who were first registered for Extended Degree Programmes in 2009. The article draws on post-structuralist theory on learning and identity to describe and analyse the participants’ perspectives on how they negotiated their high school contexts. We analyse the subject positions in which participants invested, as well as how they negotiated their way through social networks and used resources. Our data illustrate the ways in which students had to carry the burden of negotiating their way through home, school and neighbourhood spaces that were generally not conducive to learning. Nevertheless, participants consciously positioned themselves as agents. They were resilient, motivated and took highly strategic adult decisions about their learning. We argue that a focus on how successful students negotiate their environments challenges the pathologising paradigm of “disadvantage” that characterises research and debates in higher education. It also offers an additional lens for admissions processes and for providing appropriate intervention strategies in the tertiary setting.