This study investigated the relationship between adult learners' self-directedness and their perceptions of their employability attributes. A stratified proportional random sample (N = 1 102) was taken of undergraduate adult learners at a South African open distance learning (ODL) higher education institution. The sample was predominantly represented by early-career black and female participants who were employed in industry and pursuing further studies in the economic and management sciences field. The results showed that learners who had a strong sense of self-directedness and especially a success orientation toward studying in an ODL environment had more confidence in their employability attributes and felt especially positive about their proactivity, career self-management and career resilience.
Orientation: This article reports on the behaviours displayed by committed employees and the influence of perceptions of fair treatment in the workplace on employees’ commitment.Research purpose: The objective of the study was to identify organisational behaviours that are indicative of employee commitment and whether perceptions of fair treatment in the workplace influence employees’ commitment.Motivation for the study: Employees are emotionally attached to organisations and treating employees in a fair manner plays a huge role in building commitment.Research design, approach and method: This study made use of a quantitative approach and a questionnaire was developed to collect data on employees’ biographical details, their work behaviour and perceptions of how fairly they believe they were treated in the workplace. A disproportionate, stratified sampling method was used and a sample of 349 employees from a leading bank in South Africa participated. Factor analysis, correlations, t-tests and analysis of variance statistics were computed to achieve the objectives.Main findings: The factor analysis identified the following four factors relating to employee commitment: obedience, job satisfaction, participation and loyalty. The results of the t-tests revealed that biographical factors do not have a practical significant effect on employee commitment, whereas treatment in the workplace does have a significant effect on employee commitment.Practical/managerial implications: Committed employees engage in specific behaviours and if they do not, managers need to pay attention to the way employees are treated in the workplace.Contribution/value-add: This study contributes to a better understanding of the dimensionality of employee commitment in the light of perceptions of fair treatment.
<p>This study investigated the relationship between self-directedness (as measured by the Adult Learner Self-Directedness Scale) and biographical factors such as age, race, and gender of adult learners enrolled at a South African open distance learning (ODL) higher education institution. Correlational and inferential statistical analyses were used. A stratified random sample of 1,102 mainly black and female learners participated in the study. The Adult Learner Self-Directedness Scale (ALSDS) identified four constructs of adult learner self-directedness in an Open Distance Learning Higher Education (ODLHE) milieu, namely the strategic utilisation of officially provided resources, engaged academic activity, success orientation for ODLHE, and academically motivated behaviour. The research indicated that significant differences exist between the gender, race and age groups with regard to self-directedness.</p><p>With regard to gender, males scored significantly higher than females on success orientation for ODLHE and engaged academic activity. With regard to race, Indian participants scored significantly higher than the other race groups on strategic utilisation of officially provided resources and engaged academic activity. The white participants scored significantly higher than the other race groups on success orientation for ODLHE. In terms of age, the age group >50 scored significantly higher than the other age groups on success orientation for ODLHE and self-efficacy. In terms of success orientation, the means for the age groups seem to increase as the ages of participants increase. The age group 18-25 scored significantly higher than the other age groups on engaged academic activity.</p>
Acknowledging that plagiarism includes many different behaviours, this study focusses on one specific plagiarism challenge, namely, acts of incorrect referencing and citation (sometimes called technical plagiarism). Notwithstanding anti-plagiarism policies being in place with penalties for a breach of the rules, Referencing Guides shared with students, additional workshops and tutorial sessions to facilitate the students' understanding of the Institution's referencing rules and standards, higher education institutions continue to experience an ongoing increase in the number of (technical) plagiarism cases, including repeat offenders. While the importance of proper referencing skills and techniques is fundamental to sound scholarship, a further concern is the impact of the accruing penalties on student success, retention, and graduateness. This study actively engaged the students, requiring them to reflect on their prior experiences with various sources of information, as well as their understanding and appreciation of how, why, what, and when to reference the resources used in their studies. The study discovered that students often describe the Institution's approach to teaching the skills of referencing as "alienating" and "punitive" and antithetical to learning. Based on the research data, and comparing the outcomes from other similar research studies, the article propose leading practices that will support higher Singh, Steenkamp, Harmse and Botha Engaging the student voices to improve referencing skills and practices 123 education institutions better prepare students, especially students of the Alpha Generation, for improved understanding and application of institutional norms for academic referencing and citation practices.
Orientation: The absence of a scale to assess the academic self-directedness of adult learners in South African open, distance and e-learning milieus.Research purpose: This article describes the further validity and reliability assessment of the Adult Learner Self-Directedness Scale (ALSDS), which assesses adult learners’ academic self-directedness in an open, distance and e-learning (ODeL) university in South Africa. An initial validity and reliability study yielded a four-factor scale with 35 items loading onto it, while this study reports on a three-factor scale with 15 items loading onto it.Motivation for the study: Factors such as socio-economic conditions and past education practices make South African open, distance and e-learning higher education (ODeLHE) challenging for socio-economically disadvantaged students. The growing trend of online tuition and assessment in South African universities requires research into strategies that may improve a student’s success and throughput. In ODeLHE, student self-directedness may contribute to academic success, and thus a reliable scale is needed to assess it. Currently, there is no such South African scale.Research approach/design and method: A quantitative, cross-sectional research design was implemented, using self-report data from the students of the College of Economic and Management Sciences at a South African ODeL university. The ALSDS comprises three factors: success orientation for ODeLHE (self-efficacy beliefs), active academic behaviour (learner agency) and use of strategic resources (learning context management).Main findings: The findings indicate that the ALSDS appears to be a valid, internally consistent and reliable scale suitable for assessing ODeLHE adult learners’ academic self-directedness. Further research is, however, required to establish metric and scalar invariance.Practical/managerial implications: The scale may provide a reliable starting point for developing a scale for assessing ODeLHE students’ existing academic self-directedness. Knowledge of existing self-directedness capacity may be useful in designing and implementing holistic learner support programmes.Contribution/value-add: The ALSDS may provide a reliable Afrocentric starting point for developing a measure for assessing the academic self-directedness of South African ODeLHE students.
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