SANUSHA CHETTY P A G E | 141 The error made by me in this focus group session was that the students were not engaged in general conversation at the beginning and this was negative in so that the students seemed to remain tense and rigid with the answers. I started the questions off immediately and this did not allow the students to become comfortable and relaxed in the focus group. However, as time went on during the discussion of the focus group the students’ nervousness tended to wear off and the conversation erupted. I would have liked to start off with a more general conversation to set the scene for the focus group.
6.3 THEMES THAT HAVE EMERGED FROM BOTH THE FOCUS
SANUSHA CHETTY P A G E | 142 Jacob decided to study NCV electrical engineering because he had experience in the field and was introduced by his uncle to this field which he began to love(Powell & Mc Grath, 2013) (Powell & Mc Grath, 2013) (Powell & Mc Grath, 2013) (Powell & Mc Grath, 2013) (Powell
& Mc Grath, 2013).
During this discussion it was noted that at first when students were asked this question the response was clear that the intention was to join the NCV ARM program. However, when asked again and reassured that their personal information would remain confidential, five out of the ten students stated that they did not want to pursue a career in NCV ARM. Gugu* and Buyi* wanted to pursue a career in Electrical engineering, Lindo* wanted to further her studies in Education and development, Nosipho* wanted to become a lawyer and Thulani*
was forced to come to Campus X to study, he said that he wanted to take a gap year and hadn’t decided where he was headed yet.
The dreams of these five students could not be followed due to extenuating circumstances, where all students in the focus group did not meet the requirements in other institutions or have the finances to study elsewhere, or just could not afford to travel every day and so forth.
After joining the NCV ARM students began enjoying the program and became interested in pursuing a career in the automotive field although it was a negative experience in the beginning, so the future did not seem so bleak anymore.
The students in this study were very undecided about what they wanted to study, which is different to the findings by Harriram (2001) who stated that her students were very confident in choosing haircare and cosmetology..
SANUSHA CHETTY P A G E | 143 6.3.2 PREFERENCE FOR PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES
Groups No. Preferred practical Preferred theoretical
Group One Andiswa
Amanda
Jimmy
Nosipho
Thulani
Group Two Ben
Buyi
Siyabonga
Lindo
Gugu
TABLE 23: STUDENTS THAT PREFERRED PRACTICAL COMPARED TO THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE WITHIN THE FOCUS GROUP
When starting this section of the focus group students were asked what they understood by the term practical. Thulani* stated that it was something that you did with your hands, another student Buyi* said that it is taking the knowledge and ideas that you have and apply it using our hands, a third student Nosipho* said you do not understand what to do until you carry out the activity.
An interesting point to take note of was that only Andiswa* preferred both the practical and theoretical knowledge whereas the rest of the students preferred only practical knowledge.
They enjoyed working with their hands and carrying out activities rather than reading or writing.
Andiswa and Ben said that they really enjoyed the practical activities like stripping and assembling engines and enjoyed the way in which the teacher conducted the lessons. They said that the lecturer would read the section from the textbook, explain the section in his own words and then he would take them around the workshop showing them the respective parts from that particular section.
At a study conducted at Cato Manor Technical College by Harriram (2001, p. 58) students echoed the above statements regarding their prefernce for practical work. The following was stated:
SANUSHA CHETTY P A G E | 144
"It is hands-on work. I work with people and I do what I know best. It is exciting. I perform better with practical. "
"We learn more by doing practical. "
"Learn more in practical. "
"I find practicals to be informative, exciting and rewarding. "
Amanda, Lindo and Siyabonga agreed and said they enjoyed the workshop environment and carrying out activities rather than sitting and listening to the lecturer talking all the time. They enjoyed using their hands and moving around the workshop carrying out activities.
In a study carried out by Needham and Papier (2011) students found that the importance on practical skills very attractive, observing the benefit that they had over school students, especially with regard to work readiness and job prospects. This is a similar finding to that of (Powell & Mc Grath, 2013) who found that students were attracted by the college courses due to the mixture of theory and practical and the point that colleges were more ‘hands on’compared to that of the school.
Nosipho and Thulani on the other hand enjoyed the theoretical side of the classroom. They enjoyed listening to the teacher and learning new aspects from the textbook. They also said that they appreciated the group work activities because it taught them how to work together, how to be leaders and also how to be followers.
It is quite clear that more students preferred the practical knowledge compared to that of the theoretical knowledge. There were a few that enjoyed the class discussions.
Practical knowledge assists the student in obtaining the precise procedures that become the tools of their ARM trade. There are some aspects that can only be learnt through doing and experiencing something.
As stated in earlier chapters there are twelve topics in the NCV ARM Level two syllabus, all twelve topics had been covered at the time of conducting the focus groups. The focus groups were conducted in the first week of August and at this part of the year the lecturers are rounding up the syllabus due to ISAT’s which will be conducted toward the end of August and trial examinations which will begin mid-September. Once ISAT’s begin, the students go
SANUSHA CHETTY P A G E | 145 into the workshops on a more or less full time basis and they do not attend theory classes.
This is also the reason why students could state whether they preferred practical or propositional knowledge and give feedback regarding the classroom activities.
TABLE 24: TOPICS THAT WERE COVERED BEFORE THE FOCUS GROUPS WERE CARRIED OUT
6.3.3 BARRIERS TO LEARNING
The two main barriers to learning that stood out were that of the lack of resources and time.
The reason behind scarce resources and in some cases, time, was that of the large number of students that were enrolled.
6.3.3.1 Lack of resources
Although students were happy with the overall program and the way in which it was run, they noted that there were a few aspects that required changes. Buyi and Amanda were happy with the resources and were happy sharing machinery and equipment during the workshop lessons.
However Jimmy, Siyabonga and Ben stated that more resources were required because they
Topics as per the NCV SAG ARM Level two
Topic Number: Topic:
Topic One Health and Safety
Topic Two Tools Applicable to the Auto Trade Topic Three Measuring Equipment
Topic Four Vehicle Lifting Equipment
Topic Five Fundamentals of Engine Technology
Topic Six Bearings
Topic Seven Batteries
Topic Eight Lubrication Systems Topic Nine Wheels and Tyres Topic Ten Cooling Systems
Topic Eleven Lights and Automotive Electrical Systems Topic Twelve Servicing a Vehicle
SANUSHA CHETTY P A G E | 146 did not get enough time to work on the equipment. Amanda said that there is a section in the textbook called wheel alignment but they did not have the equipment to carry out the task.
This was reiterated by a civil engineering student in another study who also mentioned the lack of practical application, saying that they learned about cranes but only ever saw them from far away (Needham & Papier, 2011).
Sharing of equipment and machinery will hinder students’ learning processes. In a case where students get the opportunity to use the machinery and equipment and carry out the task, others will miss this opportunity due to the lack of time or equipment. As stated earlier most students prefer to carry out practical tasks rather than the theory, they said that they gained more knowledge by doing rather than reading.
6.3.3.2 Time
Students noted that there was not enough time for learning. This was a point also raised by the lecutrer. However, if students did try to make effort to come to class on time, it would help the situation. This is something that the students must learn due to the point that when they are employed, the employer will not condone late coming because s/he will be losing out on production time.
The curriculum is theory dense and if the time is not well used the lecturer will not be able to get through all the topics. Instructional time is lost due to student and / or lecturer late coming, and time is not well used during the class time. Time management plays a big part in gaining maximum learning time. Although students didn’t have a high rate of absenteeism they did have however a habit of late coming in the morning and returning late to class after the breaks, which has been noted in other studies (Powell & Mc Grath, 2013).