Grace explained that she found a balance between her social time and her studies. During the week she stayed at home and was committed to her studies, but on weekends she played soccer and sometimes went out with her girlfriends to watch a film or just to visit.
3. Summary of Emerging Themes
The themes that emerged for all participants are summarised in the next table:
Table 3: Summary of Emerging Themes
Theme Description
Language barrier As second language users the participants had trouble to articulate and express themselves in English. Motivational factors
for wanting to obtain a tertiary qualification
There was a high correlation with extrinsic motivation for all
participants and the following reasons were provided for wanting to obtain a tertiary qualification:
The need for secure and sustainable employment and financial security
Family circumstances
Single parenthood, wanting to provide own children with a better future
The status attached to a tertiary qualification (This was especially
112 true for first generation
participants) Perceived academic preparedness and self-concept Participant’s self-perception of their own academic
preparedness.
It is important to take note that all participants failed more than one module in their first semester of enrolment; some had failed their first year.
Participants felt that the high schools they attended did prepare them adequately for Higher education
Participants believed that they would finish and obtain their qualification in the designated time. It is important to note that none of them referred to time as a variable; it was as if time did not matter, as long as they eventually did reach their goal Some participant’s felt that
113 demanding than what they had
expected
Participants described their Higher education experience as follows: “It is fun”, “It is good”, “It is nice”, “it is okay” and “it is challenging”
Participants over-estimated their own academic preparedness by rating themselves as “good”. They submitted the following reasons:
“I am working hard” “I am motivated”
“ If the module does not have to do with numbers, I’ll Ace it” “I’m trying”
Some participants indicated on the student survey questionnaire that they failed less modules than what their transcript actually reflected
Not all participants had access to a computer at home
Not all participants knew how to use computers
Not all participants knew how to use the internet adequately for their studies
Participants indicated that they did not take their own notes in class as they did not know how to do so
114 not make use of a timetable to
manage their study times
Participants indicated that they did some to no preparation before their next class
Challenges of self- study
All participants indicated that they do not study according to a study time table.
Some participants indicated that they found it challenging to manage the workload and text. Some participants explicitly stated that they preferred a classroom environment where they can rely on their lecturers or tutors to construct knowledge for them, from the new information given to them.
Student-lecturer interaction
Participants indicated that the following influenced their
teaching and learning experience in the classroom:
Not all lecturers had come prepared to the classroom
Some lecturers read from their textbooks
The lack of interactive activities in some classrooms negatively affected their learning
experience
Having the same lecturer for more than one module during a semester demotivated students and made them lose interest Lecturers did not know how to
create opportunities for positive
115 Class size and
individual attention
Some participants felt reduced class sizes assisted them in their academic performance. The smaller the class, the more individual attention they could receive, which would assist them in being academically successful.
Support from the institution
Participants regarded the institutions’ support and
resources as poor. The following reasons were provided:
The library was not equipped with enough computers to service the high number of students
The library was noisy and not conducive for studying; For some qualifications no
past papers were available Students did not know where
to go or whom to consult for various support services
Support from the family
Almost all the participants came from single parent environments Some participants were single
parents themselves Their family duties and
responsibilities included taking care of sick parents, younger siblings and siblings children Some participants indicated
that their fathers mistreated them
Some participants indicated that their parents or sponsors
116 could afford their study fees
Some participants said they could not trust their fathers to pay their study fees on time Some participants relied on a
social grant from the South African government and on maintenance from the fathers of their children
One participant relied on her brother for transport money First generation students had
limited to no support from their families academically
The researcher wants to highlight that most students studied with a student loan. Alternatively, their parents had made an arrangement to pay off the study fees monthly.
Social life and peer influence
Participants partake in the following social activities: Soccer
Church activities Visiting friends
Spending time at the local tavern. All participants indicated that spending time with peers did not influence their academics negatively.
They perceived their time spent with peers as positive because of opportunities for
117 collaboration and networking
that supported motivated them. This made them feel valued and worthy
4. Conclusion
The aim of this chapter was to present the findings of the data collected from the semi- structured interviews with six South African students. The focus was on the meaning the participants constructed from their experiences of higher education. The researcher introduced each participant and described the emerging themes as co- constructed by students during the interviews. Relevant information sources, like student questionnaires, student transcripts and student records were consulted. The aim was to co-construct the participants’ unique experiences and not to generalise it. Finally, the themes were tabulated to provide a clear synopsis of the findings.
118
Chapter 5
Discussion
1. Introduction
The overall research objective of this study was to understand why at-risk students who display resilience in their personal lives are not resilient when it comes to academic success. The focus was on at-risk students who demonstrated the attributes of resilience. For the purpose of this study, at-risk students were defined as students who had failed three or more modules for an academic semester or who were repeating their first year.
This chapter discusses the findings of the study as reported in chapter four. These findings are discussed in relation to existing literature, leading to particular conclusions. The discussion is followed up with a further discussion about whether the resilience in at-risk students can be tapped into to promote academic success. Finally, the researcher addresses the research question, can the resilience that at-risk students have in their personal environments be tapped into, to promote academic success?
This chapter concludes with an outline of the strengths and limitations of the study and the recommendations for further research projects.
2. Discussion of the Research Findings
Students do not enter higher education with a clean slate. They have their own expectations of the institution and learning environment and they also have various reasons why they want to obtain a tertiary qualification. Furthermore the social environment that students come from, for example diverse family backgrounds and the high schools they attended, also contributes to how they adapt to higher education and the greater academic responsibility it puts on them. Globally, there are many ongoing discussions about how to prepare students for higher education and the academic competency skills they need in making the transition from high school to higher