| Summary: | M. Tech. (Information and communication technology, Faculty of Applied and computer sciences), Vaal University of Technology === Historically, access to information technology (IT) in South Africa educational
institutions has been socially stratified. As a result, many new learners seeking to
enter South African tertiary institutions fail to meet the requirements of their
preferred course and institution. In 2003, the Department of Information and
Corrununications Technology at the Vaal University of Technology (VUT), in
conjunction with the National Institute for Information Technology (NIIT), an
internationally recognised IT organisation, introduced a short course named the
Information Technology Boot Camp (ITBC). This course is now known as the
Introduction to Information Technology course (Intro-to-IT). The course is
targeted at learners who want to study the IT diploma at the VUT but, who as a
result of their Matriculation marks, do not meet the VUT's entrance requirements.
The aim of the course is to prepare and qualify these learners for possible
acceptance into the IT diploma at the VUT. Although the Intro-to-IT course has
impacted positively on the VUT, research has found that learners progressing from
the Intro-to-IT course into the IT diploma course experience difficulties in solving
programming problems in a logical way. Therefore, the failure rate in
Development Software I, a first-semester programming subject, is relatively high.
The model described in this study encompasses alterations (implemented and still
to be implemented) to the syllabus and content of the Intro-to-IT course, changes
to the learning methods and time frames for subjects, and the measurement of these
changes in comparison to previous results. The model also includes a software
program, which will assess the Intro-to-IT applicants, store results and provide
analytical data on all learners' marks and results for the Intro-to-IT short course at
the VUT. This model is designed to provide the necessary skills, knowledge and
basic logic required to allow successful Intro-to-IT learners the opportunity of
success when they enter the VUT's IT diploma stream.
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