A number of Higher Education Institutions in South Africa have introduced access/foundation programmes to assist students in the transition from secondary to tertiary education. Since student support is an essential feature at universities, a voluntary science enhancement (intervention) programme was implemented at a South African university to address the poor performance of first year science education students, as a formal structured programme was not on offer. The purpose of this research was to explore the students� interests, beliefs, attitudes and experiences of learning science in the programme. Epistemological beliefs with regard to learning science served as a framework for the study. The research design was a case study as data were generated from one site where we attempted to gain in-depth information about a particular phenomenon. A qualitative approach was used and descriptive data through questionnaires, interviews, reflections and evaluations were generated. The findings suggest that students� attitudes were changed and their emotional development, their confidence for learning science was developed. Students were confident that they had acquired skills that would improve their performance in science as well as in other modules. A significant finding was a shift in students� beliefs about the nature of science, which created for them a different approach to learning science. Enhancement programmes focusing on ways to support science education students are crucial for them to navigate their learning during their transition from school to university and also throughout their studies.

Username
Password