ABSTRACT
South African education is presently characterized by large numbers of students who, judging from the poor results in their first year at university as well as in the school-leaving examination, are not equipped to meet the academic requirements of first-year university courses. This is especially true in science-related disciplines. During the last 7 years, a growing interdisciplinary research group at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), a black university in South Africa, has been attempting:
To understand the constructions which students from a third world context bring to the study of various disciplines;
To determine the cognitive reasons for the poor academic performance of these students; and
To develop suitable instructional materials based on the above determinations.
