Following the dwindled academic performance of first-year undergraduate students in the universities as observed by the researchers and confirmed by the literature, the study problematised Supplemental Instruction (SI) mechanism as a tool to enhance students’ performance. Supplemental Instruction, according to this study, is the kind of supplementary academic supports rendered to students to enhance their performance. In order to achieve this, this study explored the challenges with the use of Supplemental Instruction along with the possible solutions to the problems. Social constructivism was used to theorise the study. Participatory Research (PR) was adopted as a methodology for the study because it involved the coming together of the concerned people to participate in problem definition, problem assessment, implementation, and evaluation. Unstructured interviews were used to generate data from the participants who were facilitators and students as co-researchers with the use of audiotape recorder. The participants for the study included first-year students at the selected university, the SI coordinator, two tutors for various modules and their lecturers. Thematic analysis was adopted to categorise, interpret, and analyse the generated data because it involved the reflection of categorised objectives. The study found out among others that; inadequate planning and lack of collaborative engagement were the major challenges while training and retraining of SI personnel and collaborative engagement were the suggestible solutions to ameliorate the problems. However, the study, in its conclusion, significantly enhances the university’s reputation and increases the quality of its outputs in terms of students’ academic performance through the use of SI. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.5.13

The benefits of collaborative learning (CL) in teaching-learning have been well-documented. According to existing literature, it will help students and teachers learn from one another, develop good communication skills, foster a sense of community, trust and respect, and retain and apply the information in their future studies. Unfortunately, observation coupled with research shows that pre-service teachers’ participation in South Africa's rural universities is at its lowest ebb – a potential source of concern to education stakeholders given its futuristic implications in the light of CL benefits. Less pre-service teachers’ participation has been linked to cultural influence, environmental factors and students’ backgrounds and have negatively impacted students’ academic achievement. This paper seeks to typify CL as a panacea to pre-service teachers' apathy toward learning. In doing this, social constructivism theory (SCT) was adopted to underpin the study. Drawing from the principles of participatory action research, fifteen undergraduate students were randomly selected, and data was gathered with the instrumentation of semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The study revealed the think-peer-share strategy, group work strategy, micro-teaching strategy, positive feedback and encouragement, learner-centred method, and inquiry method as strategies for improving participation among pre-service teachers in rural universities. Recommendations were made in line with the findings of the study.

Pre-service teachers who want to become professional teachers are mandated to go for teaching practice at schools to implement the skills learnt in the classroom. Therefore, it is crucial for proper and adequate preparation at various schools where they will be teaching. Unfortunately, experiences from pre-service teachers, literature, and observations have testified that schools do not prepare enough, especially in resources. To address this issue, the study identified challenges pre-service teachers encountered during teaching practice and explored the possible solutions pre-service teachers faced. The study adopted Transformative Leadership Theory (TLT) as a theoretical framework, Participatory Research (PR) as research design, while Transformative Paradigm TP was adopted to lens the study. The selection of participants was done using a random sampling technique in order to be fair and unbiased. So, 10 out of 40 reflective assessments submitted by final year students were selected. Student reflection was used as a data collection method, while Thematic Analysis (TA) was adopted to analyse the data generated. The findings show that schools do not adequately prepare to receive pre-service teachers for teaching practice. It thereby recommended that schools with the intervention of the government, should try as much as possible to render support, especially in the area of educational resources, since there cannot be effective teaching in its absence. Again, the study recommends that schools orient learners about their perspectives towards pre-service teachers. .

Slido is an interactive online platform facilitating active learning in rural university settings. Rural universities often need more resources, including access to technology and opportunities for diverse pedagogical approaches. Traditional lecture-based teaching predominates due to these constraints, which can hinder student engagement and learning outcomes. Slido offers a solution by leveraging technology to enhance interaction, collaboration, and participation within the classroom environment. This study, therefore, adopted the Slido application to promote active learning in one of the rural university classrooms within South African higher education. Active learning methodologies have gained widespread recognition for their effectiveness in engaging students, fostering more profound understanding, and promoting critical thinking skills. However, implementing such strategies, especially in rural university classrooms, can pose unique challenges. Through features such as live polls, quizzes, and audience Q&A sessions, Slido enables instructors to create dynamic learning experiences that encourage active participation from students. In rural contexts where class sizes may be smaller and student diversity limited, Slido provides an avenue for inclusive participation and allows even the most reserved students to contribute anonymously. Hence, the qualitative study adopted a transformative paradigm as a lens and approached it through active learning designed by Action Research. Furthermore, the study was a two-year project involving third-year business studies students and their transition to, and completion of, their fourth year of study. Seven students were selected as the participants, and data was generated through a Focus Group discussion and analyzed using Thematic Analysis. The study revealed that Slido promotes activeness among students in the module selected in the rural university. In conclusion, Slido offers a promising solution for promoting active learning in rural university classrooms. The study recommends that lecturers should be empowered in terms of resources and training to infuse technology into teaching.

This study investigated how collaborative learning, as a teaching and learning approach, can be enhanced to promote pre-service teachers' participation in university classrooms in rural areas of South Africa. The study aimed to identify the conducive conditions that support collaborative learning, as well as the threats that may hinder the implementation of collaborative learning in rural classrooms. Asset-based community development served as the theoretical framework for this study. A transformative paradigm was adopted, employing a participatory research design to bring together individuals with relevant experiences and opinions. The study involved fifteen participants, including five lecturers with more than five years of experience, five third-year students, and five fourth-year students from a selected university. Data was collected through focused group discussions and interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings of the study revealed that connecting activities to assessment, proper planning, linking content to students' lives, and establishing a positive classroom culture were conducive conditions for collaborative learning. On the other hand, language barriers, unconducive classroom infrastructure, and lack of infrastructure were identified as factors that could hinder the implementation of collaborative learning in this study. The study recommends the creation of favourable conditions, such as aligning activities with assessments and effective planning, to promote collaborative learning among pre-service teachers in rural university classrooms in South Africa.

The successful training of preservice teachers in South African universities will be incomplete without the intervention of high school teachers, principals, and other stakeholders in education. It has been discovered that preservice teachers who teach Business Studies (BS) as one of the Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) subjects during teaching practice (TP) do not get enough assistance from their mentor teachers as they ought to because they are overloaded with much teaching work at this time. Therefore, the study aims to explore the different trajectories that preservice teachers take in their preparation for teaching Business Studies, the challenges 4th-year preservice teachers who specialise in EMS subjects encounter, how they overcome them, and how these trajectories impact their teaching practice experience. Overall, the study seeks to improve the quality of Business Studies education in South Africa by providing insights into the preparation and experiences of preservice teachers. Six fourth-year preservice teachers who taught Business Studies in Grades 10 and 12 were selected for the study to reflect on their experiences during teaching practice; hence, reflection was used as the data source for the study. Experiential learning theory was used as the lens of the study. At the same time, the interpretivism paradigm was adopted to understand individual preservice experiences. A case study was used as the design, and thematic analysis was adopted to analyse the data generated. The study found that preservice teachers who teach BS during TP face challenges such as a lack of Learning and Teaching Support Materials (LTSM), being assigned too much work to do, and the fact that BS has too much content to teach. Despite the challenges, these preservice teachers were creative enough to develop solutions, like designing posters without teaching resources and using practical examples to explain content for better understanding and parental involvement in class decisions such as discipline.