Abstract
M. Ed. (Tertiary Didactics)
This study is part of a more extensive research project undertaken by a number of M.Ed.-students. The Bureau for University Education at the Rand Afrikaans University has
accepted the question of the development of selection mechanisms with a view to accepting students for a university course as part of its assignment. The problem concerning a selection process for students can have dire repercussions, not only for those students who fail as a result of inadequate or erroneous selection, but also for the university as well as for the community. Individual members of the research team
have devoted their attention to the evaluation of the existing selection criterium currently being implemented in order to select first-year students for further study in the various
faculties. The objective of this research effort is particularly to determine whether the current selection programme, according to which first year students are selected for the Faculty of Education, is effective. An extensive literature study on existing selection
procedures at universities abroad as well as at South African universities has been undertaken. At South African universities, and in particular at the Rand Afrikaans
University, a variation of the Swedish Formula, the M-Score, is used as a selection mechanism. This M-Score has also been used as the research instrument in this research study. The M-Score comprises the allocation of different numerical values to the symbols attained in matriculation subjects, The research group consisted of full-time first-year students who registered at the RAU in the Faculty of Education for the degrees or diploma B.Prim.Ed., B.Cur., and H.E.D. in 1990. During the empirical research a cross-reference table on which the entire research group's final results of each first-year
subject was entered in· certain intervals opposite the student's various M-Scores, was compiled. Likewise a crossreference table for each different field of study was
compiled, in order to compare each field of study with the findings of the total research group. An additional table containing the frequencies, cumulative frequencies, and the
percentages of both the successful as well as the unsuccessful courses as regards the total research group, has also been compiled. The percentage of successful courses per M-Score for the total research group has also been graphically indicated.