Abstract:

The poor performance of learners in Drawing N2 at Ekurhuleni West College (EWC) has become a concern and should be addressed. EWC is a merger of four former Technical Colleges, namely Germiston, Kathorus, Kempton and Tembisa campuses. All students who enrol for Mechanical Engineering must register for Engineering Drawing as one of their major subjects, as it is the main foundation for future mechanical engineers.

The Mechanical Engineering department at Kempton campus is the only department with a low student number. The number of learners per trimester at Kempton campus who take Drawing N2 used to be between 50 and 60. Some of the learners have been reluctant to take Drawing N2 since May 2003. The number of N2 Drawing students has dropped to between 40 and 50 students per trimester (as from the second trimester of 2003).

The study is aimed at identifying factors resulting in poor academic performance in Drawing N2. The major findings of the study include, lack of awareness of the importance of Drawing in the Mechanical Engineering field, inadequate motivation concerning Drawing, lack of necessary instruments and bad teaching and learning materials (textbooks). The study also proposes guidelines of how this problem can be addressed.