When does a nation-level analysis make sense? ESD and educational governance in Brazil, South Africa, and the USA
- Feinstein, Noah W, Jacobi, Pedro R, Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Authors: Feinstein, Noah W , Jacobi, Pedro R , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/131645 , vital:36707 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2013.767321
- Description: International policy analysis tends to simplify the nation state, portraying countries as coherent units that can be described by one statistic or placed into one category. As scholars from Brazil, South Africa, and the USA, we find the nation-centric research perspective particularly challenging. In each of our home countries, the effective influence of the national government on education is quite limited, particularly in fringe and emerging areas of education such as Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Climate Change Education (CCE). This essay explores how nation-level comparisons are and are not useful for international research on ESD and CCE. We consider several layers of decentralized governance, but ultimately come to the conclusion that ESD governance in our respective countries is polycentric rather than decentralized. We discuss the implications of this idea for cross-national policy research on ESD and CCE.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Feinstein, Noah W , Jacobi, Pedro R , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/131645 , vital:36707 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2013.767321
- Description: International policy analysis tends to simplify the nation state, portraying countries as coherent units that can be described by one statistic or placed into one category. As scholars from Brazil, South Africa, and the USA, we find the nation-centric research perspective particularly challenging. In each of our home countries, the effective influence of the national government on education is quite limited, particularly in fringe and emerging areas of education such as Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Climate Change Education (CCE). This essay explores how nation-level comparisons are and are not useful for international research on ESD and CCE. We consider several layers of decentralized governance, but ultimately come to the conclusion that ESD governance in our respective countries is polycentric rather than decentralized. We discuss the implications of this idea for cross-national policy research on ESD and CCE.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Where angels fear to tread: online peer-assessment in a large first-year class
- Mostert, Markus, Snowball, Jeanette D
- Authors: Mostert, Markus , Snowball, Jeanette D
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68845 , vital:29330 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2012.683770
- Description: Publisher version , In the context of widening participation, large classes and increased diversity, assessment of student learning is becoming increasingly problematic in that providing formative feedback aimed at developing student writing proves to be particularly laborious. Although the potential value of peer assessment has been well documented in the literature, the associated administrative burden, also in relation to managing anonymity and intellectual ownership, makes this option less attractive, particularly in large classes. A potential solution involves the use of information and communication technologies to automate the logistics associated with peer assessment in a time-efficient way. However, uptake of such systems in the higher education community is limited, and research in this area is only beginning. This case study reports on the use of the Moodle Workshop module for formative peer assessment of students’ individual work in a first-year introductory macro-economics class of over 800 students. Data were collected through an end-of-course evaluation survey of students. The study found that using the feature-rich Workshop module not only addressed many of the practical challenges associated with paper-based peer assessments, but also provided a range of additional options for enhancing validity and reliability of peer assessments that would not be possible with paper-based systems.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Mostert, Markus , Snowball, Jeanette D
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68845 , vital:29330 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2012.683770
- Description: Publisher version , In the context of widening participation, large classes and increased diversity, assessment of student learning is becoming increasingly problematic in that providing formative feedback aimed at developing student writing proves to be particularly laborious. Although the potential value of peer assessment has been well documented in the literature, the associated administrative burden, also in relation to managing anonymity and intellectual ownership, makes this option less attractive, particularly in large classes. A potential solution involves the use of information and communication technologies to automate the logistics associated with peer assessment in a time-efficient way. However, uptake of such systems in the higher education community is limited, and research in this area is only beginning. This case study reports on the use of the Moodle Workshop module for formative peer assessment of students’ individual work in a first-year introductory macro-economics class of over 800 students. Data were collected through an end-of-course evaluation survey of students. The study found that using the feature-rich Workshop module not only addressed many of the practical challenges associated with paper-based peer assessments, but also provided a range of additional options for enhancing validity and reliability of peer assessments that would not be possible with paper-based systems.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2013
Who knew
- Authors: Gaunt, Hailey Kathryn
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Poetry , Memory , Nature , Marriage , Faith , Death , Meaning , English language -- Writing , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century , Creative writing (Higher education)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5962 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001812
- Description: This book of poems ranges in style from narrative to condensed lyric moment, and shifts in perspective from observation to introspection. Thematically, these poems explore everyday life through its many manifestations – memory, nature, marriage, faith and death – with an emphasis on finding meaning in absolutely ordinary things. Though their tone is often vulnerable and tender, even when it is more distant the poems are always searching.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Gaunt, Hailey Kathryn
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Poetry , Memory , Nature , Marriage , Faith , Death , Meaning , English language -- Writing , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century , Creative writing (Higher education)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5962 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001812
- Description: This book of poems ranges in style from narrative to condensed lyric moment, and shifts in perspective from observation to introspection. Thematically, these poems explore everyday life through its many manifestations – memory, nature, marriage, faith and death – with an emphasis on finding meaning in absolutely ordinary things. Though their tone is often vulnerable and tender, even when it is more distant the poems are always searching.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis of the effect of alkyl-and arylthio substituents on manganese phthalocyanines for self-assembled monolayer formation on gold
- Coates, Megan, Nyokong, Tebello
- Authors: Coates, Megan , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190490 , vital:44999 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elecom.2013.03.019"
- Description: Self-assembled monolayers of an octa-substituted alkylthio and arylthio manganese phthalocyanines were formed on gold. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to analyse both of the phthalocyanine layers on gold. Approximately 60% of the sulphur groups in the aryl substituted-SAM surface were bound to gold through the cleavage of the C S bond, as opposed to only 37% for the alkyl substituted-SAM.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Coates, Megan , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190490 , vital:44999 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elecom.2013.03.019"
- Description: Self-assembled monolayers of an octa-substituted alkylthio and arylthio manganese phthalocyanines were formed on gold. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to analyse both of the phthalocyanine layers on gold. Approximately 60% of the sulphur groups in the aryl substituted-SAM surface were bound to gold through the cleavage of the C S bond, as opposed to only 37% for the alkyl substituted-SAM.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
You reap what you sow : regulating marriages and intimate partnerships in a diverse post-apartheid society
- Authors: Kruuse, Helen
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54152 , vital:26396 , https://tinyurl.com/yaughtn2
- Description: South Africa does not have a particularly proud history. Marred by the politics of separate but (un)equal treatment of its people, the country's past political system has had a damaging effect in all spheres, but specifically on that of the family. In the context of relationships, it is fair to say that the apartheid system was replicated in family law, with the Western 'white' monogamous marriage receiving the state's stamp of approval - leaving other relationships (customary, Muslim, homosexual, cohabiting etc) largely out in the cold.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Kruuse, Helen
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54152 , vital:26396 , https://tinyurl.com/yaughtn2
- Description: South Africa does not have a particularly proud history. Marred by the politics of separate but (un)equal treatment of its people, the country's past political system has had a damaging effect in all spheres, but specifically on that of the family. In the context of relationships, it is fair to say that the apartheid system was replicated in family law, with the Western 'white' monogamous marriage receiving the state's stamp of approval - leaving other relationships (customary, Muslim, homosexual, cohabiting etc) largely out in the cold.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Zinc (II) 2, 9, 16, 23-tetrakis [4-(N-methylpyridyloxy)]-phthalocyanine anchored on an electrospun polysulfone polymer fiber: Application for photosensitized conversion of methyl orange
- Zugle, Ruphino, Nyokong, Tebello
- Authors: Zugle, Ruphino , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/232741 , vital:50020 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcata.2012.10.001"
- Description: In this work, a comparative study of photodegradation of methyl orange, an azo dye, in homogeneous aqueous solution of a quarternized cationic zinc phthalocyanine and a heterogeneous catalytic system based on the same phthalocyanine anchored on polysulfone polymer fiber is presented. In both cases, conversion involved the azo bond of the dye with no detectable opening up of the aromatic benzene rings. The reaction kinetics in both cases were consistent with first order with the conversion occurring in the homogeneous system being faster than when the functionalized polymer fiber was used. The reaction products consisted of a coupling product as well as a series of oligopolymeric products.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Zugle, Ruphino , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/232741 , vital:50020 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcata.2012.10.001"
- Description: In this work, a comparative study of photodegradation of methyl orange, an azo dye, in homogeneous aqueous solution of a quarternized cationic zinc phthalocyanine and a heterogeneous catalytic system based on the same phthalocyanine anchored on polysulfone polymer fiber is presented. In both cases, conversion involved the azo bond of the dye with no detectable opening up of the aromatic benzene rings. The reaction kinetics in both cases were consistent with first order with the conversion occurring in the homogeneous system being faster than when the functionalized polymer fiber was used. The reaction products consisted of a coupling product as well as a series of oligopolymeric products.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
‘Growing’ social protection in developing countries: lessons from Brazil and South Africa
- Barrientos, Armando, Moller, Valerie, Saboia, Joao, Lloyd-Sherlock, Peter, Mase, Julia
- Authors: Barrientos, Armando , Moller, Valerie , Saboia, Joao , Lloyd-Sherlock, Peter , Mase, Julia
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67195 , vital:29058 , https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2013.756098
- Description: publisher version , The rapid expansion of social protection in the South provides a rich diversity of experiences and lessons on how best to reduce poverty and ultimately eradicate it. Knowledge on how best to ‘grow’ social assistance, understood as long-term institutions responsible for reducing and preventing poverty, is at a premium. This article examines the expansion of social assistance in Brazil and South Africa, two of the middle income countries widely perceived to have advanced furthest in ‘growing’ social protection. It examines three aspects: the primacy of politics in explaining the expansion of social protection and assistance, the tensions between path-dependence and innovation in terms of institutions and practices, and the poverty and inequality outcomes of social assistance expansion. The article concludes by drawing the main lessons for other developing countries.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Barrientos, Armando , Moller, Valerie , Saboia, Joao , Lloyd-Sherlock, Peter , Mase, Julia
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67195 , vital:29058 , https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2013.756098
- Description: publisher version , The rapid expansion of social protection in the South provides a rich diversity of experiences and lessons on how best to reduce poverty and ultimately eradicate it. Knowledge on how best to ‘grow’ social assistance, understood as long-term institutions responsible for reducing and preventing poverty, is at a premium. This article examines the expansion of social assistance in Brazil and South Africa, two of the middle income countries widely perceived to have advanced furthest in ‘growing’ social protection. It examines three aspects: the primacy of politics in explaining the expansion of social protection and assistance, the tensions between path-dependence and innovation in terms of institutions and practices, and the poverty and inequality outcomes of social assistance expansion. The article concludes by drawing the main lessons for other developing countries.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2013
“A road that may lead nowhere”: JM Coetzee, Tayeb Salih, and the Hospitality of Vagrant Writing
- Authors: Marais, Mike
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144072 , vital:38308 , https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=4568814
- Description: In this article, I argue that Coetzee's writing, being alienated from history but unable to transcend it, is forced to treat its own representations with a measure of suspicion. By extension, the Coetzee text is always divided against itself. It is, in the idiom of hospitality, never quite at home with itself because it is aware that home is premised on exclusion, on the existence of an outsider, one for whom home is not a home.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Marais, Mike
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144072 , vital:38308 , https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=4568814
- Description: In this article, I argue that Coetzee's writing, being alienated from history but unable to transcend it, is forced to treat its own representations with a measure of suspicion. By extension, the Coetzee text is always divided against itself. It is, in the idiom of hospitality, never quite at home with itself because it is aware that home is premised on exclusion, on the existence of an outsider, one for whom home is not a home.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
“As soon as the four sides are all equal, then the angles must be 90° each”: children's misconceptions in geometry
- Atebe, Humphrey U, Schäfer, Marc
- Authors: Atebe, Humphrey U , Schäfer, Marc
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140983 , vital:37934 , DOI: 10.1080/10288457.2008.10740634
- Description: This study describes Nigerian and South African students' conceptual understanding in high school geometry based on the van Hiele model of geometric thinking levels. The study further highlights students' misconceptions in school geometry. Concepts of triangles and quadrilaterals were investigated among 36 mathematics learners drawn from grades 10 through 12 who participated in this study. The tasks included identifying and naming shapes, sorting of shapes, stating the properties of shapes, defining of shapes and establishing class inclusions of shapes. The results indicated that many Nigerian and South African high school learners in Grade 10, 11 and 12 hold a number of misconceptions about geometric concepts of triangles and quadrilaterals.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Atebe, Humphrey U , Schäfer, Marc
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140983 , vital:37934 , DOI: 10.1080/10288457.2008.10740634
- Description: This study describes Nigerian and South African students' conceptual understanding in high school geometry based on the van Hiele model of geometric thinking levels. The study further highlights students' misconceptions in school geometry. Concepts of triangles and quadrilaterals were investigated among 36 mathematics learners drawn from grades 10 through 12 who participated in this study. The tasks included identifying and naming shapes, sorting of shapes, stating the properties of shapes, defining of shapes and establishing class inclusions of shapes. The results indicated that many Nigerian and South African high school learners in Grade 10, 11 and 12 hold a number of misconceptions about geometric concepts of triangles and quadrilaterals.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
“Face the music!”: the Daily Sun's representation of adolescent sex in the Jules High sex scandal
- Boshoff, Priscilla A, Prinsloo, Jeanne
- Authors: Boshoff, Priscilla A , Prinsloo, Jeanne
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143483 , vital:38250 , DOI: 10.1080/10130950.2013.834660
- Description: Rather than being merely a physiological stage, adolescence is variously constructed through social institutions. The media plays a significant role in such constructions, including that of adolescent sexuality. In the recent past there have been several cases of sexual acts involving adolescents that have received prominent media coverage as they have been considered shocking. The Jules High School sex scandal related to sex acts between a single adolescent girl and two adolescent boys. It was recorded on mobile phones by their peers and circulated on their mobile networks, or ‘went viral’ as the media continuously noted. The press coverage surrounding this incident and the legal process that ensued is the focus of this Article which undertakes a critical textual analysis of the coverage in the popular tabloid, the Daily Sun, in order to make explicit the contesting sets of discourses around adolescence and sexuality that were articulated in this popular public sphere. The Article uses a Foucauldian framework in order to probe the discourses of sexuality that are articulated and contested in this space. As the most widely read newspaper in South Africa it serves as a powerful site of definition of teen sexuality. The analysis suggests that, rather than allowing for teen sexuality, it is disavowed by villainising teen sex and responsibility for such ‘deviance’ is directed to various adult and social adult actors.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Boshoff, Priscilla A , Prinsloo, Jeanne
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143483 , vital:38250 , DOI: 10.1080/10130950.2013.834660
- Description: Rather than being merely a physiological stage, adolescence is variously constructed through social institutions. The media plays a significant role in such constructions, including that of adolescent sexuality. In the recent past there have been several cases of sexual acts involving adolescents that have received prominent media coverage as they have been considered shocking. The Jules High School sex scandal related to sex acts between a single adolescent girl and two adolescent boys. It was recorded on mobile phones by their peers and circulated on their mobile networks, or ‘went viral’ as the media continuously noted. The press coverage surrounding this incident and the legal process that ensued is the focus of this Article which undertakes a critical textual analysis of the coverage in the popular tabloid, the Daily Sun, in order to make explicit the contesting sets of discourses around adolescence and sexuality that were articulated in this popular public sphere. The Article uses a Foucauldian framework in order to probe the discourses of sexuality that are articulated and contested in this space. As the most widely read newspaper in South Africa it serves as a powerful site of definition of teen sexuality. The analysis suggests that, rather than allowing for teen sexuality, it is disavowed by villainising teen sex and responsibility for such ‘deviance’ is directed to various adult and social adult actors.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
An Analysis and Implementation of Methods for High Speed Lexical Classification of Malicious URLs
- Egan, Shaun P, Irwin, Barry V W
- Authors: Egan, Shaun P , Irwin, Barry V W
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/429757 , vital:72637 , https://digifors.cs.up.ac.za/issa/2012/Proceedings/Research/58_ResearchInProgress.pdf
- Description: Several authors have put forward methods of using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to classify URLs as malicious or benign by using lexical features of those URLs. These methods have been compared to other methods of classification, such as blacklisting and spam filtering, and have been found to be as accurate. Early attempts proved to be as highly accurate. Fully featured classifications use lexical features as well as lookups to classify URLs and include (but are not limited to) blacklists, spam filters and reputation services. These classifiers are based on the Online Perceptron Model, using a single neuron as a linear combiner and used lexical features that rely on the presence (or lack thereof) of words belonging to a bag-of-words. Several obfuscation resistant features are also used to increase the positive classification rate of these perceptrons. Examples of these include URL length, number of directory traversals and length of arguments passed to the file within the URL. In this paper we describe how we implement the online perceptron model and methods that we used to try to increase the accuracy of this model through the use of hidden layers and training cost validation. We discuss our results in relation to those of other papers, as well as other analysis performed on the training data and the neural networks themselves to best understand why they are so effective. Also described will be the proposed model for developing these Neural Networks, how to implement them in the real world through the use of browser extensions, proxy plugins and spam filters for mail servers, and our current implementation. Finally, work that is still in progress will be described. This work includes other methods of increasing accuracy through the use of modern training techniques and testing in a real world environment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Egan, Shaun P , Irwin, Barry V W
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/429757 , vital:72637 , https://digifors.cs.up.ac.za/issa/2012/Proceedings/Research/58_ResearchInProgress.pdf
- Description: Several authors have put forward methods of using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to classify URLs as malicious or benign by using lexical features of those URLs. These methods have been compared to other methods of classification, such as blacklisting and spam filtering, and have been found to be as accurate. Early attempts proved to be as highly accurate. Fully featured classifications use lexical features as well as lookups to classify URLs and include (but are not limited to) blacklists, spam filters and reputation services. These classifiers are based on the Online Perceptron Model, using a single neuron as a linear combiner and used lexical features that rely on the presence (or lack thereof) of words belonging to a bag-of-words. Several obfuscation resistant features are also used to increase the positive classification rate of these perceptrons. Examples of these include URL length, number of directory traversals and length of arguments passed to the file within the URL. In this paper we describe how we implement the online perceptron model and methods that we used to try to increase the accuracy of this model through the use of hidden layers and training cost validation. We discuss our results in relation to those of other papers, as well as other analysis performed on the training data and the neural networks themselves to best understand why they are so effective. Also described will be the proposed model for developing these Neural Networks, how to implement them in the real world through the use of browser extensions, proxy plugins and spam filters for mail servers, and our current implementation. Finally, work that is still in progress will be described. This work includes other methods of increasing accuracy through the use of modern training techniques and testing in a real world environment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Building a Graphical Fuzzing Framework
- Zeisberger, Sascha, Irwin, Barry V W
- Authors: Zeisberger, Sascha , Irwin, Barry V W
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/429772 , vital:72638 , https://digifors.cs.up.ac.za/issa/2012/Proceedings/Research/59_ResearchInProgress.pdf
- Description: Fuzz testing is a robustness testing technique that sends malformed data to an application’s input. This is to test an application’s behaviour when presented with input beyond its specification. The main difference between traditional testing techniques and fuzz testing is that in most traditional techniques an application is tested according to a specification and rated on how well the application conforms to that specification. Fuzz testing tests beyond the scope of a specification by intelligently generating values that may be interpreted by an application in an unintended manner. The use of fuzz testing has been more prevalent in academic and security communities despite showing success in production environments. To measure the effectiveness of fuzz testing, an experiment was conducted where several publicly available applications were fuzzed. In some instances, fuzz testing was able to force an application into an invalid state and it was concluded that fuzz testing is a relevant testing technique that could assist in developing more robust applications. This success prompted a further investigation into fuzz testing in order to compile a list of requirements that makes an effective fuzzer. The aforementioned investigation assisted in the design of a fuzz testing framework, the goal of which is to make the process more accessible to users outside of an academic and security environment. Design methodologies and justifications of said framework are discussed, focusing on the graphical user interface components as this aspect of the framework is used to increase the usability of the framework.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Zeisberger, Sascha , Irwin, Barry V W
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/429772 , vital:72638 , https://digifors.cs.up.ac.za/issa/2012/Proceedings/Research/59_ResearchInProgress.pdf
- Description: Fuzz testing is a robustness testing technique that sends malformed data to an application’s input. This is to test an application’s behaviour when presented with input beyond its specification. The main difference between traditional testing techniques and fuzz testing is that in most traditional techniques an application is tested according to a specification and rated on how well the application conforms to that specification. Fuzz testing tests beyond the scope of a specification by intelligently generating values that may be interpreted by an application in an unintended manner. The use of fuzz testing has been more prevalent in academic and security communities despite showing success in production environments. To measure the effectiveness of fuzz testing, an experiment was conducted where several publicly available applications were fuzzed. In some instances, fuzz testing was able to force an application into an invalid state and it was concluded that fuzz testing is a relevant testing technique that could assist in developing more robust applications. This success prompted a further investigation into fuzz testing in order to compile a list of requirements that makes an effective fuzzer. The aforementioned investigation assisted in the design of a fuzz testing framework, the goal of which is to make the process more accessible to users outside of an academic and security environment. Design methodologies and justifications of said framework are discussed, focusing on the graphical user interface components as this aspect of the framework is used to increase the usability of the framework.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Design of realistic hybrid marine resource management programs in Oceania
- Aswani, Shankar, Ruddle, Kenneth
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Ruddle, Kenneth
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70615 , vital:29681 , https://doi.org/10.2984/67.3.11
- Description: This review article synthesizes the authors' several decades of multidisciplinary natural and social science and applied marine resource management experience in the Asia-Pacific region to examine the strengthening of coastal and marine resource management and conservation using alliances between local communities and external institutions. The objective is to assist the design of resource management and conservation programs that enhance the capacity of coastal communities in Oceania to confront both diminishing marine resources and the effects of climate change by providing guidelines for protecting marine biodiversity and vulnerable ecosystem functions. This article describes a management framework that hybridizes local beliefs and institutions expressed in customary management (CM) with such modern management concepts as marine protected areas (MPAs) and ecosystem-based management (EBM). Hybrid management accommodates the social, political, economic, and cultural contexts of Oceanic communities and, compared with recent or conventional management approaches, can therefore better address fundamental local concerns such as coastal degradation, climate change, sea level rise, weak governance, corruption, limited resources and staff to manage and monitor marine resources, and increasing poverty. Research on the hybridization of management systems demonstrates opportunities to establish context-appropriate EBM and/or other managerial arrangements that include terrestrial and adjacent coastal-marine ecosystems. Formal and informal CM systems are widespread in Oceania and in some parts of Southeast Asia, and if appropriate strategies are employed rapid progress toward hybrid CM-EBM could be enabled.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Ruddle, Kenneth
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70615 , vital:29681 , https://doi.org/10.2984/67.3.11
- Description: This review article synthesizes the authors' several decades of multidisciplinary natural and social science and applied marine resource management experience in the Asia-Pacific region to examine the strengthening of coastal and marine resource management and conservation using alliances between local communities and external institutions. The objective is to assist the design of resource management and conservation programs that enhance the capacity of coastal communities in Oceania to confront both diminishing marine resources and the effects of climate change by providing guidelines for protecting marine biodiversity and vulnerable ecosystem functions. This article describes a management framework that hybridizes local beliefs and institutions expressed in customary management (CM) with such modern management concepts as marine protected areas (MPAs) and ecosystem-based management (EBM). Hybrid management accommodates the social, political, economic, and cultural contexts of Oceanic communities and, compared with recent or conventional management approaches, can therefore better address fundamental local concerns such as coastal degradation, climate change, sea level rise, weak governance, corruption, limited resources and staff to manage and monitor marine resources, and increasing poverty. Research on the hybridization of management systems demonstrates opportunities to establish context-appropriate EBM and/or other managerial arrangements that include terrestrial and adjacent coastal-marine ecosystems. Formal and informal CM systems are widespread in Oceania and in some parts of Southeast Asia, and if appropriate strategies are employed rapid progress toward hybrid CM-EBM could be enabled.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Life-history characteristics of an age-validated established invasive African sharptooth catfish, Clarias gariepinus, population in a warm–temperate African impoundment
- Wartenberg, Reece, Weyl, Olaf L F, Booth, Anthony J, Winker, A Henning
- Authors: Wartenberg, Reece , Weyl, Olaf L F , Booth, Anthony J , Winker, A Henning
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124921 , vital:35710 , https://doi.10.3377/004.048.0225
- Description: African sharptooth catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) is a widely distributed fish that has now invaded water bodies in South America, Eastern Europe, Asia and South Africa (Cambray 2003). In South Africa it is native as far south as the Orange-Vaal river system, but inter-basin water transfer schemes (IBWTs), illegal stocking by anglers and from aquaculture has resulted in the establishment of extralimital populations in almost all river systems (van Rensburg et al. 2011). Within the Eastern Cape Province, C. gariepinus has invaded the Great Fish and Sundays rivers through IBWTs, that connect the Orange River to the Great Fish River and then to the Sundays River system which flows directly into Darlington Dam (Kadye & Booth 2013a) (Fig. 1). Soon after the completion of the IBWTs sharptooth catfish were recorded in Grassridge Dam in 1976 (Laurenson & Hocutt 1985), and later from Darlington Dam in 1981 (Scott et al. 2006). Although Cambray & Jubb (1977) are of the opinion that the species was translocated prior to the IBWT connection, there is now a permanent corridor between the Orange River and its receiving river systems that can facilitate the continued introduction of non-native Orange River fishes and other aquatic biota.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Wartenberg, Reece , Weyl, Olaf L F , Booth, Anthony J , Winker, A Henning
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124921 , vital:35710 , https://doi.10.3377/004.048.0225
- Description: African sharptooth catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) is a widely distributed fish that has now invaded water bodies in South America, Eastern Europe, Asia and South Africa (Cambray 2003). In South Africa it is native as far south as the Orange-Vaal river system, but inter-basin water transfer schemes (IBWTs), illegal stocking by anglers and from aquaculture has resulted in the establishment of extralimital populations in almost all river systems (van Rensburg et al. 2011). Within the Eastern Cape Province, C. gariepinus has invaded the Great Fish and Sundays rivers through IBWTs, that connect the Orange River to the Great Fish River and then to the Sundays River system which flows directly into Darlington Dam (Kadye & Booth 2013a) (Fig. 1). Soon after the completion of the IBWTs sharptooth catfish were recorded in Grassridge Dam in 1976 (Laurenson & Hocutt 1985), and later from Darlington Dam in 1981 (Scott et al. 2006). Although Cambray & Jubb (1977) are of the opinion that the species was translocated prior to the IBWT connection, there is now a permanent corridor between the Orange River and its receiving river systems that can facilitate the continued introduction of non-native Orange River fishes and other aquatic biota.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Where angels fear to tread: online peer-assessment in a large first-year class
- Mostert, Markus, Snowball, Jeanette D
- Authors: Mostert, Markus , Snowball, Jeanette D
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/69289 , vital:29480 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2012.683770
- Description: In the context of widening participation, large classes and increased diversity, assessment of student learning is becoming increasingly problematic in that providing formative feedback aimed at developing student writing proves to be particularly laborious. Although the potential value of peer assessment has been well documented in the literature, the associated administrative burden, also in relation to managing anonymity and intellectual ownership, makes this option less attractive, particularly in large classes. A potential solution involves the use of information and communication technologies to automate the logistics associated with peer assessment in a time-efficient way. However, uptake of such systems in the higher education community is limited, and research in this area is only beginning. This case study reports on the use of the Moodle Workshop module for formative peer assessment of students’ individual work in a first-year introductory macro-economics class of over 800 students. Data were collected through an end-of-course evaluation survey of students. The study found that using the feature-rich Workshop module not only addressed many of the practical challenges associated with paper-based peer assessments, but also provided a range of additional options for enhancing validity and reliability of peer assessments that would not be possible with paper-based systems.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Mostert, Markus , Snowball, Jeanette D
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/69289 , vital:29480 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2012.683770
- Description: In the context of widening participation, large classes and increased diversity, assessment of student learning is becoming increasingly problematic in that providing formative feedback aimed at developing student writing proves to be particularly laborious. Although the potential value of peer assessment has been well documented in the literature, the associated administrative burden, also in relation to managing anonymity and intellectual ownership, makes this option less attractive, particularly in large classes. A potential solution involves the use of information and communication technologies to automate the logistics associated with peer assessment in a time-efficient way. However, uptake of such systems in the higher education community is limited, and research in this area is only beginning. This case study reports on the use of the Moodle Workshop module for formative peer assessment of students’ individual work in a first-year introductory macro-economics class of over 800 students. Data were collected through an end-of-course evaluation survey of students. The study found that using the feature-rich Workshop module not only addressed many of the practical challenges associated with paper-based peer assessments, but also provided a range of additional options for enhancing validity and reliability of peer assessments that would not be possible with paper-based systems.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2012
Aspects of the biology and fisheries of an economically important sparid Dentex macrophthalmus (Bloch 1791) in the Namibe province, Angola
- Potts, Warren M, Inácio, L A, Santos, Carmen V D, Richardson, Timothy J, Sauer, Warwick H H
- Authors: Potts, Warren M , Inácio, L A , Santos, Carmen V D , Richardson, Timothy J , Sauer, Warwick H H
- Date: 2010
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123096 , vital:35405 , https://doi.org/10.2989/1814232X.2010.538160
- Description: Dentex macrophthalmus is a small, commercially important sparid fish that is abundant in the deeper waters (range 50–500 m) of the Mediterranean Sea (Trunov 1970), the North-West African shelf (Goode and Bean 1896, Fowler 1936), including the Cape Verde and Canary Islands, and the south-eastern Atlantic from the Equator to just south of Lüderitz (27°40′ S) (Trunov 1970). Because of its high abundance, it is of considerable economic importance and is captured in large numbers in both artisanal and commercial fisheries in many countries. Although it is the most important artisanal species along the entire Angolan coast, it is most abundant in the southern region (Kilongo et al. 2007). Despite its economic importance in Angola and elsewhere, relatively little is known on its abundance, fisheries and biology.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Potts, Warren M , Inácio, L A , Santos, Carmen V D , Richardson, Timothy J , Sauer, Warwick H H
- Date: 2010
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123096 , vital:35405 , https://doi.org/10.2989/1814232X.2010.538160
- Description: Dentex macrophthalmus is a small, commercially important sparid fish that is abundant in the deeper waters (range 50–500 m) of the Mediterranean Sea (Trunov 1970), the North-West African shelf (Goode and Bean 1896, Fowler 1936), including the Cape Verde and Canary Islands, and the south-eastern Atlantic from the Equator to just south of Lüderitz (27°40′ S) (Trunov 1970). Because of its high abundance, it is of considerable economic importance and is captured in large numbers in both artisanal and commercial fisheries in many countries. Although it is the most important artisanal species along the entire Angolan coast, it is most abundant in the southern region (Kilongo et al. 2007). Despite its economic importance in Angola and elsewhere, relatively little is known on its abundance, fisheries and biology.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
ICT as an enabler of Socio Economic Development
- Authors: Van Greunen, Darrelle
- Subjects: Information technology , Digital divide , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20725 , vital:29383
- Description: Today’s is a world of many divides, one of the most typical being the Digital Divide, which in itself has given birth to or is worsening other economic and social divides. In this world, more suffer and less are able to benefit from technology. This paper aims to promote the importance of and need for inter-disciplinary cooperation for the use and promotion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as a bridge for the Digital Divide within disciplines. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) include any communication device—radio, television, cellular phones, computer and network hardware and software, satellite systems, the services and applications associated with them, such as the Internet, geographic positioning systems (GPS), banking, e-health, e-learning and electronic government services. The paper will touch on tangible examples of inter-disciplinary cooperation and the use of ICT in different community interventions.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Van Greunen, Darrelle
- Subjects: Information technology , Digital divide , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20725 , vital:29383
- Description: Today’s is a world of many divides, one of the most typical being the Digital Divide, which in itself has given birth to or is worsening other economic and social divides. In this world, more suffer and less are able to benefit from technology. This paper aims to promote the importance of and need for inter-disciplinary cooperation for the use and promotion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as a bridge for the Digital Divide within disciplines. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) include any communication device—radio, television, cellular phones, computer and network hardware and software, satellite systems, the services and applications associated with them, such as the Internet, geographic positioning systems (GPS), banking, e-health, e-learning and electronic government services. The paper will touch on tangible examples of inter-disciplinary cooperation and the use of ICT in different community interventions.
- Full Text:
Ultra-high precision manufacturing
- Authors: Abou-El-Hossein, Khaled
- Subjects: Machining , Diamond turning , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20878 , vital:29410
- Description: One of the engineering areas focusing on the research and development of highvalue components and manufacturing technologies is precision engineering. Precision engineering represents a variety of engineering and science disciplines ranging from areas such as mechanical, electronics and industrial engineering to chemistry, physics, optics and materials science. This paper aims at familiarising the reader with the recent advances in ultra-high precision manufacturing technologies and their applications for the production of various critical components employed in different sectors of the industry. In this paper, the principles of ultra-high precision manufacturing will be discussed followed by examples of its use in various industrial applications. The status of ultra-high precision manufacturing in terms of current research issues and future trends will be discussed. In addition, research activities and projects in the area of precision manufacturing that are currently conducted at the NMMU will be also highlighted. Finally, the author looks forward to presenting herewith comprehensive information that could be useful to the reader and easy to understand by the bigger NMMU’s community.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Abou-El-Hossein, Khaled
- Subjects: Machining , Diamond turning , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20878 , vital:29410
- Description: One of the engineering areas focusing on the research and development of highvalue components and manufacturing technologies is precision engineering. Precision engineering represents a variety of engineering and science disciplines ranging from areas such as mechanical, electronics and industrial engineering to chemistry, physics, optics and materials science. This paper aims at familiarising the reader with the recent advances in ultra-high precision manufacturing technologies and their applications for the production of various critical components employed in different sectors of the industry. In this paper, the principles of ultra-high precision manufacturing will be discussed followed by examples of its use in various industrial applications. The status of ultra-high precision manufacturing in terms of current research issues and future trends will be discussed. In addition, research activities and projects in the area of precision manufacturing that are currently conducted at the NMMU will be also highlighted. Finally, the author looks forward to presenting herewith comprehensive information that could be useful to the reader and easy to understand by the bigger NMMU’s community.
- Full Text: