An analysis of some school history textbooks with special reference to styles of concept presentation
- Authors: Matoti, Sukude Mangwevandile
- Date: 1990
- Subjects: History -- Study and teaching -- South Africa -- Textbooks -- Evaluation , South Africa -- History -- Textbooks
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1343 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001409
- Description: The aim of this study was to find out whether the school history textbooks used in Transkei Junior and Senior secondary schools were adequate in helping pupils meet the demands of their course. The results of the study would be used as argument for or against the assumption that the type of textbooks used in Transkei schools, through their inadequacy in equipping the pupils with the necessary skills for "doing" history, do contribute to the high failure rate in history, especially that they are in most schools, the only recourse for both the teacher and the pupil. In particular the study intended to see what strategies the history textbooks used to aid concept understanding which is crucial to the understanding of history. Twenty three criteria, fourteen objective and nine subjective were used to assess the books for readability and for strategies which might aid concept understanding. Eight books were assessed: four Std 5 and four Std 8 books. The results showed that only three of the eight books catered for the development of skills of learning history and were suited to the level of the pupiils for whom they were intended . History textbooks therefore need to be improved so as to foster the skills of learning history. Their inadequacy could be a contributory factor to the high rate of failure. In-service and pre-service training in methods of textbook analysis can assist in textbook selection and for changes in methods of teaching to supplement shortcomings in books which are commonly used
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- Date Issued: 1990
An assessment of equilibrium in the Merensky Reef : a textural, geochemical and Nd isotope study of coexisting plagioclase and orthopyroxene from Winnaarshoek in the eastern Bushveld Complex, RSA
- Authors: Raines, Mark Douglas
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Mines and mineral resources -- South Africa -- Bushveld Complex , Plagioclase , Neodymium , Petrology , Electron probe microanalysis , Isotope geology , Mineralogical chemistry , Crystallization
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5079 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015644
- Description: Evidence of mineral disequilibrium is presented for the Merensky Reef at Winnaarshoek in the eastern Bushveld Complex. Petrographic disequilibrium textures, disequilibrium in orthopyroxene, plagioclase and clinopyroxene mineral compositions as well as disequilibrium in Sm-Nd isotopic compositions of whole rock samples and coexisting plagioclase and orthopyroxene are presented. Disequilibrium textures presented include clinopyroxene exsolution lamellae in orthopyroxene; resorbed plagioclase in orthopyroxene or relict plagioclase; various inclusions such as orthopyroxene, plagioclase or clinopyroxene in larger oikocrysts of clinopyroxene or orthopyroxene; discontinuous rims of clinopyroxene surrounding orthopyroxene; resorbed orthopyroxene in clinopyroxene; and corona textures associated with olivine. These textures were used to derive a possible mineral crystallization sequence. At least two sequences of crystallization took place, both of which crystallized plagioclase first. One sequence then crystallized olivine which was then consumed to produce orthopyroxene which crystallized prior to late clinopyroxene. The other sequence indicates orthopyroxene crystallization after plagioclase crystallization, followed by crystallization of clinopyroxene. These sequences indicate at least two magmas were responsible for the genesis of the Merensky Reef and its hanging wall and footwall units. Compositionally, disequilibrium is evident in the range of compositions found in coexisting orthopyroxene, plagioclase and clinopyroxene with stratigraphic height, with particular reference to the change in mineral composition in each of the hanging wall, Reef and footwall units. Orthopyroxene compositions range in Mg numbers between 74.6 and 82.9 (77.4) in the hanging wall, 78.5 and 87.0 (avg. 81.1) in the Reef, and 77.9 and 84.1 (avg. 81.3) in the footwall. Plagioclase compositions range in An content between An64.9 and An82.3 (avg. An75.1) in the hanging wall, An56.8 to An70.8 (avg. An62.7) in the Reef, and An54.2 to An86.3 (avg. An73.2) in the footwall. In terms of Sm-Nd isotopic compositions, disequilibrium is evident between both whole rock samples and coexisting plagioclase and orthopyroxenes. Bulk rock Sm-Nd isotopic compositions show a range in ԐNd values between ԐNd (2.06 Ga) = -4.8 to -6.4 in the hangingwall, ԐNd (2.06 Ga) = -6.3 to -8.5 in the Reef, and ԐNd (2.06 Ga) = -4.5 to -6.3 in the footwall. Similar ԐNd values are present in the hanging wall and footwall units, with a clear “spike” in the Merensky Reef. ԐNd values in plagioclase are between ԐNd (2.06 Ga) = -5.8 and -7.8, while orthopyroxene isotopic Sm-Nd values are between ԐNd (2.06 Ga = -7.1 and -9.1. The mineral disequilibrium features presented within this study help elucidate the crystallization sequence of the magma as well as to constrain the contamination of the magma upon ascension and emplacement of the Merensky Reef. The results of this study favour a model where a mantle plume resulted in the ascent of a new magma which was contaminated by the assimilation of old, lower crust. Contamination took place prior to the possible lateral emplacement of the Merensky reef as a density current. 5-10% contamination of depleted mantle or a B2-“like” source by Archaean TTGs is modeled to achieve the contamination “spike” of ԐNd = -8.5 in the Merensky Reef.
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- Date Issued: 2014
An investigation into the effectiveness of technology change management in a selected manufacturing organisation in the Nelson Mandela Metropole
- Authors: Oosthuizen, Johan
- Date: 2001
- Subjects: Bridgestone/Firestone (Firm) , Industrial relations -- Technological innovations , Organizational change -- Management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:10916 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/64 , Bridgestone/Firestone (Firm) , Industrial relations -- Technological innovations , Organizational change -- Management
- Description: This research investigated technology change management at Bridgestone/Firestone in the Port Elizabeth metropole. From a manufacturing organisation’s point of view it is clear that technology change is a constant force that determines competitiveness. The thesis outlines the specific requirements needed for utilising the concept of technology change management at Bridgestone/Firestone. The literature survey was aimed at placing the concept of technology change management and the correct organisational structure and organisational focus points in perspective to ensure successful technology change and its implementation at Bridgestone/Firestone. The purpose of the empirical study was to test managements perseptions of technology change management at Bridgestone/Firestone and to contribute useful information to the organisation. From the findings improvements and recommendations were suggested as guidelines for any tyre manufacturer to follow to improve technology change management. The empirical study results show that there is room for improvement. The responses to statements outlined areas that need improvement and those that do not according to the views of Bridgestone/Firestone’s management.
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- Date Issued: 2001
Aspects of the biology and population dynamics of the geelbek Atractoscion aequidens (Cuvier) (Pisces: Sciaenidae) off the South African coast
- Authors: Griffiths, Marc H
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Sciaenidae -- South Africa Fish populations -- South Africa Atractoscion Atractoscion -- South Africa -- Ecology Atractoscion -- South Africa -- Physiology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5194 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001970
- Description: The geelbek Atractoscion aeguidens is an important commercial and recreational linefish species along the South African eastern seaboard . Aspects of its biology and population dynamics were investigated using data collected from various sampling sites along the South African east coast and from catch statistics obtained from both the Sea Fisheries Research Institute (Cape Town), and dealer records. The biological aspects studied included age and growth, reproduction and feeding. It was established that A. aeguidens is a fast growing species with a relatively late age at sexual maturity and a 1:1 sex ratio. Feeding studies revealed that it has become specialized to feed on small pelagic fish. The South African geelbek stock consists of three distinct age related sub-populations, each representing a particular phase in the life cycle. The sub-adults (1-4 yrs) occur in the South West Cape and feed predominantly on anchovy, Engraulis capensis, which they follow, moving inshore in summer and offshore in winter. The adults (5-9 yrs) undergo a seasonal inshore migration to Natal where they spawn in spring. The dynamics of this migration are strongly influenced by the annual movement of their principal prey viz. , Sardinops ocellatus, to that region. As a result the geelbek first arrive in Natal during mid winter. Evidence is also presented to suggest that a significant number of "adolescent " fish (4-5 yrs) undergo limited gonad maturation and a partial migration to at least as far as the South East Cape. Spawning appears to occur offshore. It is postulated that eggs and larvae are transported southwards by the peripheral waters of the Agulhas Current. After spawning the adults probably remain offshore and use the current to aid their return to the South and South West Cape, where they spend summer feeding on the Agulhas Bank. Juveniles (<1 yr) first appear in the South East Cape between January and March. They apparently use this region as a nursery area for almost a year before moving southwards to join the sub-adults in the South West Cape. In the South East Cape, the juveniles feed initially on mysids whereafter they switch to anchovies and pilchards. A preliminary stock assessment using yield per recruit and spawner biomass per recruit models, indicated that despite the current legislation the South African geelbek population is already overexploited. This is largely attributed to high rates of fishing mortality of the migratory adult population. Further management recommendations are therefore proposed. These include a size limit (660 mm FL), derived from an investigation of the interrelationship between natural mortality and somatic growth in a theoretical unexploited cohort, as well as a uniform bag limit for all user groups (5 fish per person per day)
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- Date Issued: 1988
Assessing the role of social transfers in curbing household food insecurity in Harare rural district, Zimbabwe
- Authors: Nyabvudzi, Tatenda Gaudencia
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Poverty -- Zimbabwe Rural poor -- Zimbabwe Food security -- Zimbabwe Social security -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Admin
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/1939 , vital:27586
- Description: One of the major problems obstructing international development is the issue of food security. Solutions for this global concern have not yet been found. This research sought to explore the role of social transfers in curbing household food insecurity. Social transfers are regular services or donations which are offered by the government or/and other institutions such as non-governmental organisations to vulnerable households. This exploratory study administered structured interviews, incorporating the Household Hunger Scale, Months of Adequate Household Food Provisioning indicator and self designed questions soliciting general household information, to Harare rural residents. The population was divided into clusters and a simple random sampling was used to select three clusters, Mufakose, Glen Norah and Warren Park, thereafter, systematic random sampling was employed within selected clusters.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Controls on the distribution of manganese in banded iron-formations (BIF) of the palaeoproterozoic transvaal supergroup, South Africa
- Authors: Fryer, Lindi
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2926 , vital:20343
- Description: The 2.65 to 2.05 Ga Transvaal Supergroup comprises one of the best-preserved and largely continuous successions in the world of Banded Iron-Formation (BIF), a chemical sedimentary rock composed of fine (mm to cm scale) interbanded iron-rich and iron-poor bands, developed atop the Archaean Kaapvaal Craton of southern Africa. The Transvaal BIF sequence contains at its upper stratigraphic part, an intriguing interlayered BIF-Mn association, namely the Hotazel Formation in the Kalahari Manganese Field, which constitutes the largest land-based manganese deposit on record. The genesis of the Hotazel deposits, and their exact significance in terms of atmosphere-hydrosphere-biosphere evolution, remain as elusive as they are challenging. In this thesis, an attempt is made to illuminate the origin and diagenesis of the Hotazel Formation and its post-depositional hydrothermal modification, through a highresolution geochemical study of the narrowest of the three BIF-Mn sedimentary cycles present in the Hotazel stratigraphy. This approach is coupled with a preliminary geochemical study of the distribution of Mn in older BIF of the Transvaal Supergroup as well (Kuruman and Griquatown Formations), so as to test recent models that causally link all BIFs in the Transvaal Supergroup under a common and evolving palaeo-environment of deposition. The results indicate that the cyclic deposition of the Hotazel BIF and enveloped Mn-rich sediments would have taken place in a stratified basin with a well-developed chemocline in terms of the vertical distributions of Mn and Fe, much like recent anoxic stratified basins such as the Orca Basin in the Gulf of Mexico. The increased Mn abundances as Mn-bearing ferrous carbonates in the upper part of the Griquatown BIF predating the Hotazel strata, also seems to lend support to the notion that the two BIFs are temporally interlinked as part of a broader sedimentary continuum. Finally, the largely conservative behaviour of Mn and associated elements during hydrothermal alteration of the Hotazel rocks is re-assessed, and renewed emphasis is placed on the possibility that brine metasomatism may have been a key factor in Mn redistribution and residual enrichment.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Exploration, monetization, disillusion: a history of upstream oil development in the onshore Algoa basin
- Authors: James, Jonathan Scott
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3870 , vital:20551
- Description: The onshore Algoa basin has, since the mid-1960s, been an area of interest for oil and gas exploration. Despite the general lack of knowledge and publicly available information on the topic, a large amount of geological and geophysical data has been collected on the region owing to the oil and gas exploration. The intended aim of this thesis is to compile and construct a historical narrative of the oil and gas exploration that took place within the onshore Algoa basin, and to then contextualize that localized narrative within the greater macro-narrative of the global oil and gas industry. This thesis is primarily concerned with the time period beginning in the early 1960s up to mid-2014, however reference is also made to events pre-1960. For the purposes of compartmentalizing the various areas of research covered, the thesis has been divided into three broad areas of interest: the geology of the onshore Algoa basin, the global oil market and its impact on exploration therein, and the attempts to monetize the leases that came to be purchased post-exploration. The narrative on the geology of the onshore Algoa basin is aimed at providing a summarized account of the most important details pertaining to the search for petroleum systems in simplified, yet accurate, language. The aspects of the geology which command the most attention are those which are necessary in functioning petroleum systems such as suitable permeabilities, porosities, reservoir rocks, trapping mechanisms and cap rocks. The global oil and gas market is also used to contextualize the search for oil and gas within the onshore Algoa basin and is explained against the backdrop of the global oil trade and the sanctions imposed on the apartheid state. Furthermore, the analysis of the attempts to monetize leases within the onshore Algoa basin will provide a financial reference point to the shortcomings of the exploration and monetization efforts. The purpose of this thesis is to construct a historical narrative of the onshore Algoa basin which not only gives an accurate portrayal of the exploration efforts that have taken place thus far, but to also provide a enough detail of those exploration efforts to indicate the future of the onshore Algoa basin as an exploration play.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Hegemon and handmaiden: a neo-gramscian approach to South Africa’s position in the global political economy
- Authors: Koza, Zintle
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Hegemony
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSoc (Political Science)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/18325 , vital:42252
- Description: Despite its assumed leadership of and investment in the African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), South Africa has not developed its own hegemonic project and is consequently unable to exert significant influence over the ideas of the two institutions. Rooted in Antonio Gramsci’s absolute historicism, which locates decisions and actions at the level of the state within specific contexts, Robert Cox’s Method of Historical Structures (MHS) offers a framework that enables an approach informed by Critical Theory to analysing and empirically understanding the underlying factors of this situation. Utilising the three elements of the MHS, namely, material capabilities, ideas and institutions, and applying them to the context of international relations, it was found that South Africa’s choices have been informed by the global context of the post-USSR global arena it entered in 1990. The triumph of the neoliberal world order led by the United States framed the context of South Africa’s engagement with Africa and the world, with its choices informed by a composite of neoliberally defined global social relations of production and ideas that had already elicited global consent. South Africa’s organisation of material capabilities and resources was thus limited within the parameters of a neoliberal world order, and the predominance of institutions that facilitated the penetration of neoliberalism, regionally and globally. The global hegemonic order relies on surrogates for its functioning and South Africa’s subsequent domestic adherence to the hegemonic neoliberal order has been transferred to SADC and, to a limited extent, to the AU through the policies and institutional projects that South Africa has championed since 1994. Nonetheless, in the face of persistent inequality and poverty, internal contestation to this adherence has emanated from trade unions and civil society organisations. It was found that the continued and intensifying domestic contestation iii reinforces the lack of a domestic hegemonic project that could have been projected externally to SADC and the AU, so that South Africa, as a dominant peripheral state in the global world order, displays more characteristics of handmaiden than hegemon.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Interest rate risk management : a case study of GBS Mutual Bank
- Authors: Williamson, Gareth Alan
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: GBS Mutual Bank , Interest rates -- Case studies , Interest rate risk -- Case studies , Risk management -- Case studies , Financial risk -- Case studies , Banks and banking -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:986 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002720 , GBS Mutual Bank , Interest rates -- Case studies , Interest rate risk -- Case studies , Risk management -- Case studies , Financial risk -- Case studies , Banks and banking -- Case studies
- Description: Banks play a pivotal role in the economic growth and development of countries, primarily through the diversification of risk for both themselves and other economic agents. Interest rate risk is regarded as one of the most prominent financial risks faced by a bank. A large portion of private banks’ revenue stems from net interest income that is generated from the difference between various assets and liabilities that are held on the balance sheet. Fluctuations in the interest rate can alter a bank’s interest income and value, making interest rate risk management vital to its success. The asset and liability committee of a bank is the internal committee charged with the duty of managing the bank’s interest rate risk exposure through the use of various hedging strategies and instruments. This thesis uses a case study methodology to analyse GBS Mutual Bank interest rate risk management. Its specific business circumstances, balance sheet structure and the market conditions over a specified period are used to comment on the practicality of a variety of balance sheet positioning strategies and derivative hedging instruments. The thesis also provides recommendations for the bank’s asset and liability committee in terms of its functions and organisation. It is elucidated that the most practical balance sheet hedging strategies are a volume strategy and immunisation, while the most practical derivative hedging instruments are interest rate futures and interest rate collars. It is found that the bank has a well functioning asset and liability committee whose only encumbrance to its functionality is the inadequacy of the informational technology used to measure, control and manage its interest rate risk position. This thesis concludes by summarising the practicality of the various interest rate risk hedging alternatives available to the GBS Mutual Bank. Implementing a particular strategy or instrument depends, of course, on its asset and liability committee’s decision.
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- Date Issued: 2008
Mercosur-SACU relations : an examination of the revised economic initiative for South-South Cooperation
- Authors: Mpepho, Lwandiso Arthur
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Developing countries -- Economic policy , Customs unions , Sustainable development
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8326 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020348
- Description: The study was conducted to examine economic relations between the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and the Mercado Commun del Sur (translated Southern Common Market), in short (Mercosur). SACU was established in 1910 and consists of five member countries, namely; South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland. Mercosur was created in 1991 and consists of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, with Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela being associate members. The aim of the study was to ascertain whether the Mercosur-SACU relations had created more economic opportunities for both regions. In pursuit of this aim, the study revised and analysed the evolution, development and growth of both Mercosur and SACU. It also analysed the achievements and challenges faced by each of the blocs in their respective regions. The conclusion of the analysis indicate that, countries which were economically stronger before the establishment of formal bloc-to-bloc relations, Brazil in Mercosur and South Africa in SACU, tended to reap disproportionally high dividends than others. The study further concludes that challenges facing Mercosur and SACU countries should not discourage them in pursuing collective developmental initiatives such as regional integration and South-South Cooperation.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Objecting to apartheid: the history of the end conscription campaign
- Authors: Jones, David
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: End Conscription Campaign (South Africa) , Apartheid -- South Africa , Government, Resistance to South Africa , Conscientious objection South Africa , South Africa -- Social conditions , South Africa -- Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA (History)
- Identifier: vital:11538 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1005998 , End Conscription Campaign (South Africa) , Apartheid -- South Africa , Government, Resistance to South Africa , Conscientious objection South Africa , South Africa -- Social conditions , South Africa -- Politics and government
- Description: It is important that the story of organisations like the End Conscription Campaign be recorded. The narrative of the struggle against apartheid has become a site of contestation. As the downfall of apartheid is still a relatively recent event, the history is still in the process of formation. There is much contestation over the relative contributions of different groups within the struggle. This is an important debate as it informs and shapes the politics of the present. A new official narrative is emerging which accentuates the role of particular groupings, portraying them as the heroes and the leaders of the struggle. A new elite have laid exclusive claim to the heritage of the struggle and are using this narrative to justify their hold on power through the creation of highly centralised political structures in which positions of power are reserved for loyal cadres and independent thinking and questioning are seen as a threat. A complementary tradition of grassroots democracy, of open debate and transparency, of “people’s power”, of accountability of leadership to the people fostered in the struggle is being lost. It is important to contest this narrative. We need to remember that the downfall of apartheid was brought about by a myriad combination of factors and forces. Current academic interpretations emphasize that no one group or organisation, no matter how significant its contribution, was solely responsible. There was no military victory or other decisive event which brought the collapse of the system, rather a sapping of will to pay the ever increasing cost to maintain it. The struggle against apartheid involved a groundswell, popular uprising in which the initiative came not from centralised political structures, orchestrating a grand revolt, but from ordinary South Africans who were reacting to the oppressive nature of a brutally discriminatory system which sought to control every aspect of their lives.4 Leaders and structures emerged organically as communities organised themselves around issues that affected them. Organisations that emerged were highly democratic and accountable to their members. There was no grand plan or centralised control of the process. As Walter Benjamin warned in a different context, but applicable here: “All rulers are the heirs of those who have conquered before them.” He feared that what he referred to as a historicist view constructed a version of history as a triumphal parade of progress. “Whoever has emerged victorious” he reminds us “participates to this day in the triumphal procession in which the present rulers step over those who are lying prostrate. According to traditional practice the spoils are carried along in the procession.” 5 He was warning of just such a tendency, which has been repeated so often in the past, for the victors to construct a version of history which ends up justifying a new tyranny. To counter this tendency it is important that other histories of the struggle are told – that the stories of other groups, which are marginalised by the new hegemonic discourse, are recorded.This aim of this dissertation is thus two-fold. Firstly it aims to investigate “the story” of the End Conscription Campaign, which has largely been seen as a white anti-apartheid liberal organisation. The objective is to provide a detailed historical account and periodisation of the organisation to fill in the gaps and challenge the distortions of a new emerging “official” discourse.Secondly within this framework, and by using the activities and strategies of the organisation as evidence for its suppositions, the question of the role played by the ECC in the struggle.
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- Date Issued: 2013
Perceptions of guardians of children towards government’s decision to outlaw corporal punishment: A case study of Highfield suburb in Harare, Zimbabwe
- Authors: Shayamano , Molly
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Corporal punishment of children Children's rights
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSW
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/17641 , vital:41131
- Description: Corporal punishment is a behaviour modification technique that has been utilised since time immemorial. Much interest in today’s world is centred on understanding and utilising the most effective discipline techniques. Many human rights activists and researchers are pointing out the negatives of corporal punishment. As such, human rights activists are pushing for the banning of all forms of corporal punishment of children. This study explored guardians’ perceptions towards the government’s decision to outlaw corporal punishment in Highfield in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital. The social construction theory by Berger and Luckman (1966) and the Operant conditioning theory by Skinner (1956) were utilised to underpin the study. The study adopted a mixed method approach in which focus group discussions, key informant interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data. The study results reveal that guardians in Highfield hold different sentiments with regard to the government’s decision to outlaw corporal punishment. The majority of guardians view the decision as a bad move that will result in negative consequences, whereas another group of guardians supports the decision. The study also reveals that the government’s decision to outlaw corporal punishment has both positive and negative consequences, which include delinquent behaviour, high crime rates, disrespect of elders, moral decay, decreased violence, increased communication between parents and children, and reduced child abuse cases. The study also found that social workers working closely with children and their families also have a role to play in ensuring positive behaviour modification. The study recommends the introduction of community programs on positive parenting in communities, initiated and strengthened by social workers.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Perceptions of the gap between theory and practice in the preparation of English language teachers at the Lesotho College of Education
- Authors: Molete, Bakae
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Lesotho College of Education Education -- Research -- Lesotho Teachers -- Training of -- Lesotho Student teaching -- Lesotho English language -- Study and teaching -- Lesotho Observation (Educational method) English teachers -- Training of -- Lesotho
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1936 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007682
- Description: The distinction between theory and practice can be traced back to Aristotle (384-322 B.C). Theory has been seen as the preserve of the academician who, through research, produces knowledge for the practitioner to use in his/her practice. This research sets out to investigate perceptions of the respondents with regard to the extent to which theory is applicable in practice. It does this in the context of teacher training at the Lesotho College of Education, (LCE), a teacher training college in Lesotho. In this research project; a case study of 5 students from the LCE who had been on teaching practice, their mentor teachers on teaching practice, and a college lecturer who had observed said students on teaching practice was used. Data was collected by means of focus group interviews and semi-structured interviews. Relevant documents in the form of classroom observation forms were also used. The findings from the data analysis revealed that students on teaching practice had, to a great extent, had difficulties in applying what they had learned at the college when they got to teaching practice. Difficulties were mainly experienced in the areas of classroom and time management as well as in the application of the teaching methods learned at the college. This research takes a closer look at these difficulties. It investigates their probable causes and, finally, suggests ways of responding to them.
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- Date Issued: 2008
Research portfolio
- Authors: Hoveka, E P
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Education -- Namibia Teaching -- Namibia Curriculum planning -- Namibia Educational change -- Namibia English language -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1733 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003616
- Description: The purpose of this study is to look at English Second Language IGCSE Core Curriculum for Grades 11 and 12. The criteria that has been identified and selected for analysis as stipulated by the Ministry of Basic Education and Culture Language policy Document of 1996 reads as follows: The aim of teaching English as a language should be to enable the learners to increase their participation in the learning processes. This aim was selected as the criteria for investigation because the notion of active participation by the learners in the teaching and learning process places the learners in a different perspective. In other words, the learners are to be seen as possessors of knowledge rather than ‘empty vessels’ as depicted by the behaviourist approach (Van Harmelen 1999). This idea of a learner-centred approach as embedded in Social Constructivism approach is the foundation on which the Namibian Education Reform Process is based. The justification for selecting these particular criteria for close inspection in the English Second Language Curriculum was sparked by the professional attachment of the researcher into teaching English Second Language to Grades 11 and 12 at the Herman Gmeiner Technical School in Swakopmund. The researcher is also serving as a subject head for this particular discipline. Furthermore, evaluating and analyzing the English Second Language curriculum on this particular objective, the researcher hopes to uncover or come to an understanding of how our educational practices have moved from what was practiced under the behavioural approach and to discover the needs of teachers in terms of implementing the new curriculum in their daily practices as educators. Having the criteria stated, the study will focus on how the data was collected and the type of methodology used to gather this information.
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- Date Issued: 2004
Social learning processes in a citrus farming community of practice
- Authors: Downsborough, Linda
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1878 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005859
- Description: Learning takes place in a number of ways. Situated learning for example, tries to shift the focus from the individual as a learner to the learner participating in the social world and from learning as a strictly cognitive process to a more encompassing view of social practice. The overall aim of this research was to gain a deeper understanding of the ways in which learning takes place in and between members of a citrus farming community, in other words it was to investigate the social learning processes. The research was undertaken in Patensie, a citrus farming community of the Gamtoos River Valley, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Data was generated through the use of interviews and informal discussions with participants together with document analysis, such as minutes of meetings. I also made observations of the learning interactions that were evident and also the interactions that were evident in the area as a whole. The data was analysed in two phases, the first involved reading across the interview transcripts and organizing the data under broad themes while the second phase made use of an analytical framework, a Community of Practice perspective to further analyze and engage with the data. I drew quite strongly on the ideas of situated learning, Communities of Practice and the notion of Legitimate Peripheral Participation (Lave & Wenger, 1991) as a means to understand, interpret and describe the social learning processes. The research highlighted that in this case study, citrus farmers learn in a number of sociological ways, for example through intergenerational learning (in the family), learning from each other in a Community of Practice, learning from private consultants and extensions officers as well as from other organizations and institutions. It also considered how farmers' learning had influenced land use practice in the area. This brought to the fore an emerging partnership with a conservation agent based on providing economic incentives to farmers to engage in sustainable landuse practices. It is hoped that this research may inform future educational endeavours by shedding light on the social learning processes and by drawing attention to key aspects of learning that may previously have been overlooked in research.
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- Date Issued: 2007
Structural studies on yeast eIF5A using biomolecular NMR and molecular dynamics
- Authors: Sigauke, Lester Takunda
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Molecular dynamics , Reverse transcriptase , HIV (Viruses) , HIV infections , Eukaryotic cells , Yeast
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4547 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017927
- Description: Eukaryotic initiation factor 5A, eIF5A, is a ubiquitous eukaryotic protein that has been shown to influence the translation initiation of a specific subset of mRNAs. It is the only protein known to undergo hypusination in a two-step post translational modification process involving deoxyhypusine synthase (DHS) and deoxyhypusine hydroxylase (DOHH) enzymes. Hypusination has been shown to influence translation of HIV-1 and HTLV-1 nuclear export signals, while the involvement of active hypusinated eIF5A in induction of IRES mediated processes that initiate pro-apoptotic process have inspired studies into the manipulation of eIF5A in anti-cancer and anti-diabetic therapies. eIF5A oligomerisation in eukaryotic systems has been shown to be influenced by hypusination and the mechanism of dimerisation is RNA dependent. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy approaches were proposed to solve the structure of the hypusinated eIF5A in solution in order to understand the influence of hypusination on the monomeric arrangement which enhances dimerisation and activates the protein. Cleavage of the 18 kDa protein monomer by introduction of thrombin cleavage site within the flexible domain was thought to give rise to 10 kDa fragments accessible to a 600 MHz NMR spectrometer. Heteronuclear single quantum correlation experiments of the mutated isotopically labelled protein expressed in E. coli showed that the eIF5A protein with a thrombin cleavage insert, eIF5AThr (eIF5A subscript Thr), was unfolded. In silico investigations of the behaviour of eIF5A and eIF5AThr (eIF5A subscript Thr) models in solution using molecular dynamics showed that the mutated model had different solution dynamics to the native model. Chemical shift predictors were used to extract atomic resolution data of solution dynamics and the introduction of rigidity in the flexible loop region of eIF5A affected solution behaviour consistent with lack of in vivo function of eIF5AThr (eIF5A subscript Thr) in yeast. Residual dipolar coupling and T₁ relaxation times were calculated in anticipation of the extraction of experimental data from RDC and relaxation dispersion experiments based on HSQC measurable restraints.
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- Date Issued: 2015
The application of GIS and remote sensing to assess the effect of periodic flooding on communities along the Juskeiriver: A case study of Alexandria Township, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Authors: Mawasha, Tshepo Sylvester
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Remote sensing Geographic information systems -- South Africa , Remote sensing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/45613 , vital:38918
- Description: Floods are water induced disasters that led to temporary induction of dry and cause serious damages in the affected location such as loss of valuable assets, lives and destruction of infrastructure. Flooding had become common in Alexandra Township during rainfall season and the recorded impact of periodic flooding on communities is increasing at an alarming rate. This study seeks to identify populations vulnerable to flooding and to map-out areas at high risk of flood disasters, using GIS and RS as a tool. For GIS application different types of maps were produced, namely, flood vulnerability, hazards, risk and risk index map highlighting areas at risk of being affected by flooding. Flood risk index maps identify three categories of risk zones; low and high risk zone. The household units within each of the risk zones was calculated and the total was estimated to be 762 for low-risk and 32 486 for high risk zone. The SRTM Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and multi-temporal Satellite Probatoire d’Observation de la Terra (SPOT) satellite images for 1997, 2006 and 2013 of the area was used for land-use and land-cover (LULC) change analyses using maximum-likelihood post-classification comparison. Results reveal that tremendous urban development had taken place in the study area along the Jukskei River area for the past sixteen years. It was observed that there was a sharp decrease in vegetation from 237ha (1997) to 134ha (2006) to 68ha (2013). This may had a negative impact on the environment around this area by decreasing surface runoff. The trend however, shows that bare surface and vegetation land-cover class has no potential to recover. Questionnaires aimed at all the residents in the study area were used to assess the effect of periodic flooding on communities. Community leader and City of Johannesburg Disaster Management Unit (CoJDMU) interviews were also conducted to get more insight about floods management in the study area. Finally, strategies for alleviating flood risk in the study area were discussed and some recommendations were made to help the government and municipal authorities to improve and development sustainable flood mitigation measures.
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- Date Issued: 2016
The design of a new opera house for Port Elizabeth: as a catalyst for a harbour waterfront development
- Authors: Davidson, Michael James
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Theaters -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Designs and plans Centers for the performing arts -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Theater architecture -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/18696 , vital:28708
- Description: This document records the research and design process the author undertook during the treatise project. The project stems from the author’s interest in the architecture of opera houses and the potential for the design of a new iconic opera house in Port Elizabeth. Initial research begun with an analysis of the historical development of the opera house typology and the underlying principles of contemporary opera houses. Research was then directed towards the possibility of building a new opera house in Port Elizabeth, and what basis there might be for such a venture. This led to an exploration of urban catalyst buildings, particularly those initiating the regeneration of former industrial waterfronts. That Port Elizabeth has a notable industrial harbour, which may potentially be developed into a waterfront precinct was a key informant in choosing to formulate the project as an opera house that would be a catalyst for such a development. The vision for the building is one of beauty and grandeur. As an iconic attractor to the Port Elizabeth harbour, the opera house should delight visitors by its sculptural quality and spatial experience alongside the water’s edge. It should provide positive public space with activities that can be used by non-theatre patrons so that the building will attract large numbers of people, which will stimulate more development, in line with the theory of urban catalytic development.
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- Date Issued: 2016
The development and technologizing of selected Sepedi ICT terminology
- Authors: Magagane, Raesetja Linah
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Northern Sotho language -- Terms and phrases Northern Sotho language -- Terminology Northern Sotho language -- Computer-assisted instruction Communication -- Technological innovations
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3581 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002156
- Description: It is my wish that the Sepedi language speakers, through the development and technologization of certain Sepedi ICT terminology, are able to operate a computer in their own language, and implement the new developed and technologized ICT terminology (technologization). The pupils and students at their various institutions should be made comfortable in using the developed and technologized Sepedi language terminology. In the long run the Sepedi language speakers should be ensured access to the web in order to find information about Sepedi language, culture and terms in disciplines such as ICT. It is recommended in this thesis that higher learning institutions offer bursaries to students to develop all South African languages in such a manner that they can be used in all high status functions.
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- Date Issued: 2011
The Hasidic spirit as the foundation of the art of Marc Chagall
- Authors: Bagraim, Abigail Sarah
- Date: 1987
- Subjects: Chagall, Marc, 1887-1985 Criticism and interpretation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MFA
- Identifier: vital:2393 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002189
- Description: In considering Chagall's art the observer is immediately struck by the constancy of his almost obsessive repetition of certain symbols and themes. In this way Chagall has created his own fantasy world, one with which the observer soon becomes acquainted and grows to love and understand.
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- Date Issued: 1987