Presentation and representation of environmental problems and problem-solving methods and processes in the Grade 10 Geography syllabus: a Namibian case study
- Authors: Zokka, Herman Kankara
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:2074 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021253
- Description: Environmental issues in Namibia are considered to be one of the major threats to the lives of the Namibian people (Namibia. Ministry of National Planning Commission [MNPC], 2004). This study explored problem solving as one of the teaching methods used in Grade 10 Geography syllabuses as a response to such environmental issues/risks. Geography provides learners with an understanding of the issues and risks in their world that need to be addressed in order to improve the quality of their lives and health of their environment. This study focused on how environmental problems and problem-solving methods are presented in the Namibian Grade 10 Geography syllabus and how these are represented and implemented through teacher intentionality and practice. The theoretical framework for this study was informed by two theories namely risk society and social constructivism. This study was conducted at three schools in the Rundu circuit in the Kavango region and one teacher was involved in the study at each school. This study was conducted within an interpretive research tradition and was qualitative in nature. The study used document analysis, focus group discussion and classroom observation as data generation methods. The findings of the study reveal that the complexity of environmental issues is highlighted in the syllabus and in teachers’ intentionality and practice. The findings also show that a limited variety of teaching methods were used in problem solving strategies. The study also found that problem solving was influenced by different constructivist learning principles. The study further found that limited numbers of problem-solving steps were used in the process of problem solving. The study concludes by calling for further research into problem solving strategies. This can be done to empower Geography teachers to use more complex problem solving strategies to deepen problem solving and to engage problems in more depth.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Zokka, Herman Kankara
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:2074 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021253
- Description: Environmental issues in Namibia are considered to be one of the major threats to the lives of the Namibian people (Namibia. Ministry of National Planning Commission [MNPC], 2004). This study explored problem solving as one of the teaching methods used in Grade 10 Geography syllabuses as a response to such environmental issues/risks. Geography provides learners with an understanding of the issues and risks in their world that need to be addressed in order to improve the quality of their lives and health of their environment. This study focused on how environmental problems and problem-solving methods are presented in the Namibian Grade 10 Geography syllabus and how these are represented and implemented through teacher intentionality and practice. The theoretical framework for this study was informed by two theories namely risk society and social constructivism. This study was conducted at three schools in the Rundu circuit in the Kavango region and one teacher was involved in the study at each school. This study was conducted within an interpretive research tradition and was qualitative in nature. The study used document analysis, focus group discussion and classroom observation as data generation methods. The findings of the study reveal that the complexity of environmental issues is highlighted in the syllabus and in teachers’ intentionality and practice. The findings also show that a limited variety of teaching methods were used in problem solving strategies. The study also found that problem solving was influenced by different constructivist learning principles. The study further found that limited numbers of problem-solving steps were used in the process of problem solving. The study concludes by calling for further research into problem solving strategies. This can be done to empower Geography teachers to use more complex problem solving strategies to deepen problem solving and to engage problems in more depth.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Geology, regional diamond exploration and diamond provenance of the proterozoic diamondiferous Umkondo conglomerates, Umkondo group, eastern Zimbabwe
- Authors: Zhou, Takawira
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3598 , vital:20528
- Description: The Umkondo Sedimentary Basin in eastern Zimbabwe has been studied by various individuals and organizations since 1901. Their interest had been in finding limestone and beryl and base metal deposits, especially copper, iron and uranium, but these occurrences had proved to be of no economic value (Watson, 1969). The recent discovery of placer diamonds within the Proterozoic basal conglomerates of the Umkondo Sedimentary Basin has now attracted worldwide interest in the basin’s diamond economic potential, in understanding of the geology, and the diamond provenance of the Umkondo conglomerates. The Umkondo Sedimentary Basin basal conglomerate placer deposit might narrowly be defined as a mega-placer because of its sheer large size and high grades, especially on the 70,000 hectare western margin diamond dispersion halo where alluvial diamonds are being mined. Bluck, et al., (2005, pp 213) defines a diamond mega-placer as: . . . a number of linked deposits that are a result of one or a continuous process of transportation and deposition and holds or have held at least >= 50 million carats at >= 95% gem quality, for example, the Orange-Vaal dispersal, off the Kaapvaal craton in South Africa. On craton placers are residual, and transient placers are eroded and deposited into the exit drainage, while terminal placers, the final depositories of diamonds with the highest chances of being mega-placers are deposited into terminal basins like oceans and foreland basins. Though data is limited at the moment, the Umkondo conglomerates caratage is likely to run into hundreds of millions of carats, with a diamond gem content of between twenty and twenty-five percent, as is indicated from recent diamond production data. The greater part of the Umkondo diamonds are likely to be lodged beneath the deep gravels of the Middle and Lower Save River basin, because small remnant tilted mountain blocks and inselbergs forming the caps of hills are what remains of the host conglomerate on the western margin of the Umkondo Basin. Areas to be examined in this document will be the geology; the mode of formation of the Umkondo basin and its sedimentary system; the regional kimberlite exploration around the basin; and diamond production in the Marange diamond field, in order to come up with indications of the provenance of the diamonds within the Umkondo conglomerates. The kimberlite clusters in and around the Umkondo sedimentary basin have all proved to be barren or only nominally diamondiferous and that the kimberlites are between 200Ma and 500Ma and thus much younger than the greater than 1.1Ga Umkondo diamondiferous conglomerates. Studies so far undertaken have not managed to point to the origin, or provenance, of the Umkondo or Marange diamonds, which were discovered on the western edge of the Umkondo Basin and in the east of the basin below the Chimanimani Mountains along the Haroni River. This paper is an attempt to clear up some of the misconceptions surrounding the Marange diamond deposit and to raise interest in the urgent rquirement to study and understand the Umkondo Basin and the origin of its diamonds. The only meaningful studies on diamond occurrence and diamond exploration of the basin were undertaken from 1996 to 2006 by Kimberlitic Searches Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd, the then Zimbabwe kimberlite exploration arm of De Beers, Zimbabwe, in their quest to find kimberlites, which were thought to be related to the Umkondo alluvial diamond deposit. As will be shown in the following chapters, many of the discovered kimberlites range from very low grade to non-diamondiferous, and are much younger than the Umkondo conglomerates, whose diamonds are in turn a great deal older. Thus the basic question concerning the origin or provenance of the Umkondo placer diamonds still remains unresolved. Because of the sheer size of the basin, modern, wide-area-coverage, geophysical exploration methods become appropriate to effectively generate diamond potential targets for further examination. This document will attempt to collate various data available to paint a true picture of the state of exploration within the Umkondo Basin.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Zhou, Takawira
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3598 , vital:20528
- Description: The Umkondo Sedimentary Basin in eastern Zimbabwe has been studied by various individuals and organizations since 1901. Their interest had been in finding limestone and beryl and base metal deposits, especially copper, iron and uranium, but these occurrences had proved to be of no economic value (Watson, 1969). The recent discovery of placer diamonds within the Proterozoic basal conglomerates of the Umkondo Sedimentary Basin has now attracted worldwide interest in the basin’s diamond economic potential, in understanding of the geology, and the diamond provenance of the Umkondo conglomerates. The Umkondo Sedimentary Basin basal conglomerate placer deposit might narrowly be defined as a mega-placer because of its sheer large size and high grades, especially on the 70,000 hectare western margin diamond dispersion halo where alluvial diamonds are being mined. Bluck, et al., (2005, pp 213) defines a diamond mega-placer as: . . . a number of linked deposits that are a result of one or a continuous process of transportation and deposition and holds or have held at least >= 50 million carats at >= 95% gem quality, for example, the Orange-Vaal dispersal, off the Kaapvaal craton in South Africa. On craton placers are residual, and transient placers are eroded and deposited into the exit drainage, while terminal placers, the final depositories of diamonds with the highest chances of being mega-placers are deposited into terminal basins like oceans and foreland basins. Though data is limited at the moment, the Umkondo conglomerates caratage is likely to run into hundreds of millions of carats, with a diamond gem content of between twenty and twenty-five percent, as is indicated from recent diamond production data. The greater part of the Umkondo diamonds are likely to be lodged beneath the deep gravels of the Middle and Lower Save River basin, because small remnant tilted mountain blocks and inselbergs forming the caps of hills are what remains of the host conglomerate on the western margin of the Umkondo Basin. Areas to be examined in this document will be the geology; the mode of formation of the Umkondo basin and its sedimentary system; the regional kimberlite exploration around the basin; and diamond production in the Marange diamond field, in order to come up with indications of the provenance of the diamonds within the Umkondo conglomerates. The kimberlite clusters in and around the Umkondo sedimentary basin have all proved to be barren or only nominally diamondiferous and that the kimberlites are between 200Ma and 500Ma and thus much younger than the greater than 1.1Ga Umkondo diamondiferous conglomerates. Studies so far undertaken have not managed to point to the origin, or provenance, of the Umkondo or Marange diamonds, which were discovered on the western edge of the Umkondo Basin and in the east of the basin below the Chimanimani Mountains along the Haroni River. This paper is an attempt to clear up some of the misconceptions surrounding the Marange diamond deposit and to raise interest in the urgent rquirement to study and understand the Umkondo Basin and the origin of its diamonds. The only meaningful studies on diamond occurrence and diamond exploration of the basin were undertaken from 1996 to 2006 by Kimberlitic Searches Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd, the then Zimbabwe kimberlite exploration arm of De Beers, Zimbabwe, in their quest to find kimberlites, which were thought to be related to the Umkondo alluvial diamond deposit. As will be shown in the following chapters, many of the discovered kimberlites range from very low grade to non-diamondiferous, and are much younger than the Umkondo conglomerates, whose diamonds are in turn a great deal older. Thus the basic question concerning the origin or provenance of the Umkondo placer diamonds still remains unresolved. Because of the sheer size of the basin, modern, wide-area-coverage, geophysical exploration methods become appropriate to effectively generate diamond potential targets for further examination. This document will attempt to collate various data available to paint a true picture of the state of exploration within the Umkondo Basin.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Detecting derivative malware samples using deobfuscation-assisted similarity analysis
- Authors: Wrench, Peter Mark
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/383 , vital:19954
- Description: The overwhelming popularity of PHP as a hosting platform has made it the language of choice for developers of Remote Access Trojans (RATs or web shells) and other malicious software. These shells are typically used to compromise and monetise web platforms by providing the attacker with basic remote access to the system, including _le transfer, command execution, network reconnaissance, and database connectivity. Once infected, compromised systems can be used to defraud users by hosting phishing sites, performing Distributed Denial of Service attacks, or serving as anonymous platforms for sending spam or other malfeasance. The vast majority of these threats are largely derivative, incorporating core capabilities found in more established RATs such as c99 and r57. Authors of malicious software routinely produce new shell variants by modifying the behaviours of these ubiquitous RATs, either to add desired functionality or to avoid detection by signature-based detection systems. Once these modified shells are eventually identified (or additional functionality is required), the process of shell adaptation begins again. The end result of this iterative process is a web of separate but related shell variants, many of which are at least partially derived from one of the more popular and influential RATs. In response to the problem outlined above, the author set out to design and implement a system capable of circumventing common obfuscation techniques and identifying derivative malware samples in a given collection. To begin with, a decoder component was developed to syntactically deobfuscate and normalise PHP code by detecting and reversing idiomatic obfuscation constructs, and to apply uniform formatting conventions to all system inputs. A unified malware analysis framework, called Viper, was then extended to create a modular similarity analysis system comprised of individual feature extraction modules, modules responsible for batch processing, a matrix module for comparing sample features, and two visualisation modules capable of generating visual representations of shell similarity. The principal conclusion of the research was that the deobfuscation performed by the decoder component prior to analysis dramatically improved the observed levels of similarity between test samples. This in turn allowed the modular similarity analysis system to identify derivative clusters (or families) within a large collection of shells more accurately. Techniques for isolating and re-rendering these clusters were also developed and demonstrated to be effective at increasing the amount of detail available for evaluating the relative magnitudes of the relationships within each cluster.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Wrench, Peter Mark
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/383 , vital:19954
- Description: The overwhelming popularity of PHP as a hosting platform has made it the language of choice for developers of Remote Access Trojans (RATs or web shells) and other malicious software. These shells are typically used to compromise and monetise web platforms by providing the attacker with basic remote access to the system, including _le transfer, command execution, network reconnaissance, and database connectivity. Once infected, compromised systems can be used to defraud users by hosting phishing sites, performing Distributed Denial of Service attacks, or serving as anonymous platforms for sending spam or other malfeasance. The vast majority of these threats are largely derivative, incorporating core capabilities found in more established RATs such as c99 and r57. Authors of malicious software routinely produce new shell variants by modifying the behaviours of these ubiquitous RATs, either to add desired functionality or to avoid detection by signature-based detection systems. Once these modified shells are eventually identified (or additional functionality is required), the process of shell adaptation begins again. The end result of this iterative process is a web of separate but related shell variants, many of which are at least partially derived from one of the more popular and influential RATs. In response to the problem outlined above, the author set out to design and implement a system capable of circumventing common obfuscation techniques and identifying derivative malware samples in a given collection. To begin with, a decoder component was developed to syntactically deobfuscate and normalise PHP code by detecting and reversing idiomatic obfuscation constructs, and to apply uniform formatting conventions to all system inputs. A unified malware analysis framework, called Viper, was then extended to create a modular similarity analysis system comprised of individual feature extraction modules, modules responsible for batch processing, a matrix module for comparing sample features, and two visualisation modules capable of generating visual representations of shell similarity. The principal conclusion of the research was that the deobfuscation performed by the decoder component prior to analysis dramatically improved the observed levels of similarity between test samples. This in turn allowed the modular similarity analysis system to identify derivative clusters (or families) within a large collection of shells more accurately. Techniques for isolating and re-rendering these clusters were also developed and demonstrated to be effective at increasing the amount of detail available for evaluating the relative magnitudes of the relationships within each cluster.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Identification of potential novel roles for Hsp70/Hsp90 organising protein (Hop) using proteomic analysis in human cells
- Authors: Wingate, Ianthe
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64758 , vital:28598
- Description: Expected release date-May 2018
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Wingate, Ianthe
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64758 , vital:28598
- Description: Expected release date-May 2018
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Improved singlet oxygen generation by a novel bodipy dye and a study of upconverison nanoparticles mixed with a functionalized bodipy compound
- Wildervanck, Martijn Johannes
- Authors: Wildervanck, Martijn Johannes
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3718 , vital:20538
- Description: This research explores the use of the versatile 4,4-difluoro-4-boro-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene (BODIPY) dyes and the modification of their spectroscopic properties. The synthesis of a tetramethyl-BODIPY bearing a sterically hindered meso-phenyl ring with an ethynyl functional group at the para-position was compared to that of its freely rotating counterpart with no methyl substituents on the BODIPY core, with the fluorescence properties in particular proving to be markedly different. These phenyl-ethynyl-substituted BODIPYs were used as the starting materials for the synthesis of novel BODIPY dyes for sensor applications via Sonogashira coupling reactions at the ethynyl position, but this resulted instead in the serendipitous synthesis of a novel BODIPY dimer in which the para-positions of the meso-phenyl rings are linked by a diethynyl bridge. Following iodination at the 2, 6-positions, the dimer was found to have a singlet oxygen quantum yield of 0.88, compared to the value of 0.86 that was obtained for the analogous monomer. Since the εmax values for the main spectral bands of the dimers are significantly higher, the compounds may be of interest for singlet oxygen generation applications. A second study was carried out on the interaction between methyl ester functionalized BODIPY dyes and upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) to explore the possible use of BODIPY-UCNP conjugates in biomedical applications. The singlet oxygen generation properties of the BODIPY were tested following iodination at the 2, 6-positions, a singlet oxygen quantum yield value of 0.86 was obtained. Three sets of oleate capped UCNPs were synthesized with different diameters and were rendered water dispersible with the addition of a silica shell. The necessary scaffolding for conjugation to the BODIPY was provided by amine groups following functionalization of this shell. All of the sets of oleate capped and silica coated UCNPs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and their emission properties were studied upon excitation at 978 nm with a diode laser with a Picoquant Fluotime 300 spectrophotometer that enables the measurement of anti-Stokes emission. The potential utility of UCNP-BODIPY conjugates for singlet oxygen applications, such as PDT, was then assessed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Wildervanck, Martijn Johannes
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3718 , vital:20538
- Description: This research explores the use of the versatile 4,4-difluoro-4-boro-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene (BODIPY) dyes and the modification of their spectroscopic properties. The synthesis of a tetramethyl-BODIPY bearing a sterically hindered meso-phenyl ring with an ethynyl functional group at the para-position was compared to that of its freely rotating counterpart with no methyl substituents on the BODIPY core, with the fluorescence properties in particular proving to be markedly different. These phenyl-ethynyl-substituted BODIPYs were used as the starting materials for the synthesis of novel BODIPY dyes for sensor applications via Sonogashira coupling reactions at the ethynyl position, but this resulted instead in the serendipitous synthesis of a novel BODIPY dimer in which the para-positions of the meso-phenyl rings are linked by a diethynyl bridge. Following iodination at the 2, 6-positions, the dimer was found to have a singlet oxygen quantum yield of 0.88, compared to the value of 0.86 that was obtained for the analogous monomer. Since the εmax values for the main spectral bands of the dimers are significantly higher, the compounds may be of interest for singlet oxygen generation applications. A second study was carried out on the interaction between methyl ester functionalized BODIPY dyes and upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) to explore the possible use of BODIPY-UCNP conjugates in biomedical applications. The singlet oxygen generation properties of the BODIPY were tested following iodination at the 2, 6-positions, a singlet oxygen quantum yield value of 0.86 was obtained. Three sets of oleate capped UCNPs were synthesized with different diameters and were rendered water dispersible with the addition of a silica shell. The necessary scaffolding for conjugation to the BODIPY was provided by amine groups following functionalization of this shell. All of the sets of oleate capped and silica coated UCNPs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and their emission properties were studied upon excitation at 978 nm with a diode laser with a Picoquant Fluotime 300 spectrophotometer that enables the measurement of anti-Stokes emission. The potential utility of UCNP-BODIPY conjugates for singlet oxygen applications, such as PDT, was then assessed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Détournement : the art of troubling
- Authors: Wilby, Mark Owen
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MFA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/345 , vital:19950
- Description: Confidence in the form of, for example, commodified debt or the commodification of future value, is an increasingly large part of today’s globalised economy. This was alarmingly illustrated in 2008 by the repercussions of marketing unstable debt in the form of subprime mortgages in the United States leading to a precipitous global financial meltdown. That was a collapse of confidence writ large. At the same time, confidence is also a cornerstone of everyday social and professional life. The non-ZERO-sum project (exhibition title of practical submission in MFA fulfilment) interacts with the notion of confidence, and more particularly economic confidence. At the same time, the project takes the view that engagement from a fine art perspective would have an inherently inadequate vocabulary if restricted to a representative practice, and so a more interactive approach was sought. Research into the radical activism of the Situationists in the 1950s and 1960s, and particularly their tactic of détournement (the deliberate subversion of social or cultural practices), has informed and influenced the development of an interventionist technique summed up in this thesis as: The Art of Troubling. The Situationists had a dichotomous relationship with art. The group was initially made up mostly of artists and is in other instances referred to as an art movement. They saw art as the fulcrum for social and political change, and had their roots in the Dada, Surrealist, and Lettrist movements. As such, they also carried the genes of the notion of an anti-art, which varied in concept between art as a disruptive and propagandistic practice to the subsuming of art into other forms of social activity. This thesis, Détournement: The Art of Troubling, describes non-ZERO-sum as a bespoke methodology designed specifically for engagement with its particular topic. As such, the concept does not necessarily follow a template for situationist intervention. In 1962, a growing rift between the artists and the political theorists within the Situationist International tore the group in two. In conclusion of the non-ZERO-sum project, this thesis offers the observation that perhaps it was the political faction of the Situationists that had a more compelling idea of an art that functions through its very own subsumption.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Wilby, Mark Owen
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MFA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/345 , vital:19950
- Description: Confidence in the form of, for example, commodified debt or the commodification of future value, is an increasingly large part of today’s globalised economy. This was alarmingly illustrated in 2008 by the repercussions of marketing unstable debt in the form of subprime mortgages in the United States leading to a precipitous global financial meltdown. That was a collapse of confidence writ large. At the same time, confidence is also a cornerstone of everyday social and professional life. The non-ZERO-sum project (exhibition title of practical submission in MFA fulfilment) interacts with the notion of confidence, and more particularly economic confidence. At the same time, the project takes the view that engagement from a fine art perspective would have an inherently inadequate vocabulary if restricted to a representative practice, and so a more interactive approach was sought. Research into the radical activism of the Situationists in the 1950s and 1960s, and particularly their tactic of détournement (the deliberate subversion of social or cultural practices), has informed and influenced the development of an interventionist technique summed up in this thesis as: The Art of Troubling. The Situationists had a dichotomous relationship with art. The group was initially made up mostly of artists and is in other instances referred to as an art movement. They saw art as the fulcrum for social and political change, and had their roots in the Dada, Surrealist, and Lettrist movements. As such, they also carried the genes of the notion of an anti-art, which varied in concept between art as a disruptive and propagandistic practice to the subsuming of art into other forms of social activity. This thesis, Détournement: The Art of Troubling, describes non-ZERO-sum as a bespoke methodology designed specifically for engagement with its particular topic. As such, the concept does not necessarily follow a template for situationist intervention. In 1962, a growing rift between the artists and the political theorists within the Situationist International tore the group in two. In conclusion of the non-ZERO-sum project, this thesis offers the observation that perhaps it was the political faction of the Situationists that had a more compelling idea of an art that functions through its very own subsumption.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Stripe & dusk: a weekend odyssey
- Authors: Whitehorn, Daniel J
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:6018 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021242
- Description: I love to take in and create playful fantasy, tales set in wild and fantastic worlds peopled by wild and fantastic characters - dragons and dinosaurs, knights and robots, stars and penguins. My novella is the story of a quest set in a colourful and wondrous fantasy universe. Along the journey's tumultuous trajectory fantasy tropes and protocols are encountered, subverted, teased at, appropriated, and renovated, in order to create something both original and familiar all at once. I am happy to acknowledge and salute the influences of Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Walter Moers and Manuela Draeger.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Whitehorn, Daniel J
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:6018 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021242
- Description: I love to take in and create playful fantasy, tales set in wild and fantastic worlds peopled by wild and fantastic characters - dragons and dinosaurs, knights and robots, stars and penguins. My novella is the story of a quest set in a colourful and wondrous fantasy universe. Along the journey's tumultuous trajectory fantasy tropes and protocols are encountered, subverted, teased at, appropriated, and renovated, in order to create something both original and familiar all at once. I am happy to acknowledge and salute the influences of Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Walter Moers and Manuela Draeger.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Fusing fact and fiction: biography and autobiography in the novels of Virginia Woolf
- Authors: White, Joshua Craig
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4005 , vital:20580
- Description: Virginia Woolf was noted for a preoccupation with the genre of life-writing throughout her career. Her aims when it came to reshaping the nature of biographical and autobiographical literature were numerous. She veered away from the aggrandising and patriarchal methods with which Victorian biographers tended to depict their subjects. She increased the focus on women in life-writing, examining and subverting traditionally prescribed gender roles prevalent in both her society and the literature that reflected it, and advocating a balance between male and female patterns of thinking. She also devised a method of incorporating both basic biographical fact and aspects of fiction into life-writing in order to approach a more truthful depiction of a subject’s personality or character. This method is linked to the aforementioned balance of gendered thought patterns, since Woolf often aligns factuality with male thinking and the contrasting qualities of fiction, such as intuition, ambivalence and perspicacity, with female thinking. This thesis examines three novels which demonstrate Woolf’s constant preoccupation with combining fact and fiction in order to capture the essence of personality. In her debut novel, The Voyage Out, she presents Rachel Vinrace, who must achieve a balance of male-oriented fact with female-oriented insight in order to fashion a sufficient identity for herself and to identify others in a selective and judicious manner, thus being simultaneously autobiographical and biographical. In Orlando, Woolf explicitly subverts the traditional Victorian biography by depicting Vita Sackville-West as a man who transforms into a woman and remains living for over 400 years. In presenting such a character, Woolf posits that personality consists of and is influenced by myriad aspects of a person’s life that cannot be documented in the restrictive manner employed by Victorian biographers. Orlando’s essence being obfuscated by manifold “selves” attests to Woolf problematizing attempts to attain such an essence. The same challenge is particularly important in her autobiographical novel, To the Lighthouse, in which she transposes the traumas of her own life into a fictitious narrative in order to achieve catharsis for her and her readers, and to present the difficulty in capturing the essence of character. The conclusion that Woolf eventually posits is that personality cannot be reduced to an essence, but rather that it consists of idiosyncrasies that are various, intertwining, and capricious.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: White, Joshua Craig
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4005 , vital:20580
- Description: Virginia Woolf was noted for a preoccupation with the genre of life-writing throughout her career. Her aims when it came to reshaping the nature of biographical and autobiographical literature were numerous. She veered away from the aggrandising and patriarchal methods with which Victorian biographers tended to depict their subjects. She increased the focus on women in life-writing, examining and subverting traditionally prescribed gender roles prevalent in both her society and the literature that reflected it, and advocating a balance between male and female patterns of thinking. She also devised a method of incorporating both basic biographical fact and aspects of fiction into life-writing in order to approach a more truthful depiction of a subject’s personality or character. This method is linked to the aforementioned balance of gendered thought patterns, since Woolf often aligns factuality with male thinking and the contrasting qualities of fiction, such as intuition, ambivalence and perspicacity, with female thinking. This thesis examines three novels which demonstrate Woolf’s constant preoccupation with combining fact and fiction in order to capture the essence of personality. In her debut novel, The Voyage Out, she presents Rachel Vinrace, who must achieve a balance of male-oriented fact with female-oriented insight in order to fashion a sufficient identity for herself and to identify others in a selective and judicious manner, thus being simultaneously autobiographical and biographical. In Orlando, Woolf explicitly subverts the traditional Victorian biography by depicting Vita Sackville-West as a man who transforms into a woman and remains living for over 400 years. In presenting such a character, Woolf posits that personality consists of and is influenced by myriad aspects of a person’s life that cannot be documented in the restrictive manner employed by Victorian biographers. Orlando’s essence being obfuscated by manifold “selves” attests to Woolf problematizing attempts to attain such an essence. The same challenge is particularly important in her autobiographical novel, To the Lighthouse, in which she transposes the traumas of her own life into a fictitious narrative in order to achieve catharsis for her and her readers, and to present the difficulty in capturing the essence of character. The conclusion that Woolf eventually posits is that personality cannot be reduced to an essence, but rather that it consists of idiosyncrasies that are various, intertwining, and capricious.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
User interface design guidelines for digital television virtual remote controls
- Authors: Wentzel, Alicia Veronica
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Remote control , User interfaces (Computer systems) , Television broadcasting , Human-computer interaction
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:1158 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020617
- Description: The remote control is a pivotal component in households worldwide. It helps users enjoy leisurely television (TV) viewing. The remote control has various user interfaces that people interact with. For example, the physical user interface includes the shape of the remote and the physical buttons; the logical user interface refers to how the information is laid out; and the graphical user interface refers to the colours and aesthetic features of the remote control. All of the user interfaces together with the context of use, cultural factors, social factors, and prior experiences of the user influences the ways people interact with their remote control and ultimately has an effect on their user experiences. Advances in the broadcasting sector and transformations of the TV physical remote control have compounded the simple remote control into a multifaceted, indispensable device, overcrowded with buttons. The usability and ultimately the user experience of physical remote controls (PRCs) have been affected by the overloaded functionality and small button sizes. The usability issues with current PRCs, the evolution of mobile phones into touchscreen smartphones, and the trend of global companies moving towards virtual remote controls (VRCs) have prompted this research to discover what user interface design features will contribute towards an enhanced user experience for digital TV VRCs. This research used the design science research process model (DSRP), which comprised six steps, to investigate this topic area further. A review of the domain literature pertaining to mobile user experiences (MUX) and all the encompassing factors, mobile human computer interaction (MHCI) and the physical, logical, graphical and natural user interfaces was completed, as well as a review of the literature regarding the usability issues of PRCs and VRCs. A contextual task analysis (CTA) of a single South African digital TV PRC was used to identify how users utilise PRCs to perform tasks, and the usability issues they encountered during the tasks. Brainstorming focus groups were used to understand how to represent certain user interface elements and attempted to source ideas from users about what potential functionality digital TV VRCs should contain. Together with all the other results gathered from the previous chapters amalgamated into a set of user interface design guidelines for digital TV VRCs. The proposed user interface guidelines were used to instantiate a digital TV VRC prototype that underwent usability testing in order to validate the proposed user interface design guidelines. The results of the usability testing revealed that the user interface design guidelines for digital TV VRCs were successful, with the addition of one guideline that was discovered during the usability testing.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Wentzel, Alicia Veronica
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Remote control , User interfaces (Computer systems) , Television broadcasting , Human-computer interaction
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:1158 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020617
- Description: The remote control is a pivotal component in households worldwide. It helps users enjoy leisurely television (TV) viewing. The remote control has various user interfaces that people interact with. For example, the physical user interface includes the shape of the remote and the physical buttons; the logical user interface refers to how the information is laid out; and the graphical user interface refers to the colours and aesthetic features of the remote control. All of the user interfaces together with the context of use, cultural factors, social factors, and prior experiences of the user influences the ways people interact with their remote control and ultimately has an effect on their user experiences. Advances in the broadcasting sector and transformations of the TV physical remote control have compounded the simple remote control into a multifaceted, indispensable device, overcrowded with buttons. The usability and ultimately the user experience of physical remote controls (PRCs) have been affected by the overloaded functionality and small button sizes. The usability issues with current PRCs, the evolution of mobile phones into touchscreen smartphones, and the trend of global companies moving towards virtual remote controls (VRCs) have prompted this research to discover what user interface design features will contribute towards an enhanced user experience for digital TV VRCs. This research used the design science research process model (DSRP), which comprised six steps, to investigate this topic area further. A review of the domain literature pertaining to mobile user experiences (MUX) and all the encompassing factors, mobile human computer interaction (MHCI) and the physical, logical, graphical and natural user interfaces was completed, as well as a review of the literature regarding the usability issues of PRCs and VRCs. A contextual task analysis (CTA) of a single South African digital TV PRC was used to identify how users utilise PRCs to perform tasks, and the usability issues they encountered during the tasks. Brainstorming focus groups were used to understand how to represent certain user interface elements and attempted to source ideas from users about what potential functionality digital TV VRCs should contain. Together with all the other results gathered from the previous chapters amalgamated into a set of user interface design guidelines for digital TV VRCs. The proposed user interface guidelines were used to instantiate a digital TV VRC prototype that underwent usability testing in order to validate the proposed user interface design guidelines. The results of the usability testing revealed that the user interface design guidelines for digital TV VRCs were successful, with the addition of one guideline that was discovered during the usability testing.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Exploring the course-led development of a learning network as a community of practice around a shared interest of rainwater harvesting and conservation agricultural practices: a case study in the Amathole District in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Weaver, Kim Nichole
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/1184 , vital:20032
- Description: South Africa has water and food security challenges, especially the Eastern Cape Province where there is a high level of poverty. These challenges place heavy pressure on the agricultural sector as it is the main user of the allocated water in the country. Rainwater harvesting and conservation (RWH&C) practices are explored as a response to these challenges, however information on these practices is not readily available to rural farmers. Agricultural extension has been moving from a top down approach towards a more participatory, collaborative process where what farmers need and want is considered. These participatory approaches need to be explored to enable change in farmer’s practice. This research forms part of a Water Resource Commission (WRC) project, Amanzi for Food. (Project K5/2277). The project has the explicit intention of supporting the use of two sets of WRC materials on RWH&C and expanding the learning of these practices through a courseled process within a learning network structure centred around an agricultural college. The network was established with a participatory, applied training of trainer’s course that supports and expands knowledge of RWH&C practices amongst network members from different groups within the sector; farmers, trainers, researchers and educators. My main research question was to investigate the process of cultivating a learning network amongst different agricultural actors through a course-led initiative to strengthen the engagement with RWH&C practices. To address this research I used focus group discussions, course observations, participant interviews, participant questionnaires and participant assignment progress to generate data. These data were analysed using Wenger’s theory of communities of practice to gauge levels of engagement, participation and learning. Main findings of the study are that the course-led activation of the learning network supported the community of practice members to share their personal experience and achieve social competence in the learning of RWH&C agricultural practices in their context.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Weaver, Kim Nichole
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/1184 , vital:20032
- Description: South Africa has water and food security challenges, especially the Eastern Cape Province where there is a high level of poverty. These challenges place heavy pressure on the agricultural sector as it is the main user of the allocated water in the country. Rainwater harvesting and conservation (RWH&C) practices are explored as a response to these challenges, however information on these practices is not readily available to rural farmers. Agricultural extension has been moving from a top down approach towards a more participatory, collaborative process where what farmers need and want is considered. These participatory approaches need to be explored to enable change in farmer’s practice. This research forms part of a Water Resource Commission (WRC) project, Amanzi for Food. (Project K5/2277). The project has the explicit intention of supporting the use of two sets of WRC materials on RWH&C and expanding the learning of these practices through a courseled process within a learning network structure centred around an agricultural college. The network was established with a participatory, applied training of trainer’s course that supports and expands knowledge of RWH&C practices amongst network members from different groups within the sector; farmers, trainers, researchers and educators. My main research question was to investigate the process of cultivating a learning network amongst different agricultural actors through a course-led initiative to strengthen the engagement with RWH&C practices. To address this research I used focus group discussions, course observations, participant interviews, participant questionnaires and participant assignment progress to generate data. These data were analysed using Wenger’s theory of communities of practice to gauge levels of engagement, participation and learning. Main findings of the study are that the course-led activation of the learning network supported the community of practice members to share their personal experience and achieve social competence in the learning of RWH&C agricultural practices in their context.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Investigating a mathematics recovery program for assessment and intervention with groups of Grade 4 learners
- Authors: Wasserman, Anelia
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Primary) , Mathematics -- Evaluation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:2065 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020340
- Description: This study reports on the findings of my research, which was based on an intervention focused on recovery of early arithmetic strategies with one Grade 4 class of learners in a township school in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. Learners came from poor socio-economic backgrounds and initial evaluations showed that the majority of learners still relied on concrete methods, like tally counting, to perform addition and subtraction calculations even with numbers less than 10. This is not uncommon in the South African context especially with learners in low Socio-economic Status (SES) schools. The results of numerous assessments including the Department of Education’s Annual National Assessments point to a crisis in primary mathematics education where intermediate phase learners are generally operating several grade levels below the grade they are in. A large drop in mathematics performance is seen in the ANA results in grade 4 learners (the first grade of the transition from foundation phase to intermediate phase). Within this context, and my background in learning support for students, my research aimed to understand the possibilities and constraints of the implementation of a recovery program adapted from the widely implemented work of Wright et al. (2006, 2012). The primary adaptation made to the MR program involved administering the assessments and intervention with groups of (rather than individual) learners. Within the context of the many low SES under-resourced schools in SA, individualised interview based assessments and recovery is not seen as a possible remediation strategy. Drawing on a socio- constructivist perspective, my study used action research with one class of 23 learners and found that adaptation of the MR program for a group, based on eight recovery sessions, was useful for enabling some progress for all learners in terms of their early arithmetic strategies and conceptual place value. Although the need for a longer recovery period is acknowledged, the adapted program enabled some progress in levels and stages of conceptual knowledge (as conceptualized by Wright et al.’s (2006) Learning Framework in Number) for these two domains. The study concludes with some reflections and recommendations for the future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Wasserman, Anelia
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Primary) , Mathematics -- Evaluation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:2065 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020340
- Description: This study reports on the findings of my research, which was based on an intervention focused on recovery of early arithmetic strategies with one Grade 4 class of learners in a township school in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. Learners came from poor socio-economic backgrounds and initial evaluations showed that the majority of learners still relied on concrete methods, like tally counting, to perform addition and subtraction calculations even with numbers less than 10. This is not uncommon in the South African context especially with learners in low Socio-economic Status (SES) schools. The results of numerous assessments including the Department of Education’s Annual National Assessments point to a crisis in primary mathematics education where intermediate phase learners are generally operating several grade levels below the grade they are in. A large drop in mathematics performance is seen in the ANA results in grade 4 learners (the first grade of the transition from foundation phase to intermediate phase). Within this context, and my background in learning support for students, my research aimed to understand the possibilities and constraints of the implementation of a recovery program adapted from the widely implemented work of Wright et al. (2006, 2012). The primary adaptation made to the MR program involved administering the assessments and intervention with groups of (rather than individual) learners. Within the context of the many low SES under-resourced schools in SA, individualised interview based assessments and recovery is not seen as a possible remediation strategy. Drawing on a socio- constructivist perspective, my study used action research with one class of 23 learners and found that adaptation of the MR program for a group, based on eight recovery sessions, was useful for enabling some progress for all learners in terms of their early arithmetic strategies and conceptual place value. Although the need for a longer recovery period is acknowledged, the adapted program enabled some progress in levels and stages of conceptual knowledge (as conceptualized by Wright et al.’s (2006) Learning Framework in Number) for these two domains. The study concludes with some reflections and recommendations for the future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Changing planets and climates in select fantastic literature
- Authors: Ward, Brendan
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3994 , vital:20578
- Description: This thesis is concerned with literature’s engagement with the environment, specifically ecosystems and climate change. Literature of the fantastic, works that break from the tradition of mimetic literature and the limits of realism, are the focus of this thesis, which argues, alongside ecocriticism, that literature must be part of the interdisciplinary drive towards greater ecological awareness. Speculative literature adds fantastic elements or draws on scientific extrapolations into the future, and offers a platform to engage with the science of environmental issues alongside philosophical engagements with the relationship between humans and the more-than-human world around them. This thesis draws on ecocriticism to examine the role of reading and criticism in constructing more ecologically sustainable societies. From this position, it asks how fantasy can be used to convey these themes. As a result, this thesis is interested in definitions of fantasy, drawing on science fiction and fantasy to examine Kathryn Hume’s framework of the fantastic impulse. Placing fantastic texts on two axes, Hume examines the ways texts support or subvert the reader’s expectations, and encourage or discourage reflection on their extratextual worlds. This thesis contends that, texts that encourage engagement are most transformative, but that the spectrum of engagement and disengagement challenges authors to navigate between didacticism and emotive imagery. To show this, this thesis examines four series of novels drawing on the fantastic impulse. Frank Herbert’s Dune Chronicles, Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars Trilogy and Science in the Capital, and George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. The first two are on opposite ends of both of Hume’s axes, and imagine the challenges of constructing Earth-like ecosystems on other planets, asking questions about the sustainability of such a project as well as the possibilities of transforming society. The latter two engage with rapid climate change, Robinson’s looking at contemporary climate change and Martin’s engaging with historical climate change. They interrogate the impact of the climate on human and more- than-human life, and reveal the tension between comforting didactic revisions of human- environment interactions and framework-disturbing alternate ways of relating to the environment. This tension is where the fantastic is powerful, allowing alternate visions to pierce sceptical readers’ defences.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Ward, Brendan
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3994 , vital:20578
- Description: This thesis is concerned with literature’s engagement with the environment, specifically ecosystems and climate change. Literature of the fantastic, works that break from the tradition of mimetic literature and the limits of realism, are the focus of this thesis, which argues, alongside ecocriticism, that literature must be part of the interdisciplinary drive towards greater ecological awareness. Speculative literature adds fantastic elements or draws on scientific extrapolations into the future, and offers a platform to engage with the science of environmental issues alongside philosophical engagements with the relationship between humans and the more-than-human world around them. This thesis draws on ecocriticism to examine the role of reading and criticism in constructing more ecologically sustainable societies. From this position, it asks how fantasy can be used to convey these themes. As a result, this thesis is interested in definitions of fantasy, drawing on science fiction and fantasy to examine Kathryn Hume’s framework of the fantastic impulse. Placing fantastic texts on two axes, Hume examines the ways texts support or subvert the reader’s expectations, and encourage or discourage reflection on their extratextual worlds. This thesis contends that, texts that encourage engagement are most transformative, but that the spectrum of engagement and disengagement challenges authors to navigate between didacticism and emotive imagery. To show this, this thesis examines four series of novels drawing on the fantastic impulse. Frank Herbert’s Dune Chronicles, Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars Trilogy and Science in the Capital, and George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. The first two are on opposite ends of both of Hume’s axes, and imagine the challenges of constructing Earth-like ecosystems on other planets, asking questions about the sustainability of such a project as well as the possibilities of transforming society. The latter two engage with rapid climate change, Robinson’s looking at contemporary climate change and Martin’s engaging with historical climate change. They interrogate the impact of the climate on human and more- than-human life, and reveal the tension between comforting didactic revisions of human- environment interactions and framework-disturbing alternate ways of relating to the environment. This tension is where the fantastic is powerful, allowing alternate visions to pierce sceptical readers’ defences.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Livelihood strategies of female-headed households in the Coloured community of Sunningdale in Harare, Zimbabwe
- Authors: Wadi, Chenai C
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3839 , vital:20547
- Description: The turbulent economic and political situation that has plagued Zimbabwe over the past two decades has had a dire effect on its urban population. The country’s tempestuous situation has not only threatened urbanites’ access to basic necessities but has also rendered many households and particularly female-headed households vulnerable to poverty and deprivation. Thus the primary objective of this study was to analyse and understand how coloured female-headed households in Sunningdale, Harare, Zimbabwe are surviving in the context of the current economic and political crises in the country. Essentially the study sought to achieve the three main objectives. The first objective was to identify and document the current livelihood strategies that a small sample of coloured female-headed households have adopted; the second was to explore the challenges and problems faced by female-headed households in their daily lives and lastly, the third was to establish what support mechanisms were available to these households to cope with the challenges and problems they face in generating an income and catering to their household needs. Methodologically the study employed a qualitative research approach with in-depth semi-structured interviews being used to collect data from five female-headed households. The data was then analysed using an interpretive approach and presented textually. Essentially the study found that in terms of the first research objective that coloured female-headed households engaged in a range of livelihood activities in order to earn a living, with informal trading being the main livelihood activity that the participants relied on to acquire an income to support their households. With regards to the second objective, it was revealed that the female heads interviewed faced numerous challenges ranging from economic to social problems that limited their ability to develop sustainable livelihoods, thereby increasing their risk to fall into poverty and validating their feminization of poverty. In terms of the third and last objective, the study found that the female heads did not have many reliable support mechanisms available to them thereby limiting their ability to achieve financial and social empowerment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Wadi, Chenai C
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3839 , vital:20547
- Description: The turbulent economic and political situation that has plagued Zimbabwe over the past two decades has had a dire effect on its urban population. The country’s tempestuous situation has not only threatened urbanites’ access to basic necessities but has also rendered many households and particularly female-headed households vulnerable to poverty and deprivation. Thus the primary objective of this study was to analyse and understand how coloured female-headed households in Sunningdale, Harare, Zimbabwe are surviving in the context of the current economic and political crises in the country. Essentially the study sought to achieve the three main objectives. The first objective was to identify and document the current livelihood strategies that a small sample of coloured female-headed households have adopted; the second was to explore the challenges and problems faced by female-headed households in their daily lives and lastly, the third was to establish what support mechanisms were available to these households to cope with the challenges and problems they face in generating an income and catering to their household needs. Methodologically the study employed a qualitative research approach with in-depth semi-structured interviews being used to collect data from five female-headed households. The data was then analysed using an interpretive approach and presented textually. Essentially the study found that in terms of the first research objective that coloured female-headed households engaged in a range of livelihood activities in order to earn a living, with informal trading being the main livelihood activity that the participants relied on to acquire an income to support their households. With regards to the second objective, it was revealed that the female heads interviewed faced numerous challenges ranging from economic to social problems that limited their ability to develop sustainable livelihoods, thereby increasing their risk to fall into poverty and validating their feminization of poverty. In terms of the third and last objective, the study found that the female heads did not have many reliable support mechanisms available to them thereby limiting their ability to achieve financial and social empowerment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Codeswitching online: a case study of a bilingual online maths programme for grade 7 learners in Diepsloot, Johannesburg
- Authors: von Witt, Nathalia
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3983 , vital:20577
- Description: There is an education crisis in South Africa. Mathematics and literacy are at the forefront of the problem, as particularly evidenced by Annual National Assessment results (Department of Basic Education, 2014; Spaull, 2014). This research is motivated by the unequal access to quality learning which stems from learners learning through a poorly-understood second language with little to no cognitive academic language proficiency. The vast majority of South African learners learn through their second language, English, from Grade 4 onwards. English is the language of South Africa’s political economy and is a global lingua franca; however, the understanding of concepts and content learnt at school is vital if one is to have any hope of putting one’s English to good use. This research aimed to find a way to equip learners both with English proficiency and mathematical understanding simultaneously. This was done by implementing and evaluating an experimental bilingual course in an existing mathematics programme in the township of Diepsloot in Johannesburg, South Africa. This research used design-based research methodology, using both qualitative and quantitative research methods. This methodology was chosen as it allows theory and practice to intersect in a real-life setting, and for the successes and shortcomings of this intersection to be evaluated. This study encompasses both the evaluation and creation of the bilingual online mathematics course. The course is made bilingual through the creation of bilingual videos with the use of translanguaging and the creation of a bilingual glossary of terms. The videos were created using a translanguaging ‘model’ informed by theories of basic interpersonal communication skills and cognitive academic language proficiency (Cummins, 1981), common underlying proficiency (Cummins, 1991), codeswitching (Setati, 1998; Ncoko et al., 2000) and translanguaging (Makalela 2015; Creese and Blackledge, 2010a). The aim of this research was to create a successful translanguaging model which facilitates learners’ ability to conceptualise in their first language and then discuss and understand the concept in their second language.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: von Witt, Nathalia
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3983 , vital:20577
- Description: There is an education crisis in South Africa. Mathematics and literacy are at the forefront of the problem, as particularly evidenced by Annual National Assessment results (Department of Basic Education, 2014; Spaull, 2014). This research is motivated by the unequal access to quality learning which stems from learners learning through a poorly-understood second language with little to no cognitive academic language proficiency. The vast majority of South African learners learn through their second language, English, from Grade 4 onwards. English is the language of South Africa’s political economy and is a global lingua franca; however, the understanding of concepts and content learnt at school is vital if one is to have any hope of putting one’s English to good use. This research aimed to find a way to equip learners both with English proficiency and mathematical understanding simultaneously. This was done by implementing and evaluating an experimental bilingual course in an existing mathematics programme in the township of Diepsloot in Johannesburg, South Africa. This research used design-based research methodology, using both qualitative and quantitative research methods. This methodology was chosen as it allows theory and practice to intersect in a real-life setting, and for the successes and shortcomings of this intersection to be evaluated. This study encompasses both the evaluation and creation of the bilingual online mathematics course. The course is made bilingual through the creation of bilingual videos with the use of translanguaging and the creation of a bilingual glossary of terms. The videos were created using a translanguaging ‘model’ informed by theories of basic interpersonal communication skills and cognitive academic language proficiency (Cummins, 1981), common underlying proficiency (Cummins, 1991), codeswitching (Setati, 1998; Ncoko et al., 2000) and translanguaging (Makalela 2015; Creese and Blackledge, 2010a). The aim of this research was to create a successful translanguaging model which facilitates learners’ ability to conceptualise in their first language and then discuss and understand the concept in their second language.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Borderline hospitality: homestays as a commercial hospitality development project in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape
- Von Lengeling, Volkher Heinrich Christoph
- Authors: Von Lengeling, Volkher Heinrich Christoph
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/706 , vital:19983
- Description: This study started as an anthropological investigation of commercial hospitality from the point of view of the hands-on host. The chosen case study for this investigation was the Kwam eMakana Government Initiated Poverty Alleviation Project which offered homestays in the townships of Grahamstown East since 2004. Homestays are the most intimate form of commercial hospitality, one step removed from non-commercial or social hospitality. Even at the homestay level there is a conceptual conflict between poverty and (Westernized) commercial hospitality, however, Kwam homes are more middle class than poor. Later the investigation revealed the deeper-seated form of poverty of the Kwam participants being (almost) illiterate. Kwam was a development project like many others, in which huge amounts of money were spent in the name of the project but very little of the benefits reached the intended beneficiaries. Thus, as fieldwork ensued, the emphasis of research migrated from an empirical study of homestay hospitality, to actively assist with the struggle of the Kwam hostesses to maintain the project and gain autonomy for themselves. This study was from the outset reflexive, as the host’s point of view could technically only be presented by auto-ethnography. Then the investigation shifted to a form of engaged anthropology far exceeding advocacy as it is usually understood. The presentation of this can be called radical reflexivity, while it is simultaneously an ethnographical account in the sense of anthropology ‘at home’. It also implied, besides ethical concerns, revisiting literary sensibilities, such as the use of a third person narrative for the reflexive account. To conceptualize the development process of both Kwam and the research interventions Bourdieu’s ‘totality of capital’ (in which the strands of economic, symbolic, cultural and social capitals intertwine) proved most useful. By assessing the various capitals the development of the project and the power struggles central to it can be understood. This study confirms that long-term anthropological investigation is best suited to the study of development projects, if not necessary for real development to be effected. Reflexivity and ethnography are complementary methods to reveal truths which under certain research circumstances may have been very difficult or even impossible to research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Von Lengeling, Volkher Heinrich Christoph
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/706 , vital:19983
- Description: This study started as an anthropological investigation of commercial hospitality from the point of view of the hands-on host. The chosen case study for this investigation was the Kwam eMakana Government Initiated Poverty Alleviation Project which offered homestays in the townships of Grahamstown East since 2004. Homestays are the most intimate form of commercial hospitality, one step removed from non-commercial or social hospitality. Even at the homestay level there is a conceptual conflict between poverty and (Westernized) commercial hospitality, however, Kwam homes are more middle class than poor. Later the investigation revealed the deeper-seated form of poverty of the Kwam participants being (almost) illiterate. Kwam was a development project like many others, in which huge amounts of money were spent in the name of the project but very little of the benefits reached the intended beneficiaries. Thus, as fieldwork ensued, the emphasis of research migrated from an empirical study of homestay hospitality, to actively assist with the struggle of the Kwam hostesses to maintain the project and gain autonomy for themselves. This study was from the outset reflexive, as the host’s point of view could technically only be presented by auto-ethnography. Then the investigation shifted to a form of engaged anthropology far exceeding advocacy as it is usually understood. The presentation of this can be called radical reflexivity, while it is simultaneously an ethnographical account in the sense of anthropology ‘at home’. It also implied, besides ethical concerns, revisiting literary sensibilities, such as the use of a third person narrative for the reflexive account. To conceptualize the development process of both Kwam and the research interventions Bourdieu’s ‘totality of capital’ (in which the strands of economic, symbolic, cultural and social capitals intertwine) proved most useful. By assessing the various capitals the development of the project and the power struggles central to it can be understood. This study confirms that long-term anthropological investigation is best suited to the study of development projects, if not necessary for real development to be effected. Reflexivity and ethnography are complementary methods to reveal truths which under certain research circumstances may have been very difficult or even impossible to research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
The development of captopril pellets using the principles of quality by design
- Veerubhotla, Hari Mani Krishna
- Authors: Veerubhotla, Hari Mani Krishna
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64769 , vital:28599
- Description: Expected release date-May 2018
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Veerubhotla, Hari Mani Krishna
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64769 , vital:28599
- Description: Expected release date-May 2018
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Four husbands for Ma Lindi: an exploration of the interaction between theatrical performance, gender, and sexuality in a South African urban context
- Authors: Vaughan, Clara
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4610 , vital:20700
- Description: The thesis investigates the possibilities and limitations of theatre-making in providing a space for young people to collectively create, share, and interrogate understandings about sex, sexuality and gender. I use as a case study a theatremaking process I facilitated with a group of first year drama students at the Market Theatre Laboratory, in which we created a play called Four Husbands for Ma Lindi. The research analyses how this process interacted with the identities-in-becoming of the individual creators, and their engagement with the world, through a methodology that views them as experts on their own lives. There are three main arguments that I put forward in this thesis: the first is based on the experiences of healing, increased confidence and self-knowledge described by the participants as a result of sharing their personal stories in making the play. I argue that exploring autobiographical narratives through the aesthetic of theatre creates a group story that re-situates the narratives, the tellers and the witnesses in ways that can be productive for sexual and personal wellbeing, while also providing a counter-narrative that problematises the idea that sharing personal stories is always and necessarily a positive act. My second argument is that theatre-making, because it is an embodied performance pedagogy, is a constructive site in which to interrogate, deconstruct and subvert embedded gender norms and values, which are learnt and reiterated in the body. My third argument considers the relationship between theatre and change that is suggested by the findings of the research. In an analysis of the responses of the participants, I contend that theatre's potential for creating change in the socio-cultural domain lies in its ability to carve out spaces for improvisation, rather than to serve as a rehearsal for the real world. This is the position from which I then consider my ethics of practice and the role and responsibility of the facilitator in processes that view theatre-making as a critical performance pedagogy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Vaughan, Clara
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4610 , vital:20700
- Description: The thesis investigates the possibilities and limitations of theatre-making in providing a space for young people to collectively create, share, and interrogate understandings about sex, sexuality and gender. I use as a case study a theatremaking process I facilitated with a group of first year drama students at the Market Theatre Laboratory, in which we created a play called Four Husbands for Ma Lindi. The research analyses how this process interacted with the identities-in-becoming of the individual creators, and their engagement with the world, through a methodology that views them as experts on their own lives. There are three main arguments that I put forward in this thesis: the first is based on the experiences of healing, increased confidence and self-knowledge described by the participants as a result of sharing their personal stories in making the play. I argue that exploring autobiographical narratives through the aesthetic of theatre creates a group story that re-situates the narratives, the tellers and the witnesses in ways that can be productive for sexual and personal wellbeing, while also providing a counter-narrative that problematises the idea that sharing personal stories is always and necessarily a positive act. My second argument is that theatre-making, because it is an embodied performance pedagogy, is a constructive site in which to interrogate, deconstruct and subvert embedded gender norms and values, which are learnt and reiterated in the body. My third argument considers the relationship between theatre and change that is suggested by the findings of the research. In an analysis of the responses of the participants, I contend that theatre's potential for creating change in the socio-cultural domain lies in its ability to carve out spaces for improvisation, rather than to serve as a rehearsal for the real world. This is the position from which I then consider my ethics of practice and the role and responsibility of the facilitator in processes that view theatre-making as a critical performance pedagogy.
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- Date Issued: 2016
A longitudinal study of DNS traffic: understanding current DNS practice and abuse
- Authors: Van Zyl, Ignus
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3707 , vital:20537
- Description: This thesis examines a dataset spanning 21 months, containing 3,5 billion DNS packets. Traffic on TCP and UDP port 53, was captured on a production /24 IP block. The purpose of this thesis is twofold. The first is to create an understanding of current practice and behavior within the DNS infrastructure, the second to explore current threats faced by the DNS and the various systems that implement it. This is achieved by drawing on analysis and observations from the captured data. Aspects of the operation of DNS on the greater Internet are considered in this research with reference to the observed trends in the dataset, A thorough analysis of current DNS TTL implementation is made with respect to all response traffic, as well as sections looking at observed DNS TTL values for ,za domain replies and NX DOMAIN flagged replies. This thesis found that TTL values implemented are much lower than has been recommended in previous years, and that the TTL decrease is prevalent in most, but not all EE TTL implementation. With respect to the nature of DNS operations, this thesis also concerns itself with an analysis of the geoloeation of authoritative servers for local (,za) domains, and offers further observations towards the latency generated by the choice of authoritative server location for a given ,za domain. It was found that the majority of ,za domain authoritative servers are international, which results in latency generation that is multiple times greater than observed latencies for local authoritative servers. Further analysis is done with respect to NX DOM AIN behavior captured across the dataset. These findings outlined the cost of DNS miseonfiguration as well as highlighting instances of NXDOMAIN generation through malicious practice. With respect to DNS abuses, original research with respect to long-term scanning generated as a result of amplification attack activity on the greater Internet is presented. Many instances of amplification domain scans were captured during the packet capture, and an attempt is made to correlate that activity temporally with known amplification attack reports. The final area that this thesis deals with is the relatively new field of Bitflipping and Bitsquatting, delivering results on bitflip detection and evaluation over the course of the entire dataset. The detection methodology is outlined, and the final results are compared to findings given in recent bitflip literature.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Van Zyl, Ignus
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3707 , vital:20537
- Description: This thesis examines a dataset spanning 21 months, containing 3,5 billion DNS packets. Traffic on TCP and UDP port 53, was captured on a production /24 IP block. The purpose of this thesis is twofold. The first is to create an understanding of current practice and behavior within the DNS infrastructure, the second to explore current threats faced by the DNS and the various systems that implement it. This is achieved by drawing on analysis and observations from the captured data. Aspects of the operation of DNS on the greater Internet are considered in this research with reference to the observed trends in the dataset, A thorough analysis of current DNS TTL implementation is made with respect to all response traffic, as well as sections looking at observed DNS TTL values for ,za domain replies and NX DOMAIN flagged replies. This thesis found that TTL values implemented are much lower than has been recommended in previous years, and that the TTL decrease is prevalent in most, but not all EE TTL implementation. With respect to the nature of DNS operations, this thesis also concerns itself with an analysis of the geoloeation of authoritative servers for local (,za) domains, and offers further observations towards the latency generated by the choice of authoritative server location for a given ,za domain. It was found that the majority of ,za domain authoritative servers are international, which results in latency generation that is multiple times greater than observed latencies for local authoritative servers. Further analysis is done with respect to NX DOM AIN behavior captured across the dataset. These findings outlined the cost of DNS miseonfiguration as well as highlighting instances of NXDOMAIN generation through malicious practice. With respect to DNS abuses, original research with respect to long-term scanning generated as a result of amplification attack activity on the greater Internet is presented. Many instances of amplification domain scans were captured during the packet capture, and an attempt is made to correlate that activity temporally with known amplification attack reports. The final area that this thesis deals with is the relatively new field of Bitflipping and Bitsquatting, delivering results on bitflip detection and evaluation over the course of the entire dataset. The detection methodology is outlined, and the final results are compared to findings given in recent bitflip literature.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Representations of the ‘other’: a comparison between Roman descriptions of Britons, Gauls and Germans pre-AD 300 and Sir Harry Smith’s portrayal of the Xhosa 1830s – 1850s
- Authors: Van Wezel, Amy Hester
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4223 , vital:20634
- Description: Stereotypical representations of an ‘ethnically’ or ‘racially’ different ‘other’ in ancient texts would seem to reappear throughout history. By comparing Roman views of Britons, Gauls and Germans, with Sir Harry Smith’s views of the Xhosa, this study seeks to explore the extent to which these stereotypical images were employed and for what reasons. Through close textual analyses, the descriptions of these peoples are examined and compared, taking into consideration the different authors’ context and agendas. By highlighting Caesar’s views of the abilities of the ‘other’ and Tacitus’ judgements of the moral character of the ‘other’, compared with Smith’s view of the same, the study aims to draw out the role of the author’s ‘self’ in complex and contradictory representations of the ‘other’, while arguing that various overwhelmingly negative images served to justify imperial conquest and rule. The extent to which the ‘other’ was perceived as remote and different from themselves, epitomised in the dichotomy between the ‘barbarism’ and ‘civilisation’, is examined, comparing a variety of Roman authors with Smith. The similar idea of ‘civilising missions’ are discussed, while acknowledging the differences between the policies of the Roman and British Empires toward the ‘other’. The connections between how the ‘other’ was portrayed in relation to ‘Empire’ and the ways in which they were treated is also explored stressing even further the different approaches taken by Roman and British authorities to include these peoples within their Empires. While certain stereotypes are shown to have persisted from Roman times, reappearing in the writing of Sir Harry Smith, summed up in the archetypal ‘barbarian’, I argue that the use of these images was varied, inconsistent and reflected more the motives and personalities of the writers themselves, whofor the most part ascribed to imperial ideologies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Van Wezel, Amy Hester
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4223 , vital:20634
- Description: Stereotypical representations of an ‘ethnically’ or ‘racially’ different ‘other’ in ancient texts would seem to reappear throughout history. By comparing Roman views of Britons, Gauls and Germans, with Sir Harry Smith’s views of the Xhosa, this study seeks to explore the extent to which these stereotypical images were employed and for what reasons. Through close textual analyses, the descriptions of these peoples are examined and compared, taking into consideration the different authors’ context and agendas. By highlighting Caesar’s views of the abilities of the ‘other’ and Tacitus’ judgements of the moral character of the ‘other’, compared with Smith’s view of the same, the study aims to draw out the role of the author’s ‘self’ in complex and contradictory representations of the ‘other’, while arguing that various overwhelmingly negative images served to justify imperial conquest and rule. The extent to which the ‘other’ was perceived as remote and different from themselves, epitomised in the dichotomy between the ‘barbarism’ and ‘civilisation’, is examined, comparing a variety of Roman authors with Smith. The similar idea of ‘civilising missions’ are discussed, while acknowledging the differences between the policies of the Roman and British Empires toward the ‘other’. The connections between how the ‘other’ was portrayed in relation to ‘Empire’ and the ways in which they were treated is also explored stressing even further the different approaches taken by Roman and British authorities to include these peoples within their Empires. While certain stereotypes are shown to have persisted from Roman times, reappearing in the writing of Sir Harry Smith, summed up in the archetypal ‘barbarian’, I argue that the use of these images was varied, inconsistent and reflected more the motives and personalities of the writers themselves, whofor the most part ascribed to imperial ideologies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Goeie maniere en etiket
- Authors: Van Staden, Antoinique
- Date: 2016
- Language: Afrikaans , English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:6011 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021226
- Description: This bilingual collection of short stories combines the fairy tale form and the Bizarro genre to explore the value system ingrained in me at a very early age via my conservative Afrikaans upbringing. To my mind the four characteristics of the fairy tale form as identified by Kate Bernheimer (in her path-breaking essay “Fairy Tale is form, Form is Fairy Tale”) namely flatness, abstraction, intuitive logic and normalized magic, also apply to the Bizarro genre. This intersection is exemplified by some of Bernheimer's own fiction, as well as the fiction of Aimee Bender and Lucy Corin, among others, all of whom have influenced my writing. , Hierdie tweetalige versameling kortverhale kombineer sprokieselemente met die van die Bizarro-genre, om die waardesisteem wat van kleins af deur my konserwatiewe Afrikaanse opvoeding by my ingeprent is, te ondersoek. Die vier eienskappe van die sprokie word deur Kate Bernheimer in haar baanbrekende opstel Fairy tale is form, Form is fairy tale uitgelê as: ’n onbetrokke verteller, abstraksie, instinktiewe logika en genormaliseerde towerkuns. Na my mening is dié vier eienskappe ook op die Bizarro-genre van toepassing. Hierdie oorvleuling is sigbaar in Bernheimer se fiksie en ook onder andere Lucy Corin en Aimee Bender s'n – skrywers wat my werk beïnvloed het. , This thesis is presented in two parts: Afrikaans and English.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Van Staden, Antoinique
- Date: 2016
- Language: Afrikaans , English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:6011 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021226
- Description: This bilingual collection of short stories combines the fairy tale form and the Bizarro genre to explore the value system ingrained in me at a very early age via my conservative Afrikaans upbringing. To my mind the four characteristics of the fairy tale form as identified by Kate Bernheimer (in her path-breaking essay “Fairy Tale is form, Form is Fairy Tale”) namely flatness, abstraction, intuitive logic and normalized magic, also apply to the Bizarro genre. This intersection is exemplified by some of Bernheimer's own fiction, as well as the fiction of Aimee Bender and Lucy Corin, among others, all of whom have influenced my writing. , Hierdie tweetalige versameling kortverhale kombineer sprokieselemente met die van die Bizarro-genre, om die waardesisteem wat van kleins af deur my konserwatiewe Afrikaanse opvoeding by my ingeprent is, te ondersoek. Die vier eienskappe van die sprokie word deur Kate Bernheimer in haar baanbrekende opstel Fairy tale is form, Form is fairy tale uitgelê as: ’n onbetrokke verteller, abstraksie, instinktiewe logika en genormaliseerde towerkuns. Na my mening is dié vier eienskappe ook op die Bizarro-genre van toepassing. Hierdie oorvleuling is sigbaar in Bernheimer se fiksie en ook onder andere Lucy Corin en Aimee Bender s'n – skrywers wat my werk beïnvloed het. , This thesis is presented in two parts: Afrikaans and English.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016