Is economic impact a good way of justifying the inclusion of foreign students at local universities?
- Snowball, Jeanette D, Antrobus, Geoffrey G
- Authors: Snowball, Jeanette D , Antrobus, Geoffrey G
- Date: 2006
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67470 , vital:29098 , http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/sajhe.v20i3.25593
- Description: Pre-print , In the debate surrounding the costs and benefits of having foreign students at South African universities, the financial contributions of foreign students to their host economies is sometimes cited. This article reports the results of a comparison between the economic impact on the Grahamstown economy of the spending of foreign and local students at Rhodes University. It finds that the spending patterns of both types of students are remarkably similar and that the somewhat higher economic impact of foreign students is largely as a result of their propensity to choose the more expensive residence accommodation, rather than as a result of greater average spending generally. We suggest that economic impact studies should be used with caution when making the case for continued public subsidy of goods with significant non-market values and that opportunity costs should also be considered.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
Is economic impact a good way of justifying the inclusion of foreign students at local universities?
- Authors: Snowball, Jeanette D , Antrobus, Geoffrey G
- Date: 2006
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67470 , vital:29098 , http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/sajhe.v20i3.25593
- Description: Pre-print , In the debate surrounding the costs and benefits of having foreign students at South African universities, the financial contributions of foreign students to their host economies is sometimes cited. This article reports the results of a comparison between the economic impact on the Grahamstown economy of the spending of foreign and local students at Rhodes University. It finds that the spending patterns of both types of students are remarkably similar and that the somewhat higher economic impact of foreign students is largely as a result of their propensity to choose the more expensive residence accommodation, rather than as a result of greater average spending generally. We suggest that economic impact studies should be used with caution when making the case for continued public subsidy of goods with significant non-market values and that opportunity costs should also be considered.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
Where angels fear to tread: online peer-assessment in a large first-year class
- Mostert, Markus, Snowball, Jeanette D
- Authors: Mostert, Markus , Snowball, Jeanette D
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68845 , vital:29330 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2012.683770
- Description: Publisher version , In the context of widening participation, large classes and increased diversity, assessment of student learning is becoming increasingly problematic in that providing formative feedback aimed at developing student writing proves to be particularly laborious. Although the potential value of peer assessment has been well documented in the literature, the associated administrative burden, also in relation to managing anonymity and intellectual ownership, makes this option less attractive, particularly in large classes. A potential solution involves the use of information and communication technologies to automate the logistics associated with peer assessment in a time-efficient way. However, uptake of such systems in the higher education community is limited, and research in this area is only beginning. This case study reports on the use of the Moodle Workshop module for formative peer assessment of students’ individual work in a first-year introductory macro-economics class of over 800 students. Data were collected through an end-of-course evaluation survey of students. The study found that using the feature-rich Workshop module not only addressed many of the practical challenges associated with paper-based peer assessments, but also provided a range of additional options for enhancing validity and reliability of peer assessments that would not be possible with paper-based systems.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Mostert, Markus , Snowball, Jeanette D
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68845 , vital:29330 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2012.683770
- Description: Publisher version , In the context of widening participation, large classes and increased diversity, assessment of student learning is becoming increasingly problematic in that providing formative feedback aimed at developing student writing proves to be particularly laborious. Although the potential value of peer assessment has been well documented in the literature, the associated administrative burden, also in relation to managing anonymity and intellectual ownership, makes this option less attractive, particularly in large classes. A potential solution involves the use of information and communication technologies to automate the logistics associated with peer assessment in a time-efficient way. However, uptake of such systems in the higher education community is limited, and research in this area is only beginning. This case study reports on the use of the Moodle Workshop module for formative peer assessment of students’ individual work in a first-year introductory macro-economics class of over 800 students. Data were collected through an end-of-course evaluation survey of students. The study found that using the feature-rich Workshop module not only addressed many of the practical challenges associated with paper-based peer assessments, but also provided a range of additional options for enhancing validity and reliability of peer assessments that would not be possible with paper-based systems.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2013
Dancing with the devil: formative peer assessment and academic performance
- Mostert, Markus, Snowball, Jeanette D
- Authors: Mostert, Markus , Snowball, Jeanette D
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/69301 , vital:29483 , https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2012.705262
- Description: Peer assessment can be important in developing active and independent learners, as well as providing more and faster feedback in large classes, compared to marking done by tutors. In addition, the evaluative, critical stance required by students in order to assess their peers' work encourages the development of higher-order cognitive skills. Changing roles from being assessed to being an assessor can also improve students' ability to judge and improve on their own work. However, peer assessment does have potential problems and there is some debate as to the appropriate academic level at which to implement it, the kinds of feedback that are given and the ways in which students respond. In addition, there is little evidence that peer assessment has an impact on academic performance. This research reports the results of an online peer assessment exercise for a macroeconomics essay conducted in a large Economics 1 class at Rhodes University. Of the 800 students, about half participated in the peer assessment exercise. Data were collected from students via a formal course evaluation. In addition, a sample of 50 essays was evaluated in terms of the relationship between peer marks and final (tutor) marks received and the impact that peer assessment had on the quality of the final essay submitted. An Ordinary Least Squares regression was used to investigate the impact of peer assessment participation on marks. Results showed that peer marks tended to ‘bunch’ in the 60–68% range, indicating the reluctance of peers to give very high or low marks. In general, peers gave more useful feedback on technical aspects, such as presentation and referencing (which were also the categories in which students most often made improvements), than on content. Regression analysis showed that peer assessment participation was not a significant determinant of final essay mark, but that economics ability and English language proficiency were.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Mostert, Markus , Snowball, Jeanette D
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/69301 , vital:29483 , https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2012.705262
- Description: Peer assessment can be important in developing active and independent learners, as well as providing more and faster feedback in large classes, compared to marking done by tutors. In addition, the evaluative, critical stance required by students in order to assess their peers' work encourages the development of higher-order cognitive skills. Changing roles from being assessed to being an assessor can also improve students' ability to judge and improve on their own work. However, peer assessment does have potential problems and there is some debate as to the appropriate academic level at which to implement it, the kinds of feedback that are given and the ways in which students respond. In addition, there is little evidence that peer assessment has an impact on academic performance. This research reports the results of an online peer assessment exercise for a macroeconomics essay conducted in a large Economics 1 class at Rhodes University. Of the 800 students, about half participated in the peer assessment exercise. Data were collected from students via a formal course evaluation. In addition, a sample of 50 essays was evaluated in terms of the relationship between peer marks and final (tutor) marks received and the impact that peer assessment had on the quality of the final essay submitted. An Ordinary Least Squares regression was used to investigate the impact of peer assessment participation on marks. Results showed that peer marks tended to ‘bunch’ in the 60–68% range, indicating the reluctance of peers to give very high or low marks. In general, peers gave more useful feedback on technical aspects, such as presentation and referencing (which were also the categories in which students most often made improvements), than on content. Regression analysis showed that peer assessment participation was not a significant determinant of final essay mark, but that economics ability and English language proficiency were.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2013
Introducing a learning management system in a large first year class: impact on lecturers and students
- Snowball, Jeanette D, Mostert, Markus
- Authors: Snowball, Jeanette D , Mostert, Markus
- Date: 2010
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68631 , vital:29297 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC37639
- Description: Publisher version , The challenges of teaching large classes are well documented in the literature on teaching in higher education. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have the potential to address some of these challenges, but, used inappropriately, technology can perpetuate entrenched practices and simply support performance models of teaching that encourage transmission approaches to learning. This article reports on the impact of implementing a learning management system (LMS) in a first year introductory macroeconomics course with 600 students in a blended learning context. Experiences of the course coordinator, lecturers and an educational technologist are discussed and data was also collected on student perceptions via a course evaluation questionnaire. Results show that the LMS was successful in a number of areas, particularly in improving the lecturers' accessibility to students and in encouraging interaction and participations in online discussion forums.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Snowball, Jeanette D , Mostert, Markus
- Date: 2010
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68631 , vital:29297 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC37639
- Description: Publisher version , The challenges of teaching large classes are well documented in the literature on teaching in higher education. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have the potential to address some of these challenges, but, used inappropriately, technology can perpetuate entrenched practices and simply support performance models of teaching that encourage transmission approaches to learning. This article reports on the impact of implementing a learning management system (LMS) in a first year introductory macroeconomics course with 600 students in a blended learning context. Experiences of the course coordinator, lecturers and an educational technologist are discussed and data was also collected on student perceptions via a course evaluation questionnaire. Results show that the LMS was successful in a number of areas, particularly in improving the lecturers' accessibility to students and in encouraging interaction and participations in online discussion forums.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2010
Exploring intermolecular contacts in multi-substituted benzaldehyde derivatives: X-ray, Hirshfeld surface and lattice energy analyses
- Hulushe, Siya T, Manyeruke, Meloddy H, Louzada, Marcel, Rigin, Sergei, Hosten, Eric C, Watkins, Gareth M
- Authors: Hulushe, Siya T , Manyeruke, Meloddy H , Louzada, Marcel , Rigin, Sergei , Hosten, Eric C , Watkins, Gareth M
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148483 , vital:38743 , DOI: 10.1039/C9RA10752E
- Description: Crystal structures of six benzaldehyde derivatives (1–6) have been determined and their supramolecular networks were established by an X-ray crystallographic study. The study has shown that the compounds are linked by various intermolecular interactions such as weak C–H⋯O hydrogen bonding, and C–H⋯π, π–π and halogen bonding interactions which consolidate and strengthen the formation of these molecular assemblies. The carbonyl group generates diverse synthons in 1–6 via intermolecular C–H⋯O hydrogen bonds. An interplay of C–H⋯O hydrogen bonds, and C–H⋯π and π–π stacking interactions facilitates the formation of multi-dimensional supramolecular networks. Crystal packings in 4 and 5 are further generated by type I halogen⋯halogen bonding interactions. The differences in crystal packing are represented by variation of substitution positions in the compounds. Structure 3 is isomorphous with 4 but there are subtle differences in their crystal packing.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Hulushe, Siya T , Manyeruke, Meloddy H , Louzada, Marcel , Rigin, Sergei , Hosten, Eric C , Watkins, Gareth M
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148483 , vital:38743 , DOI: 10.1039/C9RA10752E
- Description: Crystal structures of six benzaldehyde derivatives (1–6) have been determined and their supramolecular networks were established by an X-ray crystallographic study. The study has shown that the compounds are linked by various intermolecular interactions such as weak C–H⋯O hydrogen bonding, and C–H⋯π, π–π and halogen bonding interactions which consolidate and strengthen the formation of these molecular assemblies. The carbonyl group generates diverse synthons in 1–6 via intermolecular C–H⋯O hydrogen bonds. An interplay of C–H⋯O hydrogen bonds, and C–H⋯π and π–π stacking interactions facilitates the formation of multi-dimensional supramolecular networks. Crystal packings in 4 and 5 are further generated by type I halogen⋯halogen bonding interactions. The differences in crystal packing are represented by variation of substitution positions in the compounds. Structure 3 is isomorphous with 4 but there are subtle differences in their crystal packing.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Teacher education in post-apartheid South Africa: navigating a way through competing state and global imperatives for change
- Schäfer, Marc, Wilmot, P Dianne
- Authors: Schäfer, Marc , Wilmot, P Dianne
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140905 , vital:37928 , DOI: 10.1007/s11125-012-9220-3
- Description: This article focuses on teacher education in post-apartheid South Africa. It argues that the restructuring and reorganization of teacher education is at the nexus of the axes of tension created by national and global imperatives for change. Along with the dismantling of apartheid and the transition to a free and democratic state in 1994 came the urgent need for social reconstruction, democratization, redress, social justice, and equity. At the same time, and as part of a global context, the country needed global competitiveness, human capital development, global skills, international standards, and accountability. These competing modernist discourses have informed the design and orientation of the National Qualifications Framework and national curriculum that took place in parallel with, and simultaneous to, the restructuring and reform of teacher education. This article reviews literature pertinent to understanding the post-apartheid transformation in South African education in general and teacher education in particular. It concludes that policy makers have managed to navigate a way through the axis of tension created by opposed orientations to transformation. A more equitable and improved system of teacher education has been achieved but critical issues of teacher quality and quantity have emerged which urgently need resolution.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Schäfer, Marc , Wilmot, P Dianne
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140905 , vital:37928 , DOI: 10.1007/s11125-012-9220-3
- Description: This article focuses on teacher education in post-apartheid South Africa. It argues that the restructuring and reorganization of teacher education is at the nexus of the axes of tension created by national and global imperatives for change. Along with the dismantling of apartheid and the transition to a free and democratic state in 1994 came the urgent need for social reconstruction, democratization, redress, social justice, and equity. At the same time, and as part of a global context, the country needed global competitiveness, human capital development, global skills, international standards, and accountability. These competing modernist discourses have informed the design and orientation of the National Qualifications Framework and national curriculum that took place in parallel with, and simultaneous to, the restructuring and reform of teacher education. This article reviews literature pertinent to understanding the post-apartheid transformation in South African education in general and teacher education in particular. It concludes that policy makers have managed to navigate a way through the axis of tension created by opposed orientations to transformation. A more equitable and improved system of teacher education has been achieved but critical issues of teacher quality and quantity have emerged which urgently need resolution.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Potential Gaps during the Transition from the Embodied through Symbolic to Formal Worlds of Reflective Symmetry:
- Mhlolo, Michael K, Schäfer, Marc
- Authors: Mhlolo, Michael K , Schäfer, Marc
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141117 , vital:37945 , https://doi.org/10.1080/10288457.2014.925269
- Description: Even though reflective symmetry is heavily embedded in the everyday, learners continue to experience challenges when they mathematize concepts from this informal/everyday context. In this article we argue that symmetry exists in nature, it can also be symbolized algebraically and it can be abstracted into the world of axioms and theorems. We problematize this multiple nature of symmetry which on one hand is supportive and on the other acts as a contributory factor to learners' gaps in knowledge. Tall's three worlds of mathematics helped us to show the transition of symmetry from the embodied through symbolic to the formal world and the inherent gaps attributed to the shifts in thinking thereof. We then used this same framework to analyse learners' responses to a reflective symmetry task. The results show that many learner responses could be explained explicitly by the lack of flexibility in the applicability of experiences in the embodied world of reflective symmetry.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Mhlolo, Michael K , Schäfer, Marc
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141117 , vital:37945 , https://doi.org/10.1080/10288457.2014.925269
- Description: Even though reflective symmetry is heavily embedded in the everyday, learners continue to experience challenges when they mathematize concepts from this informal/everyday context. In this article we argue that symmetry exists in nature, it can also be symbolized algebraically and it can be abstracted into the world of axioms and theorems. We problematize this multiple nature of symmetry which on one hand is supportive and on the other acts as a contributory factor to learners' gaps in knowledge. Tall's three worlds of mathematics helped us to show the transition of symmetry from the embodied through symbolic to the formal world and the inherent gaps attributed to the shifts in thinking thereof. We then used this same framework to analyse learners' responses to a reflective symmetry task. The results show that many learner responses could be explained explicitly by the lack of flexibility in the applicability of experiences in the embodied world of reflective symmetry.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Water footprint assessment to inform water management and policy making in South Africa
- Pahlow, Markus, Snowball, Jeanette D, Fraser, Gavin C G
- Authors: Pahlow, Markus , Snowball, Jeanette D , Fraser, Gavin C G
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68813 , vital:29327 , http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/wsa.v41i3.02
- Description: Publisher version , One method to inform decisions with respect to sustainable, efficient and equitable water allocation and use is water footprint assessment (WFA). This paper presents a preliminary WFA of South Africa (SA) based on data for the period 1996-2005. Crop production was found to contribute about 75% of the total water footprint of national production. The total water footprint of crop production is mainly composed of five crops: maize, fodder crops, sugarcane, wheat and sunflower seed, which account for 83% of the crop water footprint. The average water footprint of a South African consumer is 1 255 m3/yr, below the world average of 1 385 m3/yr, and is dominated by the consumption of meat (32%) and cereals (29%). About one fifth of this water footprint of consumption is external to SA. While SA is a net virtual water importer, the virtual water trade analysis revealed that a large share of blue water consumption is related to export. Sustainability concerns are that the major river basins face severe blue-water scarcity for extended periods of the year, and that water pollution levels related to nitrogen and phosphorus were found to be unsustainable in all river basins in SA. Efficient allocation and use of water is investigated by means of comparing the consumptive water footprint to global benchmark values, as well as the economic green- and blue-water productivity and the economic land productivity of the crops cultivated in SA. Furthermore, crops with specific potential for biofuel production are assessed. Lastly, recommendations to address the identified issues are given.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Pahlow, Markus , Snowball, Jeanette D , Fraser, Gavin C G
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68813 , vital:29327 , http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/wsa.v41i3.02
- Description: Publisher version , One method to inform decisions with respect to sustainable, efficient and equitable water allocation and use is water footprint assessment (WFA). This paper presents a preliminary WFA of South Africa (SA) based on data for the period 1996-2005. Crop production was found to contribute about 75% of the total water footprint of national production. The total water footprint of crop production is mainly composed of five crops: maize, fodder crops, sugarcane, wheat and sunflower seed, which account for 83% of the crop water footprint. The average water footprint of a South African consumer is 1 255 m3/yr, below the world average of 1 385 m3/yr, and is dominated by the consumption of meat (32%) and cereals (29%). About one fifth of this water footprint of consumption is external to SA. While SA is a net virtual water importer, the virtual water trade analysis revealed that a large share of blue water consumption is related to export. Sustainability concerns are that the major river basins face severe blue-water scarcity for extended periods of the year, and that water pollution levels related to nitrogen and phosphorus were found to be unsustainable in all river basins in SA. Efficient allocation and use of water is investigated by means of comparing the consumptive water footprint to global benchmark values, as well as the economic green- and blue-water productivity and the economic land productivity of the crops cultivated in SA. Furthermore, crops with specific potential for biofuel production are assessed. Lastly, recommendations to address the identified issues are given.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Using a transdisciplinary framework to examine mathematics classroom talk taking place in and through a second language
- Graven, Mellony, Robertson, Sally-Ann
- Authors: Graven, Mellony , Robertson, Sally-Ann
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/69838 , vital:29586 , https://DOI: 10.1007/s11858-018-0952-2
- Description: This paper proposes a transdisciplinary framework to allow for a multifocal exploration of classroom talk practices. It draws on data from a broader study of talk in South African Grade 4 mathematics classrooms where the language of teaching and learning (English) was the home language for neither the teachers nor their students. Lesson transcript data from one teacher’s lessons on fractions are used to demonstrate how working with three strands of conceptual insight from the disciplines of psychology, sociology and linguistics conduces to a potentially richer understanding of a teacher’s use of classroom talk in mediating her students’ mathematical understanding. By drawing on elements of Vygotsky’s sociocultural psychology, we make visible in the lesson data the ways in which this teacher used the ‘everyday’ in trying to navigate her students’ towards more ‘scientific’ conceptualizations of unit fractions. By then taking up aspects of Bernstein’s sociological work, we articulate, and make visible, how societal circumstances impinge on students’ access to exploratory mathematical discourse needed for epistemological access to abstract and generalized mathematical concepts. Finally, through Halliday’s work on the power of particular linguistic registers for meaning-making, we highlight challenges in learning mathematics in and through a second language and reveal the constraints placed on students’ opportunity to maximally exploit the distinct forms of meaning contained within the mathematics register.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Graven, Mellony , Robertson, Sally-Ann
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/69838 , vital:29586 , https://DOI: 10.1007/s11858-018-0952-2
- Description: This paper proposes a transdisciplinary framework to allow for a multifocal exploration of classroom talk practices. It draws on data from a broader study of talk in South African Grade 4 mathematics classrooms where the language of teaching and learning (English) was the home language for neither the teachers nor their students. Lesson transcript data from one teacher’s lessons on fractions are used to demonstrate how working with three strands of conceptual insight from the disciplines of psychology, sociology and linguistics conduces to a potentially richer understanding of a teacher’s use of classroom talk in mediating her students’ mathematical understanding. By drawing on elements of Vygotsky’s sociocultural psychology, we make visible in the lesson data the ways in which this teacher used the ‘everyday’ in trying to navigate her students’ towards more ‘scientific’ conceptualizations of unit fractions. By then taking up aspects of Bernstein’s sociological work, we articulate, and make visible, how societal circumstances impinge on students’ access to exploratory mathematical discourse needed for epistemological access to abstract and generalized mathematical concepts. Finally, through Halliday’s work on the power of particular linguistic registers for meaning-making, we highlight challenges in learning mathematics in and through a second language and reveal the constraints placed on students’ opportunity to maximally exploit the distinct forms of meaning contained within the mathematics register.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
How entrepreneurs deal with ethical challenges : an application of the Business Ethics Synergy Star Technique
- Robinson, David A, Davidsson, Per, Van der Mescht, Hennie, Court, Philip
- Authors: Robinson, David A , Davidsson, Per , Van der Mescht, Hennie , Court, Philip
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6079 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006123
- Description: Entrepreneurs typically live with the ever present threat of business failure arising from limited financial resources and aggressive competition in the marketplace. Under these circumstances, conflicting priorities arise and the entrepreneur is thus faced with certain dilemmas. In seeking to resolve these, entrepreneurs must often rely on their own judgment to determine ‘‘what is right’’. There is thus a need for a technique to assist them decide on a course of action when no precedent or obvious solution exists. This research paper examines how entrepreneurs experience and deal with these dilemmas. The research is based on interviews with seven entrepreneurs in established service-oriented ventures, which gave rise to 26 dilemmas. These dilemmas were analyzed by making use of the Synergy Star technique, which is introduced here as a tool that is useful in defining any dilemma, isolating the ethical component, and resolving the dilemma in a way that is congruent with the entrepreneur’s personal world-view.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Robinson, David A , Davidsson, Per , Van der Mescht, Hennie , Court, Philip
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6079 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006123
- Description: Entrepreneurs typically live with the ever present threat of business failure arising from limited financial resources and aggressive competition in the marketplace. Under these circumstances, conflicting priorities arise and the entrepreneur is thus faced with certain dilemmas. In seeking to resolve these, entrepreneurs must often rely on their own judgment to determine ‘‘what is right’’. There is thus a need for a technique to assist them decide on a course of action when no precedent or obvious solution exists. This research paper examines how entrepreneurs experience and deal with these dilemmas. The research is based on interviews with seven entrepreneurs in established service-oriented ventures, which gave rise to 26 dilemmas. These dilemmas were analyzed by making use of the Synergy Star technique, which is introduced here as a tool that is useful in defining any dilemma, isolating the ethical component, and resolving the dilemma in a way that is congruent with the entrepreneur’s personal world-view.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Students’ engagement with learning theory
- Authors: Schudel, Ingrid J
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6093 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008615
- Description: This paper reflects on a module on ‘Teaching and Learning Interactions’, presented as part of the Rhodes University Advanced Certificate in Education (Environmental Education).The module is designed to help students use theoretical logic to enhance (not replace) their practical logic of how teaching and learning takes place. Data was analysed from three teaching and learning activities in the module. After the first participatory activity on water and sanitation, students narrated what teaching and learning had taken place using language available from their prior experiences. In a second activity students were introduced to explanations of learning, provided by learning theorists. In the third activity students analysed a case study, using a variety of questions relating to teaching and learning. They then had to consider these same questions in the light of a participatory on-course teaching and learning activity. The paper reflects on how students have used understandings of the nature of reality, the construction of knowledge, the use of language, situated learning, action competence and social change, in order to narrate their teaching and learning experiences on the ACE(EE) course. Through this, the paper trials a reflexive approach to the teaching of learning theory in environmental education.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Schudel, Ingrid J
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6093 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008615
- Description: This paper reflects on a module on ‘Teaching and Learning Interactions’, presented as part of the Rhodes University Advanced Certificate in Education (Environmental Education).The module is designed to help students use theoretical logic to enhance (not replace) their practical logic of how teaching and learning takes place. Data was analysed from three teaching and learning activities in the module. After the first participatory activity on water and sanitation, students narrated what teaching and learning had taken place using language available from their prior experiences. In a second activity students were introduced to explanations of learning, provided by learning theorists. In the third activity students analysed a case study, using a variety of questions relating to teaching and learning. They then had to consider these same questions in the light of a participatory on-course teaching and learning activity. The paper reflects on how students have used understandings of the nature of reality, the construction of knowledge, the use of language, situated learning, action competence and social change, in order to narrate their teaching and learning experiences on the ACE(EE) course. Through this, the paper trials a reflexive approach to the teaching of learning theory in environmental education.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Topsoil transfer from natural renosterveld to degraded old fields facilitates native vegetation recovery:
- Authors: Ruwanza, Sheunesu
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148639 , vital:38758 , https://doi.org/10.3390/su12093833
- Description: The transfer of soils from intact vegetation communities to degraded ecosystems is seen as a promising restoration tool aimed at facilitating vegetation recovery. This study examined how topsoil transfer from intact renosterveld to degraded old fields improves vegetation diversity, cover, and composition. Transferred topsoil were overlaid on 30 quadrats, each measuring 1 m2, in May 2009. Eight years following the initial soil transfer, vegetation diversity in the soil transfer site showed an increase towards the natural site compared to the old field site where no soil transfer was administered. Both species richness and cover for trees and shrubs in the soil transfer site increased towards the natural site, though this was not the case for herbs and grasses. One-way analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) showed significant (R = 0.55) separation in community composition between sites. The study concludes that soil transfer from intact renosterveld to degraded old fields is a promising restoration technique because it increases species diversity and cover and facilitates vegetation recovery. A significant restoration implication of this study is that soil transfer introduces key renosterveld native tree and shrub species that can facilitate successful restoration and act as restoration foci or nurse plants.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Ruwanza, Sheunesu
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148639 , vital:38758 , https://doi.org/10.3390/su12093833
- Description: The transfer of soils from intact vegetation communities to degraded ecosystems is seen as a promising restoration tool aimed at facilitating vegetation recovery. This study examined how topsoil transfer from intact renosterveld to degraded old fields improves vegetation diversity, cover, and composition. Transferred topsoil were overlaid on 30 quadrats, each measuring 1 m2, in May 2009. Eight years following the initial soil transfer, vegetation diversity in the soil transfer site showed an increase towards the natural site compared to the old field site where no soil transfer was administered. Both species richness and cover for trees and shrubs in the soil transfer site increased towards the natural site, though this was not the case for herbs and grasses. One-way analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) showed significant (R = 0.55) separation in community composition between sites. The study concludes that soil transfer from intact renosterveld to degraded old fields is a promising restoration technique because it increases species diversity and cover and facilitates vegetation recovery. A significant restoration implication of this study is that soil transfer introduces key renosterveld native tree and shrub species that can facilitate successful restoration and act as restoration foci or nurse plants.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
The nature of geometry instruction and observed learning-outcomes opportunities in Nigerian and South African high schools:
- Atebe, Humphrey U, Schäfer, Marc
- Authors: Atebe, Humphrey U , Schäfer, Marc
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140919 , vital:37929 , DOI: 10.1080/10288457.2011.10740712
- Description: The purpose of this qualitative case study involving six secondary school teachers was to obtain insight into how geometry is taught in selected Nigerian and South African high schools. It also aimed, by making use of the van Hiele model of geometry instruction, to elucidate what possible learning opportunities observed instructional methods could offer learners in the subject. The sample comprised three mathematics teachers from Nigeria and three mathematics teachers from South Africa, all of whom were selected using purposive sampling techniques. Instructional activities in six geometry classrooms were recorded on videotape. The van Hiele learning phases provided the framework for data analysis. The findings of this study indicate that observed teaching methods in geometry classrooms in the participating schools offer learners scant opportunity to learn geometry.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Atebe, Humphrey U , Schäfer, Marc
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140919 , vital:37929 , DOI: 10.1080/10288457.2011.10740712
- Description: The purpose of this qualitative case study involving six secondary school teachers was to obtain insight into how geometry is taught in selected Nigerian and South African high schools. It also aimed, by making use of the van Hiele model of geometry instruction, to elucidate what possible learning opportunities observed instructional methods could offer learners in the subject. The sample comprised three mathematics teachers from Nigeria and three mathematics teachers from South Africa, all of whom were selected using purposive sampling techniques. Instructional activities in six geometry classrooms were recorded on videotape. The van Hiele learning phases provided the framework for data analysis. The findings of this study indicate that observed teaching methods in geometry classrooms in the participating schools offer learners scant opportunity to learn geometry.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Aesthetic and spiritual ecosystem services provided by urban sacred sites
- De Lacy, Peter J G, Shackleton, Charlie M
- Authors: De Lacy, Peter J G , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60919 , vital:27891 , http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su9091628
- Description: The range and use of ecosystem services provided by urban sacred sites has hardly been considered in studies of urban ecology, sustainability and human wellbeing. This paper examines the perceived ecosystem services supplied by green spaces or gardens associated with places of religious worship and appreciated by worshippers in a mid-sized town in South Africa. A questionnaire with open, closed and Likert scale questions was administered at 30 places of worship (25 with gardens and five without). Respondents identified a wide diversity of ecosystem services provided by gardens, with social ones being more recognized than ecological, and economic services the least. Approximately two-thirds of respondents visited a sacred site garden weekly or more often. The majority of respondents (96%) felt that a garden was necessary because it added to their feelings of connection with God, or helped them relax and so be better able to concentrate, and 54% stated that a garden enhanced their overall spiritual experience. Regression analysis revealed that aesthetic appreciation of a garden was significantly related to woody plant species richness, number and basal area in the garden. On the other hand, spiritual experience was positively related to woody plant basal area, but not species richness nor tree number. Neither size of the garden, nor number of years the respondents had been vising a particular sacred site had any influence on the rated spiritual or aesthetic experiences. These results reveal the widely appreciated ecosystem services provided by urban sacred spaces and their centrality in enhancing spiritual satisfaction for some.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: De Lacy, Peter J G , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60919 , vital:27891 , http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su9091628
- Description: The range and use of ecosystem services provided by urban sacred sites has hardly been considered in studies of urban ecology, sustainability and human wellbeing. This paper examines the perceived ecosystem services supplied by green spaces or gardens associated with places of religious worship and appreciated by worshippers in a mid-sized town in South Africa. A questionnaire with open, closed and Likert scale questions was administered at 30 places of worship (25 with gardens and five without). Respondents identified a wide diversity of ecosystem services provided by gardens, with social ones being more recognized than ecological, and economic services the least. Approximately two-thirds of respondents visited a sacred site garden weekly or more often. The majority of respondents (96%) felt that a garden was necessary because it added to their feelings of connection with God, or helped them relax and so be better able to concentrate, and 54% stated that a garden enhanced their overall spiritual experience. Regression analysis revealed that aesthetic appreciation of a garden was significantly related to woody plant species richness, number and basal area in the garden. On the other hand, spiritual experience was positively related to woody plant basal area, but not species richness nor tree number. Neither size of the garden, nor number of years the respondents had been vising a particular sacred site had any influence on the rated spiritual or aesthetic experiences. These results reveal the widely appreciated ecosystem services provided by urban sacred spaces and their centrality in enhancing spiritual satisfaction for some.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
The Legacy Effects of Colonial and Apartheid Imprints on Urban Greening in South Africa: Spaces, Species, and Suitability
- Shackleton, Charlie M, Gwedla, Nanamhla
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Gwedla, Nanamhla
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/176296 , vital:42682 , https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.579813
- Description: Colonialism is a significant legacy across most aspects of urban form, the nature and distribution of public green spaces, and tree species composition in many cities of the Global South. However, the legacy effects of colonialism on urban green infrastructure and the uses thereof have only recently come under scrutiny. Here we collate information from South Africa on urban greening and interpret it through a colonial and apartheid legacy lens in relation to the distribution and types of urban nature found and their resonance with contemporary needs as an African country.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Gwedla, Nanamhla
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/176296 , vital:42682 , https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.579813
- Description: Colonialism is a significant legacy across most aspects of urban form, the nature and distribution of public green spaces, and tree species composition in many cities of the Global South. However, the legacy effects of colonialism on urban green infrastructure and the uses thereof have only recently come under scrutiny. Here we collate information from South Africa on urban greening and interpret it through a colonial and apartheid legacy lens in relation to the distribution and types of urban nature found and their resonance with contemporary needs as an African country.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
The potential for voluntary instruments to achieve conservation planning goals : the case of conservancies in South Africa
- Downsborough, Linda, Shackleton, Charlie M, Knight, Andrew T
- Authors: Downsborough, Linda , Shackleton, Charlie M , Knight, Andrew T
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6629 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006821
- Description: Spatial prioritizations and gap analyses are increasingly undertaken to allocate conservation resources. Most spatial prioritizations are conducted without specifying the conservation instruments to be implemented and gap analyses typically assess formally protected areas but increasingly include private land conservation instruments. We examine conservancies to see if these voluntary instruments contribute towards achieving goals of South African conservation planning initiatives. We conducted a nationwide survey and interviews with conservancy members in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape. Conservancies have potential for assisting South Africa to achieve conservation planning goals at national and local scales but their inclusion in spatial prioritizations and gap analyses predicates improved protection for nature, operational refinement and increased support. We sound a warning to conservation planning initiatives that incorporate voluntary instruments on private land, and present recommendations for strengthening such instruments to make them more effective. Our findings may assist conservation planners elsewhere to design more effective conservation planning initiatives focused on private land.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Downsborough, Linda , Shackleton, Charlie M , Knight, Andrew T
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6629 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006821
- Description: Spatial prioritizations and gap analyses are increasingly undertaken to allocate conservation resources. Most spatial prioritizations are conducted without specifying the conservation instruments to be implemented and gap analyses typically assess formally protected areas but increasingly include private land conservation instruments. We examine conservancies to see if these voluntary instruments contribute towards achieving goals of South African conservation planning initiatives. We conducted a nationwide survey and interviews with conservancy members in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape. Conservancies have potential for assisting South Africa to achieve conservation planning goals at national and local scales but their inclusion in spatial prioritizations and gap analyses predicates improved protection for nature, operational refinement and increased support. We sound a warning to conservation planning initiatives that incorporate voluntary instruments on private land, and present recommendations for strengthening such instruments to make them more effective. Our findings may assist conservation planners elsewhere to design more effective conservation planning initiatives focused on private land.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
The use and appreciation of urban green spaces: the case of selected botanical gardens in South Africa
- Ward, Catherine D, Parker, Caitlin M, Shackleton, Charlie M
- Authors: Ward, Catherine D , Parker, Caitlin M , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2010
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6662 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007086
- Description: There are few formal studies on the contribution of botanical gardens as urban green spaces, particularly within developing countries. Therefore, this paper reports on an assessment of the use and appreciation of botanical gardens as urban green spaces in South Africa. Users and staff were surveyed in six national botanical gardens. The gardens provided numerous benefits in terms of conservation, education and recreation. However, the people using the gardens were not demographically representative of the general population of the surrounding city or town. Generally, most of the visitors were middle- to old-aged, well-educated professionals with medium to high incomes. Most were white and English was their home language. There was an even gender representation. Most visited only a few times per year. The majority of users visited the gardens for recreation and psychological reasons rather than educational ones. However, the staff of each garden placed emphasis on education in the gardens and amongst surrounding schools. Most visitors appreciated the conservation dimensions of botanical gardens, and felt that there was insufficient public green space in their town or city. Understanding how people perceive and use the botanical gardens of South Africa is important to inform future research and strategies regarding the conservation of urban green space within a developing country.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Ward, Catherine D , Parker, Caitlin M , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2010
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6662 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007086
- Description: There are few formal studies on the contribution of botanical gardens as urban green spaces, particularly within developing countries. Therefore, this paper reports on an assessment of the use and appreciation of botanical gardens as urban green spaces in South Africa. Users and staff were surveyed in six national botanical gardens. The gardens provided numerous benefits in terms of conservation, education and recreation. However, the people using the gardens were not demographically representative of the general population of the surrounding city or town. Generally, most of the visitors were middle- to old-aged, well-educated professionals with medium to high incomes. Most were white and English was their home language. There was an even gender representation. Most visited only a few times per year. The majority of users visited the gardens for recreation and psychological reasons rather than educational ones. However, the staff of each garden placed emphasis on education in the gardens and amongst surrounding schools. Most visitors appreciated the conservation dimensions of botanical gardens, and felt that there was insufficient public green space in their town or city. Understanding how people perceive and use the botanical gardens of South Africa is important to inform future research and strategies regarding the conservation of urban green space within a developing country.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
Changes in fuelwood use and selection following electrification in the Bushbuckridge lowveld, South Africa
- Madubansi, Mainza, Shackleton, Charlie M
- Authors: Madubansi, Mainza , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6641 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006867
- Description: Fuelwood is the primary energy source for domestic purposes throughout the developing world, in both urban and rural environments. Due to the detrimental impacts of biomass use on human and environmental health, many governments have sought to reduce its use through provision of potentially cleaner energies, of which electricity is the dominant form. Yet there are surprisingly few studies of changes in fuelwood use following the introduction of electricity, especially in rural areas of Africa. This paper reports on a longitudinal study of fuelwood use, using identical approaches, in five rural villages in the Bushbuckridge region of South Africa, spanning the period over which electricity became widely available. Almost a decade after the introduction of electricity, over 90% of households still used fuelwood for thermal purposes, especially cooking, and the mean household consumption rates over the 11-year period had not changed, even with a policy of 6 kWh per month of free electricity. The proportion of households purchasing fuelwood had increased, probably in response to a number of factors, including (i) increased fuelwood scarcity in the local environment as reflected by increased fuelwood collection times, changes in fuelwood species preferences, and ranking of scarcity by local collectors, and (ii) increases in the price of fuelwood well below that of other fuels and the prevailing inflation rate. Overall, there was an increase in the number of species harvested over the 11-year period. The implications of these findings for rural energy provision are discussed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Madubansi, Mainza , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6641 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006867
- Description: Fuelwood is the primary energy source for domestic purposes throughout the developing world, in both urban and rural environments. Due to the detrimental impacts of biomass use on human and environmental health, many governments have sought to reduce its use through provision of potentially cleaner energies, of which electricity is the dominant form. Yet there are surprisingly few studies of changes in fuelwood use following the introduction of electricity, especially in rural areas of Africa. This paper reports on a longitudinal study of fuelwood use, using identical approaches, in five rural villages in the Bushbuckridge region of South Africa, spanning the period over which electricity became widely available. Almost a decade after the introduction of electricity, over 90% of households still used fuelwood for thermal purposes, especially cooking, and the mean household consumption rates over the 11-year period had not changed, even with a policy of 6 kWh per month of free electricity. The proportion of households purchasing fuelwood had increased, probably in response to a number of factors, including (i) increased fuelwood scarcity in the local environment as reflected by increased fuelwood collection times, changes in fuelwood species preferences, and ranking of scarcity by local collectors, and (ii) increases in the price of fuelwood well below that of other fuels and the prevailing inflation rate. Overall, there was an increase in the number of species harvested over the 11-year period. The implications of these findings for rural energy provision are discussed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007