List of Titles

Investigation of the NFC technology for mobile payments and the development of a prototype payment application in the context of marginalized rural areas

- Gurajena, Caroline

Authors: Gurajena, Caroline
Date: 2014
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc (Computer Science)
Identifier: vital:11401 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1020243
Description: Both communication, and the methods and tools of commerce have evolved over time through the invention of new technologies. The latest of these technologies are mobile devices and electronic commerce respectively. The combination of these two technologies has resulted in the creation of electronic commerce which also enables mobile payments. Mobile payments (mpayments) are enabled by many technologies with Near Field Communication (NFC) being the most recent one. NFC is a wireless technology that enables mobile devices in close proximity to exchange data. The mobile device has already been enthusiastically accepted by the customers and they carry it with them wherever they go and this makes it a good device for providing a payment method alternative. This research looks at contactless mobile payment as a payment method. Customers in marginalized rural areas lack a payment alternative to cash hence in this research we are investigating and proposing the use of a NFC enabled mobile payment application for Marginalized Rural Areas. This research extensively evaluates and assesses the potential of using NFC enabled m-payments in Marginalized Rural Areas in South Africa by carrying out an investigation of the technology and its acceptance by customers. The investigation of the technology included implementation of a prototype application which was used to introduce the technology to the consumers. The customer acceptance of the NFC enabled mobile payments was evaluated using the Technology Acceptance model (TAM). The model was modified to suit the context of this study by adding more constructs. This research concluded that Near Field Communication enabled m-payments have great potential to be used and accepted by people in the marginalized rural areas.
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Date Issued: 2014

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Investigations of growth metrics and δ15N values of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes,(Mart.) Solms-Laub) in relation to biological control

- Hill, Jaclyn M

Authors: Hill, Jaclyn M
Date: 2014
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/444758 , vital:74265 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquabot.2013.12.001
Description: The success of biological control for Eichhornia crassipes (Mart) Solms-Laub has been varied, with failure attributed to various factors including increased eutrophication in freshwater systems. Studies have shown that high N-loads are associated with enriched δ15N values of aquatic biota. Stable isotope analyses may help to assess the nutrient status of invaded ecosystems and predict the success of classical biological control. A combination of controlled greenhouse experiments and in situ observations were used to quantify the δ15N equilibration rate of E. crassipes leaf tissue (i.e. the time span of the information on environmental N-loading), confirm the ability of plant tissue to reflect ecosystem N-loading and to compare standard water hyacinth growth metrics with δ15N and C/N ratios to evaluate how well they described eutrophication. Using both δ15N values and C/N ratios, it was possible to clearly distinguish between manure, fertilizer and control regimes and plant tissue provided information on ecosystem N loading over approximately 16 days.
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Date Issued: 2014

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Is economic growth without human development sustainable? : Sub-Saharan Africa’s recent growth acceleration in context

- Hadisi Basingene, Serge

Authors: Hadisi Basingene, Serge
Date: 2014
Subjects: Sustainable development -- Africa, Sub-Saharan , Economic development -- Africa, Sub-Saharan , Poverty -- Africa, Sub-Saharan , Africa, Sub-Saharan -- Social conditions , Africa, Sub-Saharan -- Economic conditions , Africa, Sub-Saharan -- Economic policy
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MEcon
Identifier: vital:1098 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013137
Description: The purpose of the study has been to assess the question of sustainability of economic growth and human development, particularly using sub-Saharan Africa in context. Sub-Saharan Africa is an interesting case study because, on the one hand, it has been mired in poverty and remains the least developed region in the world, and on the other, it has experienced a revival in economic growth since the mid-1990s. Economists tend to use the term economic development and economic growth interchangeably. However, questions have been raised about whether Africa’s latest growth episode is indeed ‘development’. Although there are many issues at stake, the key question, and the focus of this thesis, is whether sub-Saharan Africa’s revival is sustainable. The paper sets out the debate between the ‘World Bank view’ and the ‘alternative view’. The main debate lies around how genuine development should be achieved. Firstly, the ‘World Bank view’ claims that economic growth is necessary and sufficient condition to achieve development. Economic growth will be generated by ‘orthodox’ policies and this growth will automatically trickle-down and stimulate development. Secondly, the ‘alternative view’ argues that economic growth is necessary but it is not sufficient to stimulate sustainable development. Economic growth without ‘qualitative’ change is not ‘sustainable’. Indeed, human development shortfalls (as well as other, social, political and structural problems), if not addressed through appropriate policy interventions, can undermine economic growth. The ‘alternative view’ appears to be strongly supported by evidence from other developing regions such as Latin America and East Asia. The empirical study conducted in this thesis reinforces doubts about ‘sustainability’. Even though there are signs of convergence in some indicators; this is not the case for all indicators. More importantly the gap between sub-Saharan Africa and other developing regions remains very wide. Sub-Saharan Africa’s development path remains uncertain. The intention in this study is not to be conclusive that sub-Saharan Africa cannot achieve sustainable development. Rather the study attempts to identify potential hindrances to sub-Saharan Africa’s development and to provide a solid foundation for further research in the same direction.
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Date Issued: 2014

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Isn’t it time to start thinking about ‘developing’ academic developers in a more systematic way?

- Quinn, Lynn, Vorster, Jo-Anne E

Authors: Quinn, Lynn , Vorster, Jo-Anne E
Date: 2014
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66546 , vital:28961 , https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2013.879719
Description: publisher version , There is no defined route to becoming an academic developer. The research on pathways into the field (e.g. Kensington-Miller, Brailsford, and Gossman, 2012; McDonald, 2010; McDonald and Stockley, 2008) shows that in most cases ‘serendipity and chance played a role’ (McDonald, 2010, p. 40). Moreover, induction into academic development (AD) is often ad hoc, haphazard, and informal. Due to the changing higher education (HE) context, the field has grown exponentially and in many countries now plays a central role in institutions. This has generated increased demand for knowledgeable and competent developers that are able to contribute towards solving some vexing problems in contemporary HE. Current recruitment and induction processes of new developers do not necessarily meet this demand. In light of the above, we pose the question: given the changing context of HE and the field of AD, is it not time for us to induct newcomers into the field more systematically? As Kensington-Miller et al. (2012) suggest, we should not leave the induction of the next generation of developers to chance. We suggest that one way of ensuring appropriate induction is through a formal course for developers. Difficulties for newcomers to the field are illustrated by Kensington-Miller et al. (2012) when they report seeking ‘top tips’ at a HERDSA conference. We do not dismiss informal learning at conferences or the role of mentoring, coaching, apprenticeship, and so on, in inducting developers, nor do we minimise the benefits of relatively structured processes such as fellowship programmes, workshops, and postgraduate qualifications in related fields. However, these ways of induction may not offer novices the structured and systematic developmental opportunities needed to become developers able to fulfil varied, complex, and sometimes contradictory roles.
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Date Issued: 2014

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Isolation, Characterisation, and biological activity evaluation of essential Oils of Cymbopogon validus (Stapf) Stapf ex Burtt Davy and Hyparrhenia hirta (L.) Stapf

- Rungqu, Pamela

Authors: Rungqu, Pamela
Date: 2014
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc (Chemistry)
Identifier: vital:11354 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1021283
Description: Cymbopogon validus and Hyparrhenia hirta belong to the Poaceae botanical family. Both plants are used as thatching material; H. hirta is also used for weaving mats and baskets. In this study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of C. validus and H. hirta essential oils on fresh egg-albumin induced edema on Wistar rats. To fully understand the chemically induced anti-inflammatory properties of these plants, we first analyzed the chemical composition of the essential oils. The essential oils were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In C. validus, 13 compounds accounted for 74.3% of fresh leaves oil, 14 compounds 71.8% of dried leaves oil and 12 compounds 73.3% of flower oil were identified from the GC-MS Chromatogram. The percentage yields were as follows fresh leaves oil 2.2%, dried leaves oil 2.0% and flower oil 2.4% v/w respectively. Linalool (3.2-29.6%) and northujane (4.4-16.9%) were the dominant compounds found in the 3 oils analyzed. While, α-terpineol 37.5% and verbenone 13.5% was only found in the fresh leaf oil, this was absent in the dried leaves oil and the flowers oil of C. validus. In H. hirta, 25 compounds accounted for 68.1% of fresh leaves oil, 40 compounds 71.9% of dried leaves oil, 23 compounds 77.6% of fresh flowers oil and 18 compounds 80.1% of dried flowers oil were identified from the GC-MS Chromatogram. The percentage yields obtained from the different parts were 3.4% for fresh leaves oil, 2.8% for dried leaves oil, 2.8% for fresh flowers oil and 0.7% for dried flowers oil v/w respectively. Northujane (8.5-30.0%), diisooctyl phthalate (4.4-26.5%), phytone (1.1-10.4%) were the dominant compounds found in the 4 oils analyzed. While, dibutyl phthalate 26.9% was only found in the fresh flowers and was absent in the dried flowers oil. Moreover, caryophyllene oxide (1.7-9.6%) was found in fresh leaves and dried flowers oil of H. hirta. In vivo analysis revealed that the two essential oils displayed significant edema inhibition effect overtime. They displayed strong anti-inflammatory properties when compared to control group. However, the H. hirta essential oil was more effective than that of C. validus. Linalool, α-terpineol, and northujane extracted from C. validus and H. hirta essential oils might have contributed to the anti-inflammatory effects observed in Wistar rats. This study, confirms the anti-inflammatory properties of C. validus and H. hirta suggesting that they may be used in diseases related to anti-inflammation.
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Date Issued: 2014

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Isolation, purification and partial characterisation of cancer procoagulant from placental amnion-chorion membranes and its role in angiogenesis inflammation and metastasis

- Krause, Jason

Authors: Krause, Jason
Date: 2014
Subjects: Coagulation , Amnion , Chorion , Metastasis , Inflammation , Neovascularization
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
Identifier: vital:10350 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020897
Description: Cancer procoagulant (EC 3.4.22.26) is an enzyme that is derived from tumour and foetal tissue, but not normal tissue. It is a direct activator of factor X and has been isolated from amnion-chorion membranes as well as from extracts and cells from human melanoma. The presence of cancer procoagulant has been associated with the malignant phenotype, as well as having a particularly high activity in metastatic cells. Cancer procoagulant activity is elevated in the serum of early stage breast cancer patients and decreased to normal in the advanced stages of the disease. In this study, cancer procoagulant was successfully isolated from amnion-chorion membranes and purified to homogeneity. The molecular weight of cancer procoagulant was determined using SDS-PAGE and was found to be 68 kDa. Cancer procoagulant was delipidated and it was shown that its activity was increased by the presence of lipids in a dose-dependent manner. Recovery of cancer procoagulant after delipidation is poor, consequently, a larger mass of sample is required to obtain sufficient amounts of delipidated material for N-terminal amino acid analysis. The optimum pH of cancer procoagulant was determined to be pH 8 and its optimal temperature was found to be 50°C. Novel synthetic substrates were designed to assay for cancer procoagulant activity. Currently, 2 potential candidates have been identified, namely, PQVR-AMC and AVSQSKP-AMC. Cancer procoagulant-induced expression of cytokines is differently modulated in the less aggressive MCF-7 cell line as compared to the metastatic and more aggressive MDA-MB-231 cell line. There are marked similarities in the inflammatory response produced by cancer procoagulant in hTERT-HDLEC and MDA-MB-231 cells, which are both associated with migratory capacity. Furthermore, cancer procoagulant-induced PDGF-β expression in hTERT-HDLEC and MDA-MB-231 cells could point to involvement of cancer procoagulant in wound healing and metastatic spread, respectively. Cancer procoagulant induced the motility of MDA-MB-231, MCF-7 and hTERT- cells in vitro in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Together, these results suggest that cancer procoagulant plays a role in the migration of breast cancer cells as well as the migration of endothelial cells.
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Date Issued: 2014

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ISSRs indicate that Chromolaena odorata invading southern Africa originates in Jamaica or Cuba

- Paterson, Iain D, Zachariades, Costas

Authors: Paterson, Iain D , Zachariades, Costas
Date: 2014
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/406105 , vital:70239 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2013.04.005"
Description: Two biotypes of the invasive alien plant, Chromolaena odorata (L.) R.M. King and Rob. (Asteraceae: Eupatorieae), are recognized in the plant’s introduced distribution. The Asian/West African (A/WA) biotype is present in West and Central Africa, India, Southeast Asia and Oceania, while the southern African (SA) biotype is only present in southern Africa. Biological control using insect natural enemies has been significantly more successful against the A/WA biotype than the SA biotype, suggesting that host plant incompatibility may have resulted in reduced efficacy of biological control agents in southern Africa. Inter-Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR) were used to identify the origin of the SA biotype as Jamaica or Cuba. The data also confirm that the SA biotype is genetically distinct from the A/WA biotype and that the SA biotype is the result of a separate introduction. Biological control agents for C. odorata in southern Africa should be sourced from Jamaica and Cuba in order to avoid host plant incompatibility problems.
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Date Issued: 2014

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IziNambuzane: isiZulu names for insects

- Cockburn, Jessica J, Khumalo-Seegelken, B, Villet, Martin H

Authors: Cockburn, Jessica J , Khumalo-Seegelken, B , Villet, Martin H
Date: 2014
Subjects: Insects -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- Nomenclature , Zulu language -- Revival , Language policy -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , Native language and education -- Research -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , Ethnoentomology
Language: English
Type: Article
Identifier: vital:6972 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1014581
Description: We provide a tool for communicating about insects in isiZulu to facilitate research and knowledge sharing in the fields of indigenous knowledge, cultural entomology, environmental education and community extensioninvolving isiZulu speakers. A total of 213 different names for 64 insect specimens were encountered among a sample of 67 respondents in 11 communities distributed across the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This list includes 93 names that can be considered core isiZulu vocabulary and which are widely used to identify insects that are agriculturally, medically, domestically, culturally or ecologically common or significant. Substantial variation was found regarding the names for particular insects, especially between regions, suggesting dialectal differences between isiZulu speakers. Grammatical and social variation in names was also recorded. This study highlights interdisciplinary teamwork in the field of indigenous knowledge research and the influences affecting the standardisation of South African languages for technical and scientific work.
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Date Issued: 2014

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Job engagement and locus of control in relation to organizational citizenship behaviour among academic and non-academic staff of a South African university

- Mbeba, Roland Darlington

Authors: Mbeba, Roland Darlington
Date: 2014
Subjects: Locus of control -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Personnel management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Job satisfaction -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Management -- Employee participation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , M Com (Industrial Psychology)
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/1633 , vital:27498
Description: This study investigated the relationship between job engagement and locus of control on the one hand, and organisational citizenship behaviour on the other among non-academic and academic employees of the University of Fort Hare. Job engagement and locus of control were the independent variables and organisational citizenship behaviour was the dependent variable. Data was drawn from a sample of 300 participants. A questionnaire was used to collect the data. It consisted of four sections including biographical and occupation data questionnaire. To measure job engagement, the 18-item Rich et al., (2010) job engagement scale, with a 5-point Likert scale was used. To measure locus of control, the 16-item Spector (1988) work locus of control scale was used, with 6-point Likert scale. To measure organisational citizenship behaviour, the Fox & Spector (2011) 20 item organisational citizenship behaviour questionnaire, with a 5-point Likert scale was used. Data was analysed using various statistical techniques including the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Technique and the generalised linear regression model. The results indicated that job engagement has a significant positive correlation with organisational citizenship behaviour and locus of control also has a significant positive correlation with organisational citizenship behaviour. However the results also indicated that when job engagement and locus of control are put together, they do not account for a significantly higher proportion of variance in organisational citizenship behaviour than each of them separately. Furthermore, as far as OCB-P and OCB-O are concerned, the results indicated a partial support of the research hypothesis that job engagement and locus of control together account for a significantly higher proportion of variance in organisational citizenship behaviour than any of the two separately. The study recommends that managers in organisations must focus on improving job engagement and promoting internal locus of control in order to ensure high levels of organisational citizenship behaviour.
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Date Issued: 2014

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Job engagement as a moderator variable to organisational stress and employees’ intention to quit among administrative personnel at the University of Fort Hare in the Eastern Cape

- Mxenge, Sandiswa Vuyokazi

Authors: Mxenge, Sandiswa Vuyokazi
Date: 2014
Subjects: Job engagement -- Intention to quit , Organisational stress -- Vigour , Dedication -- Absorption -- Workplace , Higher learning -- Ill-health
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom (Industrial Psychology)
Identifier: vital:11563 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1015074 , Job engagement -- Intention to quit , Organisational stress -- Vigour , Dedication -- Absorption -- Workplace , Higher learning -- Ill-health
Description: This research study investigated the effect of job engagement to organisational stress and the employees’ intention to quit among administrative personnel at the University of Fort Hare. The main objectives of this study were determining the effects of organisational stress on employees’ intention to quit, examining the role of job engagement as a moderator of the relationship between organisational stress and employees’ intention to quit, and providing results that would lead to a deeper understanding of the nature and extent of the relationship between organisational stress and intention to quit. A survey method was adopted for this study. A questionnaire comprising of four sections: biographical information, ERI questionnaire for stress, turnover intention, and UWES scale, was administered to non-academic support personnel of the University of Fort Hare in all three campuses namely Alice, Bhisho, and East London. Simple random sampling was used to select the participants. The literature reviewed displayed a great need for managers to understand organisational stress and its causes, and how to manage and cope with stress so as to avoid losing employees, especially highly competent employees. The study yielded results that show that there are interrelationships amongst the three variables, and that job engagement does moderate the relationship between organisational stress and employees’ intention to quit.
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Date Issued: 2014

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Journalism sourcing and credibility: a study of Raia Mwema’s use of anonymous sources

- Mkoko, Egbert

Authors: Mkoko, Egbert
Date: 2014
Subjects: Raia Mwema , Newspapers -- Tanzania , Journalism -- Tanzania , Attribution of news -- Tanzania
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: vital:3529 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013219
Description: This study analyses how readers impute credibility to the Tanzanian investigative newspaper Raia Mwema which, as a matter of routine journalistic practice, uses a high number of anonymous sources. Against the backdrop of a strong theoretical position, espoused by media studies theorists in both Western media contexts and in Africa, in which this practice is deemed to diminish the credibility of both journalists and their stories, the study’s main purpose is to examine how readers make sense of this very prevalent practice in a country that has recently opened up to media plurality. It also investigates where they locate the source of credibility for this high-selling newspaper, if not in the traditional way through its named sources of information. The study surveys the frequency of appearance of anonymous sources in this newspaper for the period of one year from January 2011 to December 2011. Then the study considered how this practice is viewed and understood by the wider journalistic community in Tanzania as well as looking into how the journalists and owners of Raia Mwema make choices about attributing their journalism. Lastly, the study engaged with particular readers to understand what sense they make of this practice in the wider landscape of Tanzanian media and the post-repressive political situation. The study makes use of theories of the sociology of news production so as to understand the context in which Raia Mwema has routinised the practice of anonymous attribution and whether the journalistic community and newspaper readers find the practice credible. The study also employs reception analysis in order to understand to what extent Raia Mwema readers negotiate and make sense of the mainly political, and often critical, media messages they get from newspaper. In this way, it introduces the importance of the reader in the production of meaning and of assessment of credibility of journalism. The interviews – ranging from journalists working at the paper, through the wider journalistic community and taking in the readership of the paper – show that theoretical considerations of journalistic credibility must take into account the political, social and media context in which journalism is produced. Pronouncements on the overuse of anonymous sources, without understanding the way readers and journalists negotiate the complexities of an actual situation, do not tell us much about credibility and how readers understand the messages they are given. From this study, it is clear that in African countries embarking on opening media systems, credibility involves more factors than have been discussed in the literature and that readers and journalists are sophisticated consumers and producers of media messages in countries that place a host of obstacles in the way of investigative journalism and open political communication.
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Date Issued: 2014

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Kaffirmeid and other stories

- Madingwane, June

Authors: Madingwane, June
Date: 2014
Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , Short stories, South African -- 21st century , Creative writing (Higher education) -- Research -- South Africa , Creative writing -- Fiction , South African fiction (English) -- Study and teaching (Higher)
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: vital:5983 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015659
Description: These stories are about people’s experiences in relationships and how they overcome and resolve problems with their partners. Some explore myths and unexplained occurrences that raise many questions.
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Date Issued: 2014

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Kalaharituber pfeilii and associated bacterial interactions

- Adeleke, Rasheed, Dames, Joanna F

Authors: Adeleke, Rasheed , Dames, Joanna F
Date: 2014
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/440490 , vital:73787 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2013.10.003
Description: Truffles are generally known to form a mycorrhizal relationship with plants. Kalaharituber pfeilii (Hennings) Trappe and Kagan-Zur is a species of desert truffle that is found in the southern part of Africa. The life cycle of this truffle has not been fully investigated as there are many unconfirmed plant species that have been suggested as potential hosts. Many mycorrhizal associations often involve other role players such as associated bacteria that may influence the establishment of the mycorrhizal formation and function. As part of an effort to understand the life cycle of K. pfeilii, laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the role of ascocarp associated bacteria. Bacterial isolates obtained from the truffle ascocarps were subjected to microbiological and biochemical tests to determine their potentials as mycorrhizal helper bacteria. Tests conducted included stimulation of mycelial growth in vitro, indole acetic acid (IAA) production and phosphate solubilising. A total of 17 bacterial strains belonging to the Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Actinobacteria were isolated from the truffle ascocarps and identified with sequence homology and phylogenetic methods. Three of these isolates showed potential to be helper bacteria in at least one of the media tested through the stimulation of mycelial growth. Furthermore, four isolates produced IAA and one was able to solubilise CaHPO3 in vitro. One isolate, identified as a relative of Paenibacillus sp. stimulated mycelial growth on all the media tested. Other bacterial isolates that showed potential stimulation of mycelial growth were identified molecularly as a Bacillus sp. and two strains of Rhizobium sp. This study has contributed to the existing knowledge on the biotic interactions with K. pfeilii which may be useful in further symbiont and re-synthesis investigations.
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Date Issued: 2014

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Kedibone

- Mokae, Sabata Paul

Authors: Mokae, Sabata Paul
Date: 2014
Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- Research -- South Africa , Creative writing -- Fiction , South African fiction (English) -- Study and teaching (Higher) , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: vital:6000 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020883
Description: A young woman from a rural village near Kimberley is killed by her husband in a fit of jealousy. Her illiterate mother is summoned to the hospital to authorize the removal of vital organs – eyes, liver, kidney and heart – for organ donation. But some members of the family feel that their child should not be buried with parts of her body missing. Thus begins a story that changes the lives of many people, both black and white, over the following twenty years.
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Date Issued: 2014

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Knowledge and knowing in the public management and public administration programmes at a comprehensive university

- Lück, Jacqueline Catherine

Authors: Lück, Jacqueline Catherine
Date: 2014
Subjects: Knowledge and learning , Public administration -- Study and teaching (Higher) , Knowledge, Sociology of , Learning, Psychology of , Knowledge, Theory of , Educational equalization -- South Africa , Education, Higher -- South Africa , Literacy -- South Africa , Technical institutes -- South Africa
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
Identifier: vital:1326 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013166
Description: Knowledge is often tacit and under researched in educational fields. In order for student access to knowledge and its related academic discourses to be facilitated, a deep understanding needs to be gained of the form that this knowledge takes. This study interrogates the ways in which knowledge is constituted in the first year of a Public Management Diploma and a Public Administration Degree at a comprehensive university in South Africa. The study takes a social realist approach that understands reality as fact but sees our knowledge thereof as a social phenomenon. The study was concerned with knowledge structures and knower structures as it argues that these have not been adequately accounted for in the sociology of education research. But this study comes to this concern from a strongly ideological view of student reading and writing. This study calls on a social practices approach that sees literacy as embedded within specific academic discourses, which vary from context to context. It uses this ideological understanding of literacy as the orienting framework for the study of knowledge. The study takes place in a Higher Education mileu that has begun to transform from its divisive past. The transformation brought about new institutional formations such as the comprehensive university, with its mix of vocational, professional and formative programmes and varied emphasis on contextual and conceptual curriculum coherence. Increasingly, the transformation agenda also shifts concern from simply providing physical access to a previously disenfranchised majority to ensuring full participation in the context of high attrition rates in first year and low retention rates. The data was analysed using the Specialisation Codes of Legitimation Code Theory to see what was being specialised in the Diploma and Degree curricula of the Public Management and Administration fields. These fields are characterised in the literature by ongoing tensions about focus, and perceptions of there being a theoretical vacuum and an inability to deal adequately with challenges in the South African public sector. Analysis of lecturer interviews and first-year curriculum documentation showed that both the Public Management Diploma and Public Administration Degree have stronger epistemic relations (ER), with an emphasis on claims to knowledge of the world. The data showed relatively weak social relations (SR), in that there was not the valuing of a particular lens on the world or a specific disposition required for legitimation within this field. The combination of ER+ and SR- indicates that these curricula are Knowledge Codes, where legitimation is through the acquisition of a set of skills and procedures. The programmes were characterised by fairly low-level procedural knowledge, which may point to a workplace-oriented direction that is dominant in the comprehensive university. In keeping with concerns raised in the literature about this field, there was little evidence of theoretical or propositional knowledge in the Public Management Diploma and while the Public Administration Degree had some evidence of this, it was arguably not to the extent expected of a degree as described in the National Qualifications Framework. This study was limited to the first-year of the Diploma and Degree and subsequent years could present different findings. Lecturers showed awareness of student challenges with literacy practices and made concerned attempts through various interventions to address this but they were found to value the surface features of writing practices over personal engagement with the knowledge. Though the expectations of student literacy practices in tests and assignments were aligned to the ways in which knowledge was constructed in the curriculum, there was little evidence of student induction into disciplinary discourses of the field as knowledge was presented as being neutral and student writing primarily took the form of retelling objective facts. The implications of these findings could include student exclusion from higher-level academic discourse, more powerful knowledge in the workplace and, finally, constrain them from becoming producers of knowledge.
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Date Issued: 2014

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