Legitimation of knowers for access in science
- Authors: Ellery, Karen
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70302 , vital:29643 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02602930701772788
- Description: Based on poor performance of students in the higher education science context, this paper questions the current focus on content knowledge and, in so doing, examines the role student knowers play in enabling epistemological access. Using Legitimation Code Theory, and drawing on data from interviews, course documents, observations, and critical reflections, the social relations of a science foundation course in the South African context are examined empirically to reveal the valuing of two kinds of knowers—learning-context knowers (or science learners) and production-context knowers (or scientists). Since being both kinds of knowers is necessary for access to powerful science knowledge, and home and educational contexts of certain groups of students are better in terms of enabling science knowers and learners than others, it is argued from a social justice perspective that science (and other) curricula account for knower attributes in enabling access for success for all students.
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- Date Issued: 2018
An investigation into electronic-source plagiarism in a first-year essay assignment
- Authors: Ellery, Karen
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70114 , vital:29621 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02602930701772788
- Description: Since the emergence of the electronic era, plagiarism has become an increasingly prevalent problem at tertiary institutions. This study investigated the role electronic sources of information played in influencing plagiarism in an essay assignment in a first-year geography module at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Despite explicit instruction in tutorials on academic writing, referencing and plagiarism, a quarter of students still plagiarised in their essay, with the majority having done so off the Internet. A survey questionnaire and interviews revealed that not only did the school writing experience prepare students poorly for academic writing discourses, but also highlighted that student ignorance with regard to acknowledgement of electronic sources, a pervasive perception of difference between electronic and print sources, as well as the availability of the copy-and-paste facility which reinforces the product view of writing, all contributed towards electronic-source plagiarism. Active instructional engagement with electronic-source material, and open dialogue on ownership of knowledge as well as on moral and ethical issues with students, are recommended as strategies to overcome such plagiarism.
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- Date Issued: 2008