Rhodes University 2018 Graduation Ceremony: 1820 Settlers' National Monument, Friday, 6 April at 09:30
- Authors: Rhodes University
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64590 , vital:28563 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae_eNPkpqL8 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNB6ZTKWmGw , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqz7OftlW7M , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALxeywz_eYs
- Description: Rhodes University 2018 Graduation Programme, 6 April at 09:30: Bachelor’s: Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Science (Information Systems),Bachelor of Science (Software Development) Honours: Bachelor of Science Honours. Doctorate: PhD in Science.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Rhodes University
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64590 , vital:28563 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae_eNPkpqL8 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNB6ZTKWmGw , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqz7OftlW7M , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALxeywz_eYs
- Description: Rhodes University 2018 Graduation Programme, 6 April at 09:30: Bachelor’s: Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Science (Information Systems),Bachelor of Science (Software Development) Honours: Bachelor of Science Honours. Doctorate: PhD in Science.
- Full Text:
Rhodes University 2018 Graduation Ceremony: 1820 Settlers' National Monument, Friday, 6 April at 14:30
- Authors: Rhodes University
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64601 , vital:28564 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbNStZrvW8Y , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP7DFZ3duO8 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WtRxJcJOk0
- Description: Rhodes University 2018 Graduation Programme, 6 April at 14:30: Bachelor’s: Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Economics, Bachelor of Business Science. Postgraduate Diplomas: Postgraduate Diploma in Enterprise Management. Master’s: Master of Business Administration, Master of Commerce, Master of Economics. Doctorate: PhD in Commerce.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Rhodes University
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64601 , vital:28564 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbNStZrvW8Y , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP7DFZ3duO8 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WtRxJcJOk0
- Description: Rhodes University 2018 Graduation Programme, 6 April at 14:30: Bachelor’s: Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Economics, Bachelor of Business Science. Postgraduate Diplomas: Postgraduate Diploma in Enterprise Management. Master’s: Master of Business Administration, Master of Commerce, Master of Economics. Doctorate: PhD in Commerce.
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Rhodes University 2018 Graduation Ceremony: 1820 Settlers' National Monument, Friday, 6 April at 18:30
- Authors: Rhodes University
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64613 , vital:28565 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhgKH7t5tjI , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kGoIyKKu0E , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X2b-S9Dgt8 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WgUR8ZOfJ4
- Description: Rhodes University 2018 Graduation Programme, 6 April at 18:30: Bachelor’s: Bachelor of Social Science. Honours: Bachelor of Arts Honours. Master’s: Master of Arts. Doctorate: PhD in Humanities following completion of Master of Arts.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Rhodes University
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64613 , vital:28565 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhgKH7t5tjI , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kGoIyKKu0E , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X2b-S9Dgt8 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WgUR8ZOfJ4
- Description: Rhodes University 2018 Graduation Programme, 6 April at 18:30: Bachelor’s: Bachelor of Social Science. Honours: Bachelor of Arts Honours. Master’s: Master of Arts. Doctorate: PhD in Humanities following completion of Master of Arts.
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Rhodes University 2018 Graduation Ceremony: 1820 Settlers' National Monument, Saturday, 7 April at 09:30
- Authors: Rhodes University
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64624 , vital:28566 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1inTS4jwWE , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPiJiLEQhsE , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kiZBy3D9SM , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVj1DRaA4uw , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvvRxNwFo-o
- Description: Rhodes University 2018 Graduation Programme, 7 April at 09:30: Bachelor’s: Diploma in Fine Art, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Art. Honours: Bachelor of Social Science Honours. Master’s: Master of Fine Art, Master of Social Science. Doctorate: PhD in Humanities.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Rhodes University
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64624 , vital:28566 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1inTS4jwWE , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPiJiLEQhsE , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kiZBy3D9SM , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVj1DRaA4uw , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvvRxNwFo-o
- Description: Rhodes University 2018 Graduation Programme, 7 April at 09:30: Bachelor’s: Diploma in Fine Art, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Art. Honours: Bachelor of Social Science Honours. Master’s: Master of Fine Art, Master of Social Science. Doctorate: PhD in Humanities.
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Rhodes University 2018 Graduation Ceremony: 1820 Settlers' National Monument, Thursday, 5 April at 14:30
- Authors: Rhodes University
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64579 , vital:28562 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W249OFk3Orc , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57N4HWWgao8 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo-GsMBjaGQ
- Description: Rhodes University 2018 Graduation Programme, 5 April at 14:30: Bachelor’s: Bachelor of Pharmacy, Bachelor of Laws. Honours: Bachelor of Commerce Honours, Bachelor of Economics Honours. Postgrad Diplomas: Postgraduate Diploma in Accountancy, Postgraduate Diploma in Taxation. Master’s: Master of Science, Master of Science (Pharmacy), Master of Pharmacy, Master of Laws. Doctorate: Doctor of Pharmacy, PhD in Pharmacy, PhD in Law.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Rhodes University
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64579 , vital:28562 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W249OFk3Orc , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57N4HWWgao8 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo-GsMBjaGQ
- Description: Rhodes University 2018 Graduation Programme, 5 April at 14:30: Bachelor’s: Bachelor of Pharmacy, Bachelor of Laws. Honours: Bachelor of Commerce Honours, Bachelor of Economics Honours. Postgrad Diplomas: Postgraduate Diploma in Accountancy, Postgraduate Diploma in Taxation. Master’s: Master of Science, Master of Science (Pharmacy), Master of Pharmacy, Master of Laws. Doctorate: Doctor of Pharmacy, PhD in Pharmacy, PhD in Law.
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Rhodes University 2018 Graduation Ceremony: 1820 Settlers' National Monument, Thursday, 5 April at 9:30
- Authors: Rhodes University
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64533 , vital:28556 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1nT--FXtBY , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUs1Jqredys , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay_ufZErTFA , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l31bTJ_M_Xo
- Description: Rhodes University 2018 Graduation Programme, 5 April at 9:30: Bachelor’s: Bachelor of Journalism, Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Education. Postgraduate Diplomas: Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism, Postgraduate Diploma in Media Management, Postgraduate Diploma in Economic Journalism, Postgraduate Diploma in International Studies,Postgraduate Certificate in Education, Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education. Honours: Bachelor of Education Honours. Master’s: Master of Music, Master of Education. Doctorate:PhD in Education.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Rhodes University
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64533 , vital:28556 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1nT--FXtBY , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUs1Jqredys , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay_ufZErTFA , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l31bTJ_M_Xo
- Description: Rhodes University 2018 Graduation Programme, 5 April at 9:30: Bachelor’s: Bachelor of Journalism, Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Education. Postgraduate Diplomas: Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism, Postgraduate Diploma in Media Management, Postgraduate Diploma in Economic Journalism, Postgraduate Diploma in International Studies,Postgraduate Certificate in Education, Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education. Honours: Bachelor of Education Honours. Master’s: Master of Music, Master of Education. Doctorate:PhD in Education.
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Rinistachya hilleri gen. et sp. nov.(Sphenophyllales), from the upper Devonian of South Africa
- Prestianni, Cyrille, Gess, Robert W
- Authors: Prestianni, Cyrille , Gess, Robert W
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/73883 , vital:30238 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s13127-018-0385-3
- Description: A rich and diverse plant assemblage has been excavated from latest Devonian (Famennian) black shales of the Witpoort Formation (Witteberg Group) at Waterloo Farm, close to the city of Grahamstown (South Africa). Several specimens of a new sphenopsid have been collected. The description of this as a new taxon, here named Rinistachya hilleri, gen. et sp. nov., provides an important addition to the scarce early record of the group. Rinistachya hilleri presents a novel architecture that include apparently plesiomorphic characters, reminiscent of the organisation of the Iridopteridales (including the production of two types of laterals at one node, the location of fertile parts in loose whorls on lateral branches and an organisation of the fertile parts in which they branch several times before bearing distally elongate sporangia). Other characters unambiguously nest Rinistachya within the Sphenopsida (including presence of planate and slightly webbed ultimate appendages and lateral strobili made of successive whorls of fertile leaves with fertile parts located at their axil). This provides strong support for a close relationship between Sphenopsida and Iridopteridales. Rinistachya furthermore represents the first record of a Devonian sphenopsid from Gondwana and extends the known distribution of the Sphenopsida from the tropics to very high palaeolatitudes. It is a new sphenopsid with a peculiar organisation. The new taxon allows better characterization of the initial evolutionary radiation at the base of the group.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Prestianni, Cyrille , Gess, Robert W
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/73883 , vital:30238 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s13127-018-0385-3
- Description: A rich and diverse plant assemblage has been excavated from latest Devonian (Famennian) black shales of the Witpoort Formation (Witteberg Group) at Waterloo Farm, close to the city of Grahamstown (South Africa). Several specimens of a new sphenopsid have been collected. The description of this as a new taxon, here named Rinistachya hilleri, gen. et sp. nov., provides an important addition to the scarce early record of the group. Rinistachya hilleri presents a novel architecture that include apparently plesiomorphic characters, reminiscent of the organisation of the Iridopteridales (including the production of two types of laterals at one node, the location of fertile parts in loose whorls on lateral branches and an organisation of the fertile parts in which they branch several times before bearing distally elongate sporangia). Other characters unambiguously nest Rinistachya within the Sphenopsida (including presence of planate and slightly webbed ultimate appendages and lateral strobili made of successive whorls of fertile leaves with fertile parts located at their axil). This provides strong support for a close relationship between Sphenopsida and Iridopteridales. Rinistachya furthermore represents the first record of a Devonian sphenopsid from Gondwana and extends the known distribution of the Sphenopsida from the tropics to very high palaeolatitudes. It is a new sphenopsid with a peculiar organisation. The new taxon allows better characterization of the initial evolutionary radiation at the base of the group.
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Satisfaction with family life in South Africa: The role of socioeconomic status
- Botha, Ferdi, Booysen, Frikkie
- Authors: Botha, Ferdi , Booysen, Frikkie
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/396115 , vital:69151 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-017-9929-z"
- Description: This paper investigates the determinants of self-reported satisfaction with family life, applied to the South African context, with socioeconomic status (SES) as the main covariate and family functioning as the secondary covariate of interest. An individual-, household-, and subjective SES index is constructed via multiple correspondence analysis. Structural equation modelling (SEM) and multiple-group SEM (MGSEM) are used to analyse the role of SES in explaining satisfaction with family life. Higher levels of SES, especially household SES and subjective SES, are related to greater satisfaction with family life. Family functioning, in terms of better family flexibility, is associated with higher satisfaction with family life. The MGSEM results indicate that the role of family flexibility in explaining satisfaction with family life is similar across SES quartiles; family flexibility is an important predictor of family-life satisfaction, regardless of SES quartile.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Botha, Ferdi , Booysen, Frikkie
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/396115 , vital:69151 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-017-9929-z"
- Description: This paper investigates the determinants of self-reported satisfaction with family life, applied to the South African context, with socioeconomic status (SES) as the main covariate and family functioning as the secondary covariate of interest. An individual-, household-, and subjective SES index is constructed via multiple correspondence analysis. Structural equation modelling (SEM) and multiple-group SEM (MGSEM) are used to analyse the role of SES in explaining satisfaction with family life. Higher levels of SES, especially household SES and subjective SES, are related to greater satisfaction with family life. Family functioning, in terms of better family flexibility, is associated with higher satisfaction with family life. The MGSEM results indicate that the role of family flexibility in explaining satisfaction with family life is similar across SES quartiles; family flexibility is an important predictor of family-life satisfaction, regardless of SES quartile.
- Full Text:
Scale-specific processes underlying the genetic population structure of seabirds in the tropical western Indian Ocean
- Authors: Danckwerts, Daniel Keith
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Sea birds -- Indian Ocean , Sea birds -- Behavior -- Indian Ocean , Sea birds -- Mortality -- Indian Ocean , Sea birds -- Mortality -- Prevention , Sea birds -- Reproduction , Bird declines -- Indian Ocean , Sea birds -- Indian Ocean -- Effect of human beings on , Sooty tern , Red-footed booby , Pterodroma
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63944 , vital:28513
- Description: Global seabird populations have declined by 70%, since 1950, largely in response to human mediated threats. Identifying the pressures that the remaining populations face has therefore become a top priority. Many breeding colonies are now monitored annually, though others have been almost completely neglected. Considerable bias also exists towards higher latitude species, while fewer studies have been conducted on tropical groups. Beyond tracking population sizes, numerous knowledge gaps also exist that severely restrict conservation efforts. This includes the understanding of seabird meta-population structure and the processes underlying population divergence. The importance of these studies lies in the fact that the preservation of biodiversity requires the conservation of diversification processes. Generating this knowledge is therefore an important first step towards recognising responses to episodic disturbance and long-term environmental change, as well as recovery potential. In this context, the present study employed microsatellite analysis and ringing information to investigate the processes underlying the metapopulation structure of seabirds in the tropical western Indian Ocean. Three species were selected as proxies to cover a range of population sizes, distributional ranges, and intrinsic behavioural (e.g. migratory behaviour) and morphological (e.g. polymorphism) characteristics. These were the Sooty Tern (Onychoprion fuscatus), Red-footed Booby (Sula sula), and Barau’s Petrel (Pterodorma baraui). The overall objective was to provide insight into the mechanisms underlying divergence across a range of scales. Microsatellite information highlighted that genetic populations of the Red-footed Booby and Barau’s Petrel were weakly, though significantly, structured. For the Barau’s Petrel, this was supported by ringing information that indicated extreme colony fidelity. Some gene flow appears to occur among the breeding colonies of the Red-footed Booby, though the scale and frequency of this remains uncertain as banding information is insufficient at this stage. Nevertheless, though populations of both species were genetically structured, the processes underlying divergence were different. Extreme natal philopatry appears to have driven divergence between the two colonies of the Barau’s Petrel, while local selective forces (e.g. kleptoparasitism risk and/or selection against immigrants) appear to have isolated the three studied breeding colonies of the Red-footed Booby. Conversely, microsatellite information identified a total lack of genetic structure among breeding colonies of the Sooty Tern in the western Indian Ocean, and between colonies in the western Indian and Eastern Pacific Oceans. This accords with banding recoveries, which illustrate considerable inter-colony exchange of individuals among most islands of the Seychelles and between breeding colonies in the western Indian and West Pacific Oceans. The processes underlying the genetic population structure (or, in this case, lack thereof) in the Sooty Tern therefore appear to operate at extremely large scales. The species’ low natal philopatry and high dispersal capabilities, combined with an importance of social stimulation and a reliance on seasonally favourable marine conditions, appears to influence the decisions of where and when individual Sooty Terns choose to breed. Anthropogenic disturbance at breeding sites, particularly that related to egg harvesting activities, also appears to drive dispersal in the Sooty Tern. These results improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the genetic population structure in seabirds at low latitudes. However, numerous questions remain unanswered and warrant further study. Clear conservation implications were also identified for the three studied species. Nevertheless, caution should still be applied when extrapolating this information across other species.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Danckwerts, Daniel Keith
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Sea birds -- Indian Ocean , Sea birds -- Behavior -- Indian Ocean , Sea birds -- Mortality -- Indian Ocean , Sea birds -- Mortality -- Prevention , Sea birds -- Reproduction , Bird declines -- Indian Ocean , Sea birds -- Indian Ocean -- Effect of human beings on , Sooty tern , Red-footed booby , Pterodroma
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63944 , vital:28513
- Description: Global seabird populations have declined by 70%, since 1950, largely in response to human mediated threats. Identifying the pressures that the remaining populations face has therefore become a top priority. Many breeding colonies are now monitored annually, though others have been almost completely neglected. Considerable bias also exists towards higher latitude species, while fewer studies have been conducted on tropical groups. Beyond tracking population sizes, numerous knowledge gaps also exist that severely restrict conservation efforts. This includes the understanding of seabird meta-population structure and the processes underlying population divergence. The importance of these studies lies in the fact that the preservation of biodiversity requires the conservation of diversification processes. Generating this knowledge is therefore an important first step towards recognising responses to episodic disturbance and long-term environmental change, as well as recovery potential. In this context, the present study employed microsatellite analysis and ringing information to investigate the processes underlying the metapopulation structure of seabirds in the tropical western Indian Ocean. Three species were selected as proxies to cover a range of population sizes, distributional ranges, and intrinsic behavioural (e.g. migratory behaviour) and morphological (e.g. polymorphism) characteristics. These were the Sooty Tern (Onychoprion fuscatus), Red-footed Booby (Sula sula), and Barau’s Petrel (Pterodorma baraui). The overall objective was to provide insight into the mechanisms underlying divergence across a range of scales. Microsatellite information highlighted that genetic populations of the Red-footed Booby and Barau’s Petrel were weakly, though significantly, structured. For the Barau’s Petrel, this was supported by ringing information that indicated extreme colony fidelity. Some gene flow appears to occur among the breeding colonies of the Red-footed Booby, though the scale and frequency of this remains uncertain as banding information is insufficient at this stage. Nevertheless, though populations of both species were genetically structured, the processes underlying divergence were different. Extreme natal philopatry appears to have driven divergence between the two colonies of the Barau’s Petrel, while local selective forces (e.g. kleptoparasitism risk and/or selection against immigrants) appear to have isolated the three studied breeding colonies of the Red-footed Booby. Conversely, microsatellite information identified a total lack of genetic structure among breeding colonies of the Sooty Tern in the western Indian Ocean, and between colonies in the western Indian and Eastern Pacific Oceans. This accords with banding recoveries, which illustrate considerable inter-colony exchange of individuals among most islands of the Seychelles and between breeding colonies in the western Indian and West Pacific Oceans. The processes underlying the genetic population structure (or, in this case, lack thereof) in the Sooty Tern therefore appear to operate at extremely large scales. The species’ low natal philopatry and high dispersal capabilities, combined with an importance of social stimulation and a reliance on seasonally favourable marine conditions, appears to influence the decisions of where and when individual Sooty Terns choose to breed. Anthropogenic disturbance at breeding sites, particularly that related to egg harvesting activities, also appears to drive dispersal in the Sooty Tern. These results improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the genetic population structure in seabirds at low latitudes. However, numerous questions remain unanswered and warrant further study. Clear conservation implications were also identified for the three studied species. Nevertheless, caution should still be applied when extrapolating this information across other species.
- Full Text:
Schooling and institution quality linked to earnings in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Cuthbert, Carol E
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Wages -- Effect of education on -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Education, Higher -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Equality -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62166 , vital:28134
- Description: Return to investment for tertiary education is not equal for all. Human Capital Theory imposes a linear pathway between education and earnings, that fails to recognise other sources of capital, ignores social returns and does not explain why socio-economic variables influence employability and earnings. Those returns, rather than simply incrementally delivering returns for additional years of education, are however heterogeneous across students, with field of study, gender and population group influencing earnings; and schooling type and university attended filtering whether one finds a job. This study utilises data from Rhodes University and the University of Fort Hare, illustrating the extreme positions within the South African education landscape, employing a Heckman selection to predict the returns on education. The regression is found to be partially successful in predicting a graduate’s ability to find a job, in the first instance, and thereafter their returns. It is crucial to analyse the heterogeneity of socio-economic parameters to understand aspects of the economy, and develop education policies to take advantage of this understanding, especially against the backdrop of the student protests being experienced in the country and the funding models proposed. Access to tertiary education, through policy inducement, such as the recent increase of the grant limit from R122 000 to R350 000, requires disaggregated returns to education to be investigated.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Cuthbert, Carol E
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Wages -- Effect of education on -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Education, Higher -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Equality -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62166 , vital:28134
- Description: Return to investment for tertiary education is not equal for all. Human Capital Theory imposes a linear pathway between education and earnings, that fails to recognise other sources of capital, ignores social returns and does not explain why socio-economic variables influence employability and earnings. Those returns, rather than simply incrementally delivering returns for additional years of education, are however heterogeneous across students, with field of study, gender and population group influencing earnings; and schooling type and university attended filtering whether one finds a job. This study utilises data from Rhodes University and the University of Fort Hare, illustrating the extreme positions within the South African education landscape, employing a Heckman selection to predict the returns on education. The regression is found to be partially successful in predicting a graduate’s ability to find a job, in the first instance, and thereafter their returns. It is crucial to analyse the heterogeneity of socio-economic parameters to understand aspects of the economy, and develop education policies to take advantage of this understanding, especially against the backdrop of the student protests being experienced in the country and the funding models proposed. Access to tertiary education, through policy inducement, such as the recent increase of the grant limit from R122 000 to R350 000, requires disaggregated returns to education to be investigated.
- Full Text:
Seasonal physiological responses to heat in an alpine range-restricted bird: the Cape Rockjumper (Chaetops frenatus)
- Oswald, Krista N, Lee, Alan T K, Smit, Ben
- Authors: Oswald, Krista N , Lee, Alan T K , Smit, Ben
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441655 , vital:73904 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-018-1582-8
- Description: Hot, dry summer conditions impose physiological stress on endotherms, yet we have a poor understanding of how endotherms seasonally adjust their costs of thermoregulation under hot conditions. We determined whether seasonal phenotypic plasticity in evaporative cooling capacity at high temperatures explained how the range-restricted Cape Rockjumper (Chaetops frenatus; hereafter ‘Rockjumper’), copes with hot and dry summer temperatures of the temperate mountain peaks of southwest South Africa. We measured evaporative water loss (EWL), resting metabolic rate (RMR), and body temperature at high air temperatures (30–42 °C) of individuals from a wild population of Rockjumpers during winter and summer (n = 11 winter, 4 females, 7 males; n = 10 summer, 6 females, 4 males). We found Rockjumper evaporative cooling in summer imposes higher EWL (i.e. greater water costs) compared to winter, although an accompanying lack of change in RMR resulted in increased summer cooling efficiency. These patterns are similar to those observed in species that inhabit regions where summer temperatures are routinely high but the species are not water stressed. Our findings indicate that avian seasonal physiological adjustments to heat can be diverse. Further seasonal studies on thermoregulation in response to heat will greatly improve our knowledge of the functional value of traits such as evaporative cooling efficiency and heat tolerance and how they contribute to the physiological stress organisms experience in heterogenous environments.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Oswald, Krista N , Lee, Alan T K , Smit, Ben
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441655 , vital:73904 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-018-1582-8
- Description: Hot, dry summer conditions impose physiological stress on endotherms, yet we have a poor understanding of how endotherms seasonally adjust their costs of thermoregulation under hot conditions. We determined whether seasonal phenotypic plasticity in evaporative cooling capacity at high temperatures explained how the range-restricted Cape Rockjumper (Chaetops frenatus; hereafter ‘Rockjumper’), copes with hot and dry summer temperatures of the temperate mountain peaks of southwest South Africa. We measured evaporative water loss (EWL), resting metabolic rate (RMR), and body temperature at high air temperatures (30–42 °C) of individuals from a wild population of Rockjumpers during winter and summer (n = 11 winter, 4 females, 7 males; n = 10 summer, 6 females, 4 males). We found Rockjumper evaporative cooling in summer imposes higher EWL (i.e. greater water costs) compared to winter, although an accompanying lack of change in RMR resulted in increased summer cooling efficiency. These patterns are similar to those observed in species that inhabit regions where summer temperatures are routinely high but the species are not water stressed. Our findings indicate that avian seasonal physiological adjustments to heat can be diverse. Further seasonal studies on thermoregulation in response to heat will greatly improve our knowledge of the functional value of traits such as evaporative cooling efficiency and heat tolerance and how they contribute to the physiological stress organisms experience in heterogenous environments.
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Sepedi oral poetry with reference to kiba traditional dance of South Africa
- Authors: Maahlamela, Tebogo David
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Northern Sotho poetry , Northern Sotho poetry -- History and criticism , Folk songs, Northern Sotho , Sound poetry -- South Africa , Archival materials -- Conservation and restoration , Spiritualism in literature , Cultural appropriation , Folk poetry, Northern Sotho , Kiba traditional dance , Kiba poetry
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63209 , vital:28381
- Description: Previous studies show that contrary to other African languages of fewer speakers, written poetry in Sepedi/Sesotho sa Leboa’s transition from oral to written did not only lag behind, its development was also slow, with less intense treatment. However, this scarcity is not of the actual oral material, but rather its documented version. Vast untreated material at various repositories such as the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) library and the International Library of African Music (ILAM) are facing a risk of being lost due to limited resources and resourcefulness to digitalise them. Investigation of written poetry from 1906 to 2006 attests to the fact that in its written form, Sepedi/Sesotho sa Leboa poetry is still underdeveloped, dominated by “microwaved” collections aiming at nothing beyond meeting school prescription criteria. Calls have been made from the dominant South African poetry narrative that there are no innovative studies in the field of African languages, especially Sepedi/Sesotho sa Leboa. Musicological studies show that contemporary jazz artists have adopted and adapted kiba poetry into jazz music, which resulted into classics of all times. Intensive studies were conducted on such poetic kiba-influenced jazz, but the primary source remains a grey area. The analysis of selected kiba poems shows that kiba poetry is the richest poetic form in the Sepedi/Sesotho sa Leboa with its creative and artistic merit exceeds all other genres. The study further reveals that kiba poetry is the heart of Bapedi/Basotho ba Leboa spirituality, a heart without which some faith institutions will remain incomplete. Furthermore, kiba poetry embodies, among others, poetic genres rarely explored in the South African poetry milieu such as “sound poetry” and poetry of special metrical schemes, of dramatic and devotional essence. Scholarly attention is, therefore, recommended on this repertoire to explore the field beyond this preliminary study, so as to save as many kiba poems as possible, which will enrich the dwindling written poetry milieu. Literary excellence of the treated poems attests to the fact that the artistic wealth of kiba poetry is worthy of attention, and it has potential to transform not only the face of poetry in Sepedi/Sesotho sa Leboa, but of the entire South African poetry landscape.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Maahlamela, Tebogo David
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Northern Sotho poetry , Northern Sotho poetry -- History and criticism , Folk songs, Northern Sotho , Sound poetry -- South Africa , Archival materials -- Conservation and restoration , Spiritualism in literature , Cultural appropriation , Folk poetry, Northern Sotho , Kiba traditional dance , Kiba poetry
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63209 , vital:28381
- Description: Previous studies show that contrary to other African languages of fewer speakers, written poetry in Sepedi/Sesotho sa Leboa’s transition from oral to written did not only lag behind, its development was also slow, with less intense treatment. However, this scarcity is not of the actual oral material, but rather its documented version. Vast untreated material at various repositories such as the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) library and the International Library of African Music (ILAM) are facing a risk of being lost due to limited resources and resourcefulness to digitalise them. Investigation of written poetry from 1906 to 2006 attests to the fact that in its written form, Sepedi/Sesotho sa Leboa poetry is still underdeveloped, dominated by “microwaved” collections aiming at nothing beyond meeting school prescription criteria. Calls have been made from the dominant South African poetry narrative that there are no innovative studies in the field of African languages, especially Sepedi/Sesotho sa Leboa. Musicological studies show that contemporary jazz artists have adopted and adapted kiba poetry into jazz music, which resulted into classics of all times. Intensive studies were conducted on such poetic kiba-influenced jazz, but the primary source remains a grey area. The analysis of selected kiba poems shows that kiba poetry is the richest poetic form in the Sepedi/Sesotho sa Leboa with its creative and artistic merit exceeds all other genres. The study further reveals that kiba poetry is the heart of Bapedi/Basotho ba Leboa spirituality, a heart without which some faith institutions will remain incomplete. Furthermore, kiba poetry embodies, among others, poetic genres rarely explored in the South African poetry milieu such as “sound poetry” and poetry of special metrical schemes, of dramatic and devotional essence. Scholarly attention is, therefore, recommended on this repertoire to explore the field beyond this preliminary study, so as to save as many kiba poems as possible, which will enrich the dwindling written poetry milieu. Literary excellence of the treated poems attests to the fact that the artistic wealth of kiba poetry is worthy of attention, and it has potential to transform not only the face of poetry in Sepedi/Sesotho sa Leboa, but of the entire South African poetry landscape.
- Full Text:
Servant leadership: antecedent to Quality of Worklife of customer service frontline employees
- Authors: Bedser, Mark Bernard
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Call center agents Servant leadership Customer Service -- Quality control Employee morale Job satisfaction Quality of work life
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62144 , vital:28132
- Description: Contact Centre agents operate in closely monitored and highly controlled environments and their work consists of solving service requests or assisting customers with information on products or services. Consequently their work involves a great deal of emotional labour and stress. It is not surprising then, that the working environment of the Contact Centre is reported to have a negative impact on the levels of Quality of Worklife of Contact Centre agents, and that in the Contact Centre context, it is likely that low levels of Quality of Worklife exist. It is argued that it is important for organisations to be particularly aware of the Quality of Worklife perceptions of their employees should they want to address Quality of Worklife levels and benefit from the positive consequences of higher levels of the construct. Numerous variables are reported to play either an antecedent, moderating, mediating, or consequential role in relation to the Quality of Worklife construct. A systems model of Quality of Worklife is developed, which illustrates the inter-relationships of these variables and how they affect and are affected by the Quality of Worklife construct. It is argued that leadership is an important antecedent to Quality of Worklife, and this is the antecedent of interest in this study. It is proposed that it is not just any leadership that will contribute to an improved Quality of Worklife, particularly within a challenging context such as the Contact Centre environment. Rather, it is suggested that certain qualities of leaders will have a greater influence on Quality of Worklife. For example, leaders who focus on relationships and are caring - characteristics associated with servant leaders - are deemed more suitable for the Contact Centre context. The research also proposes that there are close associations between Servant Leadership and Trust, which in turn has the potential to affect Quality of Worklife positively. It is argued, therefore, that Trust mediates the relationship between Servant Leadership and Quality of Worklife in the customer service frontline context. While there is a broad base of literature available on servant leadership that focuses on the senior or executive level of leadership, Van Dierendonck and Nuijten (2011) have argued that it is also relevant at the middle level of management and have validated an eight dimensional measure of servant leadership that is suitable for this management level. The Van Laar, Edwards and Easton (2007) Quality of Worklife model is also argued to be an appropriate model and measure of the Quality of Worklife construct, due to the robustness of the instrument design and the appropriateness of its underlying theory to the context of this research. Research has shown that leadership can have a significant relationship with Quality of Worklife. Moreover, a review of the literature on servant leadership reveals that trust, satisfaction, general well-being, and commitment to their jobs increases when employees are exposed to leadership behaviours associated with servant leadership. There is however, no evidence in the literature of any investigation of the relationship between Servant Leadership and Quality of Worklife, or of research investigating the partial mediating effects of Trust between these two constructs. Research was conducted to test this relationship. A survey questionnaire was administered amongst a sample of 555 Contact Centre agents, who were employed in eight different organisations. Confirmatory factor analysis procedures were conducted in STATA (V15.0), to test and validate the factor structure of Servant Leadership and Quality of Worklife models. The research also produced a Servant Leadership, Trust and Quality of Worklife structural equation model that supported the hypotheses of the relationships between the constructs. Mediation analysis confirmed Trust’s role as a mediator between Servant Leadership and Quality of Worklife. The structural equation model confirmed that synergies between Servant Leadership, Trust and Quality of Worklife exist, and that Trust partially mediates the relationship between Servant Leadership and Quality of Worklife. It is therefore argued that an increase in Servant Leadership behaviour by the manager or supervisor of frontline staff has a positive association with increases of Trust, as well as positive associations with Quality of Worklife experienced by employees in the frontline context. Moreover, it is also posited that the relationship between Servant Leadership and Quality of Worklife is partially mediated by Trust of the supervisor. The implications of these results are discussed, and recommendations made for management practice and further research.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Bedser, Mark Bernard
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Call center agents Servant leadership Customer Service -- Quality control Employee morale Job satisfaction Quality of work life
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62144 , vital:28132
- Description: Contact Centre agents operate in closely monitored and highly controlled environments and their work consists of solving service requests or assisting customers with information on products or services. Consequently their work involves a great deal of emotional labour and stress. It is not surprising then, that the working environment of the Contact Centre is reported to have a negative impact on the levels of Quality of Worklife of Contact Centre agents, and that in the Contact Centre context, it is likely that low levels of Quality of Worklife exist. It is argued that it is important for organisations to be particularly aware of the Quality of Worklife perceptions of their employees should they want to address Quality of Worklife levels and benefit from the positive consequences of higher levels of the construct. Numerous variables are reported to play either an antecedent, moderating, mediating, or consequential role in relation to the Quality of Worklife construct. A systems model of Quality of Worklife is developed, which illustrates the inter-relationships of these variables and how they affect and are affected by the Quality of Worklife construct. It is argued that leadership is an important antecedent to Quality of Worklife, and this is the antecedent of interest in this study. It is proposed that it is not just any leadership that will contribute to an improved Quality of Worklife, particularly within a challenging context such as the Contact Centre environment. Rather, it is suggested that certain qualities of leaders will have a greater influence on Quality of Worklife. For example, leaders who focus on relationships and are caring - characteristics associated with servant leaders - are deemed more suitable for the Contact Centre context. The research also proposes that there are close associations between Servant Leadership and Trust, which in turn has the potential to affect Quality of Worklife positively. It is argued, therefore, that Trust mediates the relationship between Servant Leadership and Quality of Worklife in the customer service frontline context. While there is a broad base of literature available on servant leadership that focuses on the senior or executive level of leadership, Van Dierendonck and Nuijten (2011) have argued that it is also relevant at the middle level of management and have validated an eight dimensional measure of servant leadership that is suitable for this management level. The Van Laar, Edwards and Easton (2007) Quality of Worklife model is also argued to be an appropriate model and measure of the Quality of Worklife construct, due to the robustness of the instrument design and the appropriateness of its underlying theory to the context of this research. Research has shown that leadership can have a significant relationship with Quality of Worklife. Moreover, a review of the literature on servant leadership reveals that trust, satisfaction, general well-being, and commitment to their jobs increases when employees are exposed to leadership behaviours associated with servant leadership. There is however, no evidence in the literature of any investigation of the relationship between Servant Leadership and Quality of Worklife, or of research investigating the partial mediating effects of Trust between these two constructs. Research was conducted to test this relationship. A survey questionnaire was administered amongst a sample of 555 Contact Centre agents, who were employed in eight different organisations. Confirmatory factor analysis procedures were conducted in STATA (V15.0), to test and validate the factor structure of Servant Leadership and Quality of Worklife models. The research also produced a Servant Leadership, Trust and Quality of Worklife structural equation model that supported the hypotheses of the relationships between the constructs. Mediation analysis confirmed Trust’s role as a mediator between Servant Leadership and Quality of Worklife. The structural equation model confirmed that synergies between Servant Leadership, Trust and Quality of Worklife exist, and that Trust partially mediates the relationship between Servant Leadership and Quality of Worklife. It is therefore argued that an increase in Servant Leadership behaviour by the manager or supervisor of frontline staff has a positive association with increases of Trust, as well as positive associations with Quality of Worklife experienced by employees in the frontline context. Moreover, it is also posited that the relationship between Servant Leadership and Quality of Worklife is partially mediated by Trust of the supervisor. The implications of these results are discussed, and recommendations made for management practice and further research.
- Full Text:
Silent and Complex Histories: in conversation with Buhlebezwe Siwani
- Authors: Makandula, Sikhumbuzo
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147236 , vital:38607 , https://artthrob.co.za/2018/11/05/silent-and-complex-histories-in-conversation-with-buhlebezwe-siwani/
- Description: A feature by Sikhumbuzo Makandula on the 5th of November 2018
- Full Text:
- Authors: Makandula, Sikhumbuzo
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147236 , vital:38607 , https://artthrob.co.za/2018/11/05/silent-and-complex-histories-in-conversation-with-buhlebezwe-siwani/
- Description: A feature by Sikhumbuzo Makandula on the 5th of November 2018
- Full Text:
Singlet oxygen generating properties of different sizes of charged Graphene quantum dot Nanoconjugates with a positively charged Phthalocyanine
- Matshitse, Refilwe, Nyokong, Tebello
- Authors: Matshitse, Refilwe , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/187614 , vital:44680 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-018-2247-y"
- Description: Various sizes of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) denoted as GQD2, GQD6 and GQD10 (increasing in size) were non-covalently attached to 2,9,16,23-tetrakis[4-(N-methylpyridyloxy)]-phthalocyanine (ZnTPPcQ) to form GQDs-ZnTPPcQ nanoconjugates. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed that increasing sizes of GQDs decreases the atomic concentrations of oxygen, which leads to blue shift in spectra of the GQDs. Relative to Pcs alone (0.03), the presence of GQDs improved the singlet oxygen quantum yields with the following values: GQD2-ZnTPPcQ (0.17), GQD6-ZnTPPcQ (0.27) and GQD10-ZnTPPcQ (0.11). GQD2-ZnTPPcQ nanoconjugate system had the most ZnTPPcQ loading, but did not generate the most singlet oxygen species due to aggregation. This study shows that, the quantity of oxygen, size and quality of GQDs as well as amount of Pc loading are amongst the vital properties to consider when constructing GQD-nanoconjugate systems with optimal singlet oxygen quantum yields.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Matshitse, Refilwe , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/187614 , vital:44680 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-018-2247-y"
- Description: Various sizes of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) denoted as GQD2, GQD6 and GQD10 (increasing in size) were non-covalently attached to 2,9,16,23-tetrakis[4-(N-methylpyridyloxy)]-phthalocyanine (ZnTPPcQ) to form GQDs-ZnTPPcQ nanoconjugates. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed that increasing sizes of GQDs decreases the atomic concentrations of oxygen, which leads to blue shift in spectra of the GQDs. Relative to Pcs alone (0.03), the presence of GQDs improved the singlet oxygen quantum yields with the following values: GQD2-ZnTPPcQ (0.17), GQD6-ZnTPPcQ (0.27) and GQD10-ZnTPPcQ (0.11). GQD2-ZnTPPcQ nanoconjugate system had the most ZnTPPcQ loading, but did not generate the most singlet oxygen species due to aggregation. This study shows that, the quantity of oxygen, size and quality of GQDs as well as amount of Pc loading are amongst the vital properties to consider when constructing GQD-nanoconjugate systems with optimal singlet oxygen quantum yields.
- Full Text:
Slanting the light
- Authors: Marais, Shirley
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: South African poetry (English) -- 21st century , Creative writing (Higher education) -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63558 , vital:28440
- Description: Through my poetry I attempt to make sense of my encounters with myself by bringing to creative expression my experiences of and felt responses to people, places and situations. Among the poets who have had a significant influence on my work are Robert Berold, for his quiet assertion of intense, dramatic images; Frank O’Hara for his disciplined sense of mischief; Joan Metelerkamp for her meticulous attention to form and the way she makes a poem breathe; Robert Creeley for his ability to create free-floating meaning; and Mangaliso Buzani, for his fierce, honest poetics.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Marais, Shirley
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: South African poetry (English) -- 21st century , Creative writing (Higher education) -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63558 , vital:28440
- Description: Through my poetry I attempt to make sense of my encounters with myself by bringing to creative expression my experiences of and felt responses to people, places and situations. Among the poets who have had a significant influence on my work are Robert Berold, for his quiet assertion of intense, dramatic images; Frank O’Hara for his disciplined sense of mischief; Joan Metelerkamp for her meticulous attention to form and the way she makes a poem breathe; Robert Creeley for his ability to create free-floating meaning; and Mangaliso Buzani, for his fierce, honest poetics.
- Full Text:
Social-ecological systems as complex adaptive systems
- Preiser, Rika, Biggs, Reinette, de Vos, Alta, Folke, Carl
- Authors: Preiser, Rika , Biggs, Reinette , de Vos, Alta , Folke, Carl
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/416410 , vital:71346 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10558-230446"
- Description: The study of social-ecological systems (SES) has been significantly shaped by insights from research on complex adaptive systems (CAS). We offer a brief overview of the conceptual integration of CAS research and its implications for the advancement of SES studies and methods. We propose a conceptual typology of six organizing principles of CAS based on a comparison of leading scholars’ classifications of CAS features and properties. This typology clusters together similar underlying organizing principles of the features and attributes of CAS, and serves as a heuristic framework for identifying methods and approaches that account for the key features of SES. These principles can help identify appropriate methods and approaches for studying SES. We discuss three main implications of studying and engaging with SES as CAS. First, there needs to be a shift in focus when studying the dynamics and interactions in SES, to better capture the nature of the organizing principles that characterize SES behavior. Second, realizing that the nature of the intertwined social-ecological relations is complex has real consequences for how we choose methods and practical approaches for observing and studying SES interactions. Third, engagement with SES as CAS poses normative challenges for problemoriented researchers and practitioners taking on real-world challenges.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Preiser, Rika , Biggs, Reinette , de Vos, Alta , Folke, Carl
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/416410 , vital:71346 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10558-230446"
- Description: The study of social-ecological systems (SES) has been significantly shaped by insights from research on complex adaptive systems (CAS). We offer a brief overview of the conceptual integration of CAS research and its implications for the advancement of SES studies and methods. We propose a conceptual typology of six organizing principles of CAS based on a comparison of leading scholars’ classifications of CAS features and properties. This typology clusters together similar underlying organizing principles of the features and attributes of CAS, and serves as a heuristic framework for identifying methods and approaches that account for the key features of SES. These principles can help identify appropriate methods and approaches for studying SES. We discuss three main implications of studying and engaging with SES as CAS. First, there needs to be a shift in focus when studying the dynamics and interactions in SES, to better capture the nature of the organizing principles that characterize SES behavior. Second, realizing that the nature of the intertwined social-ecological relations is complex has real consequences for how we choose methods and practical approaches for observing and studying SES interactions. Third, engagement with SES as CAS poses normative challenges for problemoriented researchers and practitioners taking on real-world challenges.
- Full Text:
Sociocultural and sociomaterial mediation of children’s connectedness-with-nature: a case study of Hobbiton
- Authors: Ward-Smith, Chesney Fenella
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Environmental psychology South Africa Eastern Cape , Experiential learning South Africa Eastern Cape , Environmental education Activity programs South Africa Eastern Cape , Nature study Activity programs South Africa Eastern Cape , Outdoor education South Africa Eastern Cape , Ethnoecology
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61918 , vital:28083
- Description: An increasingly large body of literature sees disconnection from nature as central to the convergent social-ecological crisis, rooted in anthropocentric ontologies. This study explored the potential for embodied, sociomaterial nature-based activities to engender shifts in children’s perceptions of, and sense of connectedness with, nature. Equally it explored how children’s socio-cultural-historical value positionings (SCHVP) mediated their perceptions of, and connectedness with, nature. The nature-based activities, spread over five-day camps, were located at Hobbiton-on-Hogsback, a centre that has existed for decades to provide experiential learning and graded exposure to natural spaces, aiming to increase environmental knowledge and nature-connection. The experiences of two groups of children from wide-ranging socioeconomic and socio-cultural backgrounds in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa were explored using interpretive case study methodology. Through semi-structured interviews and focus groups with selected children (aged 10-14) and the Hobbiton staff members who worked with them, as well as participant observation, data were collected and analysed thematically. This study was guided by a layered theoretical framework that included Deep Ecology as an under-labourer, and Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as a substantive, analytical framework. Interactions between participants’ SCHVP and the sociomateriality of the nature- based activities were analysed in relation to the children’s nature-perceptions and sense of Connectedness-With-Nature. The findings highlight both the importance of the children’s SCHVP and the sociomateriality of the nature-based activities in mediating their prior perceptions of, and connectedness with nature. The nature-based activities acted as a primary stimulus for developing environmental empathy, awareness and pro-environmental intentions. In essence, Hobbiton acted as a primary ‘seed planter’ towards greater feelings of Connectedness-With-Nature. However, recommendations are put forward for more decolonised, ethics-oriented and sociomaterial design of Hobbiton’s nature-based activities, with an emphasis on integrating children’s SCHVP into the pedagogical-design process in relation to the sociomaterial elements of the nature-based activities. Emically integrating the children’s multiplicities of knowing, doing, valuing and being into the pedagogical-design process could contribute to the decolonisation of nature-based experiences in such contexts cultural, socio and political diversity.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Ward-Smith, Chesney Fenella
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Environmental psychology South Africa Eastern Cape , Experiential learning South Africa Eastern Cape , Environmental education Activity programs South Africa Eastern Cape , Nature study Activity programs South Africa Eastern Cape , Outdoor education South Africa Eastern Cape , Ethnoecology
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61918 , vital:28083
- Description: An increasingly large body of literature sees disconnection from nature as central to the convergent social-ecological crisis, rooted in anthropocentric ontologies. This study explored the potential for embodied, sociomaterial nature-based activities to engender shifts in children’s perceptions of, and sense of connectedness with, nature. Equally it explored how children’s socio-cultural-historical value positionings (SCHVP) mediated their perceptions of, and connectedness with, nature. The nature-based activities, spread over five-day camps, were located at Hobbiton-on-Hogsback, a centre that has existed for decades to provide experiential learning and graded exposure to natural spaces, aiming to increase environmental knowledge and nature-connection. The experiences of two groups of children from wide-ranging socioeconomic and socio-cultural backgrounds in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa were explored using interpretive case study methodology. Through semi-structured interviews and focus groups with selected children (aged 10-14) and the Hobbiton staff members who worked with them, as well as participant observation, data were collected and analysed thematically. This study was guided by a layered theoretical framework that included Deep Ecology as an under-labourer, and Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as a substantive, analytical framework. Interactions between participants’ SCHVP and the sociomateriality of the nature- based activities were analysed in relation to the children’s nature-perceptions and sense of Connectedness-With-Nature. The findings highlight both the importance of the children’s SCHVP and the sociomateriality of the nature-based activities in mediating their prior perceptions of, and connectedness with nature. The nature-based activities acted as a primary stimulus for developing environmental empathy, awareness and pro-environmental intentions. In essence, Hobbiton acted as a primary ‘seed planter’ towards greater feelings of Connectedness-With-Nature. However, recommendations are put forward for more decolonised, ethics-oriented and sociomaterial design of Hobbiton’s nature-based activities, with an emphasis on integrating children’s SCHVP into the pedagogical-design process in relation to the sociomaterial elements of the nature-based activities. Emically integrating the children’s multiplicities of knowing, doing, valuing and being into the pedagogical-design process could contribute to the decolonisation of nature-based experiences in such contexts cultural, socio and political diversity.
- Full Text:
South African national reconciliation discourse and isiXhosa written poetry: 1994–2004
- Mona, Godfrey Vulindela, Kaschula, Russell H
- Authors: Mona, Godfrey Vulindela , Kaschula, Russell H
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/174690 , vital:42501 , DOI: 10.1080/02572117.2018.1429867
- Description: The main thesis put forward in this article is that during the first ten years of democracy in South Africa, 1994–2004, isiXhosa poetry contributed thematically to the goal of reconciliation. Furthermore, this poetry demonstrates how an aspect of culture can be employed to advance the sociopolitical process of reconciliation. IsiXhosa writers, through their poetry, exposed the on-the-ground endeavours that contributed to the broader and deepening reconciliation process, thereby making a meaningful contribution towards the interpretation and building of a fair, democratic and inclusive South African society. The article analyses a number of poems against the backdrop of the post-1994 reconciliation process in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mona, Godfrey Vulindela , Kaschula, Russell H
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/174690 , vital:42501 , DOI: 10.1080/02572117.2018.1429867
- Description: The main thesis put forward in this article is that during the first ten years of democracy in South Africa, 1994–2004, isiXhosa poetry contributed thematically to the goal of reconciliation. Furthermore, this poetry demonstrates how an aspect of culture can be employed to advance the sociopolitical process of reconciliation. IsiXhosa writers, through their poetry, exposed the on-the-ground endeavours that contributed to the broader and deepening reconciliation process, thereby making a meaningful contribution towards the interpretation and building of a fair, democratic and inclusive South African society. The article analyses a number of poems against the backdrop of the post-1994 reconciliation process in South Africa.
- Full Text:
Spatial variation in modelled hydrodynamic characteristics associated with valley confinement in the Krom River wetland: implications for the initiation of erosional gullies
- Authors: Schlegel, Philippa Kirsten
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Soil erosion South Africa Eastern Cape , Wetland management South Africa Kromme River (Eastern Cape) , Wetland conservation South Africa Kromme River (Eastern Cape)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/58684 , vital:27356
- Description: Gully erosion is a significant and widespread feature of southern African wetlands, including the wetlands of the Krom River, Eastern Cape. Gully erosion in wetlands is consistently being viewed as a major contributing factor to wetland degradation and eventual collapse. Many gullies exist in the Krom River and Working for Wetlands has spent large sums of money to stabilise head-cuts with the expectation that further erosion would be halted and possibly avoided altogether. Observations in the Krom River wetlands have revealed that most gullies in the wetland are initiated where the width of the trunk valley has been reduced as a consequence of deposition by tributary alluvial fans that impinge on the trunk valley and reduce its width. The aim of this study was to examine variation in hydrodynamic characteristics for a range of discharges, as flow in the broad Kompanjiesdrif basin (~250 meters wide) is confined in a downstream direction to a width of less than 50 meters by a combination of a large impinging left bank tributary alluvial fan that coincides with a resistant bedrock lithology. The study was done by collecting topographical survey data using a Differential Global Positioning System in order to create a Digital Terrain Model with a suitable resolution. Flow was recorded using a Marsh-McBirney Model 2000 Flo-Mate as well as recording the flood extent for each flow condition; this was used in the calibration process of the model. Vegetation measurements were conducted in order to calculate a roughness value across the valley floor. A two-dimensional raster based flood inundation model, CAESAR-Lisflood and a one-dimensional hydraulic analysis model, HEC-RAS, were then used to simulate different parameters associated with variation in discharge, including flow velocity, water depth and stream power, thereby creating a better understanding of the hydraulic characteristics that may promote the formation of gullies in the wetland. Based on these hydraulic analyses it is evident that the effect of impinging alluvial fans on hydraulic characteristics such as flow velocity, water depth and stream power, may lead to the initiation of gullies within the Krom River wetland. This work improves understanding of the collapse of palmiet wetlands in steep-sided valleys within the Cape Fold Mountains of South Africa, and can aid in wetland management.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Schlegel, Philippa Kirsten
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Soil erosion South Africa Eastern Cape , Wetland management South Africa Kromme River (Eastern Cape) , Wetland conservation South Africa Kromme River (Eastern Cape)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/58684 , vital:27356
- Description: Gully erosion is a significant and widespread feature of southern African wetlands, including the wetlands of the Krom River, Eastern Cape. Gully erosion in wetlands is consistently being viewed as a major contributing factor to wetland degradation and eventual collapse. Many gullies exist in the Krom River and Working for Wetlands has spent large sums of money to stabilise head-cuts with the expectation that further erosion would be halted and possibly avoided altogether. Observations in the Krom River wetlands have revealed that most gullies in the wetland are initiated where the width of the trunk valley has been reduced as a consequence of deposition by tributary alluvial fans that impinge on the trunk valley and reduce its width. The aim of this study was to examine variation in hydrodynamic characteristics for a range of discharges, as flow in the broad Kompanjiesdrif basin (~250 meters wide) is confined in a downstream direction to a width of less than 50 meters by a combination of a large impinging left bank tributary alluvial fan that coincides with a resistant bedrock lithology. The study was done by collecting topographical survey data using a Differential Global Positioning System in order to create a Digital Terrain Model with a suitable resolution. Flow was recorded using a Marsh-McBirney Model 2000 Flo-Mate as well as recording the flood extent for each flow condition; this was used in the calibration process of the model. Vegetation measurements were conducted in order to calculate a roughness value across the valley floor. A two-dimensional raster based flood inundation model, CAESAR-Lisflood and a one-dimensional hydraulic analysis model, HEC-RAS, were then used to simulate different parameters associated with variation in discharge, including flow velocity, water depth and stream power, thereby creating a better understanding of the hydraulic characteristics that may promote the formation of gullies in the wetland. Based on these hydraulic analyses it is evident that the effect of impinging alluvial fans on hydraulic characteristics such as flow velocity, water depth and stream power, may lead to the initiation of gullies within the Krom River wetland. This work improves understanding of the collapse of palmiet wetlands in steep-sided valleys within the Cape Fold Mountains of South Africa, and can aid in wetland management.
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