Do differences in personality traits affect how drivers experience music at different intensities?
- Authors: Tlhoaele, Kebaabetswe
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3695 , vital:20536
- Description: Various researchers have investigated contributing factors towards the number of acute traffic incidences in and around Southern Africa. Some of these contributing factors include: the skills component of the driver predominately attributed to driving experience as well as the behavioural component influenced by the driver’s natural predisposition, individual differences and personality traits. In order to manage these factors drivers have developed varying coping mechanisms. One of these coping mechanisms is listening to music while driving, which is readily available in most cars and extensively used predominately during long duration driving. Listening to music neither increases one’s driving duration (as opposed to taking several breaks), nor does it interfere with the physical movements of driving (in the manner that eating and drinking may), but it might impact the concentration and attention of some drivers. This is based on the notion that music is assumed to impact arousal and cognitive ability. While there are several studies on the effect of music on driving performance and personality traits very few studies have looked at whether music has a positive or negative effect on driving performance based on differences in personality traits; and whether the extent of this effect might differ for different intensities of music? Consequently, this study aims to understand and determine the extent to which different personality traits predict the effect that listening to different music intensities has on driving performance. The impact of differing music conditions on the different personality traits used a repeated measures design and a between group design with respect to the personality traits with a sample size of (n=25)-16 females and 9 males-and their ages ranged between 19-35 years of age. The average age and standard deviation for this sample size was 22 years±2. A low-fidelity driving simulator task was utilised in order to provide a controllable, repeatable and a safe environment as compared to a real road situation. Personality was assessed using an online Big-Five Inventory scale (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness). All the different personality groups completed three conditions (45 minutes each) in a randomised order (without music, moderately loud music and loud music). Psychophysiological parameters i.e. heart rate frequency (HRF), heart rate variability (HRV) and eye movements (pupil diameter, eye speeds, fixation duration, blink frequency and blink duration) and driving performance were measured continuously. Subjective performance Multidimensional Driving Style Inventory was measured once-off prior to completion of the testing sessions, whilst the NASA-Task Load Index scale and Perceived control of participants were assessed after each condition. The expected outcomes revealed that music had an effect on objective driving performance (tracking deviation and reaction time) and psychophysiological measures only for participants of certain personality types while other personality types were unaffected by music. The subjective performance measures did not follow the same trend as objective performance measures. The conditions did not reveal an effect on driving performance, for most of the psychophysiological parameters and subjective measures. There was mainly a significant time on task effect and interactional effects on the psychophysiological measures (physiological and oculomotor) parameters at (p<0.05), but not on the subjective measures as anticipated. The study illustrated that the there are differences between personality traits. There was difficulty in the interpretation of the results based on the complexity of the findings for which each hypothesis was partially accepted. The research may establish practical implications for traffic safety campaigns in South Africa, as well as influence driving education for citizens. Assessing the personality trait would help to form an understanding as to which of the personality traits might be affected negatively from listening to music while driving and those that might benefit. Moreover, this study may assist motorists in understanding the implications of listening to music while driving as this may sometimes elicit risky driving behaviour and possibly cause an accident that may result in death.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Dominion: architecture as a symbol of authority in the Eastern Cape Colonial Frontier
- Authors: Mnyila, Desmond
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MFA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4256 , vital:20639
- Description: My mini thesis is an exploration of architecture as part of the landscape of Grahamstown and how ideas of dominion and subordination of the non- white citizens of this town were asserted or communicated through space. I concur with theories about architectural buildings as objects that express power and reinforce power relations in any given society. Markus (1993) goes into great lengths to explain how buildings are primarily about power and town planning is a means of control. The area under consideration is very rich in history especially during the period that interested me which is the nineteenth century as this was a period of the establishment of Grahamstown, firstly, as a military establishment and then as a small town serving as a residential area for the British Settlers who arrived in 1820. Throughout the mini thesis I have unpacked the nature of power itself by referring to Njoh (2009) who refers to different categories of the use and especially the abuse or demonstration of power. It wouldn’t do justice to an area as rich in history as the area which is now referred to as the Albany to not dwell into some of the events that were played out here, some of which had consequences and implications for the rest of South Africa. After 1820, the town developed as more buildings of domestic houses, churches, houses of officials, prisons and schools were built. In the thesis I unpack the different architectural styles like the Georgian, Victorian and Cape Dutch styles that formed a significant part of this small town. I draw attention to the ideas of dominion that Njoh elucidates, which were played out in the building of the town architectural structures. Architecture demonstrated British might and power through the imposition of British and European architectural styles on an African landscape. The sheer magnitude of the buildings, I argue, was carefully planned and the use of durable materials, often stones that were imported from abroad, was a carefully orchestrated move to demonstrate British wealth and power through intimidation and seduction. Thomas Baines was one of the artists who spent some time in Grahamstown and made a series of the landscape of this town. My interest in Baines for purposes of this thesis is the manner in which he represented Grahamstown and how he was propagator of British imperialism under the guise of ‘spreading civilisation’ among the ‘back ward’ inhabitants of this continent. My painting practice is influenced by and responds to the vacant land theory especially Baines’ works which were executed to present a Grahamstown as a purely British town ‘emptying’ it of all traces of non- British non- European dwellings or citizens. My practice brings back the layers of history that I have witnessed and the painting surface is slowly built up with water metaphorically destroying the solid structures that were built in the nineteenth century in Grahamstown. As a person who has lived through apartheid and a new dispensation in South Africa, this is reflected in my paintings with a tension between aesthetically pleasing painting styles and disturbing rough surface textures. Anselm Kiefer is the artist who has influenced my work in the manner of working he prefers and also in his tendency to look back at past periods in history.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Détournement : the art of troubling
- Authors: Wilby, Mark Owen
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MFA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/345 , vital:19950
- Description: Confidence in the form of, for example, commodified debt or the commodification of future value, is an increasingly large part of today’s globalised economy. This was alarmingly illustrated in 2008 by the repercussions of marketing unstable debt in the form of subprime mortgages in the United States leading to a precipitous global financial meltdown. That was a collapse of confidence writ large. At the same time, confidence is also a cornerstone of everyday social and professional life. The non-ZERO-sum project (exhibition title of practical submission in MFA fulfilment) interacts with the notion of confidence, and more particularly economic confidence. At the same time, the project takes the view that engagement from a fine art perspective would have an inherently inadequate vocabulary if restricted to a representative practice, and so a more interactive approach was sought. Research into the radical activism of the Situationists in the 1950s and 1960s, and particularly their tactic of détournement (the deliberate subversion of social or cultural practices), has informed and influenced the development of an interventionist technique summed up in this thesis as: The Art of Troubling. The Situationists had a dichotomous relationship with art. The group was initially made up mostly of artists and is in other instances referred to as an art movement. They saw art as the fulcrum for social and political change, and had their roots in the Dada, Surrealist, and Lettrist movements. As such, they also carried the genes of the notion of an anti-art, which varied in concept between art as a disruptive and propagandistic practice to the subsuming of art into other forms of social activity. This thesis, Détournement: The Art of Troubling, describes non-ZERO-sum as a bespoke methodology designed specifically for engagement with its particular topic. As such, the concept does not necessarily follow a template for situationist intervention. In 1962, a growing rift between the artists and the political theorists within the Situationist International tore the group in two. In conclusion of the non-ZERO-sum project, this thesis offers the observation that perhaps it was the political faction of the Situationists that had a more compelling idea of an art that functions through its very own subsumption.
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- Date Issued: 2016
E-governance in the public sector : a case study of the central admission system in Tanzania
- Authors: Mahundu, Fabian G
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Universities and colleges -- Tanzania -- Admission , Universities and colleges -- Tanzania -- Entrance requirements , Education, Higher -- Tanzania , Information technology -- Social aspects -- Tanzania.
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3409 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020845
- Description: This thesis sets out to answer the following central research question: what are the influences, challenges, benefits and costs of the Central Admission System (CAS) as an e-Governance initiative in improving undergraduates’ admissions service delivery and quality assurance in Tanzania’s higher education institutions?’ In answering this key question, three sub-questions were explored: (1) To what extent and in what ways does the implementation of the CAS influence the organisation of admissions work and workplace relations in higher education institutions? (2) What are the sociotechnical challenges of implementing the CAS? (3) What are the advantages of the CAS in improving admissions service delivery and quality assurance in higher education institutions? The sociotechnical theoretical framework is an ideal for exploring these issues as it accommodates the understanding of dual relationship between social and technological aspects of the CAS in line with the contextual issues in its implementation. The focus of the thesis is on Tanzania’s higher education institutions where the CAS is being implemented. The study is informed by data collected through interviews and documentary analysis. Data organization and analysis was done using NVivo 10 QSR software. The study demonstrates that, notwithstanding the fast development and uptake of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), the implementation of the CAS in Tanzania is hampered by the fact that most of the end-users of CAS (particularly applicants) have relatively low access to the ICT infrastructure. Several factors continue to have a significant effect on the implementation of CAS, which in turn lead to implications for the uptake of improved admissions service delivery and quality assurance. A digital divide, resistance to change by some higher education institutions (HEIs), poor ICT skills among applicants, the costs of internet services, unreliable electricity supply, and inadequate IT experts continue to frustrate the objective of improved admissions service delivery and quality assurance. As a technological innovation in the workplace, the CAS has led to a restructuring of admissions work tasks among admissions officers, a need to review job descriptions, introduced tighter controls over admission work processes, and has shaped admission workers’ professional identities and self-presentations.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Ecological engineering on rocky shores: grazing, predation, nutrient availability and their influence on epifaunal communities
- Authors: Ndhlovu, Aldwin
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3453 , vital:20500
- Description: “Ecosystem engineers modify, create/destroy habitat and directly/indirectly modulate availability of resources to other species by causing physical state changes to biotic and abiotic materials” (Jones et al, 1994, page 1). Previous studies have analysed top-down and bottom-up relationships to determine which form of regulation is key in controlling community composition. This study assessed the direct and indirect effects of top down and bottom up factors on the epifaunal communities of macro-algae. Epifauna are subject to the direct top-down effects of predation and bottom up effects of habitat availability. Habitat availability in turn experiences the direct top down effects of grazing and bottom up effects of nutrient availability due to upwelling. Grazing and upwelling may therefore have indirect effects on macro-algal epifauna. Four treatments (Procedural controls, Controls, Predator or Grazer exclusion) set out in a block design (n = 5) were monitored monthly for algal cover of the substratum for 12 months with the surface area of algal plants and epifaunal species composition and abundances assessed at the end of the experiment. The red alga Gelidium pristoides was selected as the ecosystem engineer as it is common, supports a diverse community of epiphytic animals and acts as a nursery for small epifaunal organisms. The experiment was run at two upwelling sites interspersed with two non-upwelling sites. Sites were separated on scales of 100km along approximately 500km of coastline. Dipping whole algae in dish washing liquid provided a strong relationship between their surface area and the weight of the film of dish washing liquid covering them. Surface area was strongly correlated to dry weight but neither surface area nor dry weight was correlated to algal cover of the substratum. Algal cover was influenced by the interactions of treatment with site (nested in upwelling) and upwelling. At all sites, treatments that allowed access to grazers, Grazer + and Control treatments, showed no significant differences and these two treatments had lower algal cover than Predator + and Closed treatments which did not differ from one another 3 [Grazer + = Control < Predator + = Closed]. A total of 44 epifaunal species were identified, with the predominant orders being Amphipoda and Isopoda. Primer results showed that only site had a significant effect on species composition, with sites that were further apart being more different. Site (nested in upwelling) had an effect on total epifaunal abundances when data were non-normalised. When total epifaunal abundances were normalised for algal cover of the substratum or algal surface area to provide density data, predation had no significant effect. Grazing did have a significant effect, but only when data were normalised to algal surface area, not cover, leading to the conclusion that indirect top-down factors through grazing of the sea weed are important in structuring epifaunal communities depending on how habitat availability is measured.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Effect of lipid inclusion levels in aquafeed on carcass composition, quality change during storage and nutrient excretion in dusky kob (Argyrosomus japonicus)
- Authors: Ginindza, Nhlanhla Joseph
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Aquaculture
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5387 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020854
- Description: Dusky kob, Argyrosomus japonicus, is an aquaculture species in South Africa that is in pilot commercial production. While the major nutrient requirements of the species are known, the advantages of incorporating formulated feeds into the diet of the species has yet to be fully explored. Research on formulated feed composition is required to: minimise input costs; improve the organoleptic properties and meat quality; and minimise nutrient loss, which contributes to environmental pollution. This study sought to test the impact of different lipid levels in aquafeeds fed to dusky kob juveniles by determining: (i) growth performance, feeding efficiency, proximate and fatty acid composition; (ii) chemical changes and shelf-life of refrigerated fish fillets; and (iii) metabolic rates and nitrogen excretion of juvenile dusky kob. And more...
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- Date Issued: 2016
Effects of the biocontrol agent, coelocephalapion camarae kissinger, galling on petiole tissues, plant growth and stored reserves in plant parts of two lantana camara L.(verbenaceae) varieties
- Authors: Kistensamy, Yoganambal
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3126 , vital:20372
- Description: The agent evaluated in this study, Coelocephalapion camarae Kissinger (Brentidae), a petiole galling apionid, was released against Lantana camara L. (Verbenaceae) in South Africa and has the potential to significantly contribute to the control of this noxious weed. An important aspect of evaluating the effectiveness of a biocontrol agent; include the understanding of the mechanism in which the biocontrol agent causes damage to the plant and the plant’s response to this damage. Another aspect that was considered in evaluating the effects of the apionid was the varietal differences that exist within the weedy L. camara complex. Larval feeding of C. camarae damaged the tissue in the petioles causing gall formation and this was quantified on two common South African L. camara varieties (017 and 018). Up to 100% of the vascular tissue (xylem and phloem) of effected petioles was eaten by larvae, 25 days after ovipostion in both the L. camara varieties, effectively severing the vascular connection from the leaves. The effect of feeding and galling by different population densities of C. camarae, on biomass and total soluble sugar and starch concentrations of different plant parts was measured on these two varieties during autumn, and compared to a similar study, done during summer. Relatively low galling percentages were achieved in the experiments of this study. Plant growth was less affected by apionid feeding at similar galling levels, as higher galling densities in these trials were similar to those at low exposures in trials by Baars (2002). The dry weights of all individual and combined plant parts for lantana variety 017 was less for both adult density exposures after 70 days compared to the weights of its controls, although not statistically significant at P>0.05 The opposite effect, though barely noticeable was recorded for lantana variety 018; here, the dry weights of individual plant parts and as whole plants weighed more in the plants exposed to both densities of weevil feeding and galling after 70 days, compared to its controls. Coelocephalapion camarae herbivory may thus be more effective in inflicting damage on some L. camara varieties compared to others. The effects of late season carbohydrate storage revealed that, from early- to mid-autumn starch concentrations increased significantly in stems of both L. camara varieties and L. camara var. 018 had larger starch reserves for winter. In L. camara var. 018 stems, starch increased 52 times and concentrations doubled in stems of L. camara var 017. The increase in the sugar and decrease in starch concentrations in leaves of plants of both varieties exposed to apionids in this study was attributed to a possible reduction of available nitrogen and phosphorus, due to apionid feeding, whilst starch was reallocated within the plants to stems and roots. The increase in starch concentrations in stems of plants that were exposed to apionids may have been expected, as compensation for herbivory has been associated with, increases in photosynthetic rates and the mobilization of stored resources. Herbivory by the apionid early in the growing season may be easily compensated for by L. camara as there are nutrient flushes experienced by plants that allows the maximum uptake of nutrients facilitating recovery, whereas later in the season plants suffer lower nutrient availability and don’t recover so readily. Both early and late in the season the accumulated effects of C. camarae feeding over time will undoubtedly decrease fitness of most lantana varieties.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Electrode surface modification using iron(II) phthalocyanine immobilized via electrografting and click chemistry and clicked onto azide-functionalized quantum dots: applications in electrocatalysis
- Authors: Nxele, Siphesihle Robin
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3464 , vital:20501
- Description: Tetrakis(5-hexynoxy)Fe(II) phthalocyanine was used alone and in combination with quantum dots (QDs) in order to test the electrocatalytic ability with hydrazine and paraquat as the analytes of interest. This novel phthalocaynine was successfully synthesised and characterized using various characterisation techniques. The QDs used were the well-known core-shell CdSe/ZnS nanostructures. The fabrication of glassy carbon electrodes involved covalent attachment by electrochemical grafting and click chemistry for the first part of the work and the second part involved the conjugation of the synthesised QDs and the phthalocyanine by click chemistry. This approach of conjugating these nanostructures introduced another aspect of novelty to the work reported in this thesis. The immobilisation of this conjugate on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was achieved by adsorption. Characterisation techniques such as infrared spectroscopy, x-ray diffractometry, UV/vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to characterise the molecules and conjugates of interest. With respect to the electrocatalytic part of the work, electrode surface characterisation involved scanning electrochemical microscopy and cyclic voltammetry to determine changes in the nature of the surface as well as reactivity of the surface at different modification steps. Detection limits and the sensitivity determined for the electrocatalysts fabricated here proved to be an improvement compared to other reported work involving phthalocyanines and the test analytes chosen for application. With respect to the conjugate, the electrocatalytic ability was improved when the QDs and phthalocyanine were combined using click chemistry compared to using the phthalocyanine alone.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Emergent governance practices in the University of Malawi following reform implementation from 1997 to 2013
- Authors: Nampota, Tarsizius
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Education, Higher -- Malawi , Universities and colleges -- Malawi , University of Malawi , Educational change -- Malawi
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1330 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019933
- Description: Higher education reform is an international phenomenon and one that greatly impacts on the form and function of Universities in society. I set out in this study to investigate the University of Malawi’s (UNIMA) experiences with governance reforms after observing that no comprehensive study of this process had been undertaken following the implementation of these reforms from 1997. I used Bhaskar’s Critical Realist Theory as my main theoretical framework because my intention was to understand the mechanisms from which such reforms emerged: the emergent governance practices and properties enabling or constraining governance reforms in UNIMA. I employed Archer’s Social Realist Theory in my research design and interpretation of the results, which entailed that I focus on issues of structure, culture and agency in UNIMA governance. I have established that the governance context in UNIMA in 1995 at the time the reforms were being considered was one that promoted the continuation of the status quo because the Malawi Government’s vested interest then was to exercise great control over UNIMA at system, institutional and disciplinary level of governance due to the political imperatives of the time in Malawi. However, this situation was frustrating to many in the University as it greatly impeded academic freedom. Furthermore, in 1995 the University relied heavily on Government’s financial structures. When these were subjected to structural reforms under the influence of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in the early nineties the impact seriously undermined the University’s revenue base and threatened to challenge further the realization of the University’s objectives. This prompted changes in the administrative and academic governance structures and culture intended to improve utilisation of the available limited resources as well as to broaden the University’s revenue base. The governance reform measures that were introduced were mainly influenced by New Public Management (NPM) ideologies. Most of the reforms intended to transform the administrative structures and culture were successfully implemented. The study revealed that this was enabled by the interests of those operating at disciplinary levels who were frustrated by the previous constraining governance context and who viewed such reforms as bringing about the self-governance they lacked. However, the majority of the reforms that were mainly targeted at academic restructuring were resisted because they were construed as contradictory to the interests of those in the academy particularly those concerned with matters of academic freedom. The study further revealed that the academic reforms were constrained by a lack of agency for change management and weak leadership at the top senior level of the University. In addition, there have been delays in amending the UNIMA Act, which should have catalysed some of the reforms, a scenario that has perpetuated many aspects of the institutional level of governance. Consequently, compared to the situation before the reforms were introduced, governance in UNIMA at the time of reporting manifested two scenarios: (a) an elaboration in governance practices at systems level where Government machinery exercises control and at enterprise (college) level where faculties and academic departments operate promoting cultural morphogenesis, or changes at the level of ideas, beliefs and values, which in turn is exerting pressure on governance practices at institutional level; and (b) morphostasis, or lack of change, at institutional levels of the governance exacerbated by the lack of amendment of the UNIMA Act and weak leadership. The findings have also led to uncertainty regarding the unitary nature of the University. There are fears that once the UNIMA Act is amended the four colleges forming UNIMA might break away to become separate universities.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Epistemological access in a science foundation course: a social realist perspective
- Authors: Ellery, Karen
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1335 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021309
- Description: This dissertation examines how educational practices of a multidisciplinary, integrated science foundation course, Introduction to Science Concepts and Methods (ISCM), at Rhodes University in South Africa, enable and/or constrain epistemological access to a range of mainstream science disciplines. Students in the ISCM course are mainly African, working-class, first-generation higher education learners whose home language is seldom English. This study is motivated firstly by poor success of working-class African students in higher education in South Africa in general and in the sciences in particular, and secondly by the need for closely theorised, empirical work to guide necessary transformational change that will contribute to equity and, thus, to greater social justice. Since I teach in ISCM and coordinate the programme in which it is located, I also have a personal and professional interest in improving my own practice. Conceptually the study draws on Morrow’s (2007, 2009) and various literacy theorists interpretations of the concept of epistemological access, which in this study is about becoming and being a participant in an academic practice by virtue of learning both the knowledge as well as the norms, values and beliefs that constitute the practice. Theoretically and analytically the study draws on Maton’s (2014a) Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) and on various aspects of Bernstein’s (2000) code theory work. Codes are the organising principles or ‘rules of the game’ of practices and code theory is premised on the idea that power and control in education systems manifest themselves through the structural and interactional aspects of educational practices, and therefore have the capacity to include or exclude. Analysing educational practices using code theory enables characterisation of the practices, highlights their underpinning principles, and allows for their effects to be considered. This layered approach to analysis indicates that a critical realist depth ontology serves as an underlabourer to code theory. The desired ‘effect’ of educational practices in this study, is students gaining epistemological access to science, or science disciplines, in higher education. The overall approach is a single, in-depth, qualitative case study with a primary focus on what is legitimated in ISCM educational practices (curriculum, pedagogy, assessment) and how students respond to these practices. A lesser focus is how ex-ISCM students are responding to educational practices in the first-year, first-semester Cell Biology, Chemistry, Earth Sciences and Physics mainstream courses, and whether they are attaining epistemological access. To examine educational practices in ISCM and mainstream courses data from document analysis, interviews, observations and critical reflections are analysed through developing external languages of description. The two LCT code dimensions of Specialisation (what or who specialises a practice) and Semantics (how meaning relates to context and empirical referents) are used to examine curriculum, Bernstein’s (2000) framing of the regulative and instructional discourses are drawn on in considering pedagogy, and an adapted cognitive process level model assists in analysing assessment practices. To examine student responses to educational practices Bernstein’s (ibid.) concept of acquisition of recognition and realisation rules is used. Since ISCM serves the dual purpose of developing scientific conceptual knowledge, as well as supporting student learning in an academic context, a complex picture of practices and underpinning codes emerges. Based on epistemological concerns of developing students as scientists, ISCM legitimates an epistemic-context knowledge code and a rhizomatic/worldly curriculum code. If students produce the legitimated epistemic-context scientific ‘text’, they have attained epistemic access. Based on axiological concerns of the learning context, ISCM also legitimates a learning-context knower code. By producing the legitimate learning-context ‘text’ of an autonomous, self-regulated science learner, students demonstrate they have attained learning-context access. Both forms of access are key for student success, and combined they constitute epistemological access. The findings of the study indicate that framing and legitimation of educational practices in ISCM, by most accounts, should be promoting epistemological access. When epistemological access is not attained in ISCM it is suggested this is likely due to both a code clash at the learning-context level and competing code demands between epistemic-context and learning-context concerns. Poor access in mainstream courses appears to be exacerbated by both a narrow-based knowledge code and little or no support for a learning-context knower code. The study concludes by outlining a two-tiered conceptual model of epistemological access in the sciences based on the mutually integrative components of epistemic- and learning-context access. Because of inequitable outcomes in science mainstream courses at Rhodes University based on race and/or class I argue for far-reaching transformative pedagogies throughout the faculty, and in the broader South African science higher education sector, that address and accommodate issues of diversity and difference. This should include, amongst other things, a weakening of epistemic relations to create space for a strengthening of learning-context social relations. This is not a suggestion to move away from a science knowledge code, which I argue is based on powerful knowledge to which all students must gain access, but instead a shift in emphasis to better support previously educationally disenfranchised students and to understand in a more rigorous manner what epistemological access means to them as individuals. In light of the recent disruptive and angry student calls for decolonisation of the curriculum, this is an urgent imperative.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Evaluation of Fungcoal as a bioprocess technology for self-cladding of waste coal dumps
- Authors: Sekhohola, Lerato M
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Coal mine waste , Fungi -- Biotechnology , Coal -- Biodegradation , Bermuda grass -- Biotechnology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5959 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019992
- Description: Low-grade coal, a poor source of energy, has long been regarded as waste material by the coal mining industry. Biological degradation of this coal material by ligninolytic fungal strains presents a viable strategy towards eliminating this unusable fossil fuel. To this end, a novel and patented bioprocess termed Fungcoal was developed. Fungcoal is a biological process utilised in the in situ treatment of waste coal and is based on the mutualistic relationship between the fungus Neosartorya fischeri and the graminaceous species Cynodon dactylon. The process facilitates the rapid conversion of waste coal into soil-like material that stimulates establishment of vegetation for eventual coal dump rehabilitation. While a number of in vitro studies have identified various fungal strains as efficient coal degraders, the mechanisms involved in the Fungcoal-stimulated degradation process have not been fully elucidated. Furthermore, implementation of Fungcoal at both pilot and commercial scale has not been achieved. Thus the objective of this work was to investigate Fungcoal as a bioprocess via examining the role of coal degrading fungi (CDF) and grasses as biocatalysts in coal biodegradation and for the self-cladding of waste coal dumps. Initially, waste coal degradation by N. fischeri, strain ECCN 84, was investigated, specifically focusing on the mechanisms underpinning the process. In vitro studies showed the addition of waste coal induced active fungal colonisation resulting in increased fungal biomass. Increased extracellular laccase (LAC) activity, occuring concomitantly with an increase in hyphal peroxisome proliferation, was also observed in the coal supplied fungal cultures. Analysis of the colonised waste coal revealed a time dependent reduction in the percentage weight of elemental carbon coupled with an increase in elemental oxygen. The results supported metabolism and degradation of waste coal by N. fischeri strain ECCN 84 and involvement of fungal extracellular laccase. The contribution of C. dactylon, a C4 grass species to in situ biodegradation of waste coal in the presence of coal degrading and mycorrhizal fungi (MF) was also investigated. Enhanced degradation of the waste coal into a humic soil-like material was observed within the rhizosphere. Analysis of the resultant substrate revealed an increased concentration of highly oxidised humic-like substances (HS). Fungi remained viable in the rhizosphere up to 47 weeks post-inoculation and cultivation of C. dactylon, indicating the resultant humic substance-rich rhizosphere provided an environment conducive for microbial proliferation and activity. Furthermore, humic substance enrichment of waste coal substrates supported germination and seedling emergence of several agronomic species including Zea mays (corn), Phaseolus vulgaris (bean), Pisum sativum (pea), and Spinacia oleracea (spinach). Use of various cladding materials to support coal biodegradation, by fungus-grass mutualism and rehabilitation of waste dumps was evaluated at commercial scale. While substantial physico-chemical changes were not evident in the absence of cladding or where waste coal was used as cladding material, successful establishment of grass cover and diversity was achieved within three hydrological cycles on dumps cladded with weathered coal. Work presented in this thesis successfully demonstrates the degradation of waste coal by N. fischeri. The biodegradation process included enhanced extracellular LAC activity coupled with increased 3 waste coal oxidation. Increased HS concentration of waste coal substrate supported germination and early seedling establishment of several agronomic species. At commercial scale a co-substrate in the form of carbon-rich weathered coal was essential to support fungus-grass mutualism and Fungcoal-induced rehabilitation. These findings support the developed Fungcoal concept and the underpinning rationale that the phyto-biodegradation of waste coal indeed depends on the mutualistic interactions between grass root exudates and the ligninolytic and mycorrhizal fungi. Taken together, these findings provide practical evidence of the contribution of fungi and grasses as mutualists in the biodegradation of waste coal and sustainable rehabilitation of waste coal dumps
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- Date Issued: 2016
Examining the influence of non-governmental organizations upon the long term outcomes of the involuntary community resettlement processes: with special reference to the Kariba case, Zambia
- Authors: Sitambuli, Emma
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2125 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021263
- Description: Researchers have clearly demonstrated that Development‐Induced Displacement and Resettlement (DIDR) usually risks impoverishing people and that annually, millions are displaced as a result. Although the impacts and consequences of resettlement are known, over the next couple of decades, development projects will continue to be needed to meet the different demands of growing economies and populations, of especially developing countries, making relocation sometimes unavoidable. Hence, over the years, many scholars have developed conceptual frameworks to understand and explain the impoverishment risks inherent in the resettlement phenomenon; and how those can be anticipated so as to be positively counteracted through strategic interactions and the implementation of development activities. Generally, the majority of those development activities to improve resettlement outcomes have often been planned, funded, and executed by the government, albeit with mixed levels of success, yet the possibilities of other development institutions such as Non‐Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have not been fully understood. However, a great deal of what is known about NGOs relates to their work in advocacy and activism to pressure governments to, for example, change relocation plans or raise awareness on the negative impacts of development projects on people and environment. Therefore, this thesis examines the influence of NGOs upon the on‐going outcomes of the involuntary community resettlement processes. The empirical basis is ethnographic research, which integrated several resettlement conceptual frameworks and theories about NGOs to collect and analyse data. Fieldwork was carried out in four villages of Simamba i.e. Malata, Kafwakuduli, Nangoba and Hamukonde. Simamba is one of the riverine Gwembe chiefdoms resettled following the construction of the Kariba dam on the Zambezi River bordering Zambia and Zimbabwe. The ethnographic research for this thesis was conducted from 2013 to 2015. In this thesis, I demonstrate that spatial factors influenced the resettlement trajectory using evidence from Simamba’s pre and post resettlement situation. I conclude by arguing that sustained contributions of the NGO type of development can positively influence the long‐term outcomes of involuntary community resettlement processes, and that problems that occurred were largely related to the management of the community development activities by the NGO under study. Therefore, this thesis is relevant to resettlement and development studies in general.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Exorcising the Past: History, Hauntings and Evil in Neo-Gothic Fiction
- Authors: Van der Wielen, Karlien
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2333 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021257
- Description: This thesis explores the conventions of both historical and Gothic fiction in order to investigate what seems to be a recurrent impulse to exorcise the past in what I define as contemporary Neo-Gothic fiction. It therefore attempts to establish a distinction between Neo-Gothic fiction and other forms of contemporary Gothic fiction by focusing on the treatment of history, the supernatural and the grand narrative of progress in three contemporary Gothic novels: The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters, The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova and The Accursed by Joyce Carol Oates. This thesis argues that the most potent manifestation of history can be found in the representation of the revenant in Neo-Gothic fiction, which exhibits a disruptive and evil ontology that problematises the exorcism of the past. Furthermore, the reactions of ‘modern’ characters to these revenants illustrate the imperative to exorcise the past, and therefore the treatment of history and the past is reflected in the interaction between the ‘modern’ characters and the Gothic revenants. Through this interaction as well as the parody of traditional Gothic and historical fiction conventions, Neo-Gothic fiction constructs a critique of the Enlightenment’s grand narrative of progress. Paradoxically, this constitutes Neo-Gothic fiction’s own attempt to exorcise the past, which it recognises in a simplified and reductive narrative of history propounded through the grand narrative of progress. This thesis therefore pays particular attention to the configuration of revenants as evil and ‘modern’ humans as good, and the disruption of this simple binary that is effected through Neo-Gothic fiction’s subversion of the grand narrative of progress. This focus allows for the theorisation of the revenant through Jacques Derrida’s notion of ‘hauntology’ and Julia Kristeva’s ‘the abject’, the investigation of the treatment of history in Neo-Gothic fiction and the exploration of very recent Gothic texts that have not yet received much critical attention.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Exploration, monetization, disillusion: a history of upstream oil development in the onshore Algoa basin
- Authors: James, Jonathan Scott
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3870 , vital:20551
- Description: The onshore Algoa basin has, since the mid-1960s, been an area of interest for oil and gas exploration. Despite the general lack of knowledge and publicly available information on the topic, a large amount of geological and geophysical data has been collected on the region owing to the oil and gas exploration. The intended aim of this thesis is to compile and construct a historical narrative of the oil and gas exploration that took place within the onshore Algoa basin, and to then contextualize that localized narrative within the greater macro-narrative of the global oil and gas industry. This thesis is primarily concerned with the time period beginning in the early 1960s up to mid-2014, however reference is also made to events pre-1960. For the purposes of compartmentalizing the various areas of research covered, the thesis has been divided into three broad areas of interest: the geology of the onshore Algoa basin, the global oil market and its impact on exploration therein, and the attempts to monetize the leases that came to be purchased post-exploration. The narrative on the geology of the onshore Algoa basin is aimed at providing a summarized account of the most important details pertaining to the search for petroleum systems in simplified, yet accurate, language. The aspects of the geology which command the most attention are those which are necessary in functioning petroleum systems such as suitable permeabilities, porosities, reservoir rocks, trapping mechanisms and cap rocks. The global oil and gas market is also used to contextualize the search for oil and gas within the onshore Algoa basin and is explained against the backdrop of the global oil trade and the sanctions imposed on the apartheid state. Furthermore, the analysis of the attempts to monetize leases within the onshore Algoa basin will provide a financial reference point to the shortcomings of the exploration and monetization efforts. The purpose of this thesis is to construct a historical narrative of the onshore Algoa basin which not only gives an accurate portrayal of the exploration efforts that have taken place thus far, but to also provide a enough detail of those exploration efforts to indicate the future of the onshore Algoa basin as an exploration play.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Exploring functionings and conversion factors in biodiversity teacher professional learning communities
- Authors: Tshiningayamwe, Sirkka Alina Nambashun
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2080 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021313
- Description: The study explores the conversion factors, functionings (valued beings and doings), agency and structures in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) for Life Sciences teachers’ biodiversity knowledge. The teachers’ valued beings and doings as well as conversion factors associated with these beings and doings were discussed within the conceptual framework of the capability approach using three PLCs in South Africa. Two PLCs were in the Eastern Cape Province (Grahamstown and Idutywa district), and one PLC was in the Western Cape (Cape Town) province. The PLCs involved in this study were course initiated and were positioned in the Fundisa for Change national teacher education programme. Fundisa for Change is a partnership programme that aims to enhance transformative environmental learning through teacher education. To illuminate constrained capabilities and how and to what extent the Life Sciences teachers’ empirical actions are related to these, the concepts of the capability approach were underlaboured with critical realism’s causal view of human action. A critical realist theory of causation was useful in explaining how the teachers’ valued beings and doings, conversion factors and capability sets can be partly accounted for via an understanding of underlying mechanisms that are generative of events and empirical experience. The study used a qualitative case study research methodology. Interviews, questionnaires, observations (of PLC activities), document reviews (of teachers’ portfolios of evidence, Fundisa for Change implementation plan, evaluation forms and resources materials, and policy documents) and reflection tools were used to collect data. Using the critical realism modes of inference (induction, abduction and retroduction), the data was analysed in two phases. Phase one analysis was primarily inductive and used thick descriptions (mainly in the form of quotes) to present and discuss the teachers’ valued beings and doings and associated conversion factors in the PLCs. This phase of analysis was abductive. The study reported four main functionings valued by teachers: subject content knowledge, teaching practices, assessment practices, and use of teaching and learning support materials. These valued functionings were discussed in light of the beings and doings in the PLCs and the underlying mechanisms related to teachers’ biodiversity teaching. Conversion factors that were associated with the teachers’ valued beings and doings in the PLCs were discussed in line with capability approach’s environmental, social and personal conversion factors. The study found that most of the conversion factors within the PLCs and the Fundisa for Change professional development programme (good facilitation, collaborative learning space, site where PLC activities happened, individual teachers’ capabilities, teaching and learning support materials and policy documents) were enablers to the teachers’ capabilities for biodiversity teaching, and thus enhanced teachers’ knowledge for biodiversity teaching. The study further found that teachers realised some of their achieved functionings in their actual teaching of biodiversity content in the Life Sciences curriculum, and that factors such as lack of resources, large class sizes, learners’ abilities and lack of interest among some teachers were amongst the factors that constrained teachers’ realisation of their achieved functionings in the PLCs. The study therefore revealed that if professional development programmes take account of underlying mechanisms and respond to teachers’ capabilities i.e. their valued functionings for biodiversity teaching in the Life Sciences curriculum, the professional development programmes can be an important conversion factor that enables the expansion of teachers’ capabilities (especially their biodiversity knowledge, pedagogical and assessment practice but also other capabilities) in ways that have the potential to reshape teachers’ classroom practices related to the teaching of biodiversity.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Exploring how grade 12 Physical Sciences learners make sense of the concepts of work and energy
- Authors: Mapfumo, Alfred Khumbulani
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/1363 , vital:20050
- Description: Physical Sciences is one of the subjects in which students perform most poorly in the National Senior Certificate examinations. For example, in the Eastern Cape in 2013, a mere 29.9% of the candidates who sat for the Physical Sciences National Senior Certificate examination managed to achieve a mark of 40% or above (Department of Basic Education, 2014). According to the Chief Markers’ reports (ibid), questions on the topic of Work, Energy and Power are amongst the most poorly answered in the National Senior Certificate examinations. This fact triggered my interest to explore how grade 12 Physical Sciences learners make sense of the concepts of Work and Energy with particular emphasis on the work-energy theorem and its application in problem solving. I carried out the study in a village school in the Queenstown district. The study adopted an interpretive paradigm in which the case study approach was used. Data were generated using a diagnostic test, focus group interviews, video-recorded lessons, analysis of learner journals and a summative test. Analysis of the qualitative data involved identifying themes from the data and using analytical statements that answered the research questions. The study was informed by Vygotsky’s (1978) social constructivism theory, and in particular, the notions of the mediation of learning and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Learners were given tasks on the work-energy theorem and related concepts and these were designed in such a way that they were situated in the learners’ ZPD, since this is where most powerful learning takes place (Thompson, 2013). The findings of the study revealed that grade 12 Physical Sciences learners do not have sufficient prior knowledge on concepts related to the work-energy theory to successfully make sense of the work-energy theorem. The other finding is that learners construct knowledge of the work-energy theorem and its application collaboratively through group work. In the group discussions learners used isiXhosa and this enhanced their sense making. A number of challenges that make it difficult for learners to solve problems using the work-energy theorem were identified.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Exploring perceptions on aesthetics and emotional labour experienced by women working in two different clothing retail shops in Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown
- Authors: Dalikeni, Tawonga
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3750 , vital:20541
- Description: The retail industry is the fastest growing sector in the economy contributing trillions towards the global revenue. In a post-apartheid South African economy that is experiencing increased buying power, the clothing retail sector to be specific is consequently flourishing. However, the economy is faced by structural adjustments; an accompanying concern is how foreign direct investments and pressures of globalization impact the operation of clothing retail shops. The main focus of this thesis based on the qualitative research methodology is emotional and aesthetic labour being experienced by women working in two clothing retail shops in Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown. Empirical data shows that emotional labour is a dominant form of labour in the clothing retail shops under investigation. The women working as sales assistants are trained to exude a certain emotional aura when dealing with customers to build a relationship that will encourage the customer to purchase from the shop. Aesthetic labour on the other hand is an important public relations strategy used as sales assistants dress in a way that represents their company brand. Edgars employees dress elegantly because they focus more on formal dressing whilst Mr Price employees dress more casually because they focus on casual and relaxed fashion. Besides these external attributes, the study showed that certain aspects of the job are fairly similar. With codes of happiness and strings of dissatisfaction towards their job requirements, the women’s social lives suffer the atrocities of their long working hours and limited off-duty days.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Exploring teacher leadership: A case study at a senior secondary school in the Ohangwena region, Namibia
- Authors: Hamatwi, Isak
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/1275 , vital:20042
- Description: Leadership has been for long thought to centre on the actions of a positional head of the organisation crafting the vision and influencing followers’ behaviour based on his/her charisma and legal authority in a quest to achieve the set goals (Christie, 2010). However, contemporary views “emphasise leadership as relational” (Van der Mescht & Tyala, 2008, p. 226) and focuses more on the practice while taking form “in the interactions between leaders and followers” (Spillane, 2005, p. 146). Looking through the lens of distributed leadership and using the Grant’s (2008; 2012) model of teacher leadership as a data analytical tool, this research study aimed to explore the enactment of teacher leadership at a secondary school in the Ohangwena region, Namibia. The motivation of this research study was twofold; one, it was due to my personal interest in getting a deeper understanding of what constituted teacher leadership as a concept which is gaining momentum in the educational leadership discipline; two, it was due to the evident knowledge gap existing on the concept of teacher leadership as there seemed to be very less research done on the concept. Using observation schedules, survey questionnaires, semi-structured interview schedules and analysing documents as data collecting tools, the study was geared towards answering four research questions which were driving the study, namely; i) In what ways do teachers participate in the leadership activities of the school? ii) What is the nature of the relations of these leadership activities? iii) What factors that may constrain the leadership activities of these teachers? iv) How do the principal and the School Management Team (SMT) encourage teacher leadership at the school? The study was of a qualitative nature located in the interpretive paradigm. A purposive sampling method was used to select research participants The findings of the study indicated that the research participants had a general understanding of what teacher leadership entails. Teachers enacted leadership across the four zones of Grant’s (2008; 2012) model of teacher leadership, though with very limited teacher leadership enactment in zone four. Zones one, two and three proved to be the popular media of teacher leadership enactment wherein teachers led in their classrooms enforcing discipline, serving as guides and caregivers to their learners (zone one). Teachers then extended their leadership outside their classrooms where they served as decision makers, curriculum developers for knowledge enhancement through reflective teaching and sport coaches (zone two). In Zone three, teachers led in committees’ structures, as mentors of learners, policy makers and as models of good practice. Zone four was the least media of teacher leadership. The data pointed to a host of factors that prevented teachers to assume leadership at the case study school, namely; ignorance and fear for accountability, policy and regulatory limitations, time limitations, limited skills and teachers as barriers to teacher leadership in terms of apathy, lack of confidence, negative attitude and anti-social behaviours as well as professional jealous. Nevertheless, the principal and the SMT emerged as catalysts for teacher leadership at the school as they enabled teacher leadership in a number of ways, namely, through delegation, motivation, free choice, open engagement, moral support and interdependence leadership practices. In the final analysis, the findings revealed that, leadership at the case study school was manifested as spontaneous collaborated leadership practices through institutionalised practices embarked upon with intuitive working relationships.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Exploring the course-led development of a learning network as a community of practice around a shared interest of rainwater harvesting and conservation agricultural practices: a case study in the Amathole District in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Weaver, Kim Nichole
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/1184 , vital:20032
- Description: South Africa has water and food security challenges, especially the Eastern Cape Province where there is a high level of poverty. These challenges place heavy pressure on the agricultural sector as it is the main user of the allocated water in the country. Rainwater harvesting and conservation (RWH&C) practices are explored as a response to these challenges, however information on these practices is not readily available to rural farmers. Agricultural extension has been moving from a top down approach towards a more participatory, collaborative process where what farmers need and want is considered. These participatory approaches need to be explored to enable change in farmer’s practice. This research forms part of a Water Resource Commission (WRC) project, Amanzi for Food. (Project K5/2277). The project has the explicit intention of supporting the use of two sets of WRC materials on RWH&C and expanding the learning of these practices through a courseled process within a learning network structure centred around an agricultural college. The network was established with a participatory, applied training of trainer’s course that supports and expands knowledge of RWH&C practices amongst network members from different groups within the sector; farmers, trainers, researchers and educators. My main research question was to investigate the process of cultivating a learning network amongst different agricultural actors through a course-led initiative to strengthen the engagement with RWH&C practices. To address this research I used focus group discussions, course observations, participant interviews, participant questionnaires and participant assignment progress to generate data. These data were analysed using Wenger’s theory of communities of practice to gauge levels of engagement, participation and learning. Main findings of the study are that the course-led activation of the learning network supported the community of practice members to share their personal experience and achieve social competence in the learning of RWH&C agricultural practices in their context.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Exploring the influence of learners’ participation in an after-school science enrichment programme on their disposition towards science: a case study of Khanya Maths and Science Club
- Authors: Agunbiade, Esther Arinola
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching Science -- Study and teaching After-school programs Academic achievement
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/334 , vital:19949
- Description: The ongoing advancement of science and technology is creating an increasing need for more entrants into science oriented careers. However, numerous studies have fueled growing concerns regarding the poor achievement of learners in science. Over the years, science education researchers have emphasized the importance of the affective domain of learning as a central component of strategies used to address learners’ lack of interest and poor achievement in science. In the literature, the affective domain is characterized by constructs such as disposition, attitude, interest, and motivation. Studies showing a correlation between the affective domain and academic achievement suggest that nurturing a positive disposition towards science is an antecedent to learners’ improved science achievement and entering science fields. This study focuses on the ‘disposition’ aspect of the affective domain, and follows in the path of earlier studies which use the term interchangeably with ‘attitude’. Learners’ experiences in a particular science education environment influence the development of a positive or negative disposition towards science. However, there is a need to explore the factors in the learning environments which influence learners’ disposition towards science. Previous studies have shown that the informal science environment may influence learners’ disposition towards science. One example of an informal science environment is the Khanya Maths and Science Club, which is an after-school science and mathematics enrichment programme in Grahamstown, South Africa. This study explores the influence of learners’ participation in an informal science education environment on their dispositions towards science, using the case of the Khanya Maths and Science Club. This study views disposition through the constructivist-developmental lens. The community of practice elements from situated learning theory is drawn on to explore how learners’ disposition can be influenced by their interactions in the context of the Khanya Maths and Science Club. The pragmatic paradigm is adopted, which considers how well the research tools work to provide answers to the research questions. This thus, provides an avenue for exploring how learners’ disposition towards science is influenced and what factors influenced their shift in disposition through their participation in the club. A mixed-methods approach is employed when focusing on the affective domain sub-constructs of: enjoyment of science, interest in science and perception of science. These are sub-scales in the test of science related attitude (TOSRA) questionnaire which was adapted for use in measuring learners’ attitude before and after 16 weeks of participating in the science club. The particular mixed-methods approach selected can be summarized as quan QUAL since the method is primarily qualitative, but sequential with the quantitative phase preceding the qualitative phase. The TOSRA questionnaire was used as the quantitative data collection instrument while semi-structured interviews and learners’ journal entries were the qualitative data collection instruments. The results revealed significant shifts in learners’ perception of, interest in science and enjoyment of science though interest in science and enjoyment of science shifted appreciably in a positive direction more than the perception of science. It was also found that learners’ attitude towards science was influenced by; instructional characteristics, facilitators/environmental characteristics, learners making connection between science and everyday life and learners’ perceived difficulty of science. These factors variably influenced their attitude towards science in the club, corroborating what had been found in similar studies. This study corroborates what the literature offers for achieving effective outcomes in Afterschool science enrichment programmes. It contributes to the growing body of literature on features for quality outcomes in Afterschool science enrichment programmes. This study also makes a theoretical contribution to science education research particularly with regard to how the emergence of a community of practice framework in the club activities provide useful information for planning club activities and the analysis of learners’ evolving disposition towards science. Key words: Khanya Maths and Science Club, disposition, attitude, after-school enrichment programmes, constructivist-developmental approach, situated learning theory, community of practice, Test of Science Related Attitude (TOSRA).
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- Date Issued: 2016