The chemistry of Algoa Bay ascidians
- Authors: Bromley, Candice Leigh
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Sea squirts -- South Africa -- Algoa Bay , Marine metabolites , Chemistry, Analytic , Liquid chromatography , Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry , Metal ions , Nucleosides , Vanadium
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4560 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020606
- Description: This thesis investigates the chemistry of 25 ascidian species collected from Algoa Bay, South Africa with a concerted focus on metal accumulation by these ascidians and the possible interaction of these metals with ascidian metabolites. Chapter 2 details the screening techniques employed to establish the presence of nitrogenous metabolites (1H- 15N HMBC), hyper-accumulated metal ions (ICP-MS) and potential metal ion/ ascidian metabolite complexes (LC-ICP-MS/ESI-MS). Unfortunately, exhaustive attempts to detect intact metal ion/ascidian metabolite complexes through the use of liquid chromatography with parallel inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry/electrospray mass spectrometry (LC-ICPMS/ ESI-MS) were unsuccessful. However, the LC-ICP-MS/ESI-MS data obtained for the crude organic extracts of six of the Algoa Bay ascidian species, Distaplia skoogi, Aplidium monile, Aplidium sp., Didemnum sp., Leptoclindines sp. and Polycitor sp. enabled identification of a number of ten halogenated metabolites, namely the indoles 2.28-2.30, and the tyramine and tyrosine derivatives (2.31-2.33, 2.41, 2.43, 2.44 and 2.46), within the ascidian extracts. This study confirmed that LC-ICP-MS/ESI-MS is a powerful tool for the dereplication of halogenated metabolites in complex mixtures especially where these compounds are present in very small amounts. This study is also the first report of these compounds (eight of which are known) in African ascidians. Compounds 2.32 and 2.46 have not been reported before from a marine source. Compounds 2.28-2.30 and 2.33 were present in sufficient amounts in the respective ascidian extracts to allow their isolation and structure elucidation using standard spectroscopic techniques Chapter 3 explores the ability of ascidians to accumulate a wide range of metal ions at concentrations which are often orders of magnitude higher than those of the surrounding sea water. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to determine the total ion concentrations of 24 metals in 25 Algoa Bay ascidian species. To the best of our knowledge this is the largest and most extensive investigation of metal concentrations in a group of different ascidians occurring in the same area. Hypotheisizing that the metal ion concentrations for each ascidian specimen screened may represent a unique fingerprint for each specimen principal component analysis (PCA) was used in an attempt to establish whether there were spatial, temporal or phylogenetic relationships associated with the metal concentration fingerprints of the ascidians that formed part of this study. The PCA results showed that there were no statistically significant relationships between ascidian metal ion concentrations and either the collection year or the collection site of the ascidians. However, species from the family Didemnidae provided the clearest statistical evidence supporting a phylogenetic relationship between these ascidians and their hyperaccumulated metal ion profiles. Furthermore, these results suggested that ascidian species are indeed actively concentrating metal ions from the surrounding sea water and are not simply sinks for passively accumulated metal ions. Interestingly, the concentration of vanadium in the set of ascidians studied did not appear to correlate with any of the other metals accumulated by these ascidians suggesting that there is possibly a unique method employed for the accumulation of vanadium by ascidians. Chapter 4 investigated this possibility further after the nucleosides 4.10, 4.11, 4.13, 4.15, 4.17 and 4.40 were isolated from the vanadium accumulating ascidian Aplidium monile. Studies into the interactions between nucleosides and vanadyl are unfortunately rare and usually qualitative in nature with limited information provided about the stability or structures of the complexes formed. The vanadyl accumulating aplousobranch ascidians e.g. Aplidium monile dominated our study of Algoa Bay ascidians therefore providing us with the rationale to investigate the relatively little studied binding ability and stability of vandyl-nucleoside complexes. Potentiometric studies were conducted to determine the stability constants of complexes formed between the oxovanadium ion vanadyl (VO2+) and the commercially available nucleosides 4.10-4.14. The data afforded by this analysis clearly confirmed the complexity of the vanadyl/nucleoside complexation and suggested that guanosine (4.12) formed the most stable complex with oxovanadium ions. We were also able to establish a third protonation constant for the hydroxyl moiety in 4.12 with a logK 8.87 which has not been previously reported. Finally, Chapter 5 revisited the cytoxicity two Algoa Bay ascidians, Clavelina sp. and Atriolum marinense the extracts from which produced promising bioactivity results in previous studies against oesophageal cancer cells. The HP-20 fractionated extracts of Clavelina sp. and Atriolum marinense proved to be similalrly cytotoxic to breast cancer cells. With the exception for the 100% acetone(aq)fractions the NMR data for both species suggested that most active non polar fractions were dominated by what appeared to be structurally unremarkable fatty acid glycerides and as such were not pursued further. Purification of the 100% acetone(aq)fraction of A. marinense resulted in the isolation of a styrene trimer, 5.1, common to both ascidian extracts. The NMR simulation software WIN-DAISY was employed to confirm the structure of 5.1. Attempts to establish if 5.1 was an isolation artefact or a product of marine pollution were inconclusive
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Bromley, Candice Leigh
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Sea squirts -- South Africa -- Algoa Bay , Marine metabolites , Chemistry, Analytic , Liquid chromatography , Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry , Metal ions , Nucleosides , Vanadium
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4560 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020606
- Description: This thesis investigates the chemistry of 25 ascidian species collected from Algoa Bay, South Africa with a concerted focus on metal accumulation by these ascidians and the possible interaction of these metals with ascidian metabolites. Chapter 2 details the screening techniques employed to establish the presence of nitrogenous metabolites (1H- 15N HMBC), hyper-accumulated metal ions (ICP-MS) and potential metal ion/ ascidian metabolite complexes (LC-ICP-MS/ESI-MS). Unfortunately, exhaustive attempts to detect intact metal ion/ascidian metabolite complexes through the use of liquid chromatography with parallel inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry/electrospray mass spectrometry (LC-ICPMS/ ESI-MS) were unsuccessful. However, the LC-ICP-MS/ESI-MS data obtained for the crude organic extracts of six of the Algoa Bay ascidian species, Distaplia skoogi, Aplidium monile, Aplidium sp., Didemnum sp., Leptoclindines sp. and Polycitor sp. enabled identification of a number of ten halogenated metabolites, namely the indoles 2.28-2.30, and the tyramine and tyrosine derivatives (2.31-2.33, 2.41, 2.43, 2.44 and 2.46), within the ascidian extracts. This study confirmed that LC-ICP-MS/ESI-MS is a powerful tool for the dereplication of halogenated metabolites in complex mixtures especially where these compounds are present in very small amounts. This study is also the first report of these compounds (eight of which are known) in African ascidians. Compounds 2.32 and 2.46 have not been reported before from a marine source. Compounds 2.28-2.30 and 2.33 were present in sufficient amounts in the respective ascidian extracts to allow their isolation and structure elucidation using standard spectroscopic techniques Chapter 3 explores the ability of ascidians to accumulate a wide range of metal ions at concentrations which are often orders of magnitude higher than those of the surrounding sea water. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to determine the total ion concentrations of 24 metals in 25 Algoa Bay ascidian species. To the best of our knowledge this is the largest and most extensive investigation of metal concentrations in a group of different ascidians occurring in the same area. Hypotheisizing that the metal ion concentrations for each ascidian specimen screened may represent a unique fingerprint for each specimen principal component analysis (PCA) was used in an attempt to establish whether there were spatial, temporal or phylogenetic relationships associated with the metal concentration fingerprints of the ascidians that formed part of this study. The PCA results showed that there were no statistically significant relationships between ascidian metal ion concentrations and either the collection year or the collection site of the ascidians. However, species from the family Didemnidae provided the clearest statistical evidence supporting a phylogenetic relationship between these ascidians and their hyperaccumulated metal ion profiles. Furthermore, these results suggested that ascidian species are indeed actively concentrating metal ions from the surrounding sea water and are not simply sinks for passively accumulated metal ions. Interestingly, the concentration of vanadium in the set of ascidians studied did not appear to correlate with any of the other metals accumulated by these ascidians suggesting that there is possibly a unique method employed for the accumulation of vanadium by ascidians. Chapter 4 investigated this possibility further after the nucleosides 4.10, 4.11, 4.13, 4.15, 4.17 and 4.40 were isolated from the vanadium accumulating ascidian Aplidium monile. Studies into the interactions between nucleosides and vanadyl are unfortunately rare and usually qualitative in nature with limited information provided about the stability or structures of the complexes formed. The vanadyl accumulating aplousobranch ascidians e.g. Aplidium monile dominated our study of Algoa Bay ascidians therefore providing us with the rationale to investigate the relatively little studied binding ability and stability of vandyl-nucleoside complexes. Potentiometric studies were conducted to determine the stability constants of complexes formed between the oxovanadium ion vanadyl (VO2+) and the commercially available nucleosides 4.10-4.14. The data afforded by this analysis clearly confirmed the complexity of the vanadyl/nucleoside complexation and suggested that guanosine (4.12) formed the most stable complex with oxovanadium ions. We were also able to establish a third protonation constant for the hydroxyl moiety in 4.12 with a logK 8.87 which has not been previously reported. Finally, Chapter 5 revisited the cytoxicity two Algoa Bay ascidians, Clavelina sp. and Atriolum marinense the extracts from which produced promising bioactivity results in previous studies against oesophageal cancer cells. The HP-20 fractionated extracts of Clavelina sp. and Atriolum marinense proved to be similalrly cytotoxic to breast cancer cells. With the exception for the 100% acetone(aq)fractions the NMR data for both species suggested that most active non polar fractions were dominated by what appeared to be structurally unremarkable fatty acid glycerides and as such were not pursued further. Purification of the 100% acetone(aq)fraction of A. marinense resulted in the isolation of a styrene trimer, 5.1, common to both ascidian extracts. The NMR simulation software WIN-DAISY was employed to confirm the structure of 5.1. Attempts to establish if 5.1 was an isolation artefact or a product of marine pollution were inconclusive
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Financial characteristics of the nonprofit organisation: theory and evidence for the assessment of the financial condition of South African public universities
- Authors: Bunting, Mark Bevan
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:923 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021298 , http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3392-554X
- Description: In this thesis, an analytical framework is developed for the assessment of the financial condition of South African public universities. Foundational constructs of nonprofit economics are applied in the consideration of financial theories of nonprofit organisations in general, and public universities in particular. From this review, a number of hypotheses are developed. Each of these specifies a positive or negative association between a university's financial condition and a particular dimension of its assets, liabilities, equity, revenues, expenses and surplus. From the nonprofit financial analysis literature, ratios and indicators relevant to these hypotheses are selected. Audited data from the annual financial statements of the universities for the seven year period 2007 to 2013 are substantially transformed in mitigation of failures in accounting, auditing and accountability. The adjusted accounting numbers are used to calculate the financial indicators applicable to each university. Exploratory factor analysis is implemented to categorise and organise this large indicator set on the basis of identified associations with a smaller number of factors. It is found that the financial condition of South African public universities is defined by two broad financial characteristics, capital and revenue. Assessment of the capital dimension is informed by a focus on institutional equity, with particular emphasis on expendable equity and its proportionate relationships with surplus, total capital, and total expenses. The revenue dimension is appropriately evaluated in the context of a comparative and interactive consideration of the three main components of South African public university revenue, as well as the proportionate relationship between non-staff operating expenses and total expenses. The framework displays considerable levels of stability and consistency over the seven year review period, and its constructs are, in addition, robust to the application of multiple alternative confirmatory tests involving financial data that are independent of the factor solutions. The financial condition assessment framework developed in this thesis offers a contribution to a broader discourse in nonprofit finance and accounting, with a focus on public university finances.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Bunting, Mark Bevan
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:923 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021298 , http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3392-554X
- Description: In this thesis, an analytical framework is developed for the assessment of the financial condition of South African public universities. Foundational constructs of nonprofit economics are applied in the consideration of financial theories of nonprofit organisations in general, and public universities in particular. From this review, a number of hypotheses are developed. Each of these specifies a positive or negative association between a university's financial condition and a particular dimension of its assets, liabilities, equity, revenues, expenses and surplus. From the nonprofit financial analysis literature, ratios and indicators relevant to these hypotheses are selected. Audited data from the annual financial statements of the universities for the seven year period 2007 to 2013 are substantially transformed in mitigation of failures in accounting, auditing and accountability. The adjusted accounting numbers are used to calculate the financial indicators applicable to each university. Exploratory factor analysis is implemented to categorise and organise this large indicator set on the basis of identified associations with a smaller number of factors. It is found that the financial condition of South African public universities is defined by two broad financial characteristics, capital and revenue. Assessment of the capital dimension is informed by a focus on institutional equity, with particular emphasis on expendable equity and its proportionate relationships with surplus, total capital, and total expenses. The revenue dimension is appropriately evaluated in the context of a comparative and interactive consideration of the three main components of South African public university revenue, as well as the proportionate relationship between non-staff operating expenses and total expenses. The framework displays considerable levels of stability and consistency over the seven year review period, and its constructs are, in addition, robust to the application of multiple alternative confirmatory tests involving financial data that are independent of the factor solutions. The financial condition assessment framework developed in this thesis offers a contribution to a broader discourse in nonprofit finance and accounting, with a focus on public university finances.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Ways of seeing over time: the construction and imagination of ‘historic separation’ in Israeli and Palestinian cultures
- Authors: Butler, Nina Melissa
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/474 , vital:19962
- Description: There exists an international consensus that Palestinian and Israeli societies are ceaselessly and essentially acrimonious. This thesis argues that the conceptualisation of ‘historic separation’ in Palestine/Israel is supported and nourished by national narratives that follow classic historicism and a linear trajectory of essentialised culture progressing over time. Given these patterns in historiography and cultural expressions, conceptualisations of the future are argued to be dominated by the ‘overdetermined’ and ‘sacralised’ pasts that arrest the ability to conceive of alternative horizons. These national narratives are analysed borrowing from the theorisation of Edward Said on hegemonic culture, and Ranjit Guha’s Subaltern critique of historicism. Zionism is argued to function as a cultural hegemony that operates in a mercurial, selfsustaining and vibrant manner that has the effect of what this thesis terms ‘centrifugal magnetism’ on discourse in the region. Palestinian national narratives are held to be in tangential relation to Zionism (a classic colonial master-narrative), thus entering into a ‘terrible embrace’ of destructive colonial/postcolonial repetition that tends towards violent conflict and the discrimination of minorities. This thesis then proposes a ‘way out’ of this historiographical pattern that is argued to tangibly inform the cultural fabric of the region. By drawing on the later works of Mahmoud Darwish, Mustaffa Hallaj and Said, it is proposed that there are traces of a notion of self and community that can be described as postnational. This demands a reconstruction of narratives of the past in the region in a pluralistic fashion that is based upon shared exilic identity in flux over what Darwish termed an ‘open historical space’. Crucially, this alternative postnational narrative opens up conceptualisations of the future and is founded upon a renewed disposition to temporality. This thesis thus concludes by proposing that an understanding of temporality as ‘ecstatic’ and essential to being (Martin Heidegger) should be included as a crucial consideration for the end to conflict and the attainment of just and equitable futures.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Butler, Nina Melissa
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/474 , vital:19962
- Description: There exists an international consensus that Palestinian and Israeli societies are ceaselessly and essentially acrimonious. This thesis argues that the conceptualisation of ‘historic separation’ in Palestine/Israel is supported and nourished by national narratives that follow classic historicism and a linear trajectory of essentialised culture progressing over time. Given these patterns in historiography and cultural expressions, conceptualisations of the future are argued to be dominated by the ‘overdetermined’ and ‘sacralised’ pasts that arrest the ability to conceive of alternative horizons. These national narratives are analysed borrowing from the theorisation of Edward Said on hegemonic culture, and Ranjit Guha’s Subaltern critique of historicism. Zionism is argued to function as a cultural hegemony that operates in a mercurial, selfsustaining and vibrant manner that has the effect of what this thesis terms ‘centrifugal magnetism’ on discourse in the region. Palestinian national narratives are held to be in tangential relation to Zionism (a classic colonial master-narrative), thus entering into a ‘terrible embrace’ of destructive colonial/postcolonial repetition that tends towards violent conflict and the discrimination of minorities. This thesis then proposes a ‘way out’ of this historiographical pattern that is argued to tangibly inform the cultural fabric of the region. By drawing on the later works of Mahmoud Darwish, Mustaffa Hallaj and Said, it is proposed that there are traces of a notion of self and community that can be described as postnational. This demands a reconstruction of narratives of the past in the region in a pluralistic fashion that is based upon shared exilic identity in flux over what Darwish termed an ‘open historical space’. Crucially, this alternative postnational narrative opens up conceptualisations of the future and is founded upon a renewed disposition to temporality. This thesis thus concludes by proposing that an understanding of temporality as ‘ecstatic’ and essential to being (Martin Heidegger) should be included as a crucial consideration for the end to conflict and the attainment of just and equitable futures.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Higher order modulation formats for high speed optical communication systems with digital signal processing aided receiver
- Chabata, Tichakunda Valentine
- Authors: Chabata, Tichakunda Valentine
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Optical communications , Modulation (Electronics) , Signal processing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/4775 , vital:20677
- Description: The drastic increase in the number of internet users and the general convergence of all other communication systems into an optical system have brought a sharp rise in demand for bandwidth and calls for high capacity transmission networks. Large unamplified transmission reach is another contributor in reducing deployment costs of an optical communication system. Spectrally efficient modulation formats are suggested as a solution to overcome the problems associated with limited channels and bandwidth of dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) optical communication systems. Higher order modulation formats which are considered to be spectrally efficient and can increase the transmission capacity by transmitting more information in the amplitude, phase, polarization or a combination of all was studied. Different detection technologies are to be implemented to suit a particular higher order modulation format. In this research multilevel modulation formats, different detection technologies and a digital signal processing aided receiver were studied in a practical optical transmission system. The work in this thesis started with the implementation of the traditional amplitude shift keying (ASK) modulation and a differential phase shift keying (DPSK) modulation systems as they form the basic building block in the design of higher order modulation formats. Results obtained from using virtual photonics instruments (VPI)simulation software, receiver sensitivity for 10Gbpsnon-return-to-zero (NRZ), amplitude phase shift keying (ASK) and DPSK signals were measured to be -22.7 dBm and -22.0 dBm respectively. Performance comparison for the two modulation formats were done over different transmission distances. ASK also known as On-Off keying (OOK) performed better for shorter lengths whereas DPSK performed better for longer lengths of up to90km.Experimental results on a 10 Gbps NRZ- ASK signal gave a receiver sensitivity of -21.1 dBm from digital signal processing (DSP) aided receiver against -19.8 dBm from the commercial bit error ratio tester (BERT) yielding a small difference of 1.3 dB hence validating the reliability and accuracy of the digital signal processing (DSP) assisted receiver. Traditional direct detection scheme and coherent detection scheme performances were evaluated again on a 10 Gbps NRZ ASK signal. Coherent detection that can achieve a large unamplified transmission reach and has a higher passive optical splitting ratio was first evaluated using the VPI simulation software. Simulation results gave a receiver sensitivity of -30.4 dBm forcoherent detection and -18.3 dBm for direct detection, yielding a gain in receiver sensitivity of 12.1 dB. The complex coherently detected signal, from the experimental setup gave a receiver sensitivity of -20.6 dBm with a gain in receiver sensitivity of 3.5 dBm with respect to direct detection. A multilevel pulse amplitude modulation (4-PAM) that doubles the data rate per channel from10 Gbps to 20 Gbps by transmitting more information in the amplitude of the carrier signal was implemented. This was achieved by modulating the optical amplitude with an electrical four level amplitude shift keyed (ASK) signal. A receiver consisting of a single photodiode, three decision circuits and a decoding logic circuit was used to receive and extract the original transmitted data. A DSP aided receiver was used to evaluate the link performance. A receiver sensitivity of -12.8 dBm is attained with a dispersion penalty of about 7.2 dB after transmission through 25 km of G.652 fibre.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Chabata, Tichakunda Valentine
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Optical communications , Modulation (Electronics) , Signal processing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/4775 , vital:20677
- Description: The drastic increase in the number of internet users and the general convergence of all other communication systems into an optical system have brought a sharp rise in demand for bandwidth and calls for high capacity transmission networks. Large unamplified transmission reach is another contributor in reducing deployment costs of an optical communication system. Spectrally efficient modulation formats are suggested as a solution to overcome the problems associated with limited channels and bandwidth of dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) optical communication systems. Higher order modulation formats which are considered to be spectrally efficient and can increase the transmission capacity by transmitting more information in the amplitude, phase, polarization or a combination of all was studied. Different detection technologies are to be implemented to suit a particular higher order modulation format. In this research multilevel modulation formats, different detection technologies and a digital signal processing aided receiver were studied in a practical optical transmission system. The work in this thesis started with the implementation of the traditional amplitude shift keying (ASK) modulation and a differential phase shift keying (DPSK) modulation systems as they form the basic building block in the design of higher order modulation formats. Results obtained from using virtual photonics instruments (VPI)simulation software, receiver sensitivity for 10Gbpsnon-return-to-zero (NRZ), amplitude phase shift keying (ASK) and DPSK signals were measured to be -22.7 dBm and -22.0 dBm respectively. Performance comparison for the two modulation formats were done over different transmission distances. ASK also known as On-Off keying (OOK) performed better for shorter lengths whereas DPSK performed better for longer lengths of up to90km.Experimental results on a 10 Gbps NRZ- ASK signal gave a receiver sensitivity of -21.1 dBm from digital signal processing (DSP) aided receiver against -19.8 dBm from the commercial bit error ratio tester (BERT) yielding a small difference of 1.3 dB hence validating the reliability and accuracy of the digital signal processing (DSP) assisted receiver. Traditional direct detection scheme and coherent detection scheme performances were evaluated again on a 10 Gbps NRZ ASK signal. Coherent detection that can achieve a large unamplified transmission reach and has a higher passive optical splitting ratio was first evaluated using the VPI simulation software. Simulation results gave a receiver sensitivity of -30.4 dBm forcoherent detection and -18.3 dBm for direct detection, yielding a gain in receiver sensitivity of 12.1 dB. The complex coherently detected signal, from the experimental setup gave a receiver sensitivity of -20.6 dBm with a gain in receiver sensitivity of 3.5 dBm with respect to direct detection. A multilevel pulse amplitude modulation (4-PAM) that doubles the data rate per channel from10 Gbps to 20 Gbps by transmitting more information in the amplitude of the carrier signal was implemented. This was achieved by modulating the optical amplitude with an electrical four level amplitude shift keyed (ASK) signal. A receiver consisting of a single photodiode, three decision circuits and a decoding logic circuit was used to receive and extract the original transmitted data. A DSP aided receiver was used to evaluate the link performance. A receiver sensitivity of -12.8 dBm is attained with a dispersion penalty of about 7.2 dB after transmission through 25 km of G.652 fibre.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Predators of aerial insects and riparian cross-boundary trophic dynamics: web-building spiders, dragonflies and damselflies
- Authors: Chari, Lenin Dzibakwe
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/55791 , vital:26734
- Description: This thesis characterises the cross-boundary trophic interactions of a relatively small model ecosystem, the Kowie River (Eastern Cape of South Africa), to explore their epistemic implications for systems ecology. Using web-building spiders and odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) as model organisms, I sought to investigate whether the diets of predators of aerial insects could be used to assess the strength of the trophic connectivity between freshwater and terrestrial systems in relation to variables such as stream width, distance from the river and aquatic insect emergence rates and abundances. Predator diet composition was determined by using a combination of diet analysis tools: direct observations of cross-subsidies, naturally-abundant stable (carbon and nitrogen) isotope analysis and fatty acid analysis. I also sought to reveal feeding niches and guilds among riparian aerial predators and investigate how the environment influenced predators’ access to aquatic prey subsidies. As emergent aquatic insect abundances decreased with an increase in distance from the river, and increased with stream width and seasonal changes from winter to summer, stable isotope and fatty acid analyses revealed distinct changes in web-building spider diet composition. Examination of the fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid, a component commonly used as an indicator of consumer reliance on aquatic nutritional subsidies, showed that aquatic subsidies extended further inland at the wider sections of the river. Spiders and odonates at the wider sections of the Kowie River generally received more subsidies (56 – 70%) than those at the narrower sections (25 – 60%). When terrestrial insect biomass was distinctly low in winter, the benefit of aquatic subsidisation to spiders was relatively lower at the narrower sections of the Kowie River relative to the wide sections. As such, riparian areas adjacent to wide parts of the river were more likely to support larger populations of aerial predators than those at the narrow sections. Apart from the diet changes across time and space, there was evidence of inter-specific niche partitioning in both spiders and odonates, but no differences were observed between males and females of the same species. Results showed odonates of different sizes and hunting strategies had separate dietary niches, hence varied access to aquatic nutritional subsidies. The larger odonate taxa that frequently foraged mid-air had more varied diets and relied less on aquatic emergent insects than the smaller odonates that foraged from perches near the river. There was also evidence of niche partitioning amongst the spiders, as those that built horizontal webs captured more aquatic insects (40 – 78%) than the vertical orb-web builders (20 – 66%). This study showed that the nature and extent of trophic cross-boundary linkages in riparian areas largely depended on the availability of subsidies that varied seasonally and spatially. The width of the stream and seasonal variability emerged as important predictors of emergent insect abundances/biomasses that influenced predator feeding niches. The high mobility of odonates made their reliance on aquatic nutritional subsidies different from the less mobile spiders. The link between the width of the river and the extent of trophic connectivity has implications for riparian area management and definition of riparian buffer zones. However, the variation in diet niches amongst terrestrial consumers makes the results area-specific, and more studies are required that incorporate additional terrestrial predators in other fluvial systems so that we can make some generalizations on the dynamics of riparian trophic cross-boundary links.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Chari, Lenin Dzibakwe
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/55791 , vital:26734
- Description: This thesis characterises the cross-boundary trophic interactions of a relatively small model ecosystem, the Kowie River (Eastern Cape of South Africa), to explore their epistemic implications for systems ecology. Using web-building spiders and odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) as model organisms, I sought to investigate whether the diets of predators of aerial insects could be used to assess the strength of the trophic connectivity between freshwater and terrestrial systems in relation to variables such as stream width, distance from the river and aquatic insect emergence rates and abundances. Predator diet composition was determined by using a combination of diet analysis tools: direct observations of cross-subsidies, naturally-abundant stable (carbon and nitrogen) isotope analysis and fatty acid analysis. I also sought to reveal feeding niches and guilds among riparian aerial predators and investigate how the environment influenced predators’ access to aquatic prey subsidies. As emergent aquatic insect abundances decreased with an increase in distance from the river, and increased with stream width and seasonal changes from winter to summer, stable isotope and fatty acid analyses revealed distinct changes in web-building spider diet composition. Examination of the fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid, a component commonly used as an indicator of consumer reliance on aquatic nutritional subsidies, showed that aquatic subsidies extended further inland at the wider sections of the river. Spiders and odonates at the wider sections of the Kowie River generally received more subsidies (56 – 70%) than those at the narrower sections (25 – 60%). When terrestrial insect biomass was distinctly low in winter, the benefit of aquatic subsidisation to spiders was relatively lower at the narrower sections of the Kowie River relative to the wide sections. As such, riparian areas adjacent to wide parts of the river were more likely to support larger populations of aerial predators than those at the narrow sections. Apart from the diet changes across time and space, there was evidence of inter-specific niche partitioning in both spiders and odonates, but no differences were observed between males and females of the same species. Results showed odonates of different sizes and hunting strategies had separate dietary niches, hence varied access to aquatic nutritional subsidies. The larger odonate taxa that frequently foraged mid-air had more varied diets and relied less on aquatic emergent insects than the smaller odonates that foraged from perches near the river. There was also evidence of niche partitioning amongst the spiders, as those that built horizontal webs captured more aquatic insects (40 – 78%) than the vertical orb-web builders (20 – 66%). This study showed that the nature and extent of trophic cross-boundary linkages in riparian areas largely depended on the availability of subsidies that varied seasonally and spatially. The width of the stream and seasonal variability emerged as important predictors of emergent insect abundances/biomasses that influenced predator feeding niches. The high mobility of odonates made their reliance on aquatic nutritional subsidies different from the less mobile spiders. The link between the width of the river and the extent of trophic connectivity has implications for riparian area management and definition of riparian buffer zones. However, the variation in diet niches amongst terrestrial consumers makes the results area-specific, and more studies are required that incorporate additional terrestrial predators in other fluvial systems so that we can make some generalizations on the dynamics of riparian trophic cross-boundary links.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Research as hope intervention: a visual participatory study with rural South African school children
- Authors: Cherrington, Avivit Miriam
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Affective education -- South Africa , Critical pedagogy -- South Africa , Hope -- Social aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (Education)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/8350 , vital:26348
- Description: There is a dearth of knowledge on rural South African children’s perspectives of hope, and how their hope can be nurtured, shaped, and strengthened. Guided by a qualitative approach, and located within a critical transformative paradigm, this study explores the following research question: How could visual participatory methodology as ‘research as intervention’ enable rural South African primary school children to explore their conceptualisations of hope, as well as strengthen their hope? To answer this question I pose two sub-questions: Firstly, what are rural primary school children’s conceptualisations of hope? Secondly, how could using visual participatory methodology to explore their hope also strengthen the children’s hope? Hope plays a key role in the lives of people, influencing decisions and behaviour, as well as coping skills and wellbeing. The socio-economic and cultural contexts in which rural South African children find themselves are critical in enabling hope and influencing their psychosocial wellbeing. While international hope research boasts a diversity of theories, there is scarce representation of such research from an African perspective. Unable to turn to an Afrocentric theory of hope this study is framed by two theories from the global-North: Scioli’s (2007) Integrative theory of hope which provides a description of the individual’s hope process, and Prilleltensky and Prilleltensky’s (2007) Framework of psychosocial wellbeing which provides a broader context in which to view this process. Over a period of a year I engaged with twelve purposively selected 9-13 year old Basotho children, beneficiaries of a children’s programme situated in a rural village in the QwaQwa region, Free State, South Africa, to explore their hope. Using visual participatory methodology, data was co-constructed through four visual data generating tools (collage-making, drawing, Mmogo-method®, and photovoice), as well as individual interviews, a group interview, and notes and photographs kept in my research journal. A qualitative thematic analysis was followed, and a literature control conducted to re-contextualise the findings. The results of this study are presented in themes. The first three themes, Hope is having a better life; Hope is community participation and togetherness; and Hope is weakened by others and by one’s environment, combine to represent hope as a multi-layered, multi-dimensional experience towards attaining a better life on a contextual, personal, relational, and collective level. These levels of hope are all inter-related, interdependent, and influenced by cultural factors and the children’s belief system (or worldview). I therefore conclude that, according to these rural South African school children, hope is an internal process of being that develops within the individual, with assistance from external resources, and then extends outwardly through hopeful beliefs, feelings, and behaviours to promote togetherness, care, and respect in one’s community. The last three themes, Strengthened personal hope; Enhanced relational hope; and Mobilised collective hope, show that using visual participatory methodology to engage the participants in an exploration of hope potentially strengthened, enhanced, and mobilised their hope across three inter-related and overlapping levels: Personal, Relational, and Collective. The participants expressed a growing understanding of their hoping process, increased sense of autonomy, and improved coping skills for strengthening their own hope. They also began to refer to themselves as Hope Champions - able to foster hope in others by behaving in a hopeful manner, teaching others about hope, and offering care and support. I therefore conclude that this shifting view of themselves as competent and valuable members of the community mobilised their collective level of hope as they began to formulate ideas of how they could be active citizens in their community, pursuing collective wellbeing for themselves and other members of the community so that everyone could live a better life. The findings have several implications for educational psychologists working with marginalised and vulnerable children’s hope, for fostering hope in school contexts, and for educational hope research with marginalised children in rural South African communities. While this study cannot presume to have achieved long-term social change, it does certainly lay the foundation for proposing that ‘research as intervention’ has promising potential as ‘research as hope-intervention’ in educational contexts. In responding to the research question, I argue that visual participatory research methodology, when focused on hope, is in and of itself a hope-enhancing intervention. Consequently, combining visual participatory methodology with hope-focused explorations enables ‘research as hope-intervention’, facilitating a strengthening of the participants’ hope, and resulting in meaningful personal transformation. I conclude that using ‘research as hope-intervention’ with rural South African children holds many possibilities for mobilising a ‘pedagogy of hope’.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Research as hope intervention: a visual participatory study with rural South African school children
- Authors: Cherrington, Avivit Miriam
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Affective education -- South Africa , Critical pedagogy -- South Africa , Hope -- Social aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (Education)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/8350 , vital:26348
- Description: There is a dearth of knowledge on rural South African children’s perspectives of hope, and how their hope can be nurtured, shaped, and strengthened. Guided by a qualitative approach, and located within a critical transformative paradigm, this study explores the following research question: How could visual participatory methodology as ‘research as intervention’ enable rural South African primary school children to explore their conceptualisations of hope, as well as strengthen their hope? To answer this question I pose two sub-questions: Firstly, what are rural primary school children’s conceptualisations of hope? Secondly, how could using visual participatory methodology to explore their hope also strengthen the children’s hope? Hope plays a key role in the lives of people, influencing decisions and behaviour, as well as coping skills and wellbeing. The socio-economic and cultural contexts in which rural South African children find themselves are critical in enabling hope and influencing their psychosocial wellbeing. While international hope research boasts a diversity of theories, there is scarce representation of such research from an African perspective. Unable to turn to an Afrocentric theory of hope this study is framed by two theories from the global-North: Scioli’s (2007) Integrative theory of hope which provides a description of the individual’s hope process, and Prilleltensky and Prilleltensky’s (2007) Framework of psychosocial wellbeing which provides a broader context in which to view this process. Over a period of a year I engaged with twelve purposively selected 9-13 year old Basotho children, beneficiaries of a children’s programme situated in a rural village in the QwaQwa region, Free State, South Africa, to explore their hope. Using visual participatory methodology, data was co-constructed through four visual data generating tools (collage-making, drawing, Mmogo-method®, and photovoice), as well as individual interviews, a group interview, and notes and photographs kept in my research journal. A qualitative thematic analysis was followed, and a literature control conducted to re-contextualise the findings. The results of this study are presented in themes. The first three themes, Hope is having a better life; Hope is community participation and togetherness; and Hope is weakened by others and by one’s environment, combine to represent hope as a multi-layered, multi-dimensional experience towards attaining a better life on a contextual, personal, relational, and collective level. These levels of hope are all inter-related, interdependent, and influenced by cultural factors and the children’s belief system (or worldview). I therefore conclude that, according to these rural South African school children, hope is an internal process of being that develops within the individual, with assistance from external resources, and then extends outwardly through hopeful beliefs, feelings, and behaviours to promote togetherness, care, and respect in one’s community. The last three themes, Strengthened personal hope; Enhanced relational hope; and Mobilised collective hope, show that using visual participatory methodology to engage the participants in an exploration of hope potentially strengthened, enhanced, and mobilised their hope across three inter-related and overlapping levels: Personal, Relational, and Collective. The participants expressed a growing understanding of their hoping process, increased sense of autonomy, and improved coping skills for strengthening their own hope. They also began to refer to themselves as Hope Champions - able to foster hope in others by behaving in a hopeful manner, teaching others about hope, and offering care and support. I therefore conclude that this shifting view of themselves as competent and valuable members of the community mobilised their collective level of hope as they began to formulate ideas of how they could be active citizens in their community, pursuing collective wellbeing for themselves and other members of the community so that everyone could live a better life. The findings have several implications for educational psychologists working with marginalised and vulnerable children’s hope, for fostering hope in school contexts, and for educational hope research with marginalised children in rural South African communities. While this study cannot presume to have achieved long-term social change, it does certainly lay the foundation for proposing that ‘research as intervention’ has promising potential as ‘research as hope-intervention’ in educational contexts. In responding to the research question, I argue that visual participatory research methodology, when focused on hope, is in and of itself a hope-enhancing intervention. Consequently, combining visual participatory methodology with hope-focused explorations enables ‘research as hope-intervention’, facilitating a strengthening of the participants’ hope, and resulting in meaningful personal transformation. I conclude that using ‘research as hope-intervention’ with rural South African children holds many possibilities for mobilising a ‘pedagogy of hope’.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
The effects of land use on the avifauna and its conservation in a Kenyan coastal forest ecosystem, and the significance of the Arabuko Sokoke Forest to the local community
- Authors: Chiawo, David O
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5950 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020946
- Description: This study examines the effects of land use on the bird community of Arabuko Sokoke Forest, the largest area of coastal forest remaining in East Africa and a major Important Bird Area in mainland Kenya. Bird species diversity in three land use types (primary forest, plantation and farm lands) was compared using multivariate analysis to determine the response of different feeding guilds to habitat characteristics. The effect of habitat characteristics on overall bird diversity and specific feeding guilds was tested using linear mixed models. A total of 2600 bird observations were recorded during point counts, representing 97 bird species including 25 fruit-eating birds, 17 nectar feeders; and 60 species belonging exclusively to other feeding guilds. Land use had a significant effect on overall bird diversity and abundance. The distribution of frugivorous birds was primarily influenced by the presence of fruiting trees rather than land use type, while nectarivores were significantly affected by vertical habitat heterogeneity and vegetation type. Although the distribution of insectivorous birds is influenced by many habitat factors, proximity to natural forest, habitat heterogeneity, and the presence of large trees and fruiting trees appear to be most important to this guild. The natural forest has the greatest avian diversity and a distinctive community compared to plantation and farmlands. Patterns of habitat use by birds in the area suggest that vertical vegetation heterogeneity and complexity is especially significant in sustaining diverse and abundant bird populations, if they are in close proximity to native forests. Improvement of conservation management for the plantation and farmlands is thus critical for connectivity with other remnant primary forest patches in the area. Socio-economic data was collected from 109 forest adjacent households to determine the value of the forest to the local community and their perception of conservation issues. Arabuko Sokoke Forest is important in supplementing the livelihood needs of the local community. However, the community lacks information on the forest management plan and many people have little knowledge of local birds, which could limit their capacity to participate in conservation projects. Drivers for local community participation in conservation projects are primarily a sustainable income and the fulfillment of basic household needs. Community conservation education is needed to promote local knowledge of forest biodiversity, as well as clear frameworks for the active involvement of the local community in forest management. Support of community based projects is vital to achieve both the conservation and livelihood objectives of the Arabuko Sokoke Forest management plan.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Chiawo, David O
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5950 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020946
- Description: This study examines the effects of land use on the bird community of Arabuko Sokoke Forest, the largest area of coastal forest remaining in East Africa and a major Important Bird Area in mainland Kenya. Bird species diversity in three land use types (primary forest, plantation and farm lands) was compared using multivariate analysis to determine the response of different feeding guilds to habitat characteristics. The effect of habitat characteristics on overall bird diversity and specific feeding guilds was tested using linear mixed models. A total of 2600 bird observations were recorded during point counts, representing 97 bird species including 25 fruit-eating birds, 17 nectar feeders; and 60 species belonging exclusively to other feeding guilds. Land use had a significant effect on overall bird diversity and abundance. The distribution of frugivorous birds was primarily influenced by the presence of fruiting trees rather than land use type, while nectarivores were significantly affected by vertical habitat heterogeneity and vegetation type. Although the distribution of insectivorous birds is influenced by many habitat factors, proximity to natural forest, habitat heterogeneity, and the presence of large trees and fruiting trees appear to be most important to this guild. The natural forest has the greatest avian diversity and a distinctive community compared to plantation and farmlands. Patterns of habitat use by birds in the area suggest that vertical vegetation heterogeneity and complexity is especially significant in sustaining diverse and abundant bird populations, if they are in close proximity to native forests. Improvement of conservation management for the plantation and farmlands is thus critical for connectivity with other remnant primary forest patches in the area. Socio-economic data was collected from 109 forest adjacent households to determine the value of the forest to the local community and their perception of conservation issues. Arabuko Sokoke Forest is important in supplementing the livelihood needs of the local community. However, the community lacks information on the forest management plan and many people have little knowledge of local birds, which could limit their capacity to participate in conservation projects. Drivers for local community participation in conservation projects are primarily a sustainable income and the fulfillment of basic household needs. Community conservation education is needed to promote local knowledge of forest biodiversity, as well as clear frameworks for the active involvement of the local community in forest management. Support of community based projects is vital to achieve both the conservation and livelihood objectives of the Arabuko Sokoke Forest management plan.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Continuous flow synthesis of silicon compounds as feedstock for solar-grade silicon production
- Authors: Chigondo, Fidelis
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Silicon -- Synthesis , Homogeneous catalysis
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/4529 , vital:20613
- Description: This thesis describes the key steps in the production of high purity (solar-grade) silicon from metallurgical-grade silicon for use in the production of photovoltaic cells as alternative renewable, environmentally benign and cheap energy source. The initial part of the project involves the development and optimization of a small chemical production platform system capable of producing alkoxysilanes from metallurgical-grade silicon as green precursors to solar-grade silicon production. Specifically, the main aim of the study was to synthesize trialkoxysilanes in continuous flow mode, although the synthesis on monosilane was also done in batch mode. The alkoxylation reaction was carried out in a traditional slurry phase batch reactor, packed bed flow tubular reactor and also attempted in a continuous flow falling film tubular reactor. The effect of key parameters which affect the silicon conversion and selectivity for the desired trialkoxysilane were investigated and optimized using ethanol as a reagent model. The synthesis was then extended to the other alcohols namely methanol, n-propanol and n-butanol. Copper catalysts which were tested in the alkoxylation reaction included: CuCl, Cu(OH)2, CuO and CuSO4. CuCl and Cu(OH)2 showed comparable activity in the batch mode but the former was more efficient in the packed bed flow tubular reactor. Cu(OH)2 could be used as a non-halide catalyst but its activity is limited to short reaction cycles (<10 h). The uncatalysed reaction resulted in negligible reaction rates in both types of reactors. High temperature catalyst pre-heating (>500 oC) resulted in a lower rate of reaction and selectivity than when slightly lower temperatures are used (<350 oC) in both reactors, although much difference was noticed in the packed bed flow tubular reactor. Synthesis in the batch reactor needed longer silicon-catalyst activation time, higher pre-heating temperature and higher catalyst amounts as compare to the packed bed flow tubular reactor. Reaction temperature and alcohol flow rate influenced the reaction in both methods. The optimum reaction temperature range and alcohol flow rate was comparable in both reactors (230 to 240 oC) and 0.1mL/min respectively. The effect of alcohol R-group (C1 to C4) on the reaction revealed that conversion and selectivity generally decrease with an increase in carbon chain length in both methods. Ethanol showed highest selectivity (>95% in batch and >97% in flow) and conversion (about 88% in batch and about 64% in flow) as compared to all other alcohols studied showing that it could be the most efficient alkoxylation alcohol for this reaction. Overally, the packed bed flow tubular reactor resulted in higher selectivity to trialkoxysilanes than the batch system. Performing the reaction under pressure resulted in increased conversion but selectivity to the desire trialkoxysilane diminished. Synthesis in a continuous flow falling film tubular reactor was not successful as it resulted in very poor conversion and selectivity. Monosilane was successfully synthesized from the disproportionation of triethoxysilane using homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts in batch mode. The results obtained from homogeneous catalysis showed that the reaction can be conducted at room temperature. The heterogeneous catalysis method resulted in slow conversion at room temperature but mild heating up to 55 oC greatly improved the reaction. Conducting the reaction under neat conditions produced comparable results to reactions which were carried out using solvents. The disproportionation reaction was best described by the first order kinetic model. The results obtained in this research indicate that the packed bed flow tubular reactor can be utilized with future modifications for continuous flow synthesis of alkoxysilanes as feedstock for the solar-grade silicon production.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Chigondo, Fidelis
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Silicon -- Synthesis , Homogeneous catalysis
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/4529 , vital:20613
- Description: This thesis describes the key steps in the production of high purity (solar-grade) silicon from metallurgical-grade silicon for use in the production of photovoltaic cells as alternative renewable, environmentally benign and cheap energy source. The initial part of the project involves the development and optimization of a small chemical production platform system capable of producing alkoxysilanes from metallurgical-grade silicon as green precursors to solar-grade silicon production. Specifically, the main aim of the study was to synthesize trialkoxysilanes in continuous flow mode, although the synthesis on monosilane was also done in batch mode. The alkoxylation reaction was carried out in a traditional slurry phase batch reactor, packed bed flow tubular reactor and also attempted in a continuous flow falling film tubular reactor. The effect of key parameters which affect the silicon conversion and selectivity for the desired trialkoxysilane were investigated and optimized using ethanol as a reagent model. The synthesis was then extended to the other alcohols namely methanol, n-propanol and n-butanol. Copper catalysts which were tested in the alkoxylation reaction included: CuCl, Cu(OH)2, CuO and CuSO4. CuCl and Cu(OH)2 showed comparable activity in the batch mode but the former was more efficient in the packed bed flow tubular reactor. Cu(OH)2 could be used as a non-halide catalyst but its activity is limited to short reaction cycles (<10 h). The uncatalysed reaction resulted in negligible reaction rates in both types of reactors. High temperature catalyst pre-heating (>500 oC) resulted in a lower rate of reaction and selectivity than when slightly lower temperatures are used (<350 oC) in both reactors, although much difference was noticed in the packed bed flow tubular reactor. Synthesis in the batch reactor needed longer silicon-catalyst activation time, higher pre-heating temperature and higher catalyst amounts as compare to the packed bed flow tubular reactor. Reaction temperature and alcohol flow rate influenced the reaction in both methods. The optimum reaction temperature range and alcohol flow rate was comparable in both reactors (230 to 240 oC) and 0.1mL/min respectively. The effect of alcohol R-group (C1 to C4) on the reaction revealed that conversion and selectivity generally decrease with an increase in carbon chain length in both methods. Ethanol showed highest selectivity (>95% in batch and >97% in flow) and conversion (about 88% in batch and about 64% in flow) as compared to all other alcohols studied showing that it could be the most efficient alkoxylation alcohol for this reaction. Overally, the packed bed flow tubular reactor resulted in higher selectivity to trialkoxysilanes than the batch system. Performing the reaction under pressure resulted in increased conversion but selectivity to the desire trialkoxysilane diminished. Synthesis in a continuous flow falling film tubular reactor was not successful as it resulted in very poor conversion and selectivity. Monosilane was successfully synthesized from the disproportionation of triethoxysilane using homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts in batch mode. The results obtained from homogeneous catalysis showed that the reaction can be conducted at room temperature. The heterogeneous catalysis method resulted in slow conversion at room temperature but mild heating up to 55 oC greatly improved the reaction. Conducting the reaction under neat conditions produced comparable results to reactions which were carried out using solvents. The disproportionation reaction was best described by the first order kinetic model. The results obtained in this research indicate that the packed bed flow tubular reactor can be utilized with future modifications for continuous flow synthesis of alkoxysilanes as feedstock for the solar-grade silicon production.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
The relationship between language and xenophobia: a developmental perspective
- Authors: Chikanda, Flora
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Xenophobia -- South Africa , Xenophobia in language , Immigrants -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/4942 , vital:20768
- Description: Modernisation, globalisation, neoliberalism and the increase in immigration have morphed into xenophobia, as they have resulted in structures that increased inequalities and competition for scarce resources, although there are other factors such as the global recession that is deepening inequalities and social classes. In South Africa, xenophobia is a topical matter, with chronic violent outbursts. The study addresses the gap in knowledge in the relationship between language and xenophobia. Language is central to human communication and to human socialisation and is not neutral but is embedded in ideologies that favour specific interest groups. The neoliberal ideology compels people as human capital to develop linguistic capital. The paradox is that globalisation transcends the national to transnational, while at the same time being conscious of the local or the indigenous language. Globalisation promotes hybridity and diversity, while at the same time promoting homogeneity or Westernisation, which is contrary to the nationalist ideology to protect the cultural heritage of the locals. This thesis is guided by a range of classical and more contemporary development theories. It includes the use of Marxist theory with regard to ownership and unequal distribution of resources. The culture of violence that manifests in xenophobia in South Africa can also be related to the violence of the colonial and apartheid periods. This thesis is also guided by the post-colonial theory. It also looks at theories of modernity and of globalisation, suggesting that a truly ‘modern’ society should be transformed in all spheres and should value multifaceted human well-being (and not only in terms of economic ‘growth’). A primary objective of this study is to explore the role of language in social institutions such as education in order to understand how matters of language exacerbate xenophobia and to document the challenges related to language that ‘foreigners’ from other parts of Africa face in South Africa. Questions asked include whether they can survive/thrive without knowledge of local languages, whether they are victims of crime because they cannot speak the local languages and whether and how they are being assimilated into South African society. This research therefore, recommends that language planning in South Africa should maintain a balance in the use of the English language as a lingua franca and the use of the indigenous languages so as to avoid the language endangerment of the indigenous languages and monolingualism, as well as subtractive bilingualism. This research is against institutional discrimination of foreigners by use of language as a gate keeper or an entry fee into the higher domains. The results of this research lead to the recommendation on language planning that leads to economic opportunity, higher economic productivity, educational development, enrichment in the sense of creativity innovation, cognitive flexibility, and more effective social integration, while restoring citizens’ sense of self-worth and their experience of emotional and social security, and also promoting social integrity and nation-building. Good language planning should be a crucial aspect of development planning. This research contributes to the field of Development Studies in that it analyses the conflicting issues within language and xenophobia in South Africa, while using the complexity theory to restore a modernised society with modern values that are not xenophobic but open to the global society. It also contributes to the politics of culture by keeping a balance between the endogenous culture versus the exogenous culture; a localised culture versus a globalised culture.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Chikanda, Flora
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Xenophobia -- South Africa , Xenophobia in language , Immigrants -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/4942 , vital:20768
- Description: Modernisation, globalisation, neoliberalism and the increase in immigration have morphed into xenophobia, as they have resulted in structures that increased inequalities and competition for scarce resources, although there are other factors such as the global recession that is deepening inequalities and social classes. In South Africa, xenophobia is a topical matter, with chronic violent outbursts. The study addresses the gap in knowledge in the relationship between language and xenophobia. Language is central to human communication and to human socialisation and is not neutral but is embedded in ideologies that favour specific interest groups. The neoliberal ideology compels people as human capital to develop linguistic capital. The paradox is that globalisation transcends the national to transnational, while at the same time being conscious of the local or the indigenous language. Globalisation promotes hybridity and diversity, while at the same time promoting homogeneity or Westernisation, which is contrary to the nationalist ideology to protect the cultural heritage of the locals. This thesis is guided by a range of classical and more contemporary development theories. It includes the use of Marxist theory with regard to ownership and unequal distribution of resources. The culture of violence that manifests in xenophobia in South Africa can also be related to the violence of the colonial and apartheid periods. This thesis is also guided by the post-colonial theory. It also looks at theories of modernity and of globalisation, suggesting that a truly ‘modern’ society should be transformed in all spheres and should value multifaceted human well-being (and not only in terms of economic ‘growth’). A primary objective of this study is to explore the role of language in social institutions such as education in order to understand how matters of language exacerbate xenophobia and to document the challenges related to language that ‘foreigners’ from other parts of Africa face in South Africa. Questions asked include whether they can survive/thrive without knowledge of local languages, whether they are victims of crime because they cannot speak the local languages and whether and how they are being assimilated into South African society. This research therefore, recommends that language planning in South Africa should maintain a balance in the use of the English language as a lingua franca and the use of the indigenous languages so as to avoid the language endangerment of the indigenous languages and monolingualism, as well as subtractive bilingualism. This research is against institutional discrimination of foreigners by use of language as a gate keeper or an entry fee into the higher domains. The results of this research lead to the recommendation on language planning that leads to economic opportunity, higher economic productivity, educational development, enrichment in the sense of creativity innovation, cognitive flexibility, and more effective social integration, while restoring citizens’ sense of self-worth and their experience of emotional and social security, and also promoting social integrity and nation-building. Good language planning should be a crucial aspect of development planning. This research contributes to the field of Development Studies in that it analyses the conflicting issues within language and xenophobia in South Africa, while using the complexity theory to restore a modernised society with modern values that are not xenophobic but open to the global society. It also contributes to the politics of culture by keeping a balance between the endogenous culture versus the exogenous culture; a localised culture versus a globalised culture.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
An exploration of how consistently and precisely mathematics teachers code-switch in multilingual classrooms
- Authors: Chikiwa, Clemence
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2076 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021304
- Description: Many education research studies conducted in and outside South Africa encourage teachers to take advantage of the presence of multilingualism in their classrooms and to use it to the advancement of students’ conceptual learning. This study adopts the notion that code switching is a potential resource that teachers can use when teaching multilingual mathematics classes. The aim of this study is to determine how precisely and consistently selected teachers of multilingual mathematics classes code switched during teaching of trigonometry and geometry at secondary school. This study is informed by socio-cultural theory in general and Vygotsky’s work in particular. It focussed specifically on the critical role that language plays in the teaching and cognitive development of mathematics. My study situated within an interpretivist paradigm, used a case study research design and a mixed method research approach. Data were obtained through document collection, observing and interviewing three Grade 11 Mathematics teachers purposively selected from three secondary schools in Grahamstown and King Williamstown education districts of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Data were quantitatively and qualitatively analysed. Findings from this study revealed that the frequency of code switching was not consistent across teachers, topics and lessons. Teachers taught predominantly in the public domain exposing students to compromised mathematical content through their code switching practices. Borrowing code switching was prevalently employed consistently across the participating teachers. Very little transparent code switching, from mainly those mathematical terms commonly used in the foundation and the intermediate phases, was evident in teacher language. No Grade 11 trigonometry and geometry terms in isiXhosa were transparently and consistently code switched. The data suggested that while precision was observed in some cases, it was not consistent. Inconsistencies were caused by lack of planning for code switching, lack of teaching materials in indigenous languages, selective code switching, and ‘safe mode’ code switching strategies which affected teachers’ pedagogical practices. Overall results in this study illustrate that the lack of planning for code switching and the lack of explicit policies and clear-cut official positions on code switching for teaching has contributed to inconsistent and imprecise code switching by the participating teachers. This study concludes that the development of supporting mechanisms, identifying and documenting best practices to encourage transparent, meaningful and beneficial code switching is urgently required to aid and promote conceptual understanding of strongly bounded sub-registers of secondary school mathematics such as trigonometry and geometry. It is anticipated that this study will contribute significantly to the ongoing debate on language use in education and to the institution of best practices for judicious, consistent and precise use of students’ home language during the teaching of mathematics in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Chikiwa, Clemence
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2076 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021304
- Description: Many education research studies conducted in and outside South Africa encourage teachers to take advantage of the presence of multilingualism in their classrooms and to use it to the advancement of students’ conceptual learning. This study adopts the notion that code switching is a potential resource that teachers can use when teaching multilingual mathematics classes. The aim of this study is to determine how precisely and consistently selected teachers of multilingual mathematics classes code switched during teaching of trigonometry and geometry at secondary school. This study is informed by socio-cultural theory in general and Vygotsky’s work in particular. It focussed specifically on the critical role that language plays in the teaching and cognitive development of mathematics. My study situated within an interpretivist paradigm, used a case study research design and a mixed method research approach. Data were obtained through document collection, observing and interviewing three Grade 11 Mathematics teachers purposively selected from three secondary schools in Grahamstown and King Williamstown education districts of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Data were quantitatively and qualitatively analysed. Findings from this study revealed that the frequency of code switching was not consistent across teachers, topics and lessons. Teachers taught predominantly in the public domain exposing students to compromised mathematical content through their code switching practices. Borrowing code switching was prevalently employed consistently across the participating teachers. Very little transparent code switching, from mainly those mathematical terms commonly used in the foundation and the intermediate phases, was evident in teacher language. No Grade 11 trigonometry and geometry terms in isiXhosa were transparently and consistently code switched. The data suggested that while precision was observed in some cases, it was not consistent. Inconsistencies were caused by lack of planning for code switching, lack of teaching materials in indigenous languages, selective code switching, and ‘safe mode’ code switching strategies which affected teachers’ pedagogical practices. Overall results in this study illustrate that the lack of planning for code switching and the lack of explicit policies and clear-cut official positions on code switching for teaching has contributed to inconsistent and imprecise code switching by the participating teachers. This study concludes that the development of supporting mechanisms, identifying and documenting best practices to encourage transparent, meaningful and beneficial code switching is urgently required to aid and promote conceptual understanding of strongly bounded sub-registers of secondary school mathematics such as trigonometry and geometry. It is anticipated that this study will contribute significantly to the ongoing debate on language use in education and to the institution of best practices for judicious, consistent and precise use of students’ home language during the teaching of mathematics in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Adaptive responses to heat stress, quality of hide and meat from indigenous Nguni and non-descript crossbred cattle
- Authors: Chikwanda, Denice
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Cattle -- Effect of temperature on Nguni cattle Beef cattle breeds
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (Agriculture)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/10614 , vital:35635
- Description: The main objective of this study was to determine the adaptive responses of Nguni and non-descript crossbred cattle (NDCC) to heat stress, nutritionally-related blood metabolite profiles, fatty acid profiles, carcass and meat characteristics, physico-mechanical properties of automotive upholstery crust leather and the associated collagen fibre architecture of hides and crust leather. Forty steers (20 Nguni and 20 NDCC) which were approximately 14 months of age with live weights ranging between 153 kg and 203 kg at the beginning of the study were used. Environmental variables (ambient temperature, relative humidity, wind parameters, solar radiation) were collected from a weather station at the research farm. Temperature-humidity index (THI) values were computed. Rectal and skin temperature, skin traits and blood metabolites were determined at two-week intervals over 16 weeks. Hair coat scores ranged from extremely short (score 1) to very woolly (score 7). At slaughter, blood samples were collected after exsanguination. Meat samples were collected from the right muscularis longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) and Triceps brachii (TB) muscles after 24 hours of chilling of carcasses for physico-chemical quality tests. Fatty acid profiles and physico-chemical quality of meat were determined on the LTL and TB. An additional fifty-four hides (27 Nguni and 27 NDCC) were obtained from a commercial abattoir at slaughter. The hides were tanned into automotive crust leather and tested for physico-mechanical quality. Results showed that week and environmental variables affected skin temperature; also, the rectal and skin temperatures were negatively correlated to body condition, skin pigment, coat score and skin thickness. Non-descript crossbred cattle had higher coat scores (2.1 ± 0.36 to 4.1 ± 4.20) than Nguni cattle (1.6 ± 0.36 to 4.1 ± 0.36). Body condition scores, blood creatinine, urea, total protein, albumin and globulin were affected by genotype and week of sampling. At the end of the trial, NDCC had higher slaughter and hide weights (285.9 ± 6.52 kg and 18.4 ± 0.54 kg, respectively) than Nguni cattle (232.6 ± 6.5 kg and 14.7 ± 0.54 kg, respectively). The majority of NDCC carcasses (73.7 percent) had a fatness level of 1 compared to Nguni carcasses (50 percent). Intramuscular fat was higher in Nguni (1.8 ± 0.09 percent) compared to NDCC (1.5 ± 0.09 percent) steers. Nguni steers had darker muscle colour (L*=33.6 ± 0.01) than NDCC (L*= 35.7 ± 0.54). Nguni and NDCC had similar thawing loss, cooking loss, WBSF tenderness, fat-free dry matter, moisture content, fatty acid profiles and health-related lipid indices. Ultimate muscle pH, meat colour and chroma were similar in the LTL and TB. Concerning the skin, Nguni and NDCC had similar physico-mechanical properties. However, breaking load and tensile strength were higher (1257.1 ± 70.72 N and 28.3 ± 1.23 MPa) in samples taken parallel to the backbone compared to that taken perpendicular to the backbone (979.5 ±70.72 N and 23.6 ±1.23MPa) across the two genotypes. Non-descript crossbred crust leather varied in physico-mechanical tests by direction of sampling. Collagen fibre orientation in hides and crust samples also varied between longitudinal and cross-sections. Collagen fibre diameters in the Nguni were similar in longitudinal and cross-sections (3.4 ± 0.12 μm and 3.2 ± 0.11 μm, respectively). From this study, it is concluded that THI, hair coat, skin traits and body condition affect skin temperature, but not rectal temperature, cortisol and CK activity in Nguni and NDCC reared extensively. The two genotypes differ in nutritionally-related blood metabolites, growth performance, hide weights and carcass traits. Beef from Nguni and NDCC differs in the IMF and meat lightness but is similar in the meat fatty acid composition and some physico-chemical quality parameters. Automotive crust leathers from the two genotypes were similar in some physico-mechanical properties. Collagen architecture varied among different regions of hides and crust leathers
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Chikwanda, Denice
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Cattle -- Effect of temperature on Nguni cattle Beef cattle breeds
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (Agriculture)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/10614 , vital:35635
- Description: The main objective of this study was to determine the adaptive responses of Nguni and non-descript crossbred cattle (NDCC) to heat stress, nutritionally-related blood metabolite profiles, fatty acid profiles, carcass and meat characteristics, physico-mechanical properties of automotive upholstery crust leather and the associated collagen fibre architecture of hides and crust leather. Forty steers (20 Nguni and 20 NDCC) which were approximately 14 months of age with live weights ranging between 153 kg and 203 kg at the beginning of the study were used. Environmental variables (ambient temperature, relative humidity, wind parameters, solar radiation) were collected from a weather station at the research farm. Temperature-humidity index (THI) values were computed. Rectal and skin temperature, skin traits and blood metabolites were determined at two-week intervals over 16 weeks. Hair coat scores ranged from extremely short (score 1) to very woolly (score 7). At slaughter, blood samples were collected after exsanguination. Meat samples were collected from the right muscularis longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) and Triceps brachii (TB) muscles after 24 hours of chilling of carcasses for physico-chemical quality tests. Fatty acid profiles and physico-chemical quality of meat were determined on the LTL and TB. An additional fifty-four hides (27 Nguni and 27 NDCC) were obtained from a commercial abattoir at slaughter. The hides were tanned into automotive crust leather and tested for physico-mechanical quality. Results showed that week and environmental variables affected skin temperature; also, the rectal and skin temperatures were negatively correlated to body condition, skin pigment, coat score and skin thickness. Non-descript crossbred cattle had higher coat scores (2.1 ± 0.36 to 4.1 ± 4.20) than Nguni cattle (1.6 ± 0.36 to 4.1 ± 0.36). Body condition scores, blood creatinine, urea, total protein, albumin and globulin were affected by genotype and week of sampling. At the end of the trial, NDCC had higher slaughter and hide weights (285.9 ± 6.52 kg and 18.4 ± 0.54 kg, respectively) than Nguni cattle (232.6 ± 6.5 kg and 14.7 ± 0.54 kg, respectively). The majority of NDCC carcasses (73.7 percent) had a fatness level of 1 compared to Nguni carcasses (50 percent). Intramuscular fat was higher in Nguni (1.8 ± 0.09 percent) compared to NDCC (1.5 ± 0.09 percent) steers. Nguni steers had darker muscle colour (L*=33.6 ± 0.01) than NDCC (L*= 35.7 ± 0.54). Nguni and NDCC had similar thawing loss, cooking loss, WBSF tenderness, fat-free dry matter, moisture content, fatty acid profiles and health-related lipid indices. Ultimate muscle pH, meat colour and chroma were similar in the LTL and TB. Concerning the skin, Nguni and NDCC had similar physico-mechanical properties. However, breaking load and tensile strength were higher (1257.1 ± 70.72 N and 28.3 ± 1.23 MPa) in samples taken parallel to the backbone compared to that taken perpendicular to the backbone (979.5 ±70.72 N and 23.6 ±1.23MPa) across the two genotypes. Non-descript crossbred crust leather varied in physico-mechanical tests by direction of sampling. Collagen fibre orientation in hides and crust samples also varied between longitudinal and cross-sections. Collagen fibre diameters in the Nguni were similar in longitudinal and cross-sections (3.4 ± 0.12 μm and 3.2 ± 0.11 μm, respectively). From this study, it is concluded that THI, hair coat, skin traits and body condition affect skin temperature, but not rectal temperature, cortisol and CK activity in Nguni and NDCC reared extensively. The two genotypes differ in nutritionally-related blood metabolites, growth performance, hide weights and carcass traits. Beef from Nguni and NDCC differs in the IMF and meat lightness but is similar in the meat fatty acid composition and some physico-chemical quality parameters. Automotive crust leathers from the two genotypes were similar in some physico-mechanical properties. Collagen architecture varied among different regions of hides and crust leathers
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Catering for children with special education needs in the provision of early childhood development programme in Zimbabwe : towards a holistic and inclusive framework
- Authors: Chinhara, Henry
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Children with disabilities -- Education -- Zimbabwe Special education -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/3055 , vital:28244
- Description: The study investigated how primary schools in Chiredzi District in Zimbabwe, cater for ECD “A” and “B” children with special education needs. A mixed method design located in the pragmatism paradigm was used to carry out the study. Post-positivist is an interactive process which produced in-depth, detailed, rich data from personal perspectives and experiences that resulted in realistic understanding of phenomenon, interpreted through the social and cultural context of respondents’ lives. By adopting quantitative and qualitative approaches, the researcher was able to ensure a high level of reliability in the collected data, at the same time obtaining comprehensive information on how primary schools attaching preschool classes in Chiredzi district cater for ECD “A” and “B” children with special education needs. Purposive sampling and cluster sampling procedures were used to solicit information from ECD teachers, school heads, parents, the District Education Team, NGOs and critical government ministries through semi-structured questionnaires, face-t-face interviews, focus group discussions, observations and document analysis. The study established that, while the government carries out its mandate of providing social services to learners with special education needs, they are incapacitated due to lack of resources. The majority of schools are not providing adequate health facilities for learners with special education needs. Furthermore, most schools are not providing nutritional supplementation to vulnerable learners, situations which deprive the learners with the much needed opportunity to grow and develop to the anticipated potential. In addition, the study noted that, ECD “A” and “B” children with special education needs enrolled in classes attached to primary schools do not access Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) or Cash Transfers to alleviate the children that are in need. It came out that such a situation impacts on learners’ attendance and subsequently their learning outcomes. Regardless of the stipulations by international treaties on the nature of inclusive education, the study established that, the education system has not yet modified curriculum to accommodate learners with diversified forms of special education needs. The situation is made worse by the fact that, heads of schools, and teachers are not adequately trained to handle learners with special education needs in early childhood development programmes. In addition, schools face the challenge of scarcity of learning resources that support ECD learners with special education needs which seriously impact on the growth and development of young learners at this critical stage of their development. Regardless of the essence of continuous professional development programs, in schools whose purpose is to redress the professional gap in schools, the study found that the CPD are doing very little to transform the mind-set of teachers. The study concluded that learners with special education needs are not benefiting from the current inclusive education programme. The study recommends that following; Stakeholders work together to promote the health and nutritional needs including other social services of ECD learners in classes attached to primary schools. There be a national teacher in-service programme for those teachers deployed in schools, to equip them with the desired skills, and knowledge to handle learners with special education needs, especially at this critical stage of their development. Teachers’ Colleges redesign their curriculum to address inclusive education in schools. Teachers’ Colleges need to empower new graduates with skills and knowledge to handle children with special education needs in schools. Policy makers to advocate for redesigning the curriculum to include children with special education needs to ensure availability of resources in inclusive schools to alleviate the challenges faced by these children. Those policy makers should advocate for a way to ensure that all children with special education be enrolled in mainstream schools. Thus, the study proposed an alternative, holistic, and inclusive education model for schools attaching ECD “A” and “B”
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Chinhara, Henry
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Children with disabilities -- Education -- Zimbabwe Special education -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/3055 , vital:28244
- Description: The study investigated how primary schools in Chiredzi District in Zimbabwe, cater for ECD “A” and “B” children with special education needs. A mixed method design located in the pragmatism paradigm was used to carry out the study. Post-positivist is an interactive process which produced in-depth, detailed, rich data from personal perspectives and experiences that resulted in realistic understanding of phenomenon, interpreted through the social and cultural context of respondents’ lives. By adopting quantitative and qualitative approaches, the researcher was able to ensure a high level of reliability in the collected data, at the same time obtaining comprehensive information on how primary schools attaching preschool classes in Chiredzi district cater for ECD “A” and “B” children with special education needs. Purposive sampling and cluster sampling procedures were used to solicit information from ECD teachers, school heads, parents, the District Education Team, NGOs and critical government ministries through semi-structured questionnaires, face-t-face interviews, focus group discussions, observations and document analysis. The study established that, while the government carries out its mandate of providing social services to learners with special education needs, they are incapacitated due to lack of resources. The majority of schools are not providing adequate health facilities for learners with special education needs. Furthermore, most schools are not providing nutritional supplementation to vulnerable learners, situations which deprive the learners with the much needed opportunity to grow and develop to the anticipated potential. In addition, the study noted that, ECD “A” and “B” children with special education needs enrolled in classes attached to primary schools do not access Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) or Cash Transfers to alleviate the children that are in need. It came out that such a situation impacts on learners’ attendance and subsequently their learning outcomes. Regardless of the stipulations by international treaties on the nature of inclusive education, the study established that, the education system has not yet modified curriculum to accommodate learners with diversified forms of special education needs. The situation is made worse by the fact that, heads of schools, and teachers are not adequately trained to handle learners with special education needs in early childhood development programmes. In addition, schools face the challenge of scarcity of learning resources that support ECD learners with special education needs which seriously impact on the growth and development of young learners at this critical stage of their development. Regardless of the essence of continuous professional development programs, in schools whose purpose is to redress the professional gap in schools, the study found that the CPD are doing very little to transform the mind-set of teachers. The study concluded that learners with special education needs are not benefiting from the current inclusive education programme. The study recommends that following; Stakeholders work together to promote the health and nutritional needs including other social services of ECD learners in classes attached to primary schools. There be a national teacher in-service programme for those teachers deployed in schools, to equip them with the desired skills, and knowledge to handle learners with special education needs, especially at this critical stage of their development. Teachers’ Colleges redesign their curriculum to address inclusive education in schools. Teachers’ Colleges need to empower new graduates with skills and knowledge to handle children with special education needs in schools. Policy makers to advocate for redesigning the curriculum to include children with special education needs to ensure availability of resources in inclusive schools to alleviate the challenges faced by these children. Those policy makers should advocate for a way to ensure that all children with special education be enrolled in mainstream schools. Thus, the study proposed an alternative, holistic, and inclusive education model for schools attaching ECD “A” and “B”
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
The implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) intergrated teaching and learning in textiles and clothing programmes at one University of Science and Techology in Zimbabwe
- Authors: Chipo, Dzikite
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Information technology -- Study and teaching -- Zimbabwe Internet in education -- Zimbabwe Teaching -- Zimbabwe -- Aids and devices Education, Higher -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , M Ed
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/2127 , vital:27612
- Description: Textiles and Clothing programmes in universities worldwide experience numerous challenges in effectively implementing ICT integrated teaching and learning. The aim of this study was to explore how ICT integrated teaching and learning was implemented in Textiles and Clothing programmes at one university of Science and Technology in Zimbabwe, with a view to developing a suitable model to enhance effective implementation. The study was informed by the Activity theory and triangulated by the Technological pedagogical content knowledge framework (TPACK) and the Functionality framework. The study made use of the interpretive research paradigm, the qualitative approach and intrinsic case study design, to generate the necessary data. The participants of the study were purposively and quota sampled from the Textiles and Clothing department of the selected university of Science and Technology, and consisted of seven lecturers, three administrators, two ICT technicians and thirty-two students. Four methods were used to generate data namely in-depth interviews, focus group interviews, participant observation, and document analysis. After coding, data were analysed for content using thematic analysis. The study established that there were no specific ICT hardware and software packages acquired by the universityfor the Textiles and Clothing programmes. Instead, general design related softwares such as CorelDraw, Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Mac Paints were used to support the implementation of ICT integrated teaching and learning. The findings of the study further revealed that lecturers lacked thorough technological pedagogical knowledge to apply a variety of ICT in the teaching and learning of students. The study established that there was lack of an effective mechanism for providing monitoring and evaluation as the peer review and evaluation mechanism that was used in the Textiles and Clothing programmes did not identify the specific indicators for the implementation of ICT integrated teaching and learning. Among the conclusions emanating from the findings were that the Textiles and Clothing programmes suffered serious shortage of suitable ICT hardware and subject-specific ICT software applications to facilitate the teaching of practical components thereby compromising the effective implementation of ICT integrated teaching and learning to foster effective skill acquisition in relation to ICT among students. It was also concluded that lecturers were finding difficulties in implementing ICT integrated teaching and learning as they lacked thorough technological-pedagogical-content knowledge and skills that would enable them to select appropriate technological resources and technological pedagogical strategies to teach students appropriate content. The study recommended that the Textiles and Clothing department, through the support of the university, should acquire subject related educational hardware and software like Gerber or Lectra to teach the practical courses of the programmes. The university should organise professional development programmes focussing on TPACK to assist lecturers to develop competences in ICT necessary for implementing ICT integrated teaching and learning. A model was proposed to enhance the effective implementation of ICT integrated teaching and learning into the Textiles and Clothing programmes at the University.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Chipo, Dzikite
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Information technology -- Study and teaching -- Zimbabwe Internet in education -- Zimbabwe Teaching -- Zimbabwe -- Aids and devices Education, Higher -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , M Ed
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/2127 , vital:27612
- Description: Textiles and Clothing programmes in universities worldwide experience numerous challenges in effectively implementing ICT integrated teaching and learning. The aim of this study was to explore how ICT integrated teaching and learning was implemented in Textiles and Clothing programmes at one university of Science and Technology in Zimbabwe, with a view to developing a suitable model to enhance effective implementation. The study was informed by the Activity theory and triangulated by the Technological pedagogical content knowledge framework (TPACK) and the Functionality framework. The study made use of the interpretive research paradigm, the qualitative approach and intrinsic case study design, to generate the necessary data. The participants of the study were purposively and quota sampled from the Textiles and Clothing department of the selected university of Science and Technology, and consisted of seven lecturers, three administrators, two ICT technicians and thirty-two students. Four methods were used to generate data namely in-depth interviews, focus group interviews, participant observation, and document analysis. After coding, data were analysed for content using thematic analysis. The study established that there were no specific ICT hardware and software packages acquired by the universityfor the Textiles and Clothing programmes. Instead, general design related softwares such as CorelDraw, Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Mac Paints were used to support the implementation of ICT integrated teaching and learning. The findings of the study further revealed that lecturers lacked thorough technological pedagogical knowledge to apply a variety of ICT in the teaching and learning of students. The study established that there was lack of an effective mechanism for providing monitoring and evaluation as the peer review and evaluation mechanism that was used in the Textiles and Clothing programmes did not identify the specific indicators for the implementation of ICT integrated teaching and learning. Among the conclusions emanating from the findings were that the Textiles and Clothing programmes suffered serious shortage of suitable ICT hardware and subject-specific ICT software applications to facilitate the teaching of practical components thereby compromising the effective implementation of ICT integrated teaching and learning to foster effective skill acquisition in relation to ICT among students. It was also concluded that lecturers were finding difficulties in implementing ICT integrated teaching and learning as they lacked thorough technological-pedagogical-content knowledge and skills that would enable them to select appropriate technological resources and technological pedagogical strategies to teach students appropriate content. The study recommended that the Textiles and Clothing department, through the support of the university, should acquire subject related educational hardware and software like Gerber or Lectra to teach the practical courses of the programmes. The university should organise professional development programmes focussing on TPACK to assist lecturers to develop competences in ICT necessary for implementing ICT integrated teaching and learning. A model was proposed to enhance the effective implementation of ICT integrated teaching and learning into the Textiles and Clothing programmes at the University.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
The implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) intergrated teaching and learning in textiles and clothing programmes at one University of Science and Techology in Zimbabwe
- Authors: Chipo, Dzikite
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Internet in education -- Zimbabwe Information technology -- Study and teaching -- Zimbabwe Internet in education -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , Degree
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/5226 , vital:29115
- Description: challenges in effectively implementing ICT integrated teaching and learning. The aim of this study was to explore how ICT integrated teaching and learning was implemented in Textiles and Clothing programmes at one university of Science and Technology in Zimbabwe, with a view to developing a suitable model to enhance effective implementation. The study was informed by the Activity theory and triangulated by the Technological pedagogical content knowledge framework (TPACK) and the Functionality framework. The study made use of the interpretive research paradigm, the qualitative approach and intrinsic case study design, to generate the necessary data. The participants of the study were purposively and quota sampled from the Textiles and Clothing department of the selected university of Science and Technology, and consisted of seven lecturers, three administrators, two ICT technicians and thirty-two students. Four methods were used to generate data namely in-depth interviews, focus group interviews, participant observation, and document analysis. After coding, data were analysed for content using thematic analysis. The study established that there were no specific ICT hardware and software packages acquired by the universityfor the Textiles and Clothing programmes. Instead, general design related softwares such as CorelDraw, Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Mac Paints were used to support the implementation of ICT integrated teaching and learning. The findings of the study further revealed that lecturers lacked thorough technological pedagogical knowledge to apply a variety of ICT in the teaching and learning of students. The study established that there was lack of an effective mechanism for providing monitoring and evaluation as the peer review and evaluation mechanism that was used in the Textiles and Clothing programmes did not identify the specific indicators for the implementation of ICT integrated teaching and learning. Among the conclusions emanating from the findings were that the Textiles and Clothing programmes suffered serious shortage of suitable ICT hardware and subject-specific ICT software applications to facilitate the teaching of practical components thereby compromising the effective implementation of ICT integrated teaching and learning to foster effective skill acquisition in relation to ICT among students. It was also concluded that lecturers were finding difficulties in implementing ICT integrated teaching and learning as they lacked thorough technological-pedagogical-content knowledge and skills that would enable them to select appropriate technological resources and technological pedagogical strategies to teach students appropriate content. The study recommended that the Textiles and Clothing department, through the support of the university, should acquire subject related educational hardware and software like Gerber or Lectra to teach the practical courses of the programmes. The university should organise professional development programmes focussing on TPACK to assist lecturers to develop competences in ICT necessary for implementing ICT integrated teaching and learning. A model was proposed to enhance the effective implementation of ICT integrated teaching and learning into the Textiles and Clothing programmes at the University.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Chipo, Dzikite
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Internet in education -- Zimbabwe Information technology -- Study and teaching -- Zimbabwe Internet in education -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , Degree
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/5226 , vital:29115
- Description: challenges in effectively implementing ICT integrated teaching and learning. The aim of this study was to explore how ICT integrated teaching and learning was implemented in Textiles and Clothing programmes at one university of Science and Technology in Zimbabwe, with a view to developing a suitable model to enhance effective implementation. The study was informed by the Activity theory and triangulated by the Technological pedagogical content knowledge framework (TPACK) and the Functionality framework. The study made use of the interpretive research paradigm, the qualitative approach and intrinsic case study design, to generate the necessary data. The participants of the study were purposively and quota sampled from the Textiles and Clothing department of the selected university of Science and Technology, and consisted of seven lecturers, three administrators, two ICT technicians and thirty-two students. Four methods were used to generate data namely in-depth interviews, focus group interviews, participant observation, and document analysis. After coding, data were analysed for content using thematic analysis. The study established that there were no specific ICT hardware and software packages acquired by the universityfor the Textiles and Clothing programmes. Instead, general design related softwares such as CorelDraw, Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Mac Paints were used to support the implementation of ICT integrated teaching and learning. The findings of the study further revealed that lecturers lacked thorough technological pedagogical knowledge to apply a variety of ICT in the teaching and learning of students. The study established that there was lack of an effective mechanism for providing monitoring and evaluation as the peer review and evaluation mechanism that was used in the Textiles and Clothing programmes did not identify the specific indicators for the implementation of ICT integrated teaching and learning. Among the conclusions emanating from the findings were that the Textiles and Clothing programmes suffered serious shortage of suitable ICT hardware and subject-specific ICT software applications to facilitate the teaching of practical components thereby compromising the effective implementation of ICT integrated teaching and learning to foster effective skill acquisition in relation to ICT among students. It was also concluded that lecturers were finding difficulties in implementing ICT integrated teaching and learning as they lacked thorough technological-pedagogical-content knowledge and skills that would enable them to select appropriate technological resources and technological pedagogical strategies to teach students appropriate content. The study recommended that the Textiles and Clothing department, through the support of the university, should acquire subject related educational hardware and software like Gerber or Lectra to teach the practical courses of the programmes. The university should organise professional development programmes focussing on TPACK to assist lecturers to develop competences in ICT necessary for implementing ICT integrated teaching and learning. A model was proposed to enhance the effective implementation of ICT integrated teaching and learning into the Textiles and Clothing programmes at the University.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
The relationship between leaders’ emotional intelligence and followers’ motivational behaviour and organisational commitment
- Authors: Chipumuro, Juliet
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/484 , vital:19963
- Description: Over the past few years, emotional intelligence (EI) has generated significant interest and a wealth of research as a possible area of insight into what determines outstanding performance in the workplace (Ashworth, 2013:8; Pillay, Viviers and Mayer, 2013:1). The internal environment of organisations in the labour-intense hospitality industry is complex and dynamic. Given the unpredictability of change, the researcher found the hospitality industry to be an intriguing milieu within which to ascertain the importance of EI in predicting leaders’ effectiveness as a measure of outstanding performance. As employees are the internal customers of any hotel organisation, representing many hotel organisations’ only true competitive advantage, the purpose of this quantitative investigation was to examine the relationship between leaders’ EI and followers’ motivational behaviour and organisational commitment. Despite the intuitive plausibility of the assumption that leaders who exhibit EI competencies contribute to outstanding performance, the issue of followers’ motivational behaviour and organisational commitment as leadership indices has received little empirical attention. This study sets out to integrate prior findings on EI, motivation and organisational commitment, to support these findings in literature, and to incorporate these findings into a comprehensive conceptual framework. Using critical realists’ post-positivistic philosophical assumptions, the researcher used the Emotional and Social Competencies Inventory (ESCI) to assess leaders’ EI. Furthermore, the Motivational Sources Inventory (MSI) was used to assess followers’ motivational behaviour, while Organisational Commitment Scales (OCS) were used to assess followers’ organisational commitment. The survey respondents consisted of 120 leaders and 435 followers from 13 hotels in four prominent hotel groups in South Africa. The quantitative data collected from the surveys was analysed quantitatively using SPSS to reach substantial results with inferences. The analysis of variance revealed an overall positive relationship between demographic variables and Leaders EI, followers’ motivational behaviour and followers’ organisational commitment. The correlational analysis revealed positive relationships between leaders’ EI and followers’ motivational behaviour and organisational commitment (R= 0.05-, p<0.01) except for instrumental motivation. The correlation between leaders’ emotional self-awareness and followers’ intrinsic process motivation was somewhat weak while the relationship between leaders’ emotional self-awareness and instrumental motivation was found to be sufficient, but statistically not significant. The researcher can conclude that generally the results of this study reveal that organisational leaders can positively influence the motivational behaviour and organisational commitment of their followers by enhancing their own EI competencies. The results add to the leadership literature by illuminating possible antecedents to leadership effectiveness. It is believed that this research will help the hospitality industry at large in clarifying the importance of EI competencies in leadership as a means of obtaining positive motivation behaviour and commitment from followers. Furthermore, the findings have both managerial and research implications for hospitality operations strategy formulation in order to gain competitive advantage and improve the financial position of the businesses.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Chipumuro, Juliet
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/484 , vital:19963
- Description: Over the past few years, emotional intelligence (EI) has generated significant interest and a wealth of research as a possible area of insight into what determines outstanding performance in the workplace (Ashworth, 2013:8; Pillay, Viviers and Mayer, 2013:1). The internal environment of organisations in the labour-intense hospitality industry is complex and dynamic. Given the unpredictability of change, the researcher found the hospitality industry to be an intriguing milieu within which to ascertain the importance of EI in predicting leaders’ effectiveness as a measure of outstanding performance. As employees are the internal customers of any hotel organisation, representing many hotel organisations’ only true competitive advantage, the purpose of this quantitative investigation was to examine the relationship between leaders’ EI and followers’ motivational behaviour and organisational commitment. Despite the intuitive plausibility of the assumption that leaders who exhibit EI competencies contribute to outstanding performance, the issue of followers’ motivational behaviour and organisational commitment as leadership indices has received little empirical attention. This study sets out to integrate prior findings on EI, motivation and organisational commitment, to support these findings in literature, and to incorporate these findings into a comprehensive conceptual framework. Using critical realists’ post-positivistic philosophical assumptions, the researcher used the Emotional and Social Competencies Inventory (ESCI) to assess leaders’ EI. Furthermore, the Motivational Sources Inventory (MSI) was used to assess followers’ motivational behaviour, while Organisational Commitment Scales (OCS) were used to assess followers’ organisational commitment. The survey respondents consisted of 120 leaders and 435 followers from 13 hotels in four prominent hotel groups in South Africa. The quantitative data collected from the surveys was analysed quantitatively using SPSS to reach substantial results with inferences. The analysis of variance revealed an overall positive relationship between demographic variables and Leaders EI, followers’ motivational behaviour and followers’ organisational commitment. The correlational analysis revealed positive relationships between leaders’ EI and followers’ motivational behaviour and organisational commitment (R= 0.05-, p<0.01) except for instrumental motivation. The correlation between leaders’ emotional self-awareness and followers’ intrinsic process motivation was somewhat weak while the relationship between leaders’ emotional self-awareness and instrumental motivation was found to be sufficient, but statistically not significant. The researcher can conclude that generally the results of this study reveal that organisational leaders can positively influence the motivational behaviour and organisational commitment of their followers by enhancing their own EI competencies. The results add to the leadership literature by illuminating possible antecedents to leadership effectiveness. It is believed that this research will help the hospitality industry at large in clarifying the importance of EI competencies in leadership as a means of obtaining positive motivation behaviour and commitment from followers. Furthermore, the findings have both managerial and research implications for hospitality operations strategy formulation in order to gain competitive advantage and improve the financial position of the businesses.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Rural livelihood strategies of female headed households in former Bantustans of post-apartheid South Africa: The case of Cala, Eastern Cape Province.
- Authors: Chirau, Takunda John
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3410 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021301
- Description: Communal areas in contemporary South Africa (that is, the former Bantustans of apartheid South Africa) continue to bear and endure, albeit in new forms, socio-economic and political vulnerabilities which are negatively affecting household livelihoods. Current studies on rural livelihoods have failed to keep pace in exploring and analysing the lived experiences and ever-changing challenges faced by these rural households. This thesis provides an understanding and explanation of the livelihood activities of specifically de facto and de jure female-headed households in the former Transkei Bantustan, with a specific focus on villages in Cala. This is framed analytically by feminist theories with their emphasis on systems of patriarchy and by a rural livelihoods framework. It uses a multiplicity of research methods, including focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, life histories and survey questionnaires. The major findings of the thesis show that the female-headed households in Cala depend upon agricultural-based activities and non-agriculturally-based activities and income (including social grants) but that they exist under conditions of extreme vulnerability which are subject to fluctuation. In the end, the livelihoods of female-headed households are precarious and unstable as they live under circumstances of poverty. However, the female heads are not mere passive victims of the rural crisis in post-apartheid South Africa, as they demonstrate qualities of ingenuity and resourcefulness including through a range of coping mechanisms. At the same time, rural communities continue to be marked by patriarchal norms and practices, including systems of chieftainship, which disempower women (including female heads), though this affects de jure heads and de facto heads differently. The thesis contributes to an understanding of rural livelihoods in communal areas (or former Bantustans) of present-day South Africa by way of ‘thick descriptions’ of the everyday lives of female heads in Cala. Further, in examining rural livelihoods, it highlights the importance of bringing to bear on the livelihoods framework a feminist perspective in pinpointing the additional livelihood burdens carried by rural women.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Chirau, Takunda John
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3410 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021301
- Description: Communal areas in contemporary South Africa (that is, the former Bantustans of apartheid South Africa) continue to bear and endure, albeit in new forms, socio-economic and political vulnerabilities which are negatively affecting household livelihoods. Current studies on rural livelihoods have failed to keep pace in exploring and analysing the lived experiences and ever-changing challenges faced by these rural households. This thesis provides an understanding and explanation of the livelihood activities of specifically de facto and de jure female-headed households in the former Transkei Bantustan, with a specific focus on villages in Cala. This is framed analytically by feminist theories with their emphasis on systems of patriarchy and by a rural livelihoods framework. It uses a multiplicity of research methods, including focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, life histories and survey questionnaires. The major findings of the thesis show that the female-headed households in Cala depend upon agricultural-based activities and non-agriculturally-based activities and income (including social grants) but that they exist under conditions of extreme vulnerability which are subject to fluctuation. In the end, the livelihoods of female-headed households are precarious and unstable as they live under circumstances of poverty. However, the female heads are not mere passive victims of the rural crisis in post-apartheid South Africa, as they demonstrate qualities of ingenuity and resourcefulness including through a range of coping mechanisms. At the same time, rural communities continue to be marked by patriarchal norms and practices, including systems of chieftainship, which disempower women (including female heads), though this affects de jure heads and de facto heads differently. The thesis contributes to an understanding of rural livelihoods in communal areas (or former Bantustans) of present-day South Africa by way of ‘thick descriptions’ of the everyday lives of female heads in Cala. Further, in examining rural livelihoods, it highlights the importance of bringing to bear on the livelihoods framework a feminist perspective in pinpointing the additional livelihood burdens carried by rural women.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Implementation of gender equality policies to enhance female leadership in Zimbabwean universities : towards a comprehensive framework
- Chitsamatanga, Bellita Banda
- Authors: Chitsamatanga, Bellita Banda
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Sex differences in education Discrimination in education Women executives
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/13571 , vital:39680
- Description: This study critically examined the implementation of gender equality policies to enhance female leadership in Zimbabwean universities. Three theoretical frameworks were adopted for this study which were: The feminist critical policy analysis, top-down and bottom-up policy implementation theories. Within this study an interpretive paradigm which aligned with the qualitative approach and the case study design to better understand the phenomena were adopted. The study covered two state universities in Zimbabwe which were purposively selected. The participants who comprised Pro Vice Chancellors, Deputy Registrars Human Resources, Faculty Deans, Director of Gender Schools, Senior Administrative Registrars, Chairpersons of Departments and males and female academics were also purposively selected. Semi structured interviews, focus group discussion and document analysis were used as data collection instruments. Data were analysed using content analysis and the emerging results were organised into different themes reflective of the participant’s responses. The findings of the study presuppose that the state universities Zimbabwe were implementing gender sensitive organisational culture through open door policy and this promoted transformational leadership in both universities. The study revealed that both universities consulted internal and external gender experts and top-down and bottom-up consultations were made during policy formulation. It was discovered from the study that both universities had also utilised gender mainstreaming and affirmative action as strategies for promoting female leadership and gender equality. Despite teaching and learning, community engagement, research, recruitment and promotions which were used to promote the gender agenda, there were indications that these were being implemented in a haphazard manner. This adversely influenced active participation of females in decision making processes. The collected data also showed that both universities had enacted gender structures which were in line with international, regional and national gender policies and conventions and were being used to irradiate the importance of having gender parity in top positions. The findings of the study further illuminated that monitoring and evaluation of the gender equality policy and programs in place to advance females to leadership positions had not been done, leading to major impediments to achievement of gender balance. There also emerged a number of challenges which were uniform in both universities namely; lack of gender knowledge; commitment, lack of gender training and workshops, lack of consultation using bottom-up approach, gender budgeting and inadequate resources. Though the above mentioned were identified as encumbering features in both universities there was a substantiation of pockets of good practices. These were; implementation of gender equality policy, involvement of internal and external gender experts to policy formulation; promotion of shared power and authentic leadership through transparent selection of chairperson of departments; gender workshop and training; staff development programmes; enactment of gender structures, enhanced community engagement and liaison with NGOs to promote gender agenda at all levels. Regardless of the number of hurdles that indicate that universities continue to be fraught with challenges in promoting female leadership, the pockets of good practices are evidence that both universities are making positive strides through the implementation of gender equality policies to enhance female leadership. Therefore, to benchmark changes in universities, the study recommends that transformational leadership must permeate in all university structures to promote an organisational culture that is gender sensitive. There must be adequate resources, gender training and workshops; focal persons and points; commitment and political will, gender experts from governmental to ministerial levels and satellite gender structures. Monitoring and evaluation should be carried out in both universities and this should be guided by a framework so as to assist universities to tap into female empowerment and gender equality that will promote the interests of both genders, while retaining the quality and excellence in universities. Lastly, the findings of the study and the extant literature are indicative that enhancement of female leadership in universities is currently affected by a number of challenges. Therefore, as part of redress, the researcher recommends a comprehensive framework which illuminates pockets of good practices in implementing gender equality policies to enhance female leadership in universities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Chitsamatanga, Bellita Banda
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Sex differences in education Discrimination in education Women executives
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/13571 , vital:39680
- Description: This study critically examined the implementation of gender equality policies to enhance female leadership in Zimbabwean universities. Three theoretical frameworks were adopted for this study which were: The feminist critical policy analysis, top-down and bottom-up policy implementation theories. Within this study an interpretive paradigm which aligned with the qualitative approach and the case study design to better understand the phenomena were adopted. The study covered two state universities in Zimbabwe which were purposively selected. The participants who comprised Pro Vice Chancellors, Deputy Registrars Human Resources, Faculty Deans, Director of Gender Schools, Senior Administrative Registrars, Chairpersons of Departments and males and female academics were also purposively selected. Semi structured interviews, focus group discussion and document analysis were used as data collection instruments. Data were analysed using content analysis and the emerging results were organised into different themes reflective of the participant’s responses. The findings of the study presuppose that the state universities Zimbabwe were implementing gender sensitive organisational culture through open door policy and this promoted transformational leadership in both universities. The study revealed that both universities consulted internal and external gender experts and top-down and bottom-up consultations were made during policy formulation. It was discovered from the study that both universities had also utilised gender mainstreaming and affirmative action as strategies for promoting female leadership and gender equality. Despite teaching and learning, community engagement, research, recruitment and promotions which were used to promote the gender agenda, there were indications that these were being implemented in a haphazard manner. This adversely influenced active participation of females in decision making processes. The collected data also showed that both universities had enacted gender structures which were in line with international, regional and national gender policies and conventions and were being used to irradiate the importance of having gender parity in top positions. The findings of the study further illuminated that monitoring and evaluation of the gender equality policy and programs in place to advance females to leadership positions had not been done, leading to major impediments to achievement of gender balance. There also emerged a number of challenges which were uniform in both universities namely; lack of gender knowledge; commitment, lack of gender training and workshops, lack of consultation using bottom-up approach, gender budgeting and inadequate resources. Though the above mentioned were identified as encumbering features in both universities there was a substantiation of pockets of good practices. These were; implementation of gender equality policy, involvement of internal and external gender experts to policy formulation; promotion of shared power and authentic leadership through transparent selection of chairperson of departments; gender workshop and training; staff development programmes; enactment of gender structures, enhanced community engagement and liaison with NGOs to promote gender agenda at all levels. Regardless of the number of hurdles that indicate that universities continue to be fraught with challenges in promoting female leadership, the pockets of good practices are evidence that both universities are making positive strides through the implementation of gender equality policies to enhance female leadership. Therefore, to benchmark changes in universities, the study recommends that transformational leadership must permeate in all university structures to promote an organisational culture that is gender sensitive. There must be adequate resources, gender training and workshops; focal persons and points; commitment and political will, gender experts from governmental to ministerial levels and satellite gender structures. Monitoring and evaluation should be carried out in both universities and this should be guided by a framework so as to assist universities to tap into female empowerment and gender equality that will promote the interests of both genders, while retaining the quality and excellence in universities. Lastly, the findings of the study and the extant literature are indicative that enhancement of female leadership in universities is currently affected by a number of challenges. Therefore, as part of redress, the researcher recommends a comprehensive framework which illuminates pockets of good practices in implementing gender equality policies to enhance female leadership in universities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Indigenous forests level of deforestation, forest dependency and factors determining willingness to participate in indigenous forest conservation: evidence from resettled farmers of Shamva, Zimbabwe
- Authors: Chivheya, Renias V
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Forest conservation -- Zimbabwe Forests and forestry -- Economic aspects -- Zimbabwe Deforestation -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/2370 , vital:27786
- Description: This study first explored the rate of forest deforestation in Shamva resettlement areas. It then identified and estimated the extent to which these resettled farmers depend on forest for their livelihoods. Evaluation of farmer perceptions on management issues and willingness to participate in indigenous forest conservation and the socio-economic and institutional factors which affect their willingness to participate were also done. Finally the study sought to identify incentives for forests conservation. The study was conducted in Shamva district in Mashonaland Central province. And the respondents were stratified into three groups: A1, A2 and Old resettlement models. The three models differ on how they were implemented and supported which might render them to have different deforestation rates, livelihood strategies and forest dependency. A total of 247 respondents were surveyed, consisting of 98 A1 farmers, 50 A2 farmers and 99 Old resettled farmers. The data was collected using GIS and remote sensing, structured questionnaire interviews and direct observation. The data was analysed using descriptive analysis, KAP analytic framework and binary logistic regression analysis. The land cover/changes results revealed that both deforestation and afforestation are taking place in Shamva resettlement. Woodland and bushland were decreasing, croplands were also decreasing. However woodland dense and grasslands were increasing. Deforestation was found to be as a result of the resettled farmers’ livelihood strategies which were found to be diverse and agriculture being dominant in all models. All the farmers depended on the forest but at varying levels of 19 percent for Old and 14 percent forA1 and 0.02 percent for A2 resettle farmers. 84 percent of the interviewed farmers however, indicated that they are willing to conserve forest with A1 farmers being the highest followed by A2 86 percent and lastly Old resettled farmers at 76.8 percent. Results of the binary regression model revealed that the significant factors which explain willingness to participate in indigenous forest conservation are age, marital status, education, gender, institution, culture and belief, employment and household size. The highest preferred incentive was the provision of free seedlings and the lowest was out grower scheme. The study recommends that GIS and remote sensing should be used to monitor deforestation, off farm projects be encouraged, exotic and indigenous trees be promoted and forest conservation education be promoted in resettlement areas.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Chivheya, Renias V
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Forest conservation -- Zimbabwe Forests and forestry -- Economic aspects -- Zimbabwe Deforestation -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/2370 , vital:27786
- Description: This study first explored the rate of forest deforestation in Shamva resettlement areas. It then identified and estimated the extent to which these resettled farmers depend on forest for their livelihoods. Evaluation of farmer perceptions on management issues and willingness to participate in indigenous forest conservation and the socio-economic and institutional factors which affect their willingness to participate were also done. Finally the study sought to identify incentives for forests conservation. The study was conducted in Shamva district in Mashonaland Central province. And the respondents were stratified into three groups: A1, A2 and Old resettlement models. The three models differ on how they were implemented and supported which might render them to have different deforestation rates, livelihood strategies and forest dependency. A total of 247 respondents were surveyed, consisting of 98 A1 farmers, 50 A2 farmers and 99 Old resettled farmers. The data was collected using GIS and remote sensing, structured questionnaire interviews and direct observation. The data was analysed using descriptive analysis, KAP analytic framework and binary logistic regression analysis. The land cover/changes results revealed that both deforestation and afforestation are taking place in Shamva resettlement. Woodland and bushland were decreasing, croplands were also decreasing. However woodland dense and grasslands were increasing. Deforestation was found to be as a result of the resettled farmers’ livelihood strategies which were found to be diverse and agriculture being dominant in all models. All the farmers depended on the forest but at varying levels of 19 percent for Old and 14 percent forA1 and 0.02 percent for A2 resettle farmers. 84 percent of the interviewed farmers however, indicated that they are willing to conserve forest with A1 farmers being the highest followed by A2 86 percent and lastly Old resettled farmers at 76.8 percent. Results of the binary regression model revealed that the significant factors which explain willingness to participate in indigenous forest conservation are age, marital status, education, gender, institution, culture and belief, employment and household size. The highest preferred incentive was the provision of free seedlings and the lowest was out grower scheme. The study recommends that GIS and remote sensing should be used to monitor deforestation, off farm projects be encouraged, exotic and indigenous trees be promoted and forest conservation education be promoted in resettlement areas.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
A narrative-discursive analysis of abortion decision-making in Zimbabwe
- Authors: Chiweshe, Malvern Tatenda
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/496 , vital:19964
- Description: Most research on abortion decision-making has looked at the factors or influences that are seen to affect abortion decision-making and thus take a health determinants approach. However, this approach is rarely able to account for the complex, multi-faceted nature of abortion decision-making, and it is often not located within a framework that can unpick the complex array of power relations that underpins the process of abortion decision-making. Research on abortion decision-making has rarely examined how women who undergo a termination of pregnancy (TOP) construct micro-narratives of the decision to terminate the pregnancy and also how these women are positioned by the service providers who interact with them. Using a Foucauldian postcolonial feminist approach and narrative-discursive analysis, this study explores abortion decision-making narratives in a Zimbabwean context where abortion laws are restrictive. In this study I elicited the narratives of women who had undergone an abortion about how they came to make the decision and proceeded to terminate the pregnancy. I highlight the discourses employed in constructing these narratives and how women position themselves in these narratives and discourses. These are then compared to the subject positions enabled in health service providers’ narratives on the same topic. These narratives are then linked to the social discourses and power relations that work to enable or constrain reproductive justice. The data were collected from three sites in Harare, Zimbabwe. The three sites were Harare Hospital, Epworth and Mufakose. An adapted version of Wengraf’s (2001) narrative interview was used to elicit narratives from 18 women who had terminated pregnancies (six at each site). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six service providers (two nurses at Harare Hospital, two village health workers in Epworth and two nurses in Mufakose). All the service providers interviewed have experience working with women who have terminated pregnancies. In narrating their stories about their abortions, the women employed discursive resources around shame, stigma, religion, health and culture. These discursive resources were drawn upon in the construction of the women’s micro-narratives. The women spoke in a socially sanctioned manner where stories were enabled and constrained by particular religious, cultural and gendered discursive resources. In these stories, cultural constructions, gendered understandings of motherhood and femininity constrained reproductive justice for women who have terminated pregnancies. Comparisons of the way women positioned themselves and how they were positioned by health service providers point to the existence of social discourses and power relations that work to constrain reproductive justice. While the women saw themselves as having ‘unsupportable pregnancies’, the service providers positioned them as being evil, selfish and irresponsible. The negative positions deployed by the service providers point to the vilification and blaming of women who have undergone a termination of pregnancy. In these positions, the woman is at fault and there is silence on the role of men in abortion decision-making. In the women’s narratives and the health service providers positioning of the women a ‘reproductive rights’ discourse was absent. This was significant as much of the activism around abortion has centred on the woman’s rights to her body. Where rights were mentioned, it was in reference to foetal rights (using cultural, moralistic religious understandings of abortion as killing). The missing ‘reproductive rights’ discourse points to a need to move from a reproductive rights framework to a reproductive justice framework that can be applied through local understandings of hunhu/ubuntu. By doing this, abortion is not seen as a ‘choice’ that a woman makes but rather as involving broader social and environmental circumstances that make a pregnancy ‘unsupportable’.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Chiweshe, Malvern Tatenda
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/496 , vital:19964
- Description: Most research on abortion decision-making has looked at the factors or influences that are seen to affect abortion decision-making and thus take a health determinants approach. However, this approach is rarely able to account for the complex, multi-faceted nature of abortion decision-making, and it is often not located within a framework that can unpick the complex array of power relations that underpins the process of abortion decision-making. Research on abortion decision-making has rarely examined how women who undergo a termination of pregnancy (TOP) construct micro-narratives of the decision to terminate the pregnancy and also how these women are positioned by the service providers who interact with them. Using a Foucauldian postcolonial feminist approach and narrative-discursive analysis, this study explores abortion decision-making narratives in a Zimbabwean context where abortion laws are restrictive. In this study I elicited the narratives of women who had undergone an abortion about how they came to make the decision and proceeded to terminate the pregnancy. I highlight the discourses employed in constructing these narratives and how women position themselves in these narratives and discourses. These are then compared to the subject positions enabled in health service providers’ narratives on the same topic. These narratives are then linked to the social discourses and power relations that work to enable or constrain reproductive justice. The data were collected from three sites in Harare, Zimbabwe. The three sites were Harare Hospital, Epworth and Mufakose. An adapted version of Wengraf’s (2001) narrative interview was used to elicit narratives from 18 women who had terminated pregnancies (six at each site). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six service providers (two nurses at Harare Hospital, two village health workers in Epworth and two nurses in Mufakose). All the service providers interviewed have experience working with women who have terminated pregnancies. In narrating their stories about their abortions, the women employed discursive resources around shame, stigma, religion, health and culture. These discursive resources were drawn upon in the construction of the women’s micro-narratives. The women spoke in a socially sanctioned manner where stories were enabled and constrained by particular religious, cultural and gendered discursive resources. In these stories, cultural constructions, gendered understandings of motherhood and femininity constrained reproductive justice for women who have terminated pregnancies. Comparisons of the way women positioned themselves and how they were positioned by health service providers point to the existence of social discourses and power relations that work to constrain reproductive justice. While the women saw themselves as having ‘unsupportable pregnancies’, the service providers positioned them as being evil, selfish and irresponsible. The negative positions deployed by the service providers point to the vilification and blaming of women who have undergone a termination of pregnancy. In these positions, the woman is at fault and there is silence on the role of men in abortion decision-making. In the women’s narratives and the health service providers positioning of the women a ‘reproductive rights’ discourse was absent. This was significant as much of the activism around abortion has centred on the woman’s rights to her body. Where rights were mentioned, it was in reference to foetal rights (using cultural, moralistic religious understandings of abortion as killing). The missing ‘reproductive rights’ discourse points to a need to move from a reproductive rights framework to a reproductive justice framework that can be applied through local understandings of hunhu/ubuntu. By doing this, abortion is not seen as a ‘choice’ that a woman makes but rather as involving broader social and environmental circumstances that make a pregnancy ‘unsupportable’.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
A maturity grid-based method for assessing communication in business-IT alignment
- Authors: Coertze, Jacques Jacobus
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Business communication , Management information systems
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/6740 , vital:21139
- Description: This thesis reports on the research undertaken to develop a method for organisations to assess human communication between their business and IT personnel as part of business–IT alignment. The research described in this thesis involves (i) a literature review in business–IT alignment and related fields, such as management studies and communication science; (ii) a Delphi study conducted among industry members, practitioners, and academics operating in the IT advisory, auditing and communication disciplines; and (iii) a case study of a public sector organisation in South Africa. By adopting a system-theoretic perspective on communication, this thesis proposes that communication in business–IT alignment can be seen as coordinating behaviour and a series of learning and reflection events, consequently culminating in increased mutual understanding. Various conceptualisations of communication are explored and, together with several industry elicited factors that influence communication in business–IT alignment, are incorporated into a conceptual model informing the assessment method. This research developed, applied, and tested a method whereby organisations can assess the quality of the human communication between their business and IT personnel as part of the business–IT alignment endeavour. The aim of this method is to trigger reflection on communication by considering communication philosophy and practices in business–IT alignment. The method, termed the ‘Business-IT Communication Alignment Maturity Improvement Communication Alignment Maturity Improvement (CAMI) method’, is based on a maturity grid-based approach, which stems originally from process improvement in software development and quality management. This thesis is most closely aligned with the research performed by Maier, Eckert, and Clarkson (2004, 2006), who successfully applied the maturity grid-based approach to investigate, audit and assess communication within the engineering design process. The question addressed in this thesis is whether this approach can be successfully extrapolated to the business–IT alignment context and whether it would yield similar benefits. Furthermore, the issue of whether it would offer a practical method for use in organisations is also addressed. Having applied the CAMI method at a public sector organisation, this thesis proposes that the maturity grid-based approach can indeed be extrapolated to iv the business–IT alignment context, consequently offering a viable and practical method for assessing communication in organisations. In particular, the CAMI method allows organisations to capture both their current and their desired communication situations and to expose discrepancies between the perceptions held by their business and IT personnel. These results form a basis for action planning, strategizing, and, ultimately, interventions for improvement. In conclusion, the thesis discusses further application and extension possibilities for the assessment method.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Coertze, Jacques Jacobus
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Business communication , Management information systems
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/6740 , vital:21139
- Description: This thesis reports on the research undertaken to develop a method for organisations to assess human communication between their business and IT personnel as part of business–IT alignment. The research described in this thesis involves (i) a literature review in business–IT alignment and related fields, such as management studies and communication science; (ii) a Delphi study conducted among industry members, practitioners, and academics operating in the IT advisory, auditing and communication disciplines; and (iii) a case study of a public sector organisation in South Africa. By adopting a system-theoretic perspective on communication, this thesis proposes that communication in business–IT alignment can be seen as coordinating behaviour and a series of learning and reflection events, consequently culminating in increased mutual understanding. Various conceptualisations of communication are explored and, together with several industry elicited factors that influence communication in business–IT alignment, are incorporated into a conceptual model informing the assessment method. This research developed, applied, and tested a method whereby organisations can assess the quality of the human communication between their business and IT personnel as part of the business–IT alignment endeavour. The aim of this method is to trigger reflection on communication by considering communication philosophy and practices in business–IT alignment. The method, termed the ‘Business-IT Communication Alignment Maturity Improvement Communication Alignment Maturity Improvement (CAMI) method’, is based on a maturity grid-based approach, which stems originally from process improvement in software development and quality management. This thesis is most closely aligned with the research performed by Maier, Eckert, and Clarkson (2004, 2006), who successfully applied the maturity grid-based approach to investigate, audit and assess communication within the engineering design process. The question addressed in this thesis is whether this approach can be successfully extrapolated to the business–IT alignment context and whether it would yield similar benefits. Furthermore, the issue of whether it would offer a practical method for use in organisations is also addressed. Having applied the CAMI method at a public sector organisation, this thesis proposes that the maturity grid-based approach can indeed be extrapolated to iv the business–IT alignment context, consequently offering a viable and practical method for assessing communication in organisations. In particular, the CAMI method allows organisations to capture both their current and their desired communication situations and to expose discrepancies between the perceptions held by their business and IT personnel. These results form a basis for action planning, strategizing, and, ultimately, interventions for improvement. In conclusion, the thesis discusses further application and extension possibilities for the assessment method.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016