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A Review of the Book 'History of Mathematics in Africa, Volume 1 & 2'
No full textA book Review by Prof. Iraki Kangethe, a Faculty in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at USIU AfricaThe etymology of the term mathematics (mathematikos) points to two Greek words, mathema and manthanein, indexing a science and to learn respectively. Subsequently, mathematics has been defined as the study of the measurement, properties, and relationships of quantities and sets, using numbers and symbols (Collins). More broadly, mathematics is the study or use of numbers and shapes to calculate, represent or describe things (Oxford). Distilling from the definitions above is the incontrovertible argument that mathematics is essential to reasoning.
Reasoning is critical to the advancement of any society. Underwood Dudley in a paper entitled “What is mathematics for?” argues that society cannot do without mathematics. He further notes that mathematics is the best way to learn how to reason, and that is its purpose, not to find jobs. Little wonder than the WeUSeMath.org concludes that math leads to purpose, opportunities and success
Popular, Commercial or Didactic? Some Notes on Fasihi Pendwa
No full textThe purpose of this article is to outline a number of specific traits intrinsic to a literary phenomenon that is known as fasihi pendwa (relative Kiswahili equivalent of the term “popular literature”). The article uses as research material popular writing in Kiswahili from Tanzania, since Kenyan popular literature in the language still appears to be in its formation phase. Using two basic genres of fasihi pendwa – that is, love story and detective story – the article outlines their common traits which characterize these genres on different levels. The author stresses the fact that in Tanzania fasihi pendwa performs mainly educating and moralizing functions, serving as vehicles for local moral norms, social demands and worldviews
Review of Real Estate Investment Trusts in Kenya
No full textA Project Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Master in Business Administration (MBA)The purpose of this research was to review the introduction and development of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) in Kenya. The research aimed to establish: the benefits of REITs to key stakeholders including investors, the risks associated with developing REITs in Kenya, and what can be done to enhance their existence in the Kenyan market.
The study employed the descriptive research design in the explanation of characteristics associated with the subject population, who in this case was Kenya’s investment management firms. The research was conducted during the months of May through to July 2016 through the use of questionnaires distributed to the subject population, while the analysis of both the quantitative and qualitative data was done using the SPSS data analysis software.
The findings showed that there is a high level of justification for the introduction of REITs in the Kenyan market due to the massive array of benefits associated with investing in them. These benefits include the fact that REITs facilitate: Access to investment in large scale real estate projects for small individual investors, diversification benefits for investors, liquidity advantage over direct investment in privately traded underlying real estate assets, access to professionally managed portfolio for the investor, reduced development costs for property developers, tax advantages and limited legal liability for the shareholders of a tax qualified REIT, and a regular income stream for the investor via the dividends distributed by the REIT.
While there were some risks associated with the introduction of and development of REITs in the country, the cross section of questionnaire respondents who were used in this study deemed the benefits far more extensive than the risks. In addition to this, it was also demonstrated that there are quite the number of steps that can be taken to mitigate the risks involved, as well as enhance the development of REITs in the country, key of which were: public education on REITs, need for the land ministry to address challenges surrounding land ownership and issuance of title deeds, need for property owners and developers to raise funds through the capital markets, and the need for enabling legislation.
The study further went on to identify further areas of research into the policy changes that would be required to propel REIT development in Kenya, as well as the relationship between the different stakeholders in the property and capital markets, and how the regulations put in place by these bodies enhance REIT development
Readiness: the Key Factor in Remedial Teaching and Learning
No full textA Journal article by Dr. Tom Onditi, an Associate Professor and the Dean, School of Humanities and Social Sciences at USIU-AfricaThe question of the extent of readiness of all participants for remediation is critical for the success of the program. Readiness of students entering university education is increasingly becoming a serious matter of concern. Large numbers of students graduate from secondary education but many are underprepared for postsecondary work. They need to undertake college level education but find that they need remediation to
proceed in their pursuit of tertiary education. The remedial program means taking longer in college,uncertainty regarding whether they will complete this level of education, additional financial costs, and
negative attitudes. Many of these underprepared students are therefore left questioning whether they deserve to be in remedial classes. They are not the only group that needs to address readiness for remediation as a matter of significance; university lecturers, sponsors or guardians, the universities themselves, and the government, all need to assess their readiness at the onset of a remedial program. This paper explores the concept of readiness as a critical determinant of the success of a remedial program and demonstrates that remediation is beneficial as it enables students to tap into the benefits of university education. Remediation also enables nations to draw from the huge potential from students who would, without remediation, be kept out of careers.
It concludes that remediation is important despite the attendant costs and attitudes
There are bigger dangers to the youth than broadcast content
No full textA Newspaper article by Abraham Mulwo, visiting Faculty in the School of Science and Technology at USIU-AfricaA series of guidelines and directives issued by the Kenya Film Classification Board in recent days has stoked controversy surrounding media regulation.
Several questions have been raised, not only regarding the mandate of the board, but also whether regulating broadcast content, in itself, will serve any purpose in contemporary society.
While I do not entirely disagree with the need to protect our young people from exposure to inappropriate content, I also believe that, to continue focusing our attention on media regulation is to miss the bigger picture regarding the complexity of the moral question in the everyday life of our young people.
We are living in a rapidly changing society where a multiplicity of factors are contributing to the difficulty of regulating, or even monitoring, content that our young people have access to.
The rapid evolution of information technology, coupled with the challenges of everyday life that have considerably reduced the level of interaction between children and their parents, have altered the forms of socialisation that our children are exposed to.
Many now agree that a modern child, especially among the middle class, is raised by the house help, the media, and the teacher.
In most modern families, especially those that live and work in urban centres, parents have limited time with their children.
They leave for work before the children wake up and go back to the house when the children are preparing to, or have already gone to bed.
Even when parents are able to have contact with their children, the stresses of everyday life make it difficult to engage in meaningful conversations that would help the children make sense of, and cope with, their world.
Parents come home tired and having a lot to worry about. They, therefore, need space to relax and reflect on the events of the day and think about their future
A Behavior-Based Intervention That Prevents Sexual Assault: the Results of a Matched-Pairs, Cluster-Randomized Study in Nairobi, Kenya
No full textJournal ArticleThe study’s design was a cluster-randomized,matched-pairs, parallel trial of a behavior-based sexual assault prevention intervention in the informal settlements.The participants were primary school girls aged 10–16. Classroom-based interventions for girls and boys were delivered by instructors from the same settlements, at the same time, over six 2-h sessions. The girls’ program had components of empowerment, gender relations, and self-defense. The boys’ program promotes healthy gender norms. The control
armof the study received a health and hygiene curriculum. The primary outcome was the rate of sexual assault in the prior 12 months at the cluster level (school level). Secondary outcomes included the generalized self-efficacy scale, the distribution
of number of times victims were sexually assaulted in the prior period, skills used, disclosure rates, and distribution of perpetrators. Difference-in-differences estimates are reported with bootstrapped confidence intervals. Fourteen schools with 3147 girls from the interventiogroup and 14 schools with 2539 girls from the control
group were included in the analysis. We estimate a 3.7 % decrease, p = 0.03 and 95 % CI = (0.4, 8.0), in risk of sexual assault in the intervention group due to the intervention (initially 7.3 % at baseline). We estimate an increase in mean generalized self-efficacy score of 0.19 (baseline average 3.1, on a 1–4 scale), p = 0.0004 and 95 % CI = (0.08, 0.39). Interpretation This innovative intervention that combined parallel training for young adolescent girls and boys in school settings showed significant reduction in the rate of sexual assault among girls in this population
Critical Success Factors That Influence Strategy Implementation in Private Universities: A Case Study of United States International University- Africa
No full textA Research Project Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of
Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of
Masters in Business Administration (MBA)The purpose of this study was to examine the critical success factors that influence strategy implementation at USIU. The study addressed the following objectives; to identify leadership, organization resource allocation factors, and effects of organization culture on strategy implementation at USIU.
This study adopted a descriptive research design, and a sample of seventy respondents was selected. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected, where Simple random sampling and purposive sampling were used to administer data collection instruments for the varying groups. The study used questionnaires and one on one interview sessions as data collection instruments. The questionnaire data was analysed using descriptive statistics. Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) was used to conduct analysis of the data.
The findings of the study revealed that there is clear communication from top management regarding matters of strategy implementation. The responses also revealed that the leadership is involved in the process and in turn inspired and supported employee’s commitment towards attaining objectives of USIU. The study also revealed that the university structure adequately supports strategy implementation thorough its ability to allocate resources, formulate functional objectives and plan for operational effectiveness. However a considerable number of respondents felt that there was a challenge with allocation of adequate resources to uphold the implementation process.
A culture-strategy fit was also established. The new leadership demonstrated a clear understanding of the strategy process while exhibiting openness to organization culture. More so, the university showed preparedness towards embracing the change in the business environment to promote the strategy implementation process.
The study recommends that leadership should endorse reward systems that will influence team members to own the process. Talent of individuals should also be identified and developed to surge inner capabilities for successful implementation of strategy. USIU should also consider creative ideas for sourcing of additional funds and resources to support the strategy implementation process
Determinants of Employee Productivity in Private Limited Companies in Kenya A Case Study of Equatorial Nut Processors Ltd
No full textA Research Project Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Organizational Development (MOD)The purpose of the study was to examine factors affecting employee productivity in private limited companies with a specific concentration at Equatorial Nut Processors Ltd (ENP). In order to realize this, various specific objectives were pursued, these included: to find out the institutional factors that affect employee productivity at Equatorial Nut Processor Limited; to examine the environmental factors affecting employee productivity at Equatorial Nut Processor Limited; and finally to establish how employee characteristics affect their productivity at Equatorial Nut Processor Limited. In the study, descriptive research design was adopted in order to examine the factors that affected employee productivity at Equatorial Nut Processors Ltd (ENP). The target population of the study were employee of the company whose sampling frame was obtained in the company’s human resource office. To obtain the sample elements, stratified sampling was adopted by dividing the target population in to homogenous groups. In terms of data, the study relied on primary data collected using structured questionnaires that contained both open ended and closed ended questions. The tool was pre-tested to ascertain its reliability and validity. Data collected was checked for errors and omissions and then coded before applying Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to obtain both descriptive and inferential statistics. The study results show that institutional, environmental factors and personal characteristics affect employ productivity. Regarding the institutional factors, the study established that organizational goal was the most contributing factor to higher employee productivity level. Work commitment level was the second followed by goal setting by the organization, meeting performance targets, innovation and problem solving capabilities. Other factors were teamwork and training of colleagues, organization structure, and performance appraisal and employee motivation. In relation to environmental factors, it was established that satisfaction with the working environment was the major factor contributing to high level of productivity followed by supervisor support. The other factors were found to have a slight effect on employee productivity, these are conflict between work and personal life, working infrastructure, promotion in the organization, employee compatibility with organization culture, organization transparency, training and career development opportunities and pay and rewards. In relation to personal characteristics, it was established that employee training was the factor most contributing to high employee productivity, followed by employee relationship with colleagues, age of employee. Other employee related factors found to affect employee productivity were marital status, gender and the education level of the employee.From the study it can be concluded that, institution factors help employee to perform at a high level. In relation to working environment, this study concludes that a satisfactory working environment and support from the supervisor will lead to high performance from the employee. Finally, it is inferred that a number of personal employee attributes affect employee performance. These include the training level of the employee, employee relationship with colleagues as well as the age of the employee.This study recommends for organizations need to take into account institutional factors that promote employees performance level and improve those factors in order to make employee perform well and thus achieve high productivity level from the employees. The organization should ensure employees are motivated so that they can perform highly at work, employees should from time to time be trained on new things to improve skills. Organizations should create an enabling environment of work that will enable employee work efficiently. Work supervision should be supportive of the employee as this will lead to high level of performance. Organization should retain employees for long, as these employee have experience that sharpen their work skills and make them work better and their productivity becomes high. The study also recommends for more team building activities that will foster
good employee relationships with colleague which in turn enhances their performance highly