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The effectiveness of national financial aid scheme towards student skills development at the University of Limpopo, South Africa
No full textThesis (M. Dev. (Planning and Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) was introduced in South Africa in 1999. Despite two decades of implementation—and some notable successes—the NSFAS has been critiqued for its overall “effectiveness” (McKay, Naidoo & Simpson 2018:25-27). This study investigated the effectiveness of NSFAS from the perspective of skills development among students at the University of Limpopo (UL). The study used a qualitative research design which purposively selected participants using a semi-structured interview instrument. The purposive sampling included nine NSFAS beneficiaries from the Faculties of Management and Law and Science and Agriculture and six NSFAS administrators working at UL. The study applied thematic analysis to analyse the collected data. The analysis enabled insights into the effectiveness of NSFAS on skills development among a limited sample at UL to be presented. The findings suggest that NSFAS funding contributes towards soft-skills development of student beneficiaries. There was less evidence that NSFAS funding contributed to hard-skills development. The study recommends that UL could introduce a number of measures to reinforce the soft-skills development that NSFAS catalysed such as internal mentorship schemes for students and/or engaged collaborations with non-academic partners to reinforce the soft-skills components of students learning experience. Due to the localised nature and small size it is suggested that further research is warranted into the impact of NSFAS on students soft-skills development at a broader scale. During the research process, the ethical rules and regulations dictated by the Turfloop Research and Ethics Committee (TREC) were complied with and the suggested protocols of the experiences of educational researchers in the use of case study design during the COVID-19 pandemic were also observed and adhered to
Values and employees' voluntary pro-environmental behaviour in small, medium and micro enterprises in Polokwane Municipality
Get PDFThesis (M.Com. (Business Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022The primary objective of the study was to examine the effect of values (biospheric
values, altruistic values, egoistic values and openness to change values) on voluntary
pro-environmental behaviour of employees of SMMEs.In addition, the study
investigated the moderating effect of demographic variables (gender, age and level of
education) in the relationship between values and pro-environmental behaviour. The
quantitative approach was utilised and the cross-sectional survey method was used
to collect data from the respondents that were conveniently sampled. The Cronbach’s
alpha was used to measure reliability and the Partial Least Square Structural Equation
Modelling (PLS SEM) was utilised to analyse data. The findings of the study indicated
that biospheric values has a negative relationship with employees’ voluntary proenvironmental
behaviour. Three values (altruistic, egoistic and openness to change
values) have significant positive relationships with voluntary pro-environmental
behaviour of employees. The moderating effects of gender, age and level of education
are insignificant. Recommendations on how to use values to improve the voluntary
pro-environmental behaviour of employees of SMMEs are outlined
(Re) purposing identity in African literatures : a post-colonial analysis of Nadine Gordimer's selected novels
Get PDFThesis (Ph.D (English Studies) -- University of Limpopo, 2022This study sought to repurpose identity in African literatures with reference to Nadine Gordimer’s novels. The selected novels of Gordimer focus on the post-colonial background of Africa. The advent of colonialists in Africa occasioned a major shift of identities in the continent. It is the contact between Africa and the West that engendered African identity-crisis. This qualitative study which has been predicated on post-colonial theory, Afrocentricity, and feminism aimed to crystalise the issues that come to grips with identity in the post-colonial African context. Chapter one of the study has outlined the background and motivation, which among other things, probes into the issue of identity in Africa. The coloniser moulded African identities with Western influence. Hence the birth of Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone African literatures. Moreover, chapter two has examined the shift of identity in Africa from the pre-colonial to the colonial and post-colonial backgrounds. This noted, African identity has undergone great transitions. The Western culture during the colonial and post-colonial African periods rose to predominance and appears to have a perennial influence on the future of Africa. Thus, the question of who an African is today has a complex answer. Many scholars have questioned the authenticity of defining African identity based on skin colour, language and birth. Chapters three, four and five have examined the theme of identity in Gordimer’s novels. Gordimer is one of the most established specialists of identity and her sampled novels for this study have reflected on Africa’s search and acquisition of post-colonial identity. Furthermore, Chapter six concluded that Gordimer’s novels have satisfactorily delineated the hurdles that menace Africa’s acquisition of a democratic identity such as the remnants of colonialism, which necessitate a robust decolonisation process. The chapter has also recommended that measures such as the rainbow project in (South) Africa should be embraced to break racial boundaries that oppose Africa’s acquisition of a democratic identity
The dynamic effects of monetary policy shocks on manufacturing sector growth in Nigeria
Get PDFThesis (Ph.D. (Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022Over the years there have been a series of monetary interventions taken by the monetary authorities in Nigeria to influence the growth of the manufacturing sector. These monetary interventions are usually called monetary policy shocks. The manufacturing sector remains an important sector of the Nigerian economy where the country is hoping to diversify reducing its dependence of the country on oil. This study investigated the effects of monetary policy shocks on manufacturing sector growth in the Nigerian economy from 1980Q1 to 2019Q4. The study was carried out under two broad modular theses namely examining the effects of monetary policy shocks on the manufacturing output growth of the Nigerian manufacturing sector and investigating the transmission mechanism through which global shocks transmit to the manufacturing output. The achievement of the first objective was done using the cointegration and Vector Error Correction Model where the long and short-run effects of monetary policy variables and other macroeconomic variables on the output of the manufacturing sector were examined. The second aspect of objective one which investigates the impact of monetary policy shocks on manufacturing output as well as the transmission mechanism through which the global shocks transmit to the manufacturing output growth was done using the VECM/VAR method with the application of both impulse response function and variance decomposition. Data on the variables were sought from both the World Bank tables and the International Financial Statistics 2020 edition. The result obtained from the first aspect of the analysis showed that there exists a long-run relationship between manufacturing output growth and monetary policy variables such as interest rate and money supply and other macroeconomic variables. Furthermore, the result further confirms the significant impact of the monetary policy rate on the manufacturing output growth both in the long and short run. Money supply failed to show the same significant impact. Notwithstanding, external variables such as World Oil Price and Federal Fund Rate also showed a significant effect on manufacturing output. Other variables with a long-run significant impact on manufacturing output growth are the Inflation rate and exchange rate. capita and labour. The second objective of the study which investigated the transmission mechanism through which global shocks affect the manufacturing output is done using the impulse response function and variance decomposition tools of the VECM. The confirmation of cointegration showed the adoption of VECM as against VAR and the impulse response function vividly showed the responses of manufacturing output to both the monetary policy shocks and global shocks as well as the medium through which these shocks are transmitted. The results further indicated that the effect of global shocks on manufacturing output makes use of the exchange rate channel and interest rate channel directly. Further analysis shows that exchange rate shocks also affect manufacturing output directly or indirectly through inflation rate. Again, Monetary policy shocks affect manufacturing output directly or indirectly through inflation and private sector credit respectively. The study recommends a more purposeful effort on the part of the monetary authorities in Nigeria to minimize the effect of external shocks on the manufacturing sector which has been aggravating the negative effects of monetary policy shocks on manufacturing output and frustrating internal monetary policy efforts of the Central Bank of Nigeria
Phenomenology : where Is It and what Is in It for us?
Get PDFJournal article published in African Perspectives of Research in Teaching & Learning Journal (APORTAL) Vol 6 (3) (2022) Special IssueThe new research interest in phenomenology brings with it the challenges it has faced in the
past, especially phenomenology itself. This essay-styled paper is about the availability of
phenomenology to education specialists. Phenomenology is approached here through a survey
and then pursued as an approach to education. It does so by asking two questions: Where does
phenomenology stand today and what does it bring to educators? Phenomenology as an activity
is presented in an undistorted way, showing its availability, and is illustrated with examples of
the thinking of important 20th century figures. The tools that phenomenology provides are
explicated. The essay includes my own experiences of phenomenology as a musician-
musicologist and concludes with a brief characterisation of education as a situation rather thana body of knowledge or a technique. It suggests, finally, that the most fruitful relationship between phenomenology and education would be a tool to orient and possibly change what defines the current situation
CPD and the development of teacher TPCK for technology integration : a hermeneutic phenomenological study
Get PDFJournal article published in African Perspectives of Research in Teaching & Learning Journal (APORTAL) Vol 6 (3) (2022) Special IssueThis paper explores the role of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) in developing
teachers’ competence in integrating technology into their practice to better understand the
provision of equitable and quality teaching and learning. Employing a phenomenological
research paradigm, underpinned by a hermeneutic phenomenological methodological research
design, data was collected from a purposive sample of 10 primary school teachers in the
Western Cape. Narrative and semi-structured interviews provided a rich and textured account
of the diverse ways in which teachers’ competence in technology integration was developed
by CPD. The data explication process applied, suggests that teaching and learning resources
were important factors in which CPD model participants were selected. However, teacher
agency exercised within structural and cultural conditions significantly shaped the effective
integration of technology in the diverse classroom context. This paper provides a more
nuanced understanding of the relationship between teacher context and CPD’s effect on
Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledg
Lived experiences of selected grade seven teachers’ integration of democratic values into their EMS lessons
Get PDFJournal article published in African Perspectives of Research in Teaching & Learning Journal (APORTAL) Vol 6 (3) (2022) Special IssueThis study investigates the lived experiences of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS)
teachers and how they integrate democratic values into their lessons. The study focuses
primarily on EMS teachers’ understanding of what democratic values are and how they were
implicitly integrated into certain EMS topics. Methodologically, the study employed a
Husserlian phenomenological approach to the data-construction process in which interviews
and fieldnotes were the main sources of data. This approach assisted the researchers in eliciting rich descriptions of the teachers’ experiences on how they integrate democratic values into
Grade 7 EMS lessons. A total of 5 EMS teachers were purposively selected to participate in the study. Theoretically, the study draws on Husserl’s ‘lifeworld’ theory and Heidegger’s
interpretive phenomenology with a focus on Dasein, which has been integrated with Karl
Maton’s Legitimation Code Theory (LCT). The findings revealed that the teachers all
integrated democratic values into their lessons. Their lessons were both rich in semantic gravity (SG+) and semantic density (SD+). From a Heideggerian perspective it showed how these values were cemented in their consciousness as part of their “Dasein” (“being there”) as children. The findings could help expand our understanding of what goes on in the minds of EMS teachers when they teach democratic value
The potency of ubuntugogy as a decolonised pedagogy in universities : challenges and solutions
Get PDFJournal article published African Perspectives of Research in Teaching & Learning Journal (APORTAL) Vol 6 (2) (2022)Pedagogy, a subset of modernity that could be regarded as the supremacy of Western epistemology, has been the major core of curricula implementation in the university system. This includes but is not limited to teaching, learning, and the teaching and learning process. However, this article argues that pedagogy and its implementation process are too Westernised, thereby rendering the teaching-learning process in rural classrooms ineffective because the Western epistemic process portends a pseudo-process with complicated pedagogical contour. This article challenges the impotence of pedagogy to reinvigorate the potency of Ubuntugogy as an alternative to the current pedagogical process in university classrooms. Ubuntugogy as a decolonial classroom technique underpinned the study. This study is located in the Transformative Paradigm (TP), informed by Participatory Research (PR) design in order to transform the assumed colonial Western epistemology using the views of university students and lecturers in a selected rural university in South Africa. A convenient selection method was used to select ten participants: five postgraduate students and five lecturers. An unstructured interview was used to elicit information from the participants while the data were subjected to Thematic Analysis (TA). The study discovered that the major challenges of Ubuntugogy are that university stakeholders lack interest in indigenous knowledge production and its implementation, and that the stereotypical mentality of people hinders the proposition of ubuntugogy. While collaborative instruction and Africanisation of things are a dimension of promoting ubuntugogy in the university system, all stakeholders must collaborate to ensure that knowledge is all-inclusive and culturally valued to enhance students' participation
Impact of participatory extension approach on the development of small holder farmers in Ga-Thaba and Spitzkop Villages of the Limpopo Province, South Africa
Get PDFThesis (M.Sc. Agriculture Management (Agricultural Extension)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022Farmer’s participation is a concept that is intended to ensure that farmers are an essential part of the processes to determine their destination in relation to their development needs. Participatory Extension Approach is well known approach for the encouragement of the efficient use of scarce natural resources and encouraging agricultural groups to play an important role in rural livelihoods in the Limpopo province.
This study was conducted in two villages Ga-Thaba in Ga-Molepo and Spitzkop in Ga-Mmamabolo. Within the two villages, three active groups (Jack Mafarane, Phekgelelo and Sekgololo) of farmers were part of the study. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of Participatory Extension Approach on strengthening individual farmers into organized groups in Ga-Thaba and Spitzkop villages. The objectives of the study were to identify and describe the socioeconomic characteristics of smallholder farmers in Ga-Thaba and Spitzkop villages. Also, to determine how smallholder farmers are organized in Ga-Thaba and Spitzkop villages. Likewise, to assess the characteristics of PEA amongst smallholder farmers in Ga-Thaba and Spitzkop villages. To evaluate the influence of PEA on smallholder farmers’ wellbeing in Ga-Thaba and Spitzkop villages
Eighty-two (82) active number was planned to be interviewed but the researcher was able to access (39) who accounted for 44% respondents were interviewed including the extension officers. Data was collected through semi-structured group interviews and observation were made during the farm visits. The primary data collected was analysed using SPSS to graphically summarize the situation of the ground.
The findings point to two important conclusions. First, the Participatory Extension Approach supports and assists farmers in their farming practices, particularly through the organization of meetings and farming demonstrations, and serves as a crucial link between farmers, extension services and other stakeholders. According to the study's findings, most maize farmers are organized in organizations with official structures. Further, the positive outcomes from getting the information about Participatory Extension Approach experienced by farmers includes high-quality produce and working as a group. On the other hand, the main negative impact of PEA includes the lack of extension support. It is therefore recommended that; the government should support smallholder farmers in all levels to ensure a strong commitment to participation in agricultural development project
Exploration of essay writing challenges experienced by grade 11 english first additional language learners in Maleboho Circuit, Limpopo Province
Get PDFThesis (M. Education) -- University of Limpopo, 2023Essay writing is one of the crucial skills required by learners to succeed in their
education but is difficult to master. Essay writing benefits learners by helping improve their spoken English and enhances their writing abilities (Okpe & Onjewu, 2017). The study explored challenges experienced by Grade 11 English First Additional Language learners in Maleboho Circuit, Limpopo Province. The study sought to understand the learners’ essay writing challenges and identify strategies to mitigate them. The study adopted a qualitative approach with a phenomenological design to grasp the learners’ lived experiences in essay writing. Six learners were sampled from twenty-seven Grade 11 EFAL learners. Data were collected from the teacher and learners using observations, documents, and semi-structured interviews. The content analysis technique was used to analyse the learners’ essays. The thematic data analysis technique was used to analyse data collected using the semi-structured interviews. The study found that learners experience many challenges in writing structured and coherent essays. The study discovered that learners were not effectively taught essay writing, thereby writing without planning, drafting, and editing. The study recommends that teachers should teach essay
writing by following proper writing processes as recommended by the Department of
Basic Education (DBE). The study also recommends that teachers should be continuously trained on the application of various writing strategies.National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS)
South African Humanities Deans Association (SAHUDA