Research in Social Sciences and Technology (E-Journals)
Not a member yet
299 research outputs found
Sort by
Innovation and Technology: A Panacea to Teaching and Learning Challenges during the Covid-19 Lockdown in South Africa
Get PDFInnovation and technology brought by the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) have become an urgent reality to all teachers because of the need for a virtual classroom. In South Africa, over 13 million students in almost 25,000 schools have been affected by the COVID-19 lockdown. Most school teachers were not trained for online teaching, which was the only safe method of teaching during the lockdown period. This study, therefore, investigated how innovation and technology were utilised to mitigate the virtual classroom problems during the COVID-19 lockdown. This study employed a qualitative research approach using interviews to collect data based on the phenomenological research design. The sample for this study consisted of 12 lecturers purposively drawn from one university in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Thematic content analysis was performed on the data. The findings revealed that a majority of the participants have poor pedagogical skills especially those related to using technologies such as Blackboard, Microsoft Teams, and V-Drive on computers for online teaching engagements during the COVID-19 lockdown; strategies utilised by the participants for their teaching activities during the lockdown included Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp voice notes, email attachments for sending bulky teaching materials to students, and other Computer-instructional resources. Thus, this study recommends an urgent need for capacity development workshops to equip lecturers with computer and ICT skills, knowledge, and strategies for online teaching delivery and increased provision of adequate learning and teaching facilities in all public educational institutions, including those in the rural areas
Teacher Educator Reflections on Preparing First Year Pre-Service Teachers for School-Based Work Integrated Learning in An Online Learning Environment
Get PDFDue to the COVID 19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, higher education institutions were forced to embark on online teaching and learning. This came at a point where the entire teacher fraternity was not prepared for this shift from traditional face-to-face interaction to virtual learning. This qualitative, exploratory study was undertaken as a comparative analysis of the teaching, learning and facilitation experiences of three Teacher Educators. The focus was on teacher educators who engaged in a formal online teacher training program with first year pre-service teachers enrolled on the Bachelor of Education qualification. Data was collected from the Teacher Educators in the form of interviews and reflective reports prepared at the conclusion of the 2021 academic year. The data was thematically analysed to distil common lessons, challenges and points for the 3 Teacher Educators with the intention of learning from and improving on practice. The paper addressed three research questions which guided the study and presents the researchers findings in the areas of student access to the learning platform; knowledge transfer from online lectures to practical application in the form of portfolio of evidence and the alignment between theory and practice. Recommendations include using a hybrid approach to preservice teacher preparation; using formative and summative assessment in making a judgement on competence and mastery and re-focussing student feedback as reflective essays
The American Effect on Physical Education and Sports in Turkey during the Early Republican Period
Get PDFThe establishment of the new Turkish state was accompanied by a new governmental system, modernization efforts, and reforms in all fields of life. Education, acknowledged as a phenomenon that prepares new generations for the future, became one of the main concerns among the republican reform programs. The lack of specialists to implement new educational programs required inviting professionals of the relevant fields from abroad, and the first to arrive was the American educational scientist John Dewey, only 9 months after the establishment of the republic. Thus, Turkish-American relations, which had begun with commercial and missionary activities during the Ottoman period, entered a new era. Dewey, who emphasized both mental and physical aspects of education as a whole, fostered the emergence of many new services in physical education and sports thanks to his reports. In addition to Dewey’s work, other American reports presented information and suggestions for physical education. The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), which played an essential role in the spread of recreational sports activities, launched many new sports branches and endeavors. This study addresses the effects of those reports and American experts’ suggestions, observations, and approaches for physical education and sports in Turkey
Do Personality Traits Matter in Preferences of Translation Strategies?
Get PDFTranslation is closely related to languages, linguistics, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, culture etc. and because of these relations, there are also a lot of theories which give importance either to source language or target language. Linguistic and other features of the source and target texts have been examined for years. But translator is an important element with an important role in translation process as well, and the influence of translators’ personality traits on their translation has been emphasized. Therefore, the aim of the current study is to investigate whether there are relations between translators’ personality characters and their translation strategy preferences. The BFI Test (Big Five-Factor Inventory) is administered to 28 English Translation and Interpreting students at Cappadocia University to determine the personality traits of the participants. Then they are asked to choose one of the suggested translations in accordance with the translation model. The data are analyzed through SPSS (v. 22). The findings indicate that there are significant relationships between personality traits of participants and their use of translation strategies. According to results, agreeableness personality trait has a significant relationship with borrowing strategy, openness and neuroticism have significant relationships with modulation strategy, and conscientiousness has a significant relationship with adaptation strategy. Only extraversion does not correlate significantly with any of the strategies
Citizenship Education in Early Republican Era in Turkey
Get PDFIn Turkey, the Republican Era, which started in 1923, is a period in which state institutions were rapidly restructured and these institutions were reconstituted within the framework of the ideology of the newly established state. Education has taken its share in this reconstruction process as well. One of the important regulations in the field of education was the 1924 curriculum. The 1924 curriculum was quite important in terms of reflecting the Republic’s perspective on education and the importance it attaches to education. Through this curriculum, it was aimed to raise patriotic individuals who are loyal to the philosophy and values of the Republic, have national consciousness, and understand the new state, institutions and organizations. The aim of the research is to examine the first citizenship education course of the Republic of Turkey, Musâhabât-ı Ahlâkiyye & Malumât-ı Vataniye [Conversations on Morality and Civics], which was included in the 1924 educational program. In the study, this curriculum was analyzed by employing the historical research method.
Keywords: History of education, citizenship education, 1924 curriculum, republican era, historical researc
A Trajectory towards a Culture of Quality: A Phenomenological Study of an Open Distance Learning University in South Africa and in China
Get PDFOver the past few years we have witnessed immense advancements of technology which challenge conventional teaching methodologies. Through an international staff exchange program that was attended over a period of two weeks, this paper compares two distance education universities from two culturally diverse continents; Africa and Asia, more specifically, a distance university in China and an open distance and e-Learning university in South Africa. This paper focuses on supporting students through quality assurance by reflecting on both distance-learning institutions and generated data by means of field notes and observations that took place during presentations. It is argued that effective and quality teaching and learning cannot occur without tightened quality control measures in a course. Arguably, if teaching and learning is quality controlled, success and throughput rates would improve. The findings in this paper indicate that an enabling environment that caters for quality assurance activities to be implemented on a continuous basis needs to be effected. Distance learning institutions need to move towards a culture of quality and by doing this they need to tailor their student support not just to produce graduates at end of a cohort but to produce quality graduates needed for the ever-evolving and rapidly transforming information and communication technologies. This paper concludes with recommendations for distance education institutions to move towards a trajectory of a culture of quality. It is argued that an environment that is conducive for quality assurance activities is needed for an effective culture of quality to ensue
The Effects of Emotional Intelligence on Teachers’ Classroom Performance: A Case of Primary Schools in Southeast Region of Botswana
Get PDFThe purpose of the study was to examine the effects of emotional intelligence (EI) on teachers’ performance in Southeast Region primary schools in Botswana. The research methodology applied was mixed methods. The target group consisted of 300 teachers from 16 primary schools in Botswana's Southeast Region. The participants were chosen using a simple random sampling procedure. Seventy (70) out of 300 teachers comprising both males and females with years of work experience ranging from less than 2 to more than 10 were used as the sample in the study. The 9-layered model of the EI pyramid was used as the theoretical framework for the study. The pragmatism paradigm was used to blend qualitative and quantitative research approaches to arrive at trustworthy conclusions about the effects of EI on teacher performance in primary schools in Botswana's Southeast Region. The findings of the study revealed that primary school teachers in the Southeast Region of Botswana require EI skills to enhance their performance, improve their attitudes towards their instructional practices, and apply appropriate ways of assisting and encouraging struggling learners and colleagues. The findings also indicated a link between teachers' EI and academic performance. 
Platformisation of Education: An Analysis of South African Universities’ Learning Management Systems
Get PDFSeveral studies have focused attention on the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on the traditional face-to-face teaching and learning activities across the globe. There is, however, little research regarding the platformisation of education with the aid of the learning management systems (LMSs) in the contexts of South African universities. With a thematic content analysis of the extant literature and a systematic review of universities’ websites, this study explored and unearthed various LMS platforms which public universities in South Africa adopted and utilized before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and during the lockdown period. The findings revealed that the majority (46%) of South Africa’s public universities used the Blackboard LMS while another 34 percent of the 26 universities used the Moodle LMS. The rest of the public universities in South Africa used one of the following LMS platforms: the Vula, Efundi, ClickUp, RUConnected, Sakai, SunLearn, Canvas, and D2LBrightspace. Furthermore, the study found that a few South African universities had moved from one LMS platform to another, especially during the period of lockdown precipitated by the pandemic; beginning from the year 2020. The LMS platforms serve the pedagogical needs of the universities in terms of facilitation of online interaction between instructors and students, dissemination of course materials, announcements, submissions, assessments, and grading of student assignments electronically. It is recommended that future studies should investigate the challenging factors responsible for the switch from one LMS platform to another across the public universities in South Africa
Exploring Perceived Human Resources Factors Influencing the Performance of Grade 12 Accounting Learners in North West Secondary Schools in South Africa
Get PDFThis study explored the perceived human resources factors influencing the performance of accounting learners in North West secondary schools in South Africa. Despite the significant role that secondary school accounting education is perceived to play in shaping the development of accounting professionals, few studies have focused on investigating the effect of human resources on accounting learners’ performance in secondary school. The study sought to understand the human resource factors influencing the performance of accounting learners in North West secondary schools in South Africa. The study’s findings may assist the school management to improve human resource utilisation towards the achievement of a better accounting learners’ performance. To address the gap in the literature, a mixed method sequential explanatory study was conducted in North West districts with 183 School Management Teams and 61 educators. The sequential explanatory study aimed to explore the perceived human resources factors influencing the performance of Grade 12 Accounting learners in secondary schools in the North West Province, South Africa. The findings from the quantitative phase showed that human resource factors such as pedagogical subject content knowledge and skills held by the educator are perceived to influence learner performance. In the second phase, the qualitative approach validated and explained the various human resource factors that influence accounting learners’ performance in North West secondary schools in South Africa. School management should ensure that they employ adequate accounting learners to teach accounting in schools. This is so because accounting requires a pedagogical content knowledge and skills in teaching and learning. In conclusion, it is recommended that schools interested in improving learner performance should identify and address context-specific perceived human resources factors that influence learner performance within their schools.This study explored the perceived human resources factors influencing the performance of accounting learners in North West secondary schools in South Africa. Despite the significant role that secondary school accounting education is perceived to play in shaping the development of accounting professionals, few studies have focused on investigating the effect of human resources on accounting learners’ performance in secondary school. The study sought to understand the human resource factors influencing the performance of accounting learners in North West secondary schools in South Africa. The study’s findings may assist the school management to improve human resource utilisation towards the achievement of a better accounting learners’ performance. To address the gap in the literature, a mixed method sequential explanatory study was conducted in North West districts with 183 School Management Teams and 61 educators. The sequential explanatory study aimed to explore the perceived human resources factors influencing the performance of Grade 12 Accounting learners in secondary schools in the North West Province, South Africa. The findings from the quantitative phase showed that human resource factors such as pedagogical subject content knowledge and skills held by the educator are perceived to influence learner performance. In the second phase, the qualitative approach validated and explained the various human resource factors that influence accounting learners’ performance in North West secondary schools in South Africa. School management should ensure that they employ adequate accounting learners to teach accounting in schools. This is so because accounting requires a pedagogical content knowledge and skills in teaching and learning. In conclusion, it is recommended that schools interested in improving learner performance should identify and address context-specific perceived human resources factors that influence learner performance within their schools
Exploring Teachers’ Lived Experiences on the Integration of Values Education in South African High Schools
Get PDFValues education has become a necessary tool in response to the rise in moral deterioration in an average South African society today. The school is viewed as one of the key players in nurturing children into adulthood. The teaching of values that can give the growing generation, necessary moral development is one of the responsibilities of the schools. Hence, this study aims at exploring teachers’ experiences on how they integrate values education into South African learners in various high schools. This qualitative study engaged five schools in its case study, where five teachers from each of the schools were purposively selected for semi-structured focus group interviews, to share their experiences on the integration of moral values in schools. Moral development theory was used to underpin the study. Findings from the inductive thematic analysis from the participants from both rural and urban schools indicated a misunderstanding of the concept of values education by some teachers, which affects its effective integration. The study established that role modelling of learners by teachers and parents are inevitable to save the society from moral decadence, while some participants indicted overpopulation, single parenthood, social media as some of the challenges to the integration of value education in schools. The study, therefore, recommends capacitation of teachers through various professional development programmes, to integrate values education and adequate parental support as some of the strategies to promote effective integration of values education in schools