KovsieJournals - University of the Free State (UFS)
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The use of Van Hiele’s geometric thinking model to interpret Grade 12 learners’ learning difficulties in Euclidean Geometry
Get PDFThe 21st-century mathematics classrooms should equip learners with well-grounded knowledge and thinking skills pertaining to geometry. However, Euclidean geometry remains one of the challenging, if not the most difficult topic for many learners. As a result, the purpose of this article is to interpret Grade 12 learners’ learning difficulties in Euclidean geometry. We use Van Hiele’s geometric thinking model and Hoffer’s skills to argue an interpretation of learning difficulties in Euclidean geometry as a focal point towards creating effective teaching and learning of this important topic. This explanatory sequential mixed-methods approach involved 60 Grade 12 learners who wrote a geometry test and completed a questionnaire based on Van Hiele’s geometric thinking levels. In addition, semistructured interviews were conducted with a sample of 12 learners and four educators to investigate their views about geometry learning difficulties. The findings of the study revealed that learners had poor conceptualisation of properties of shapes, visualisation skills, circle theorems and geometry terminology, resulting in them experiencing learning difficulties. The recommendations are that, during instruction learners should be given the opportunity to manipulate real geometric objects to enhance their visualisation and visual thinking skills. In addition, we recommend that educators should teach level-specific geometry vocabulary to enable learners to understand concepts at different Van Hiele’s levels. Furthermore, we recommend that educators should use constructivist teaching approaches that encourage learners’ conceptual understanding instead of traditional methods that promote rote memorisation of geometric facts. Educators should develop learners’ broad knowledge of geometry to overcome geometry-related errors and misconceptions
Editorial
Get PDFOne of the topical subjects globally at present is migration. From refugees fleeing wars in Ukraine and Russia to Donald Trump’s electioneering on immigration and border control in the United States of America to allegations of xenophobia against immigrants in Southern Africa, the subject remains alive. Historians have long researched and written on the topic, showing as they do, various facets to the subject. Even in the current discourses, historians remain attracted to the topic as is evidenced in this journal. This issue of the Southern Journal for Contemporary History opens with an article by Anusa Daimon entitled “Prominent Malawian Machona Progenies in Zimbabwe”. The article deals with a very important topic: the role of immigrants in colonial and post-colonial African territories. The presence of Malawians in Zimbabwe originated from the colonial labour migration system. Over the decades, as evidenced by Daimon, Malawians have carved significant roles in Zimbabwe and the whole southern African region. Brian Maregedze and Thembani Dube’s article “The involvement of Congolese and Rwandese immigrants in Harare urban transport sector, 1993-2022” also deals with African immigrants in Zimbabwe. Similarlyto Daimon’s contribution, it also includes an important use of oral sources. Tola Odubajo’s contribution deals with ECOWAS’ response to the 2021 Guinean coup d’etat. This is a welcomed topic for a journal that aims to cover areas of the continent beyond the English-speaking African territories, to which it mainly caters, and which encourages analyses of contemporary African political issues. We hope to see more contributions covering themes on Francophone and Lusophone Africa, as well as North Africa, in the future
Divorce: Achieving social justice through clinical legal education
Get PDFIn achieving social justice, a law clinic has to strike a balance between teaching of students and service to its clients. Divorce, as a simple service case, proves to be a good learning vehicle for students, whilst affording their clients social justice. The different systems of marriage and divorce, both in the past and present, the different divorce courts and litigation methodology are discussed. Bearing this is mind, the question of whether universities are failing in educating students to become lawyers, is analysed and solutions are sought through clinical legal education, using the model of divorce proceedings
How pre-service teachers talk about observed lessons: Implications for teacher education
Get PDFThe analyses of observed lessons are an important part of learning to teach. Pedagogically focused conversations are one way for pre-service teachers to do so. But how do pedagogically focused conversations enable pre-service teachers to make sense of observed teaching? Using a collective case-study approach, the study qualitatively explored the complexity of pedagogically focused conversations among differently qualified pre-service teachers during a focus-group interview. Complexity in participants’ conversations was operationalised using constellations from Legitimation Code Theory. I found that when participants had access to a shared conceptual language of practice, their pedagogically focused conversation could take observed practice apart and analyse its parts in terms of their suitability, what was lacking, and how it could be improved. A more complex conversation means that the pre-service teachers have a conceptual toolkit from which to draw to make sense of observed practice
Integrating corporate social responsibility as an infrastructural projects financing option in Lagos State, Nigeria
Get PDFThis article examines the infrastructural projects that were delivered through corporate social responsibility (CSR) by private organisations in Lagos State, Nigeria, with a view to providing information on the projects’ distribution that could help the development of a CSR policy guide. A mixed method research approach with structured questionnaire and semi-structured interviews was adopted. The questionnaire was administered to 27 representatives of private organisations identified through the Respondents-Driven Sampling (RDS) technique. Nine of these representatives were selected using convenience/accidental sampling technique for the interviews. The data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. The results show that private organisations’ participation in the delivery of infrastructural projects as CSR improved in the study area from 2010. It was noted that 85.7% of the total identified deliverable projects delivered by the private organisations were executed between 2010 and 2019. These projects include, among others, blocks of classroom; provision of pipe-borne water; landscaping and beautification; renovations of old health facilities; construction of library facilities; Information and Communication Technology (ICT) centres, and health facilities. The study indicates that private sector organisations are well disposed to undertake infrastructural projects as part of their CSR and thus provide categorical information suitable for policy formulation to enhance the integration of CSR into infrastructure development programmes. The study contributes to the concept of corporate social responsibility as a different financing alternative for the delivery of infrastructural projects. The study is limited to CSR-based infrastructural projects by private organisations for public institutions; the respondents are private-sector stakeholders
Strategies for promoting and preserving urban landscape identity through public participation amidst urban renewal changes: The case of Kisumu City, Kenya
Get PDFUrban renewal to revitalise urban realms within cities should aim to reinvigorate landscape identity, in order to maintain the city’s uniqueness and distinctiveness. The concern in urban renewal projects is how to sustain place identity, due to changes. In this study, urban landscape identity is the residents’ opinions and perceptions of the special features in terms of the physical, meaning, and function aspects that help them differentiate between places. This article postulates that effective public participation is important in identifying, promoting, and maintaining a city’s landscape identity in urban renewal projects. The article aims to propose appropriate strategies to develop and preserve urban landscape identity, with emphasis on public participation. At the time of the study, there were ongoing and completed urban renewal projects within Kisumu City, Kenya. A qualitative approach was adopted through interviews with four officials from County Government as key informants, four professionals as experts, and field investigation through mapping and photography. Archival document analysis was carried out based on documents from County Government. The study reveals that Lake Victoria and its scenery, parks, sociocultural activities at public parks, local foods, social interaction at public Central Square, and government buildings contributed to the city’s urban landscape identity. The study concludes that, in order to preserve landscape identity, it should be acknowledged in legislations and policies that guide urban renewal and developments, and in public participation processes. The study proposes amendments to the existing planning regulatory controls to guide the preservation of landscape identity in Kisumu. The study reveals concern for the preservation of urban landscape identity within urban renewal projects in the postcolonial era in the Global South
Narratives as a gateway to transitional justice: Reflections on research methodology
Get PDFIn many ways transitional justice is a battle of narratives. Both at the conception and implementation stages, it is contested in part by different meanings of what justice is, how harm is understood, and who the victim and perpetrator are. All these determine the trajectory the processes will take. How we reach deeper understanding about these battles and their implications is a result of our choice of research methodology. In this article, I reflect on the use of narrative as a philosophy of understanding the world, as a data source, a lens, and a method of investigation in relation to understanding the trajectory of transitional justice in Zimbabwe between 2000-2013. While the findings of the research have been presented in other outputs, this article gives insight into the research methodology. It argues that using narratives of violence as a gateway to transitional justice research is key to understanding the nuances that determine the trajectories transitional justice processes may take in any context
An evaluation of mediation in high-conflict situations: A reflection on mediating parenting plans
Get PDFAn evaluation of mediation in high-conflict situation
Corruption through bribery: A norm in South Africa’s public sector?
Get PDFCorruption continues to be a pandemic. Over centuries, it has managed to evolve in its perpetration, spread worldwide and immerse itself within the daily lives of society. Its ability to evolve and take different forms, has made it impossible to encapsulate into one watertight definition. Despite some sentiments that corruption may be acceptable for economic growth, corruption undermines the rule of law, the equal distribution of resources and services, and weakens the state institutions. No country is immune to corruption. In South Africa, corruption perpetrated through bribery has become a way of life. Bribery in the public sector involves members of a society offering valuable and/or monetary gifts to public officials. The continued prevalence of corruption in South Africa is worsened by both members of society and public officials. Through socio-legal perspective, the paper will examine selected sectors wherein bribery is prevalent. These sectors are selected due to exploitation by public officials or the need for service delivery from public officials. The paper will further delineate the overall effects and available anti-corruption mechanisms in South Africa. Lastly, the paper examines whether corruption, perpetrated through bribery, is a national norm. In its concluding remarks, the paper argues that society and public officials are equal duty bearers in the fight against corruption