UFS Publications Platform (Univ. of the Free State)
Not a member yet
378 research outputs found
Sort by
Being sacrificed in the name of development: A case of social distress caused by the Tokwe-Mukosi dam
Get PDFThe study investigated the impact of displacements on the rights of the people that were caused by a development project in Zimbabwe. A case study of people displaced by the construction of the Tokwe-Mukosi Dam was used to explore the challenges faced by displaced people. This study was a mixed-method design. Data was collected using questionnaires and a document. A purposive sample of 100 participants was used by the researchers. The sample comprises people displaced by the construction of the Tokwe-Mukosi dam. The researchers utilised thematic analysis and descriptive statistics to make sense of the data. It was noted from the findings that the livelihoods of the displaced people by the Tokwe-Mukosi changed due to the displacement. Market gardening, a major livelihood among the participants before displacement, was the most affected due to the lack of reliable water sources at the relocation site. Human rights violations were also noted in the study due to the failure of the government to prepare the relocation site adequately. Due to the noted human rights violation, the displaced people were subjected to social distress. Therefore, the study concludes that several communities were negatively impacted by the construction of the Tokwe-Mukosi Dam, with a recommendation that suitable relocation sites with adequate social service should be identified before the finalisation of the construction of dams.
Lecturers\u27 perceptions of blended teaching in the Post COVID-19 Era: A case study of a University in Lesotho
Get PDFThe study reports on implementing blended learning and teaching in the post COVID-19 era at a University in Lesotho. Research indicates that COVID-19 has necessitated the adoption of blended teaching and learning across the entire education domain. This suggests that traditional face-to-face teaching approaches were no longer appropriate due to the restrictions imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus. Therefore, online teaching and learning became the only way lecturers in higher education, most especially in the selected University, could engage with their students. Therefore, the study sought to explore the implementation of blended teaching and learning in post COVID-19 at Limkokwing University. An interpretive paradigm was adopted in this study using a qualitative approach confined within a case study, and face-to-face interviews with lecturers (n=20) were used for data collection. Latent thematic analysis was the method used for analysing the emerging themes. Findings from interviews with lecturers reveal that blended teaching and learning is essential because it fosters learner-centredness through access to a plethora of electronic resources in several digital archives. Thus, the study recommends that blended teaching and learning should be adopted as a strategy for teaching and learning in Lesotho Universities
Institutional factors and curriculum fidelity in vocational training centres in Kampala City, Uganda
Get PDFThe subject of curriculum fidelity continues to be a crucial area of investigation to uncover how the responsible stakeholders implement the curricula developed in relation to their intended purpose. This study investigated the institutional factors influencing curriculum fidelity in vocational training centres in Kampala, Uganda. Specifically, this study examined the influence of instructors’ self-efficacy, institutional support, and leadership effectiveness on curriculum fidelity in vocational training centres. This quantitative study adopted the correlational research design. The study involved a sample of 108 instructors from eight selected vocational training centres in Kampala, Uganda. The data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and inferential analyses, specifically Pearson linear correlation and regression, were used to analyse the data. The findings revealed that instructors’ self-efficacy, institutional support, and leadership effectiveness positively and significantly influenced curriculum fidelity. The study concluded that instructors’ self-efficacy is imperative for curriculum fidelity, institutional support is essential for curriculum fidelity, and effective leadership is vital for curriculum fidelity. Therefore, it was recommended that the Ministry of Education and Sports and principals of vocational training centres should enhance the efficacy of instructors; vocational institutions should offer support to the instructors to ensure curriculum fidelity; and the Ministry of Education and Boards of Governors should ensure that vocational training centres have effective leadership. The practical contribution of the study is that it identifies institutional factors necessary for curriculum fidelity. These are instructors’ self-efficacy, institutional support, and leadership effectiveness
Students’ spatial thinking toward the school environment in Indonesia
Get PDFThis study describes the level of cognitive mapping among students in one of the senior high schools in Indonesia. This study aimed to determine the cognitive map of secondary students using a sketch map. The cognitive map elements studied were paths, edges, landmarks, districts, and nodes. This research uses an interpretive paradigm to reveal how students make meaning of their school environment through map sketches. The research approach used was descriptive qualitative. Data collection techniques included a map sketching test and direct interviews with six randomly selected key informants. Cognitive map analysis was used to analyse the cognitive map elements in students\u27 map sketches. The results showed that second-grade students have diverse cognitive maps of their school environment. Thus, this study recommends that attention and substantial efforts from various parties, especially geography subject teachers, be more intense in utilising the surrounding environment as a geography learning laboratory at SMUK ST. Fransiskus Xaverius Ruteng
Politeness in Tiba Meka ritual in Manggaraian language and culture, Eastern Indonesia
Get PDFPoliteness is crucial to communicating among individuals or between groups in a speech community. This research mainly explores the politeness of welcoming guests in the Manggaraian speech community. Video recording and interviews were the techniques used to collect the data. Eight videos were recorded and transcribed in text. The data were interpreted in socio-pragmatics theory. The findings reveal that the Manggaraian speech community tend to apply positive and off-the-record politeness strategies. A positive politeness strategy was mainly employed to build a close relationship and friendliness and to show respect to a guest. The use of a positive politeness strategy was marked in honorifics such as ite, mori, ema, and downtoner yo. An off-the-record politeness strategy was utilised to designate generosity, modesty, and approbation to a guest. This politeness strategy was indicated in metaphorical expressions. The social factors that determine the use of those politeness strategies are related to the context of the event, age, relation, and guest status. In this study, the Manggaraian speech community employ politeness in the ritual of welcoming a guest to achieve three benefits: manifesting respect, maintaining a good relationship, and showing a positive attitude toward the guest
Using consensus and cooperative reflective journal writing instructional strategies to enhance students’ achievement in Biology
Get PDFTeachers are supposed to adapt their teaching-learning process based on classroom interaction to suit the learning conditions of learners to produce a complete learning community that is intellectually and behaviourally sound. This can only be achieved in a serene, friendly, and collaborative environment. This study determined the effects of consensus and cooperative reflective journal writing instructional strategies on students’ achievement in biology, with gender moderating at two levels. A pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design with a 3X2 factorial matrix was adopted. The treatment lasted for six weeks. The sample consisted of 305 senior secondary school II students in Ibadan metropolis, Oyo state, Nigeria. The instrument for data collection was the Students’ Biology Achievement Test (SBAT). The generated data were analysed using a two-way analysis of variance (ANCOVA) and the Bonferroni post-hoc test. The results of the study revealed that consensus and cooperative reflective journal writing strategies improved students’ achievement in biology. The results also revealed that gender affected students’ achievement in biology. Treatment and gender did not affect students’ achievement in biology. The study concluded that the strategies adopted enhance students’ achievement in biology and, therefore, recommended to be adopted in biology classroom
Pragmatic modifiers in teachers’ polite requests in EFL classroom interaction in Manggarai, Indonesia
Get PDFThis research mainly explores pragmatic modifiers in shaping teachers’ polite requests in English Foreign Language classroom interaction (henceforth: EFL). The research was designed qualitatively, employing non-participant observation and field-note methods. Audio-video recording and note-taking were used to obtain the data on the male and female teachers’ utterances during classroom interaction. The key apparatuses are a smartphone Vivo of Y21 and a digital voice recorder of 32 GB to capture natural-occurring data. The data were analysed through three interactive procedures of qualitative data analysis; data condensation, display, and conclusion drawing. The data interpretation was primarily drawn on the pragmatic theory of politeness, FTAs, and pragmatic modifiers. Part of the data was analysed from language and gender perspectives. The findings yielded that the male and female teachers applied internal and external pragmatic modifiers to enact polite requests in classroom interaction settings. The internal pragmatic modifiers cover downtoner, politeness marker, appreciative opening, and hedged performative opening. The external pragmatic modifiers include vocative, disarmer, and propitiator. There is a slight difference between male and female teachers in realising those types of pragmatic modifiers. It was partly related to the features of women’s language. However, such empirical evidence could not be directly generated for language and gender. The findings have implications for further investigations to probe the issue in depth
Navigating the challenges of lecturers’ retention in South Africa: Perspective of a rurally located university
Get PDFMost university students do not get the opportunity to graduate in the presence of their first-year lecturers because those lecturers may have moved to another university. The identified challenge is that universities, notably those located rurally, cannot retain their lecturers for extended periods. Therefore, the study explores the challenges hindering lecturers’ retention in a rurally located South African University. The qualitative study included 14 participants from the selected university, using purposive and convenience sampling methods. A semi-structured interview was used to elicit information from the participants within the principles of Participatory case study design. Braun and Clarke’s six-step thematic analysis method was adopted to analyse the data thematically. The study found that salaries and benefits, along with physical working conditions, are institutional challenges to retaining lecturers, while factors such as lack of stability and loss of interest at work are internal and external challenges affecting lecturers’ retention in their workplaces. The study concluded that institutional challenges are within the control of university administration and addressing them can help retain more lecturers. On the other hand, internal and external challenges, such as lack of stability and loss of interest at work, are more complex and require individual attention from the lecturers themselves
Marital adjustment and bio-social actors as predictors of depression among perceived highly stressed couples in Ondo State, Nigeria
Get PDFA continuous threat to the efficiency of human functioning, interaction and relationship due to depression serves as a rationale for this study, and it shows the need to gauge the influence of selected bio-social factors and marital adjustment on depression among perceived highly stressed couples in Ondo State, Nigeria. Adopting a correlational design, 175 highly stressed couples were selected using a multi-stage sampling technique (stratified, proportionate, purposive and random sampling techniques) and responded to standardised measures. Frequency and percentage were adopted to describe the bio-social factors of the respondents. Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to test the inter-relationship among the variables, while a two-step hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. The result revealed that gender, religion and educational qualification predicted depression among highly stressed couples. It was also indicated that depression decreases among highly stressed couples along with a significant increase in their marital adjustment. It was concluded that bio-social factors, such as gender, religion, educational qualification, and marital adjustment, were significant predictors of depression. And factors such as age, family type, and nature of employment had no significant relationship with depression among perceived highly stressed couples
An exploration into the impact of citizen journalism on traditional journalism in Lesotho
Get PDFIn recent years, technological advancement in communication has given citizens opportunities to be recipients and purveyors of news. Social networking sites propagate citizen journalism, wherein ordinary citizens without professional training gather and disseminate information. This has presented a number of challenges due to limited quality control standards for determining what constitutes news. The study thus sought to establish the depth and breadth of the impact of citizen journalism on traditional journalism in Lesotho. The study used the qualitative methodology embedded in a case study design. The in-depth face-to-face interviews with (n=10) journalists were conducted to get insight into the impact citizen journalism has on traditional media. The respondents were selected using a purposive sampling technique. In this case, respondents were selected based on their availability and knowledge of the subject at hand. The findings were analysed using thematic analysis to interpret the findings. The results revealed that citizen journalism had posed an imminent threat to traditional journalism as it plays a complementary role. It was also discovered that the fast passed nature of citizen journalists compromises the quality of the content. The study also revealed that mainstream media professionals face fierce competition from citizen journalism, resulting in poor-quality stories. Therefore, the study recommends that mainstream media should have platforms where citizen journalists can submit content that can be vetted for quality control and ethical considerations.