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A strategy to curb ill-discipline of learners in selected public high schools at Masakhane circuit
No full textA thesis submitted in fulfillment of the academic requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Educational Psychology and Special Education in the Faculty of Education, University of Zululand, 2020.This study aims to design a strategy to curb ill-discipline of learners in selected public high schools in Amajuba district. Teachers encounter such problems with learners who often misbehave and they find this a daunting task that requires them to exhibit emotional and social tolerance. It is a worrisome exercise to deal with unruly learners; educators are expected always to smile and exercise emotional intelligence while executing duties on a day-to-day basis in the school environment. Teachers already face a number of challenges, as outlined in the literature review. The objectives of the study are to identify challenges of ill-discipline in public schools, exploring plausible solutions and discussing conditions conducive to curb it. It investigates possible threats that may hinder successful implementation of such a strategy and determines best practices. The theoretical framework that guides this study is Hope Theory (HT), frequently considered in social and emotional learning as encouraging the development of self-awareness. The theory is seen universally as positive, a quality that teachers need to cultivate in themselves as human beings. Hope is part of how they sustain themselves, based on a wish for the best for the learners as individuals or collectively. HT helps people to move beyond critique and pessimism, and empowers them to continue to work for justice, even when the forces of injustice may gain greater power. In the case of ill-discipline, teachers should enter the classroom with hope because even in the most dangerous and desperate situations there is a way out. Education is rooted in hopefulness, and HT emphasises cooperation, teamwork, collaboration, communion, and kindness. In order to design a pioneering strategy to augment the role of teachers in curbing illdiscipline a qualitative research approach was followed that employed most principles of Participatory Action Research (PAR). This ensured a collaborative working environment and power sharing between the researcher and participants. Data in this study was collated through focus group discussions which allowed both parties to explore the topic. The generated data was analysed using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) on three levels, namely, textual, discursive, and sociostructural, to scrutinise challenges faced by teachers. Whilst conducting the study it was ascertained that all relevant stakeholders in the school ought to work as a collective. Once findings are implemented, schools should be safe havens for all,
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thus promoting effective teaching and learning free from disruption by ill-discipline. In conclusion, the implementation of these viewpoints should eradicate problems in the area under study and, ultimately, in all South African schools experiencing similar problems. Therefore, the study highlights the need for designing a strategy to curb ill-discipline of learners in selected public high schools
Determining the Radon Emanation Coefficient for Soil Samples
No full textA dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the academic requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the Department of Physics in the Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering, University of Zululand, 2020Exposure to high concentrations of radon and radon decay products are known to increase lung cancer in humans. This study is in preparation for a national indoor radon survey to be conducted in South Africa. The aim of this study is to determine the radon emanation coefficient for soil samples collected in various areas in South Africa. The radon emanation coefficient is important for identifying areas with high radium concentrations which emanate radon which could lead to high levels of radon in houses. The areas of interest for this study include Paarl and Saldanha (having granite outcrops), Kloof and Boksburg mine dumps, Centurion, West Coast and Richards Bay Minerals where high radon levels are expected. The soil samples were collected and analysed in the laboratory. Both alpha and gamma spectrometry were used for determining the radium activity concentration of the soil samples and the radon released by the soil from which the radon emanation coefficient can be found. The samples were sealed for a period of 21 days to achieve secular equilibrium between radium and radon and then counted using a NaI(Tl) detector to measure the radium activity using a 214Bi full-energy peak. The radon concentration was determined using an active radon monitor, the RAD7 which measures the alpha particles emitted from the radon progenies, 218Po and 214Po. The values obtained for the radium activity concentration varied in the range of 9.206 × 103, 94 - 1146, 339 - 368, 64 147, 72, 18 - 34 and 11 Bq.kg−1 for West Coast, Boksburg, Kloof, Paarl, Richards Bay Minerals, Saldanha and Centurion samples, respectively. The radon concentration values built up in the accumulation chamber (of 10 litres) to values of 233, 175 - 596, 225 - 352, 218 - 223, 358, 61 - 99, 58 Bq.m−3 in West Coast, Boksburg, Kloof, Paarl, Richards Bay Minerals, Saldanha, and Centurion for soil samples having the mass of about 0.256 kg, respectively. Finally, the emanation coefficient was determined as the fraction of the radon atoms created that is exhaled into the air and the radium activity. The values of the emanation coefficient obtained in this study for sample mass of 0.256 kg ranges from, 0.073 - 0.146, 0.063 - 0.313, 0.214 - 0.541, 0.276 - 0.847, 0.812, 0.765 and 0.004, in Kloof, Boksburg, Paarl, Saldanha, Centurion, Richards Bay Minerals and West Coast, respectively. The radon emanation coefficient for sample mass of 0.512 kg are in the ranges from 0.092 - 0.108, 0.139 - 0.326, 0.171 - 0.572, 0.169 - 0.774, 0.188, 0.003, in Kloof, Boksburg, Paarl, Saldanha, Centurion, Richards Bay Minerals and West Coast, respectively. The radon emanation for the final sample mass to be investigated ranges from 0.089 - 0.113, 0.139 - 0.275, 0.245 - 0.373, 0.296 - 0.738, 0.686, 0.157, 0.003, Kloof, Boksburg, Paarl, Saldanha, Centurion, Richards Bay Minerals and West Coast, respectively. These values of the emanation coefficient are in line with wide ranging values of 0.01 - 0.8 reported in the UNSCEAR 2000 report. These values will help to choose the distribution of houses that should be measured in the planned survey of radon in houses.National Research Foundation (NRF
Local resident and tourist safety in Cape Town Townships, South Africa
No full textA thesis submitted in fulfillment of the academic requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Recreation and Tourism, Faculty of Arts, University of Zululand, 2020.People travel to South African townships due to their association with a unique political history, culture and food, despite the areas experiencing high crime rates, with South Africa, as a result, having unofficially been labelled the ‘crime capital of the world’. Crimes that are perpetrated against South African tourists and local residents frequently make the news headlines in both the national and the international media outlets. To date, the media has, arguably, been pushing agenda-driven news coverage that has had negative implications for the travel decisions made by tourists. High crime rates tend to detract from tourism receipts, with many tourists choosing to visit alternative destinations that appear to be much safer than South Africa. Accordingly, investigating visitor safety and security is an important factor in relation to township tourism product development. The addressing of the issue of safety and security is required with all earnestness, as, otherwise, it has the potential to derail the accruing social and economic prosperity that might else be gleaned from tourism. The current study, therefore, investigated the local residents’ and tourists’ safety perceptions in the prominent tourist townships of Gugulethu, Khayelitsha and Nyanga areas, which are situated in Cape Town, South Africa. A mixed methods research approach was used in the study, due to its ability to enable the researcher to collect in-depth and robust data, so as to facilitate the addressing of the related research objectives. The researcher, hence, conducted six interviews with police officials in the townships, and also administered two sets of survey questionnaires (with one set of questionnaires directed at tourists and another at the local communities). Whereas 171 respondents completed the tourist-related questionnaires, 333 completed the local resident-related questionnaires that were usable in the data analysis. The quantitative data analysis used Stata Data Analysis and Statistical Software, version 15. The first stage of the analysis employed univariate descriptors (including frequencies, means and standard deviations), while the second stage used multivariate analysis (in the form of correlation tests, Cronbach’s Alpha reliability tests, & regression analysis) for obtaining the inferential statistics. The robustness of the models employed was validated using the R-squared statistical measure. The residuals were subjected to normality testing, in terms of validating the robustness of the data. The qualitative data collected were analysed using content analysis on the verbatim transcripts of the interviews. The study created themes and subthemes based on the frequency of responses obtained,
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with the responses within the themes being reported in terms of the highlighting of the frequencies of the responses secured.
On the one hand, the key results showed the overall importance of safety perceptions regarding the tourists’ intentions to revisit the area. Many tourists who visited the townships felt so safe and satisfied with their trips that they were likely to revisit the destination, and to recommend it to others. Safety perceptions can, therefore, be of significant importance in terms of boosting tourism. Tourists’ perceptions of townshiprelated tourism development and of safety factors related to socio-political status while visiting townships have been found to have positive and statistically significant impacts on safety-connected outcomes. In contrast, the tourists’ perceptions of safety factors leading to crime when visiting the townships in Cape Town are known to have a negative and statistically significant impact on tourism in the area. Tourists’ demographics (origin and gender) have a role to play in terms of safety factors related to the visiting of townships, as well as influencing revisiting, the making of recommendations and the overall level of satisfaction attained (i.e. the safety outcome). On the other hand, the local residents’ perceptions of crime-related issues in the townships, their perceptions of safety related to epidemic diseases and food security in townships, the probability of the occurrence of incidents in townships and the likely consequences of incidents, should they happen in the townships, have negative and statistically significant impacts on the safety outcomes. The factors concerned are negatively related to the local communities’ levels of satisfaction, as well as to their feeling of safety and their willingness to stay in the townships. In contrast, township tourism development, socio-political stability and the local residents’ perceptions of the presence and activities of police officials in the townships have positive and statistically significant impacts on the safety outcome. The factors concerned are positively related to local communities’ satisfaction levels, and feelings of safety and of wanting to stay in the townships. The local residents’ demographics (gender, cultural/ethnic group, township of residence, and length of residence in township) have a role to play in terms of safety outcome.
The major recommendation put forward by this study is that tourists, local communities, police and other stakeholders in the community have significant roles to play in keeping the townships safe for the local residents and tourists. The study, therefore, offers several guidelines that are directed at the different role players (tourists, local
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communities, the police, Cape Town Tourism & the City of Cape Town) in relation to the optimising of the tourists’ and local communities’ safety in Cape Town townships (namely; Gugulethu, Khayelitsha and Nyanga
Determinants of mobile learning acceptance among grade 12 learners, their parents and teachers in the rural King Cetshwayo District
No full textA thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Education in the department of Maths, Science And Technology Faculty of Education, at the University of Zululand, 2020.Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) is faced with challenges, resulting in learners’ poor performance at the matriculation level, in South Africa. In trying to improve learners’ performance in STEM-related subjects in grade 12, the Department of Basic Education, and other stakeholders, encouraged the use of mobile learning in the classroom. However, the adoption of mobile learning is contingent on the user’s attitude towards it. Despite the call by the Department of Basic Education to use mobile learning, very little is known about rural school STEM learners’, their teachers’, and parents’ acceptance of mobile learning.
In response to the lack of such limited and established studies in rural settings, this study proposed and used the South African Schools' Technology Acceptance Model (SASTAM) to investigate the factors that influence rural high school STEM learners’, their parents’ and teachers’ behavioural intention to use mobile learning for STEM learning. The SASTAM is based on the Technology Acceptance Model specifically, to examine significant differences between rural high school STEM learners’ and their parents’ and teachers’ acceptance of mobile learning. Identifying and understanding the factors that influence the acceptance of mobile learning is key to its successful implementation.
The study used an explanatory sequential mixed method design to investigate mobile learning technology acceptance in rural high schools in King Cetshwayo District. Stratified random sampling was used to select 550 rural high school STEM learners, their parents, and teachers to participate in the survey. The results from 417 respondents were stored as data and were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). After quantitative data analysis were conducted,12 participants were selected to take part in interviews.
The SASTAM was validated using PLS-SEM. The results revealed that the variance explained by the model in the behavioural intention of learners, parents, and teachers was 44.3%, 39.7%, and 43.8% respectively. The data from the learners, teachers, and
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parents were combined and analysed and the variances in behavioural intention to use mobile learning, which was explained by the SASTAM, was 40.8%. Original Technology Acceptance Model variables (perceived attitude towards the use, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use) had a direct influence on behavioural intention, and they also played mediating roles between the external variables (perceived social influence, perceived psychological readiness, perceived skills readiness and perceived resources) and behavioural intention to use mobile learning in a rural setting.
Multigroup analysis results showed that, for parents and learners, three paths (perceived ease of use to perceived attitude, perceived resources to perceived ease of use, and perceived social influence to perceived attitude towards the use) were significantly different. In contrast, only one path (perceived resources to perceived attitude towards the use) was significantly different for learners and teachers. However, all the paths were significant in each group, meaning that SASTAM can be used to predict the acceptance of mobile learning for rural high school STEM learners, their parents, and teachers.
The results of this study will both inform the Department of Basic Education of the factors that rural high STEM parents, learners and teachers consider important when accepting mobile learning, and advance the debate on the conceptual understanding of technology acceptance in education by refining the Technology Acceptance Model to suit the context, leading to a deeper understanding of factors that affect mobile learning acceptance in rural areas of developing countries
Perceptions of the effects of 4IR on expected job disruptions on the human capital development approach at the University of Zululand
No full textA dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Commerce in the department of Business Management, Faculty of Commerce, Administration and Law at the University of Zululand, 2020.Some call it ‘Digitization’, others call it ‘Automation’ yet, some others use the catchword ‘Industry 4.0’! The unprecedented, and undeniable impacts of tech-jargons such as AI, IoT, VR, AR and CPS across industries and nations has made the 4IR a buzz word globally. Subsequently, many workers, professionals, academics and people in governance are eager to know the effects that the 4IR may have on jobs, skills and the best approach to human capital development in the fast-changing work environment. Hence, in view of these questions begging for answers, this study with four research objectives and questions explores perceptions of effects of the 4IR on expected job disruption and on human capital development approach at the University of Zululand. A structured questionnaire titled ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution Skills Assessment Questionnaire (FIRSAQ)’ was designed, validated by a research analyst, and tested for internal consistency. FIRSAQ with a reliability coefficient of 0.882 was used to gather data from the randomly stratified 170 academic staff members. Findings reveal that perceptions about the probable 4IR skill requirements is high, and the current level of awareness with regards to the effect of 4IR technologies on job disruption is high. Furthermore, the assessment of the significance of 4IR technologies on job disruption and human capital development in the University of Zululand indicated that 4IR significantly affects both job disruption and human capital development. However, findings also showed that the current human capital development approach in the University of Zululand is more formal than informal. Therefore, in view of the propositions from the 70:20:10 model, a change in human capital approach to more of informal than formal approach was recommended
Analysing tourism routes for local economic development in Zululand District KwaZulu-Natal
No full textA dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Recreation and Tourism, Faculty of Arts, at the University of Zululand, 2020.In the history of tourism and economic development, tourism routes have been considered a key instrument in addressing problems of social and economic growth. Although a considerable amount of research has been carried out on tourism and its socio-economic impacts, to date, there is little agreement on the extent tourism routes impact on social and economic development in rural settings. Drawing on the case study of Zululand District, this study examines the impact of tourism routes in enhancing local economic development in the rural areas. It also assesses the level of awareness of local communities on the benefits of tourism routes. A qualitative approach was used in this study. Data for this study were collected using a combination of semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis as a data collection tool. Semi-structured interviews were conducted after a non-probabilistic sampling technique was applied to select individuals (n = 20) who are directly involved in the tourism development within the study area as well as in the relevant departments. In keeping with results from previous studies, findings from this study revealed that tourism plays a critical role in the economic and human development of persons who fall within the vicinity of any given tourism route
A resource management framework for fog computing networks
No full textA dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the academic requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the Department of Computer Science in the Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering, University of Zululand, 2020.The evolution of the Internet of Things (IoT) has drastically changed how computing devices can be deployed by enabling them to be located anywhere on the cloud-to-things continuum. This has emerged as a solution to most emerging market challenges. These ubiquitous computing devices do not only possess the data-processing capabilities, they also have computing and storage capabilities. Based on these device capabilities, a new paradigm has evolved. This paradigm decentralizes all the centralized cloud capabilities and locates them at the edge of the network. This is popularly known as fog computing. The goal is to avoid deploying the IoT services to the cloud core servers for processing and storage resources, to also mitigate latency, and cost of deployment.
Since the paradigm is relatively new, there are challenges that need to be tackled in order to have a reliable network deployment. The main challenge of this paradigm arises from the relocation of service from the resource-rich physical underlying infrastructure of the cloud core to the Fog layer where there is limited resources and physical infrastructure, because limited infrastructure offers limited capacity in terms of computing, network, processing and storage resources. This means that should a heavy application be executed on these limited FN services, they can be over-consumed, which could lead to network breakdown or failure owing to device shutdown.
As the resources are the main significant part of the network, they must be able to offer services on demand without being exploited. Therefore, in order to optimize the resource management operation efficiently, a method such as resource scheduling must be applied to fog deployments. To address the matter, factors such as scheduling algorithms and framework are considered. In the process of network design and deployment, critical questions arise, such as: How can a resource management framework be used to address the challenges in fog computing; Why do existing resource scheduling mechanisms not respond adequately to resource management challenges of fog computing networks? Which resource-scheduling algorithms can be used to address specific resource management challenges, and what are their relevant achievements? Henceforth, this challenge will be referred to as a resource management problem. This challenge is a multi- objective problem and comprises competing objectives such as service delay, energy consumption and network utilization. Therefore, it affirms that there is no universal solution available.
Therefore, this dissertation proposes a resource management framework as a solution to the network-planning problem. The planning covers the optimal placement of tasks with respect to resource consumption optimization and optimal offloading of tasks in the continuum. Addressing this multi-objective optimization problem involves two stages. First, four classical scheduling methods, namely, first come first serve (FCFS), shortest job first (SJF), round robin (RR), and priority-based (PB) have been evaluated. The optimal method progresses from the first stage to the second stage, where its overall performance is evaluated against an unsupervised machine-learning algorithm K-means. The simulation findings show that, as the number of sensor request scales up, the service delay and the energy consumption of the FCFS scheduling method increase linearly; while in the case of K-means, the service delay increases exponentially. The FCFS method yields optimal results in terms of service delay and CPU execution time spent on the task, and also achieved the best trade-off between the competing objectives of service delay and energy consumption, whereas, the K-means clustering method has optimal energy consumption with high service delay resulting in the worst trade-off. The modelling covers most realistic fog computing applications, parameters and constraints, therefore it can be easily deployed in the fog computing landscape while extending the current cloud architecture
Statistical analysis and prediction of climate impacts on sugarcane yield in southeastern Africa
Get PDFA dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the academic requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies in the Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering, University of Zululand, 2020.Sugarcane production is chiefly influenced by climate, but there are also farming operations that diminish the sugarcane yield. The study concentrated on discovering the statistical relationship between the climate and subsequent sugarcane yield by statistical analysis of monthly and annual data averaged over the area 31-23°S and 28-33°E in the period from 1970-2016 with respect to FAO data and 1988-2010 for SASA data.
R procedures were employed to derive statistical associations between sugarcane yield and climate variables and indices. Time series analysis was performed, including Mann-Kendall tests for trend detection, Pearson correlation and MLR for exploring the statistical links between yield and climate parameters. Moreover, the spatio-temporal correlations and regressions were performed between the sugarcane yield index and relevant local crop drivers such as rainfall and temperature, and the global sea surface temperatures and winds through online tools.
The results demonstrated a downward trend in sugarcane yield over SE Africa as signalled by ≈ −4 for FAO time series and ≈ −2 for SASA yield data at 95% level. Time series analysis showed high influence of local climate indices such as PDSI (e.g ≈ +0.7) with global sugarcane yield, and the value increased to ≈ +0.80 locally (e.g in South Coast region).
A positive correlation for rainfall ( > +0.5) and negative for temperature ( < −0.5) conditions in the preceding December to May with the harvested sugarcane yield in the spatial analysis was observed. Hence, it is understood that high temperatures induced by offshore air flow and low pressure tend to suppress sugarcane yield, and correspond with rainfall below 1000 mm/yr. The surface air temperature is by far the most important indicator of sugarcane yield in ESwatini while PDSI explains most of the yield variation in South Africa. The findings show that climate influences on sugarcane yield cover 40-80% of variance, and that the decline and variability of sugarcane production has distinct climatic factors. Meridional wind flow over the western Indian Ocean and anticyclonic circulation in the Mozambique Channel manifest themselves as key climatic features for sugarcane production over SE Africa. Recommendations for ways to mitigate and adapt to climate variability are
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given to benefit the sugar industry in southeastern Africa. In addition, a statistical model to predict sugarcane yield over the study area was developed through MLR algorithms extracted from large-scale climate drivers
Consumer perceptions towards the marketing of functional foods in the Umhlathuze region
No full textA dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the academic requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce in the Department of Business Management in the Faculty of Commerce, Administration & Law, University of Zululand, 2020.A healthy lifestyle has been embraced by the populace as a result consumption of healthy food is given prevalence. Consumers nowadays prioritized purchasing healthy foods such as functional foods. To address this issue, greater varieties of healthy foods have been introduced by the food industry to reduce debilitating diseases such as cancer diabetes mellitus, obesity amongst others. In this present study consumer’s perceptions regarding the marketing of functional foods in the uMhlathuze municipality were investigated. A quantitative research method was adopted for this study. Questionnaires were administered to a total number of 384 consumers at Richards bay shopping malls (230) and Empangeni shopping malls (154) respectively. The findings of the study showed that consumers' behaviour towards purchasing functional foods is influenced by the following: advertisements on social media accounts, health benefits of functional foods, health professional’s recommendations, food quality, food price, and family obligation or concerns. Thus, the study recommends that for the food industry to boost their sales and consumers’ acceptability of functional foods, they need to improve the awareness of functional food. This can be done through advertisements, especially on social media accounts such as Google, YouTube, and Facebook as well as providing detailed health benefits of the food by providing this information on the food packages. Also, the food quality should not be compromised and the prices of food should not be unnecessarily hiked up
Exploring gender representation in business studies textbooks and its impact on the achievement of learning outcomes in further education and training phase in Mkhanyakude District
No full textA dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Education in the department of Curriculum Studies, Faculty of Education, at the University of Zululand, 2020The Department of Basic Education emphasises the importance of textbooks during teaching and learning. Textbooks are supplied to schools every year to ensure that all learners have access to quality education. Teachers in South African schools also perceive textbook as an important teaching aid that helps during teaching and learning. Given the important role that is played by the textbook during teaching and learning, it becomes crucial to investigate gender representation in school textbooks and its impact on the achievement of learning outcomes. Therefore, this study aimed to explore gender representation in Business Studies textbooks and its impact on the achievement of learning outcomes. The study adopted a mixed-methods research methodology. Purposive sampling was employed to select six Business Studies teachers. Two Head of Departments and Four post level one teachers were sampled. Simple random sampling was used to select six Business Studies textbooks. Individual semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews were used to collect data from the participants. Document analysis was also used to analyse six Business Studies textbooks. Thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data that was collected through interviews, while frequencies and percentages were used to analyse quantitative obtained through document analysis. The study found that most of Business Studies textbooks contain gender-biased images. It also found that Business Studies textbooks use gender-biased language. Furthermore, the study revealed that unequal gender representation may affect the achievement of learning outcomes. Because of the research mentioned above findings, this study recommends that textbook authors should use gender-inclusive language when writing Business Studies textbooks. The study also suggests that gender parity should be prioritised by the Department of Basic Education and Business Studies teachers when selecting textbooks to be used in schools