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The international relations policies of South Africa, 1990-2008
Get PDFA thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Department of History at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2019.This study aimed at examining the issue of participatory, or “democratic,” international relations’ policy making through the lens of International Relations Policy Analysis (IFPA), a theoretical approach that helped provide the definitional framework for the study. Various regime types and leadership characterised and shaped South Africa’s international relations policies during the epoch in question. This necessitated a theoretical and empirical exposition of the various thrusts and narratives of South African government’s international relations policies during crucial epochs in the country’s history. The 1948-1989 era saw the rule of National Party until the unbanning of the ANC. This was characterized by South Africa’s efforts to counter its growing international isolation and find friends wherever they could be solicited. Key problematizing issues included withdrawal from the Commonwealth; growing international isolation; strained ties with the United Nations; growing estrangement from the United States and traditional allies in Europe; growing ties with other global pariahs; clandestine propaganda and sanctions-busting efforts; and Pretoria’s efforts to build ties with African states. The period 1994-1999 witnessed the culmination of South African re-engagement efforts and saw the country, still basking in the afterglow of its successful transition under the rule of the African National Congress, play an active and outsized role in the international arena. However, South African international relations’ policy during this period also was marked by significant difficulties in balancing its idealist aims with more “realist” considerations. No longer was a global pariah, South Africa was ultimately compelled to make difficult geopolitical choices. The epoch 1999-2008 endorsed efforts to bring peace, democracy, and prosperity to the rest of Africa while positioning Pretoria as an influential actor both globally and on the continent. South Africa’s growing prioritization of the developing world; its global diplomatic expansion; Pretoria’s efforts to “punch above its weight” in the international arena, on such issues as reform of global governance structures; and its shift from a human rights focus in the early period to more “pragmatic” policies. What served as justification for this study is that these developments advocated the need to “democratize” international relations’ policy making, making it more participatory and open to inputs from broader society as well as ensuring legislative oversight to prevent the executive from policy unilateralism. This was best be demonstrated by delving into varying Presidencies on International Relations’ Policy Making and Ruling Regimes in perspective; international Relations’ Policy in the Period of Transition; as well as international Relations in the pragmatic era, disaggregating a plethora of protagonists involved in the process—both from the influencing and decision-making sides of the coin— analyzed their individual roles in the process of international relations’ policy democratization until 2008
The experiences of teenage boys on biological father absenteeism in Ngwelezane township
No full textA dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Social Work, Faculty of Arts, at the University of Zululand, 2020.The main aim of this research was to explore and describe the experiences of teenage boys with father absenteeism in Ngwelezane Township. The research followed a qualitative research approach. Twenty participants were purposefully selected from two high schools in Ngwelezane. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data and yielded results which showed that the teenage boys were facing various challenges.
The findings highlighted that some of the reasons for father absenteeism were due to death and living in different places from their fathers. Regarding the challenges, the study found that teenage boys were struggling economically in terms of paying school fees and stationery, uniform and transport fees, clothes, cosmetics and food. As a result, they had behavioural problems, academic difficulties and other emotional implications. Finally, it was found that teenage boys relied on the support of families, peers and the community as their coping mechanisms.
The increasing absence of father figures has brought attention to the consequences of this phenomenon. Based on the findings of this study and a review of existing literature, the researcher recommends that more social workers should be appointed in schools to identify and intervene where the phenomenon of teenage boys experiencing father absenteeism is identified. Teachers and parents need to be made aware of the effects of this phenomenon. Communities should also encourage men to act as role models in the lives of such teenage boys. In addition, therapy for fathers who have not had the education to fulfil their role as a father should be provided. Finally, there is a need for parenting skills and support programmes for single mothers to assist them in the managing of their teenage sons. Their sons also need training in relationship-building as they appear to lack the skills needed to build healthy relationships
Motivating adult learners to learn: a comparative study of adult literacy programmes in South Africa and Nigeria
No full textA thesis submitted in fulfillment of the academic requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the Department of Comparative and Science Education in the Faculty of Education, University of Zululand, 2019.ABSTRACT
Background and objectives of the study
The study investigated factors motivating learners in adult literacy programmes in South Africa and Nigeria. The main emphasis of the study was on adult literacy learners and adult facilitators in adult literacy programmes in both South Africa and Nigeria.
Theoretical frameworks and literature reviews
The theories of social cognitive, andragogy, self-determination and Self-concordance underpinned this study. Existing related literature on adult literacy programme in two countries were extensively discussed as well as strategies across the globe.
Research methods and data analysis
Data for the study were gathered through survey. A questionnaire was designed and used to obtain information from the adult learners in the literacy centres in both countries. In-depth interviews were conducted for the selected adult facilitators from the two countries. A mixture of simple random and convenient sampling was used to generate sample frames of the participants for the study. The sample of the adult literacy learners and facilitators that participated in the study were drawn from KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, and Southwestern region of Nigeria. Two hundred and forty (240) adult learners in the selected literacy centres responded to the questionnaires from the two countries. Furthermore, a total of twelve (12) adult facilitators were interviewed from the selected literacy centres from the two countries. Data analysis, interpretation and discussions were guided by mixed method with the use of quantitative and qualitative approaches and, a transformative paradigm that values the objective understanding of the adult learners and facilitators with the use of percentage and frequency counts for the quantitative and summative analysis for the qualitative approaches.
Results The demographic results revealed that majority of adult learners in the literacy centres selected for the study in South Africa has higher percentage of young people between 20- 30 years compared to Nigeria. It also indicated that majority of the adult learners from both countries are females, unemployed with no stable source of income. Furthermore, promotion at workplace, improvement of employees’ performance at work and desire to improve their present situation were found to be the prominent among the factors that motivated the participants to enroll in the adult literacy programmes.
The study revealed that group work, project-based learning, use of activities, question and answers, storytelling, demonstration, role play and dramatics were found to be the major strategies through which the selected literacy centres in the two countries use in motivating adult learners to learn. However, participants sampled in Nigeria stressed the use of strategies like Language Experience Approach, Each One Teach One (EOTO) and Reflect method. It also revealed that the sampled adult learners found it motivating to exhibit knowledge and skills acquired in the classroom to their day to day activities because of its relevancy.
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The findings confirm that manuals developed for adult learners encourage their individual learning which speaks to the need of adult as self-concept learners. The study also revealed that adult facilitators in the selected literacy centres found some technological innovations such as mobile technology, desktop computer, to be a motivating factors for adult learners. However, the adult learners and literacy programmes in the two African countries are demotivated as they face various challenges which include issues of time constraint for adult learners, absenteeism of learners, carefree attitude towards the programme, unemployment of learners, traditional social structure, age constraint, dropout barriers, distance covered to access literacy centres, unqualified facilitators, late payment of facilitators, lack of professional development for facilitators, lack of technological know-how among facilitators, and lack of infrastructure.
Recommendations and conclusion
The study recommends that the government painstakingly cater for this set of individuals in order to motivate them to stay on the programme, adopt the right strategies base on the need of the adult learners, specially focus on vocational skills in the curriculum, engage policy makers, and recruit personnel that are experts in the field of adult learning to always attend to the issue of curriculum design. Also, technological intervention for adult learners should be design in a mobile friendly manner with the aim of accessing content on the go, and government should not only increase funding, but also focus on adult literacy programmes in the two African countries.
The study proposed a model for effective delivery and intervention of adult literacy programmes in Africa, especially in the context of motivating adult learners to lear
A study of factors contributing to underachievement in exponential and logarithmic functions in the Further Education and Training school phase
Get PDFA dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree
of Master of Education in the Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, 2019.This study sought to determine the NSC learners’ level of understandings of exponential and logarithmic functions; grade twelve teachers’ self- assessment of their readiness to teach exponential and logarithmic functions; the relationship between the educators’ self-concept about their ability to teach exponential and logarithmic functions and the actual performance of their learners; and whether or not the educators’ MCK and PCK impacted learner achievement in exponential and logarithmic functions. The study developed a conceptual framework from literature which consisted of two major components depicting learner and educator readiness. These models illustrated factors that could possibly affect the ability of the learner to succeed in understanding instruction related to exponential equations and logarithmic functions, as well as those that would prevent educators from delivering optimum instruction to learners.
This study used a mixed-methods research paradigm, as there was need to collect both quantitative and qualitative data in order to adequately answer the four research questions. The survey research design was used, and data were collected through a researcher-designed test (for learners) and a researcher-designed questionnaire for educators, focusing on their MCK and PCK. The research sample, consisting of nine school principals, nine mathematics educators, and 242 mathematics learners based in nine randomly selected schools, was drawn from a target population of high schools in the uMkhanyakude education district, KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Analysis was done using the SPSS version 23 software programme.
The results revealed that learners had basic understanding of exponential and logarithmic functions in most aspects of the topic, although their performance was border line. For the educators, although all they were suitably qualified in terms of their minimum requirements for registration with the South African Council for Educators (SACE), their performance on the same test taken by their learners was only marginally above the performance of their learners. The educators’ responses to the question about their readiness to teach exponential equations and logarithmic functions were
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mixed shedding some light on why many of them were unable to solve the same problems given to their learners. On the relationship between educators’ self-concept about their ability to teach exponential and logarithmic functions and their learners’ performance, the results showed that learners whose teachers considered themselves to be suitably qualified, knowledgeable and able to teach exponential and logarithmic functions performed significantly lower than learners whose teachers considered themselves not to be suitably qualified, knowledgeable and able to teach exponential and logarithmic functions. The results of the questions which sought to establish the impact of educators’ MCK and PCK on learner performance in exponential and logarithmic functions drew a blank, suggesting that there was no relationship between teachers’ MCK and PCK, on one hand, and learner performance, on another
Systemic risk, financial stability, and macroprudential policy responses in emerging African economies
No full textA thesis submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Administration and Law, in fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Economics at the University of Zululand, 2019.The extent of the damage caused by the 2007/08 global financial crisis (GFC) has forced policymakers all over the world to respond promptly in order to mitigate its effect, a process in which they are still engaged in, particularly in advanced economies. The main objective of this study is to measure systemic risk in African emerging economies and develop a macroprudential regulatory framework to mitigate or limit the effect of such risk. More specifically, the study intends to1) Developing financial stress index (FSI) for the Emerging African economy; 2) Investigate the possibility of Early Warning Signal (EWS) helping in predicting and preventing or minimising the effects of the crisis on financial institutions; 3) Assess the resilience of individual banking companies to adverse macroeconomic and financial market conditions using stress testing technique; 4) Identify the source of fluctuation within the system; 5) Identify and measure systemic risk emanating from the capital flow (surge) as well as its effects on financial stability. This study contributed to the body of knowledge by measuring systemic risk in emerging African economies. To the best of my knowledge, there have not been any studies that have been conducted for the measure of systemic risk with the context of emerging African economies. The target economies include South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya.
The first objective of the study is to construct a financial stress index (FSI) for emerging African economies. The FSI which is aimed at revealing the functionality of the financial system a single aggregate indicator that is constructed to reflect the systemic nature of financial instability and as well to measure the vulnerability of the financial system to both internal and external shocks.
The result shows that both the domestic and international shocks created uncertainty in the economies under consideration. On the international scene, we have the financial crisis while on the domestic scene; we have slow growth, banking crisis, energy crisis, labour crisis, coupled with political uncertainty. The FSI is also useful and appropriate as the dependent variable in an early signal warning model, and as well be used to gauge the effectiveness of government measures to mitigate financial stress. The models forecasting performance was tested using the ordinary least square methods and it affirmed that the model is reliable and that the FSI can be used for prediction of a future crisis.
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The aim of the second objective is to develop an early warning signal (EWS) model to predict the possibility of the occurrence of a financial crisis in emerging African countries. The multinomial logit model built by Bussiere and Fratzscher (2006) was adopted to afford policy makers ample time to prevent or mitigate potential financial crisis. In summary, the result suggests that emerging African economies are more likely to face financial crisis as debts continue to rise without a corresponding capacity to withstand capital flow reversal as well as excessive FX risk due to currency exposure. The result further indicates that rising debt exposure increases the probability or likelihood of the economies remaining in a state of crisis. This result confirms the significance of a financial stability framework that fits Africa’s emerging economies characteristics such as rising debt profile liquidity and currency risk exposure.
The third objective is to test the resilience of the financial sector using stress testing technique. Macro stress testing is a multi-step simulation process aimed at estimating the impact of credit risk shock on macroeconomic as well as financial sectors. In this study, a two-step approach was employed in this chapter. The first step involves analyzing the determinants of credit risk in 4 Emerging African economies during the period 2006m1 to 2012m12 using the panel Auto Regressive Distribution Lag (ARDL) model. Second, the vector autoregressive (VAR) models were employed to assess the resilience of the financial system as well as the economy to adverse credit risk shocks. The result shows that all the variables under both the macro and financial model jointly determine credit risk, although when examined on an individual basis only, UMP, IBR, and INF have a significant impact on NPL in the long run. For the macro stress testing, the VAR methodology was employed to stress test the emerging African economy financial sector and the result indicated that there a significant relationship between changes in output gap (GAP) and the nonperforming loans. A significant relationship was also established between inflation and nonperforming loans. In all, South Africa and Nigeria’s financial system seems more resilient to credit losses associated with this scenario without threatening financial stability compared to Kenya and Egypt.
The fourth objective examined the sources of capital flows surge and their impact on macroeconomic variables. This study employed a ��−�������� to investigate the source capital flow surge within the system. The main findings of the result indicate that capital flow, which is
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proxied by FDI, is influenced by a wide variety of macroeconomic variables such as inflation, export growth and unemployment. There is therefore need for the implementation of capital controls framework tame massive capital inflows. Nevertheless, such a mechanism should not undermine the impact of capital inflows on employment, growth and financial stability.
The fifth objective of the study is aimed at identifying and measuring the sources of systematic risk and its impact on the stability of the financial system using the Conditional Value-at-Risk methodology. The main finding of the study indicates that at the normal and extreme event the banking sector contributes positively and significantly to the real economy for all the countries except for Nigeria at the extreme event or 1 percent quantile. This study, therefore, concludes that the banking sector, stock market volatility contributes greatly to systemic risk in emerging African economies. The individual bank also contributes significantly to systemic risk for all the economies although the magnitudes are relatively different across economies. This finding is of great interest to policymakers since it shows that the banking sectors as well as stock market volatility have a negative impact on the real economy. This result is plausible as the banking and financial sector for most emerging economies constitute a greater proportion of the real economy. There is, therefore, need for a regulatory framework to reduce risk emanating from the banking sector as well as the financial markets.
In summary, due to huge capital flows and rising debt level in emerging African economies, there is, therefore, a need for a macroprudential policy that will fit African economies as well as the implementation of capital controls framework tame massive capital inflows. Efforts should be made to reduce the rising debts profile of most countries and that will require a greater level of commitment from their respective government and central banks. However, these should be in the interest of the growth and stability of the financial system and the real economy at large. In the case of the banking sector, since it has a great impact on triggering systemic risk, more effort should be utilized to continue to monitor its performance so that potential risk can be detected early and nip in the bud
A study of the protective effects of an aspalathin enriched green rooibos extract on experimentally induced hepatic steatosis
No full textA dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the academic requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology in the Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering, University of Zululand, 2019Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome, and is strongly associated with insulin resistance, obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Growing evidence shows NAFLD as a multi-system disease, affecting several extra hepatic organs and regulatory pathways (Byrne et al., 2015). The prevalence of NAFLD is expected to escalate dramatically with the upsurge in metabolic diseases, particularly obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, an optimal treatment regime to cure NAFLD has not been established. Rooibos is gaining increasing recognition for its ability to improve health and has demonstrated hepatoprotective effects against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) and tert-butyl hydroperoxide induced hepatotoxicity in rodents. This study will establish if an aspalathin rich green rooibos extract (Afriplex GRT™) is able to modulate or prevent the excessive fat accumulation in experimental models of NAFLD.
Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the modulatory effect of GRT extract in in vitro and in vivo models of experimentally induced NAFLD.
Methods: The study used immortalized C3A liver cells and oleic acid to induce steatosis. Assessment of the effect of GRT on oleic acid induced steatosis was determined using different concentrations of aspalathin-enriched rooibos (GRT) extract. Cells not exposed to oleic acid were included as controls. Pioglitazone was used as a positive control. Steatosis of C3A cells was induced using 1 mM oleic acid for 24 hours. Treatment with GRT and pioglitazone for 24 hours, either commenced in the presence of oleic acid (simultaneous treated group) or 24 hours after oleic acid induced steatosis (post-treated group). MTT assay was performed to determine cell viability, while lipid content was measured using oil red O staining normalized for cell number by crystal violet staining. The effect of GRT extract on mRNA relevant to lipogenic genes (PPAR-α, SREBP, FASN and CPT1), inflammation (TNF-α) and glucose metabolism (GCK and ChREBP) were assessed.
Further investigation was done using leptin-receptor deficient C57BL6/J db/db mice (n=8/group) and their lean littermates (db/+) (n=8/group). The mice received standard
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rodent chow ad libitum. Treatments were given daily with powdered chow containing a calculated dose equal to 74 mg/kg BW and 740 mg/kg BW GRT or 10 mg/kg BW pioglitazone. Food intake, water intake, body weight and fasting glucose was monitored weekly for the duration of the study. A week prior to termination of the study, oral glucose tolerance tests were performed. At termination the livers were collected and either fixed in formalin or snap frozen for storage at -80oC. Gene and protein expression were performed using qPCR and Western blot, respectively, for the genes and proteins related to the development of NAFLD. The effect of GRT extract on the liver was confirmed by histology. The data was analysed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Dunnet multiple comparison post hoc test. Statistical significance was set at p ˂ 0.05.
Results: This study showed that 1 mM oleic acid for 24 hrs induced lipid accumulation in C3A cells and produced a good in vitro model for studying NAFLD. GRT extract displayed protective effects against NAFLD in oleic acid induce steatosis and decreased lipid content by < 80% in steatotic C3A cells. The reduction was comparable to pioglitazone (control drug). mRNA analysis revealed that GRT extract regulated fatty acid synthesis by downregulating genes involved in lipogenesis (SREBP 1c and FASN) and glucose metabolism (GCK and ChREBP) as well as inflammation (TNF-α).
In db/db mice, GRT improved glucose tolerance and reduced the liver weight to body weight ratio. In terms of genes and proteins that are involved in NAFLD, GRT increased key lipolytic genes PPAR-α and CPT 1 involved in the regulation of beta-oxidation of lipids and reduced HMG-CoA synthase 1 (HMGCS1), the gene regulating cholesterol synthesis. Histology confirmed increased steatosis limited to zone 3 of the liver acinus synonymous with NAFLD. Treatment with GRT did not significantly affect the steatotic severity score of the db/db mice.
Conclusion: GRT was effective at reducing oleic acid induced steatosis in C3A cells by regulating key genes involved in fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis, and inflammation. In db/db mice GRT extract modulated glucose tolerance and increased the expression of effector proteins involved with beta-oxidation in the liver but was not effective at reducing NAFLDNational Research Foundatio
Mainstreaming care and support to address barriers to teaching and learning in selected SADC member states’ education institutions
Get PDFA thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of academic requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Education in the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education at the University of Zululand, 2019.The purpose of this study was to examine the importance of mainstreaming care and support to address barriers to teaching and learning. The research explored both the potential and limitations of mainstreaming care and support, as a practical and an analytic strategy, by addressing key underlying issues, as well as comparatively assessing the implications of mainstreaming care and support in different settings. There were principles and values about placing a child in the centre of education and taking the importance of the rights of a child so that no child is differentiated or discriminated against. The education ministry ensured that all children access education because it is the right of children regardless of gender and socio economic status. In this study mainstreaming was presented as an approach that held and followed a variety of needs for teaching and learning. Mainstreaming attempted mostly to be socially, customarily, aesthetically, ethically, environmentally and circumstantially relevant and applicable.
Mainstreaming called for multi-sectoral collaboration of different ministries that work with and for children, for an example the Ministry of Home Affairs for documentations (birth certificates), the Ministry of Social Development (grants), the Ministry of Health and civil societies. The formation and collaboration with appropriate and relevant partners and stakeholders was presented as an important element in the development of commitment and nurturing of the service delivery of care and support programmes and activities for children. Mainstreaming of care and support served as the amelioration in breaking down the barriers to learning. The addressing of barriers demonstrated that all children accessed school, increased enrolment and retention. It ensured that children stayed in school for the number of required years. Mainstreaming called for the participation and involvement of different role players at different levels in education, including the community, parents, and caregivers. It based its focus on local expertise by providing and prioritizing capacity building on knowledge, skills and guidance through mentoring, training and technical support. It also based its focus on existing initiatives or programmes that supported learners’ social needs.
This study based its research in two SADC Member States, namely Swaziland and Zambia. The study compared what was pertinent, using questionnaires to collect information. It investigated what already existed and implemented to deliver care and
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support services. The research used both quantitative and qualitative research methods, however a qualitative research method was mostly used, as a natural science and social science tool, enabling the researcher to study social and cultural phenomena. The decision to use mostly the qualitative research method was based on the context, relevance and theses objectives’ satisfaction. The study enquired into what existed and implemented for care and support service delivery. Key informants in both Member States included senior officials from the key ministries in the National Co-ordinating Units (NCU), Southern African Development Community (SADC), Care and Support Programme Steering Committee, Monitoring Information Systems Units (EMIS), civil society organisations (NGOs), United Nations (UN) agencies, school support teams and teachers
Land reform, accumulation and social reproduction: the South African experience in global and historical perspective
No full textPeer reviewed Open Access article published in the Inkanyiso journal, Volume 11 Number 1, p1, 2019.The reality of capitalist economy, its inherent dynamics and contradictions, must be
understood as central to policy debates about land reform in South Africa today.
Progressive land reform should strive to promote ‘accumulation’ from below’,
through the redistribution of productive land to a large number of petty agricultural
commodity producers. Supporting the social reproduction needs of the rural poor is
also important, and securing their rights to communal land must be a key goal of
tenure reform. Beyond South Africa, the experience of redistributive land reform
more broadly suggests that southern Africa is a unique context in some ways (e.g.
there is a need to break up large and productive farms) but not in many others.
Many of the problems facing land reform in South Africa have been experienced
elsewhere. Beyond land reform, the world is currently in the grip of several
overlapping crises, notably the increasing precarity of working populations,
ecological breakdown, large-scale migration, technological advances that threaten
both jobs and democracy, and a swing towards right-wing and authoritarian modes
of governance. Again, the centrality of the logic of capital to these simultaneous
crises must be acknowledged
Analysis of matlab instruction on rural-based pre-service teachers' spatial-visualisation skills and problem solving in vector calculus.
Get PDFA Dissertation submitted to the Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education In fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Education (Mathematics Education) in the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, 2019.Studies from interdisciplinary have noted positive correlation between spatial-visualization skills and mathematical problem solving. However, majority of these studies that interrogated this shared link between spatial-visualization and problem solving were carried in the urban settings only few interrogated rural settings. Also, studies have identified family social economic status (SES) which mainly described one’s geographical settlement to be one of the major effects on cognitive development.
Thus, research finding from cognitive discipline revealed that students from poor SES background are less advantagous to cognitive activities (e.g., problem solving) compare to their counterpart.
However, one of research achievements is providing evidence-based that cognitive skills can be enhanced through computer technology and spatial activities hence, the integration of several graphical tools such as: MATLAB, GeoGebra, and many other computer environments in mathematics education. These graphical tools are believed to enhance students’ conceptual and procedural knowledge in problem solving in mathematics areas such as: Euclidean geometry, multivariate calculus, and trigonometry which require more spatial skills in their problem solving. However, little has been researched on vector calculus even though vector calculus by its definition is accompanied by spatial reasoning. Students find it easy to evaluate a given vector integral using analytical techniques for integrations but struggle to visualize and transform it from one coordinate system to another.
Objectives
Based on the background, the current research employed the theoretical frameworks of Duval semiotic representation and the visual-analyser (VA) proposed by Zazkis et al., to analyse MATLAB instruction on rural-based pre-service teachers' spatial-visualisation skills and problem solving in vector calculus. The examination was guided by the analysis of the dynamic software MATLAB instruction on Spatial-Visualization, problem solving, and achievement in Vector Calculus. The three objectives were to 1) Analyse how rural-based
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pre-service teachers apply their spatial-visualisation skills in problem solving in vector calculus. 2) To investigate the degree to which rural-based pre-service teachers’ spatial-visualisation skills correlate with their vector calculus achievement and 3) To assess how a dynamic software environment such as MATLAB influences rural-based pre-service teachers’ spatial-visualisation skills
The prevalence and management of stressors experienced by foundation phase teachers in rural Mbombela schools
Get PDFSubmitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Master in Education in the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education in the Faculty of education at the University of Zululand, 2019.This study forms part of an ongoing attempt to understand the prevalence and management of stressors experienced by teachers. The main focus for this study is foundation phase teachers in rural Mbombela schools. Quantitative and qualitative measures were used in order to gain more insight into the prevalence and management of stressors experienced by teachers. A questionnaire with open-ended and closed-ended questionnaires was used to collect data.
The results of the study indicated a high prevalence of foundation phase teachers experiencing stressors. There was also an indication that the teachers do have the necessary skills to cope with stressors that they experience as a result of their teaching and learning environment. Exercise, spirituality and planning were the main techniques teachers used in the management of stressors.
Recommendations were made in order to assist teachers with the management of stressors they experience as a result of their teaching and learning environment. Avenues for further research are also discussed