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Management of work-integrated learning
No full textA dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Communication Science in the Department of Communication Science at the University of Zululand, South Africa [2023].Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) is not new to non-traditional universities like the University of Technology or colleges as they already have the training and professional vocational education in their programmes. However, traditional universities have been lagging in providing vocational education in their programmes. Whereas the labour market is calling for graduates with practical and soft skills. One of the ways students can obtain these skills is through the WIL component offered within their program. Lately, traditional universities are reforming and gradually adding WIL to their programmes to produce graduates with practical skills who can compete in a global market. This research sought to examine, from a communication science perspective, how a comprehensive university effectively manages WIL.
Moreover, this research sought to determine the purpose of a work-integrated learning policy at a comprehensive university; explore the advantages and disadvantages of undertaking WIL; to establish the employers’ perception of WIL. This study was conducted using a qualitative and quantitative approach, interviews were conducted, and a questionnaire was distributed to WIL internal and external stakeholders of the Department of Communication Science. In this study, the term “WIL stakeholders” is used to identify the university community (students and academics) and the employer training the student. The results show that the University of Zululand WIL’s purpose is largely focused on producing graduates who have been exposed to diverse quality practices and procedures for WIL to enable a smooth transition to the workplace. There is also a strong collaboration between UNIZULU and the industry that needs to be documented and reviewed to accommodate unforeseen aspects such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The experienced challenges also need to be reviewed and addressed. The study recommends that UNIZULU needs to have a centre for Work Integrated Learning that oversees WIL across faculties for the effective management of WIL
The state of matter PhET for simulation on learners
No full textA dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science Education in the Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education at the University of Zululand, South Africa [2023].Many scientific concepts (such as elements, molecules, and energy changes) are not tangible. The scientific concepts are beyond our senses and learners often have little or no experience in constructing such concepts. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of states of matter (SOM) Physics education technology (PhET) simulation on Grade 6 learners’s conceptual understanding and retention of phase changes of states of matter. A purposive sampling technique was used to sample participants from the accessible population in uMkhanyakude District KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The sample consisted of 64 Grade 6 Natural Sciences and Technology (NS/Tech) from four primary schools. A mixed-method explanatory sequential design involving (non-equivalent pre-test, post-test, delayed post-test, and interviews) was adopted for this study. A validated two-tier diagnostic questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. A phase change of matter test (PCMT) was used for data collection as pre-test, post-test and delayed post-test. The reliability coefficient of 0.75 was established using Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient. The participants in the control group were taught using the traditional teacher-centred approach, while the experimental group was exposed to the SOM PhET simulation. The same diagnostic questionnaire was administered as a post-test to establish the effectiveness of the intervention in enhancing conceptual understanding, and as a delayed post-test after a month to establish the retention of phase change of matter concepts. The quantitative data were analysed using the Social Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 and the qualitative used idiographic and nomothetic methods. The Johnstone triangle and the cognitive load theory (CLT) were employed as the theoretical framework to the study. The findings indicated that using a SOM PhET as an intervention effectively enhanced conceptual understanding. There was a statistically significant difference in the retention ability after treatment with a PhET simulation, compared to the control group. The findings indicate that an instructional method, based on PhET simulation, enhances conceptual understanding and retention phase change of matter concepts. Further studies are needed to determine the effect of PhET simulation on retention in long-term memory after a year
The use of the directed reading thinking activity (DRTA)
No full textA dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Instructional Studies in the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies at the University of Zululand, South Africa [2023].The teaching of reading in schools requires an understanding of the specific skills required for reading, and the use of certain strategies to inculcate these skills in learners. Given the importance of reading skills in classroom practice, this study aimed to explore the use of the Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) strategy by English First Additional Language (EFAL) teachers in developing reading for comprehension skills among Grade 6 learners in primary schools. This study sought to determine the strategies used by EFAL teachers in using DRTA, the challenges they faced in doing so, and the ways in which their use of the strategy may be improved.
The researcher adopted a qualitative research approach, multiple-case design, interpretivist paradigm, and the study underpinned by social constructivism theory and conducting semi-structured interviews with 10 Grade 6 EFAL teachers from 10 primary schools in the Nquthu circuit, uMzinyathi District in KwaZulu-Natal province. In addition to interviews, non-participatory classroom observations were used to collect data. Thematic analysis of the results revealed that Grade 6 EFAL teachers adopted a variety of strategies to nurture learners’ reading for comprehension skills, but do not make optimum use of the DRTA strategy. Most teachers experienced challenges while teaching reading for comprehension skills, such as shortages of resources and teachers’ own lack of professional development. These challenges negatively affected their teaching of reading in the classroom. The study recommends that the Department of Basic Education provide regular, relevant and adequate training for EFAL teachers on pedagogical content, including the use of the DRTA strategy to enhance the effective teaching of reading skills in their classrooms. In addition, EFAL teachers should be involved in the design of curriculum content for teaching reading for comprehension. This would assist to develop the integration of the DRTA strategy into their classroom practice
Secondary school teachers’ pace setting for content coverage and quality teaching and learning
No full textA Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum Studies in the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies at the University of Zululand, South Africa [2023].This study investigates teachers’ perspectives on the pace setters used to monitor curriculum coverage; the challenges teachers face in implementing these pace setters; the coping mechanisms they use to ensure quality teaching and learning while adhering to the pace setters; and the support available to teachers who have to maintain standards while moving through the curriculum at a rapid rate, set by the pace setters. The study was located within an interpretive paradigm and adopted a qualitative methodology and a multiple case study design, targeting teachers and Heads of Departments in the Further Education Training Phase (Grades 10–12). Locke’s (1968) goal setting theory and Gross, Giacquinta and Bernstein’s (1971) curriculum implementation theory were used as a theoretical framework for the study. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews in the form of focus group discussions and one-on-one sessions. The study involved the purposive sampling of 18 teachers and six Heads of Departments from six schools in King Cetshwayo District in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.The findings reveal that most participants struggle to grasp the multidimensional aspect of quality teaching and learning, thus they seemed to neglect other crucial elements. Moreover, the study highlights that the pace at which teachers are required to complete the curriculum does not contribute to a high standard of teaching and learning; instead, it hinders it. The pressure to keep up the pace often leads to compromising the quality of teaching. To cope with the challenges imposed by pace setters and meet policy demands, teachers adopt various coping mechanisms, such as offering classes before and after school, at weekends and during holidays. Furthermore, the study reveals that teachers receive minimal support from the Department of Basic Education in dealing with the challenges of pace setters. The findings highlight the need for more comprehensive teacher support and professional development for the effective implementation of the pace setters, and for some degree of curriculum differentiation based on school contexts. Addressing these challenges could lead to improvements in curriculum coverage and ultimately enhance the overall quality of education. This study proposes a model for enhanced quality teaching and learning and full curriculum coverage which could be implemented for effective pace setting in secondary schools. Further research and policy adjustments are recommended to align pace setters with the needs and realities of the educational setting
Small scale farming for rural ecenomic development
No full textABSTRACT
The overarching aim of the study was to investigate the experiences of farmers on the modernisation of small-scale farming as a strategy to improve rural economic development in the uMzinyathi District.
The study employed a qualitative approach with explorative research design. This has been used to determine more detailed feelings, opinions, and experiences of participants with regard to their participation in small-scale farming and rural economic development. The target population consisted of small-scale farming cooperatives (1), municipal officials (1 and consisted of 5 participants per focus group discussion), ward councillors (1) from each local municipality and extension officers (2) from the only one available district department. The overall sample size of the study was fifty (50) participants. These participants were sampled through the use of both convenience (small-scale farmers and small-scale farming cooperatives) and purposive (government officials) non-probability sampling methods. The in-depth interviews, participant observations, and focus group discussions were used to collect primary data from these participants, while documental analysis was used to collect secondary data. The process of data presentation and analysis was undertaken through the use of thematic analysis and NVivo version 11.
The critical aspects of the findings show that farmers relied more on the traditional methods of farming and partially integrated them with the modern methods of farming. The lack of technological use and poor infrastructural development were reported as the main problems that obstruct the modernisation of farming within the study area. The findings further confirmed the existence of the dualistic economies within the study area. However, small-scale farming is mostly associated with the Second Economy, which is dominated by people who undertake agricultural-related informal economic activities. The labour force in this economy is not covered or protected by any job security because of the lack of policies that guide the operation of small-scale farming.
This study recommends that the government at all levels must develop a supporting strategy to prioritise small-scale farming. The government approach to the establishment of a sectoral support strategy must include the provision of input services and infrastructural facilities, more especially in areas where small-scale farmers are wholly directed to undertake agricultural activities
medieval and renaissance literature
No full textA dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of English at the University of Zululand, South Africa [2023].The following dissertation entitled The Idea of the Body as a Prison in Renaissance and Medieval Literature: Carceral Metaphors of Gender and Other Constructs uses close reading to explore the idea of the body as a prison for the soul in selected texts. Writers including Geoffrey Chaucer, John Donne, William Shakespeare, John Webster, and John Milton use the idea creatively to explore themes such as gender, misogyny, love, suicide, theodicy, disability and fame. In Troilus and Criseyde Chaucer uses the idea of the body as a prison to demonstrate how Criseyde’s body could feel like a prison because of the social strictures governing her life. Donne uses the idea of the body as a prison playfully in his erotic poetry to show how spiritual love can act as a form of release from the body’s prison. His sermons, on the other hand, adhere more strictly to religious prescriptions about the body being prisonlike because the faithful ought to want to escape its association with death and be reborn into everlasting life. Chaucer and Donne approached the idea of the body as a prison in a circumspect manner, but there were other writers who did not, and in misogynistic discourse the idea of the body as a prison was transformed into a woman-hating trope so that a female body is depicted as a snare for a man, often leading him into the trap of marriage. La Roman de la Rose and The Romaunt of the Rose contain many examples of these misogynist tropes. Ben Jonson’s Epicene, or The Silent Woman is a Renaissance play that rehearses the same misogynist ideas. Medieval feminist Christine de Pizan and female literary characters, such as Chaucer’s Wife of Bath in the Canterbury Tales and Noah’s Wife in The Wakefield Noah challenge misogynistic pigeonholing of women by insisting on using their voices to quarrel with woman haters, travelling outside the home, and showing sympathy for other oppressed women. Marriage was not always seen as a trap for a man and in Chaucer’s ‘Nun’s Priest’s Tale’ the wife provides and helps facilitate release for the husband. In Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, Claudio
sees death as a prison because he would rather be alive with Juliet. Then, in The Winter’s Tale, Hermione withholds her presence from her misogynistic husband, Leontes, until he fully reforms himself and provides acceptable restitution. Hermione is a wife whose transformation from a supposed statue releases Leontes from his guilt. Webster’s Duchess of Malfi is a similar but more forthright example of a transcendent feminist (according to Iris Marion Young’s definition of “transcendence”) for she refuses to let her brothers turn her body into her prison. Milton’s preoccupation with the idea of the body as a prison is initially used to interrogate gender and sexuality in his Comus. However, after he lost his sight later in his career, he changed his approach so that the metaphor of the body as a prison revealed his own responses to theodicy and his blindness in Paradise Lost and Samson Agonistes. C S Lewis has, in his analysis of romance allegory, shown that the metaphor of the body as a prison was used in that genre to paint the inner, psychological world of various romance writers. His ideas have not been applied to Milton’s work, or the writings of any of the other Renaissance authors discussed here. He does apply his analyses to Chaucer’s chivalric romances and the Roman, but with less focus on women than that of this research. Therefore, The Body as a Prison in Late Medieval and Renaissance Literature: Carceral Metaphors of Gender and Other Constructs represents a novel contribution to scholarship on the idea of the body as a prison for the soul because of its feminist underpinning
The effects of government funding agencies’ support on the success of SMMEs within the King Cetshwayo District: a study of uMhlathuze Municipality
No full textThis study investigated the effects of government funding agencies’ support on the success of small, micro, and medium enterprises (SMMEs) within the uMhlathuze Municipality in the King Cetshwayo District of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Despite the critical role SMMEs play in economic growth and job creation, South Africa faces a high business failure rate, exacerbated by inadequate support from numerous government funding agencies. This study employed a mixed-methods approach to comprehensively assess the impact of government funding agencies’ support on the success of SMMEs in the uMhlathuze Municipality. The research combines quantitative and qualitative methods to gather a holistic understanding of the influences at play. The quantitative component was a structured survey administered to a representative sample of SMMEs in the region. The survey collected data on various metrics of success. Additionally, key local economic development indicators, such as employment creation and poverty alleviation, were measured. The data were analysed using the descriptive statistical analysis and independent tests on IBM SPSS version 30 to analyse and present data and to identify correlations and trends between government support and SMME success. The qualitative component comprised in-depth interviews and focus group discussions conducted with SMME owners, government officials, and representatives from funding agencies. The qualitative data provide insights into the experiences and perceptions of stakeholders regarding the effectiveness of government support programmes. Thematic analysis was employed to distil key themes and patterns from the qualitative data, allowing for a deeper exploration of the challenges and opportunities faced by SMMEs. ATLAS.ti version 23 software was used to conduct the analysis. The findings highlight a complex relationship between government support and SMME success, revealing significant barriers that hinder effective assistance, including limited market linkages and inadequate access to resources. The study emphasises the necessity for custom capacity-building initiatives and innovative financing mechanisms to enhance SMME growth. By providing empirical insights into the effectiveness of government support programmes, this research aimed to inform policy decisions and improve the entrepreneurial ecosystem in uMhlathuze, ultimately contributing to sustainable economic development in the region
BRICS-African financial development
No full textA thesis submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Administration and Law in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Public Administration in the Department of Public Administration at the University of Zululand, South Africa [2023].The BRICS economies—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—represent the vanguard of emerging economies. Over the past 20 years, they have benefited from both the benefits and drawbacks of globalisation, impressing with quick, accelerated growth rates. Hence the need to study the BRICS New Development Bank As Alternative To The World Bank And IMF: A Better Economic Balance And Sustainable Development For African Region.” In recent decades, the BRICS have garnered a lot of attention on the international relations and economic scenes. These nations, which were previously categorised as "emerging economies," have demonstrated impressive rates of economic growth over the past few years. It is believed that they have undergone a process of structural transformations that has brought them quickly up to the level of world leading economies. This ongoing process might also cause the global economy to tilt in favour of developing nations rather than already established international regions like the G7. The BRICS group has questioned certain existing norms in terms of global governance (Viswanathan 2015: 25). This argument can be taken a step further by noting that not only has the group questioned certain existing norms but also by creating a development financial institution, the group has started to reform these norms. By creating the NDB, BRICS adopted a stance that gave its constituent nations and other emerging economies (and developing states) a voice and a way to be heard that may have been scarcely audible with organisations like the IMF and the World Bank. Therefore, it appeared that creating a financial institution to cater to the demands of the group's members as well as those of other emerging markets was the necessary but drastic next step to meet these development's financial needs. Many Africans think the Bretton Woods institutions were ineffective in addressing Africa's poverty and underdevelopment. The majority of local and non-Western researchers have favourable opinions of BRICS and its African policy, and BRICS has generally good relations with African nations. Through the lens of these mega-trends, "the phenomenon of BRICS," which is in the spotlight as the process of shifting the global economy's centre of gravity from the West, Western or "Global North" to the Orient, East or "Global South," unquestionably contributes to the challenges of the coming decades. Although the mechanisms underlying this process are intricate, their economic growth is supported by a number of factors vital to any economy, including resources, affordable labour, domestic investment, particularly foreign investment in strategic areas, and the desire to have a stronger international voice.OKUHUNYUSHWE NGOLIMI LWESIZULU
NGOKUFINGQIWE
Iminotho ye-BRICS—iBrazil, iRussia, i-India, i-China neSewula Afrika—ijamele
ibanga leminotho elisathuthukako. Eminyakeni engu-20 edlule, baye bazuza kukho kokubili izinzuzo kanye nezithiyo zokuhwebelana kwembulunga yonke, okuhlaba umxhwele ngamazinga okukhula asheshayo, asheshayo. Ngakho-ke kunesidingo sokufunda iBhange Lentuthuko Elisha Le-BRICS Njengenye Indlela YeBhange Lomhlaba kanye ne-IMF: Ibhalansi Engcono Yezomnotho Nentuthuko Esimeme Yesifunda Sase-Afrika.” Emashumini eminyaka amuva nje, i-BRICS ithole ukunakwa okukhulu ebudlelwaneni bamazwe ngamazwe kanye nezigcawu zezomnotho. Lezi zizwe,ebezikade zihlukaniswa “njengezomnotho osafufusa,” zikhombise izinga elincomekayo lokukhula komnotho kule minyaka embalwa edlule. Kukholakala ukuthi benze uguquko lwesakhiwo olubakhuphule ngokushesha bafinyelela ezingeni leminotho ehamba phambili emhlabeni. Le nqubo eqhubekayo ingase futhi ibangele ukuthi umnotho womhlaba utshekele uvuna amazwe asathuthuka kunezifunda zamazwe ngamazwe esezisunguliwe njenge-G7. Iqembu le-BRICS libuze imikhuba ethile ekhona mayelana nokubusa komhlaba wonke (Viswanathan 2015: 25). Le ngxabano ingathathwa igxathu eliya phambili ngokuphawula ukuthi leli qembu alizange nje libuze imikhuba ethile
ekhona kodwa futhi ngokwakha isikhungo sezimali sokuthuthukisa, leli qembu seliqalile
ukulungisa le migomo. Ngokusungula i-NDB, i-BRICS yamukela isimo esanikeza amazwe angaphansi kwayo kanye nezinye izifundazwe ezinomnotho osafufusa (kanye nezifundazwe ezisathuthuka) izwi kanye nendlela yokuzwakala okungenzeka ukuthiyayingazwakali kahle ezinhlanganweni ezifana ne-IMF kanye neBhange Lomhlaba.Ngakho-ke, kubonakale sengathi ukwakhiwa kwesikhungo sezezimali esizobhekana nezidingo zamalungu eqembu kanye nezabanye izimakethe ezisafufusa kwakuyisinyathelo esilandelayo esidingekayo kodwa esinzima ukuze kuhlangatshezwane nalezi zidingo zezimali zentuthuko. Abantu abaningi base-Afrika bacabanga ukuthi izikhungo zaseBretton Woods azizange zisebenze kahle ekubhekaneni nobubha kanye nokungathuthuki kwase-Afrika. Iningi labacwaningi basekhaya nabangebona abaseNtshonalanga banemibono emihle nge-BRICS kanye nenqubomgomo yayo yase-Afrika, futhi i-BRICS ngokuvamile inobudlelwane obuhle namazwe ase-Afrika. Ngala ma-lens amathrendi amakhulu, "into ye-BRICS," esesigcawini njengenqubo yokuguqula isikhungo somnotho womhlaba wonke samandla adonsela phansi sisuke eNtshonalanga, eNtshonalanga noma "eNyakatho Yomhlaba wonke" siyiswe eMpumalanga, eMpumalanga noma "Global iNingizimu," ngokungangabazeki inomthelela ezinseleleni zamashumi eminyaka ezayo. Nakuba izindlela eziyisisekelo zalolu hlelo ziyinkimbinkimbi, ukukhula komnotho wabo kusekelwa izinto ezimbalwa ezibalulekile kunoma yimuphi umnotho, okuhlanganisa izinsiza, abasebenzi abathengekayo, utshalomali lwangaphakathi, ikakhulukazi ukutshalwa kwezimali kwamanye amazwe ezindaweni ezinamasu, kanye nesifiso sokuba nezwi elinamandla emazweni ngamazwe
In Vitro and In Vivo Development of a β‑Lactam-Metallo-βLactamase Inhibitor: Targeting Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacterales
Get PDFIn Vitro and In Vivo Development of a β‑Lactam-Metallo-βLactamase Inhibitor: Targeting Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteralesβ-lactams are the most prescribed class of antibiotics due to their potent, broad-spectrum antimicrobial activities. However, alarming rates of antimicrobial resistance now threaten the clinical relevance of these drugs, especially for the carbapenemresistant Enterobacterales expressing metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs). Antimicrobial agents that specifically target these enzymes to restore the efficacy of last resort β-lactam drugs, that is, carbapenems, are therefore desperately needed. Herein, we present a cyclic zinc chelator covalently attached to a β-lactam scaffold (cephalosporin), that is, BP1. Observations from in vitro assays (with seven MBL expressing bacteria from different geographies) have indicated that BP1 restored the efficacy of meropenem to ≤ 0.5 mg/L, with sterilizing activity occurring from 8 h postinoculation. Furthermore, BP1 was nontoxic against human hepatocarcinoma cells (IC50 > 1000 mg/L) and exhibited a potency of (Kiapp) 24.8 and 97.4 μM against Verona integron-encoded MBL (VIM-2) and New Delhi metallo β-lactamase (NDM-1), respectively. There was no inhibition observed from BP1 with the human zinc-containing enzyme glyoxylase II up to 500 μM. Preliminary molecular docking of BP1 with NDM-1 and VIM-2 sheds light on BP1’s mode of action. In Klebsiella pneumoniae NDM infected mice, BP1 coadministered with meropenem was efficacious in reducing the bacterial
load by >3 log10 units’ postinfection. The findings herein propose a favorable therapeutic combination strategy that restores the activity of the carbapenem antibiotic class and complements the few MBL inhibitors under development, with the ultimate goal of
curbing antimicrobial resistance
English literature paper 2
No full textA thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Education in Curriculum and Instructional Studies in the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies at the University of Zululand, South Africa [2023].Studying literature is an integral part of language learning. Literature provides learners with authentic material to learn a language, especially one that is not their home language. This study was conducted to identify the impediments towards literary competence, looking at Grade 12 learners from rural schools under the Umlalazi Circuit in the vicinity of Nzuza tribal authority. The study was conducted in five rural schools which use English as an additional language and whose home language is IsiZulu. The Transactional reader-response theory provides the theoretical framework for this study. The study employed the Interpretivist (constructivist) research paradigm through a case study design. The study followed Qualitative research approach through semi-structured interviews with a sample of four Grade 12 EFAL teachers from four different schools and focus group interviews with a sample of thirty-two (32) Grade 12 EFAL learners to explore their views on the teaching and learning of literature. The study used thematic analysis to provide concise descriptions and interpretations of the themes from the data presented. The teacher and learner participants' data revealed that many challenges impede literary competence. Those challenges include the volume of reading texts, affective and psychological factors, failure to read literary texts independently, learners’ inactivity during literature lessons, answers not backed up by textual evidence, negative attitudes towards literature, and inability to explain the effectiveness of literary devices. Based on the challenges above, the study recommends minimising the number of poems and short stories, developing positive attitudes, textual-evidence-based explanations, strategic teaching of literature, contextualizing literary devices, and simultaneous teaching of language and literature. It is recommended that future studies should thoroughly investigate the impact of linguistic competence on literary competence and how attitudes are incorporated into all of this