1834 research outputs found
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Highlighting developments of OA repositories in Africa
No full textAfrican Repositories network : highlighting developments of OA repositories in Africa, COAR Annual General Meeting, May 8-10, 2017, the Università Ca’ Foscari, Venice, Ital
An investigation into the promotion and development of awareness intergenerational transmission of prejudice in adolescents
No full textSouth Africa is a country where those who were oppressed in the past are trying to live in a society with their former oppressors. The youth of today appear to be carrying the anger, fears and uncertainties of the past. This could be the result of intergenerational transmission of prejudice, whereby memories of experiences, fears, anger and levels of anxiety may be absorbed by the next generation. The purpose of this study was to develop and implement an intervention programme that could assist adolescent learners in making their own informed decisions, despite the influences of the intergenerational transmission of prejudice. This was achieved by combining three theories, namely the transgenerational theory, historical trauma and social learning theory, with the principles of bibliotherapy. The research conducted was based in the interpretive paradigm, with the study methodology being qualitative in nature. The research design implemented was a case study. Data generation was achieved by utilising a variety of methods, namely open-ended questions, small focus groups and reflection journals. Analysis of the data was accomplished by applying a thematic analysis approach. The sample for this study was selected from a local, government high school and the participants consisted of a group of Grade 10 learners, who all held leadership positions in the school. The purpose of this study was achieved by utilising the principles of bibliotherapy to inform a programme to develop awareness of intergenerational transmission of prejudice. This was then combined with the principles of bibliotherapy, with scenarios taken from the animated film, The Land Before Time, to further assist in creating awareness and a better understanding of the intergenerational transmission of knowledge. Finally, the programme was used to equip the participants with the tools needed, to transfer what they had learnt from the programme to decisions they would need to make in their daily lives. This study has shown that the principles of bibliotherapy can be used to promote and develop awareness of intergenerational transmission of prejudice in adolescent learners.National Research Foundatio
Social networking services in support of patient centred care: a South African perspective
No full textIn an effort to improve the South African healthcare system, the Department of Health in South Africa is investing in National Health Insurance to support and deliver access to quality healthcare services within affordable boundaries. Enhanced delivery and quality of care to patients is supplemented through an increased emphasis on the adoption of eHealth technologies and systems. Within the context of efforts to improve access to quality and affordable healthcare services, there is also increasing awareness of the need to adopt a patient centred care approach as a means of caring for the patient, rather than only caring for the disease. Patient centred care emphasises the need for patients to be actively involved in the decision making process with regards to their needs and treatment. Social networking is viewed as a useful tool to support patient centred care and to improve on healthcare delivery. The use of social networking services beyond the healthcare context has increased exponentially. This has lead to increased interest in the application of social networking in healthcare. This leads to the problem statement of this research, which is the proliferation of social networking services and the lack of understanding of the prospect of social networking services for patient centred care in South Africa. In order to address this problem, the research investigates three areas of focus, namely patient centred care, the South African healthcare sector and social networking services. This generates an understanding of the meaning of patient centred care in general, and also in this study; the status quo in South African healthcare and the incorporation of patient centred care within selected strategic healthcare directives; social networking services in general as well as its application in healthcare; and the factors affecting the use of social networking services for patient centred care in the South African healthcare context. The factors are analysed to explore the prospects of social networking services for patient centred care in South African healthcare. The outcome of this analysis represents a useful input for healthcare providers and administrators in government.National Research Foundatio
Diamonds in the sky: harnessing olympiads and competitions for astronomy development in Africa
No full text
Determination of recharge and groundwater potential zones in mhinga area, South Africa
No full textThis study was focused on determining groundwater recharge and groundwater potential for Mhinga area in South Africa, which is a rural area that depends mainly on groundwater for domestic water supply. Numerical modelling was used to simulate the groundwater behaviour in the aquifer and estimate groundwater recharge. MIKE SHE and MIKE 11 models were coupled and used to estimate groundwater recharge within calibration and validation periods of 2007/07/01 to 2009/12/31 and 2010/01/01 to 2013/05/21, respectively. Due to limited data availability for Mhinga, modelling was carried out at quaternary scale and then localised to Mhinga area. Remotely sensed data (satellite images, shapefiles and maps) was used to produce the groundwater potential map for Mhinga. The data were assigned with weights using Saaty’s Analytical Hierarchy Process and overlain on ArcGIS platform. Borehole drilling statistics of the boreholes in A91H quaternary catchment were used to validate the groundwater potential map. In streamflow modelling using MIKE 11, values of Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE), correlation coefficient (R), root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE) were 0.51-0.89, 0.73-0.97, 3.61-7.96 and 1.13-2.75, respectively. In integrated groundwater modelling using MIKE SHE, values of NSE, R, RMSE and MAE were 0.72-0.84, 0.87-0.93, 0.18-0.32 and 0.13-0.26, respectively. These values showed that MIKE SHE and MIKE 11 models had satisfactory performances. Groundwater recharge estimates were generally very low ranging from 0 to 2.75 mm/year, which constituted 0 – 0.42 % of Mean Annual Precipitation (MAP) for the A91H quaternary catchment. This was associated with high evapotranspiration (mean of approximately 4 mm/day) compared to the low precipitation levels (MAP of 656 mm/year). Moreover, in the low lying areas, with gentle slopes, low recharge between 0.2 – 0.4 mm was observed. The groundwater potential (GWP) map produced revealed that Mhinga is predominantly covered by regions of very low and low groundwater potential, which was associated with the type of geology. Area coverages of 34.47 % had very low, 51.39 % had low, 7.66 % had moderate and 6.48 % had high groundwater potential. Moderate to high groundwater potential zones were located along the geologic fault zones. In A91H, 112 unsuccessful boreholes were drilled, 69 (61.6 %) fell in the very low GWP zones, 16 (14.3 %) fell in the low GWP zones, 17 (15.2 %) fell in moderate GWP zones and 10 (8.9 %) fell in the high GWP zones. In the Mhinga, 19 unsuccessful boreholes were drilled of which, 11 (57.9%) fell in the very low GWP zones, while 6 (31.6%) fell in the low GWP zones and 2 (10.5%) fell in the moderate GWP zone. Hence 89.5% of all the unsuccessful boreholes drilled occurred in the very low to low GWP zones. It is concluded that the study area is mainly dominated by of areas with low recharge and very low to low groundwater potential. It is recommended that the MIKE SHE – MIKE 11 model and the GIS models should be developed further and improved as more data is collected to refine the conceptualisation of the aquifer.National Research Foundatio
‘Place-making’: Investigating the place-based identity negotiations of high school girls in the informal spaces of their school
No full textThis research study explores the navigation and negotiation of five Grade 10 high school girls’ identities within their school spaces. The study privileges a link between space and identity which provides a conceptual platform in terms of which I was able to construct an investigation into how these high school girls go about their place-making inside their school. The investigation focuses on understanding how practices of place-making influences the identities of the students involved as well as the formation and transformation of the place, their high school.
The theoretical framework is founded on a combination of Lefebvre’s theory (1971/1991) regarding the production of space which includes the interaction of physical, social and mental dimensions of space on the one hand, and Proshansky, Fabian & Kaminoff (1983) theorisation of the formation of place-identities. Together with these theories, other researchers and theorists, such as: Nespor (1994, 1997), Massey (1991, 1994, 1995), Tupper et al. (2008), O’Donoghue (2007) and Marcouyeux & Fleury-Bahi (2011) have contributed to my theorisation of place-making and place-identities.
This study is situated within the interpretivist paradigm and utilised a critical ethnographic research approach that produced qualitative data findings. Data were collected through the use of five qualitative data collection methods: (1) participant observations; (2) unstructured and semi-structured interviews; (3) focus group discussions; (4) photo-elicitation interviews utilising student produced photographs; and (5) photo-diaries.
My main analytical findings reveal that these girls went about making place in ways that stretched across the three spatial dimensions (physical, social and mental) and they went about this in individual, communal and strategic ways guided by their affective positions in response to the affectivity of the place. I argue that through the school’s encouragement of the students to express themselves in its spaces, the students went on to inhabit and create the school as a place in unanticipated ways. In the school’s ‘out-of-sight’ spaces the girls were emoting, acting, negotiating and strategising in order to establish their emerging identities. Importantly, the culture of the school opened up the space for these girls to act and their acting at school was instrumental in reorganising and transforming the place. The school attempted to be an inclusive space that accommodates diversity, but the girls’ affectivities, their bodies and their embodied dispositions, co-constituted the school as a specific type of place. I argue that the girls interpreted the culture of the school and acted in response to its discourses and their desire to belong and consequently constructed ways of living’ at the school. It became clear that the character of the school as a place was constantly lived, experienced and reordered by those who moved through it.National Research Foundatio
Research Infrastructure funding instruments
No full textThe Grants Management and Systems Administration (GMSA) Directorate hosted its 8th annual Research Administrators Workshop (RAW) from 9 to 11 October 2017 in the Western Cape. The workshop aimed to bring together key stakeholders from universities and science councils across South Africa, including international delegates, to share experiences and best practices in research administration and management
Research Administrators Workshop Student Affairs challenges faced by NRF
No full textThe Grants Management and Systems Administration (GMSA) Directorate hosted its 8th annual Research Administrators Workshop (RAW) from 9 to 11 October 2017 in the Western Cape. The workshop aimed to bring together key stakeholders from universities and science councils across South Africa, including international delegates, to share experiences and best practices in research administration and management
NRF requirements for awarding/continuing grants
No full textThe Grants Management and Systems Administration (GMSA) Directorate hosted its 8th annual Research Administrators Workshop (RAW) from 9 to 11 October 2017 in the Western Cape. The workshop aimed to bring together key stakeholders from universities and science councils across South Africa, including international delegates, to share experiences and best practices in research administration and management