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Textism in the Classroom: A Writing Destruction for School Learners in South Africa
Get PDFThis paper appears in the proceedings of to the 11th European Conference on Social Media (ECSM 2024), hosted by the University of Brighton, UK on 30-31 May 2024.The rise of the Third Industrial Revolution (3IR) introduced various interactive digital platforms such as computer-mediated communication (CMC). These platforms include social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, X (formerly known as Twitter), and Instagram. During the exchange of messages, social media users use language distinctively to express their thoughts. Both conventional and non-conventional writing styles manifest. For instance, while others use well-formed language in line with the conventions of a standard language, some use unconventional language, which is termed multiple names such as textism, texteese, and social media language. Since most of the social media users’ age profiles match the age group of learners in secondary schools, it became necessary for this study to explore the possible impact of social media on learners’ academic writing, particularly in the official indigenous languages of South Africa. This study used a qualitative research approach to explore the impact of social media on learners’ writing of the Sepedi language in 10 secondary schools in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. Using focus group interviews and document analysis, the paper discovered that learners’ application of writing mechanics such as grammar and punctuation marks are affected by social media. The paper is conceptualised through cultivation theory.Linguistics and Modern Language
Ministerial accountability in the New Prophetic Pentecostal Church of South Africa
Get PDFThis is a practical theology study exploring Ministerial accountability in the New Prophetic Pentecostal Churches (NPPC) to understand the value of accountability in ministry practices for this tradition, and what can be learned from this for other church traditions. The study was undertaken to examine the practical conduct of elected leaders to comprehend how their accountability, as well as their communal and public responsibilities, manifest in their day-to-day ministerial activities, due to their affiliation as rapidly expanding Pentecostals. The qualitative research approach was adopted to figure out how a church tradition stays responsible to its members and the wider public. This is an important area of Christian practice as the church is the first moral community and must act with integrity and be orderly and transparent in all its actions. Accountability is key to the authentic practice of Christian ministry. The sample for this study is the emerging New Prophetic Pentecostal churches as they have a unique brand of theology and practices that could provide new understandings of this area of church practice. The targeted population was the ministers from selected Neo-Pentecostals; the data was collected through in-depth interviews. The data was analysed through thematic analysis to develop themes that explained the descriptive and interpretive tasks. The findings suggested that the Neo-Pentecostal leaders prefer not to report to any structure or denomination; they uniquely and responsively have a preference to account to the Holy Spirit and the designated spiritual father. The findings also suggested that the Neo-Pentecostal ethical practices are believed as divinely persuaded by the Holy Spirit, such as healing, payers, deliverance, miracles, and charity services. In addition, the findings revealed that public accountability was found deficient in the sense that, some participants were alleged to have participated in unethical conduct. This descriptive study aims to understand how the leaders of the New Prophetic Pentecostal Church think, appreciate, and take responsibility for their actions since leaders serve as moral examples for the church members and society.M. Th. (Practical Theology)Practical Theolog
The effect of problem-solving teaching approach on learning fractions in Grade 8
Get PDFProblem-solving teaching approach is critical in improving learners’ cognition and problem-solving skills in different content areas in mathematics. Therefore, this quantitative study evaluated the effect of the problem-solving teaching approach on learning Fractions in Grade 8. This study draws from Polya’s Problem-Solving framework that consists of sequential learning phases applied by the facilitator for intervention in guiding learners during their learning process. This study’s null hypothesis, which was rejected, stated that there is no difference between the problem-solving teaching approach and traditional teaching approach on learning addition and subtraction of fractions (H0): μproblem-solving approach =μtraditional approach. The positivist view in this study emphasised that the complexity of teaching and learning is understood through a scientific approach and numerical measurement. Participants were educators and learners in Mopani East and West District of Limpopo, categorised into experimental and comparison groups. The quasi-non-equivalent pre and post-test design, and questionnaire were used to engage the participants to access the empirical evidence. The 363 learners’ who took part were 175 experimental group learners’ and 188 comparison group learners. Participants were conveniently sampled, and no random assignment of participants was done. Data analysis combined both descriptive analysis and inferential Kruskal-Wallis and Sample Wilcoxon Signed Rank measurements. Learners were exposed to problem-solving learning in the experimental group and to traditional teaching and learning in the comparison group. In response to problem-solving teaching and learning, learners engaged in understanding the problem phase, devising the plan phase, carrying out the plan phase, and evaluating the solution phase through self-centred, group and self-regulated learning to build knowledge and skills. Findings revealed that learners who learned through problem-solving gained problem-solving skills and improved their performance. The results generated from SPSS, Kruskal-Wallis, Wilcoxon Signed Rank through paired t-test data analysis according to learners’ performance in experimental group indicates significant p-value of p=0.000 with large effect size H= 0.163, p<0.05. The large effect size implies problem-solving contributed significantly towards the improvement of learners’ problem-solving learning, skills, and achievement of moderate and advanced scores on learning addition and subtraction of fractions.M.A. (Mathematics (Mathematics Education))Mathematics Educatio
Religious Tourism in the Context of Pentecostalism: Developing a Pentecostal Pneumatological Theology of Tourism
No full textReligious tourism is commonly known for the visits by believers to religious sites and pilgrimages for religious purposes. In African Pentecostalism, religious tourism is known for the movement of believers from one country to another in search of greater power and blessings. This also includes powerful politicians who would visit a prophet in another African country in search of prayers. This kind of movement has been perceived negatively, particularly considering the disaster that happened in Nigeria when many South Africans lost their lives when the Synagogue Church of All Nations building in Nigeria collapsed. In addition, there are challenges such as the financial exploitation of religious tourists who pay exorbitant prices to visit men or women of God. Another challenge is the hostility of host countries to religious tourists, particularly pastors. The argument in this article is that religious tourism should not only be studied by its challenges but also various opportunities. Opportunities such as transportation opportunities, food trade opportunities, and hospitality opportunities are explored. These opportunities are important in the development of a Pentecostal pneumatological theology of tourism. This is a literature review on religious tourism in the context of Pentecostalism. This theology is developed using the theoretical framework of pneumatological imagination which argues that being filled with the Spirit includes opening up to people of different languages, different nationalities, and so forth. Similarly, pneumatological imagination argues that being filled with the Spirit allows the movement of people from one country to another which enhances tourism opportunities. This theory is important for the balance between the challenges and opportunities of religious tourism.Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiolog
Analysing Websites Privacy Policies: A Study of E-commerceWebsites in South Africa
No full textN/AWebsite privacy policies are used to inform consumers of the use and
processing of their data but are often long and jargonised, complicating the comprehension
of the website’s privacy policies. While consumers require assurance
on the processing of their personal information, organisations must also ensure
that their website privacy policies cover the principles of data protection Acts.
In South Africa, the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) came into
effect in July 2021, which provided principles for processing personal information.
This study adopts the PRISMA methodology to systematically examine the
existing literature to propose consolidated guidelines to aid website developers
and administrators in drafting website privacy policies for the e-commerce sector.
The proposed guidelines are a holistic consolidation of literature that applies to
various jurisdictions. As the study was conducted in South Africa, the guidelines
were also mapped to POPIA, and a sample of website privacy policies in South
Africa were reviewed using the proposed guidelines. The e-commerce industry
can benefit by implementing recommendations to aid them in addressing data
privacy principles in website privacy policies.College of Engineering, Science and TechnologyN/
The farm gate carbon and water footprint of diverse beef cattle genotypes in South Africa and its environmental impact
Get PDFAbstracts in English and TsongaThe aim of this study is to estimate the current farm-gate carbon and blue water footprint of the major beef breeds in South Africa that is representative of the different breed types e.g. Sanga (indigenous), Sanga derived, Zebu, Zebu derived, British and European breeds. A simulation programme was used to simulate the methane production (expressed as methane intensity) and blue water footprint of a weaner calf production system for 9 diverse beef cattle genotypes. The chosen genotypes were based on the number of animals and the availability of data. The breeds involved were: Afrikaner, Nguni, Bonsmara, Angus, Hereford, Brahman, Brangus, Charolais and Simmentaler. The simulation study also involved a farm size of 1200 hectares (ha), with a carrying capacity of 6 hectares per Large Stock Unit (LSU) which could carry 200 LSU’s. Frame size specific equations were used to estimate cow LSU units. The Tier 2 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) approach for the methane (CH4) emission values, as already published in the literature was used. Through this approach it was estimated that the enteric methane emissions factor (MEFenteric) of a LSU was equivalent/equal to 94kg methane/year. Furthermore, a 15% replacement rate, 2% pre-weaning mortality, 2% post weaning mortality and a 4% use of breeding bulls were assumed. The blue water use intensity can be estimated in the same way, and it was assumed that for every kg of dry matter intake, a ruminant animal needs 4 litres (L) of water, but it can be increased by 50 % when it is hot. Therefore, an average of 5 litres water intake was used. A LSU needs 9kg dry matter per day and therefore 45 litres of water per day. It was thus estimated that the litres of blue water consumed on the farm was 16 425 litres/year/LSU multiplied by 200 LSU’s which was equal to 3 285 kilolitres. Actual published production values (weaning weight, cow weight, fertility) for each breed was used. For the small frame Afrikaner and Nguni breeds, it was estimated that the methane intensity (kg methane per kg live weight leaving the farm) was 0.60kg and 0.68 kg, respectively. For the medium frame Bonsmara, Angus, Hereford, Brahman and Brangus, the methane intensity was 0.59kg, 0.59kg, 0.64kg, 0.61kg and 0.62kg, respectively. Lastly, for the large frame Charolais and Simmentaler, the methane intensity was 0.85kg and 0.73kg, respectively. The methane intensity varied from 0.59kg CH4 to 0.85kg CH4, which represents a 44% difference. However, when comparing different size breeds, assuming a 10% improvement in each trait, the methane intensity varied from 0.55kg to 0.75kg,
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respectively and a 55% difference was then observed. Moreover, when estimating the water use intensity, it varied from 103 to 148 kilolitres from small to large frame breeds and when a 10% improvement was applied it then ranged from 96 to 131 kilolitres per kg live weight leaving the farm. It was surprising that the Nguni had a medium methane and water intensity, since it is the most fertile breed. However, it should be taken into account that the Nguni was the smallest breed and 147 cows with calves could be kept on the 1 200ha farm. These cows and calves produce large quantities of methane and utilizes large/high water quantities as compared to some of the other breeds. The Afrikaner, Bonsmara, Angus, Brahman and Brangus breeds have low methane and water use intensities and can be regarded as environmentally friendly. The Nguni and Hereford breeds have medium methane and water use intensities while the Charolais and Simmentaler breeds have higher methane and water use intensities. This information can be used to develop a model that can estimate the farm-gate methane emission and water use intensity for different breed types, production levels and systems. Such a model will be valuable in the event that carbon taxes are introduced and total life cycle of water use can be fully analysed.Xikongomelo xa phurojeke leyi i ku pima khaboni ya sweswi ya farm-gate na mati ya blue water footprint ya tinxaka letikulu ta nyama ya homu e Afrika Dzonga leswi yimelaka tinxaka to hambana ta tinxaka xikombiso Sanga (indigenous), Sanga derived, Zebu, Zebu derived, British na Tinxaka ta le Yuropa. Dyondzo yitirhisiwile ku tekelela vuhumelerisi bya methane (leswi kombisiwaka tani hi matimba ya methane) na blue water footprint ya weaner calf production system eka 9 wa ti genotypes to hambana hambana ta tihomu ta homu. Ti genotypes leti hlawuriweke ati seketeriwile eka nhlayo ya swifuwo xikan’we naku kumeka ka data. Tinxaka leti katsekaka akuri: Afrikaner, Nguni, Bonsmara, Angus, Hereford, Brahman, Brangus, Charolais na Simmentaler. Dyondzo ya simulation yitlhele yi katsa vukulu bya purasi ra 1200 wa ti hectares (ha), laha kungana vuswikoti byo rhwala bya 6 wa ti hectares hi Large Stock Unit (LSU) leyinga rhwala 200 wa ti LSU’s. Kutani ku tirhisiwile ti equations to hlawuleka ta vukulu bya furemu ku ringanyeta tiyuniti ta LSU ta tihomu. Endlelo ra Tier 2 ra Phanele ya le Xikarhi ka Mfumo eka ku Cinca ka Maxelo (IPCC) eka mimpimo ya ku humesiwa ka methane (CH4), tanihilaha se swi kandziyisiweke hakona eka matsalwa. Hiku tirhisa endlelo leri ku ringanyetiwe leswaku enteric methane emissions factor (MEFenteric) ya LSU ayi ringana/ringana na 94kg methane/lembe. Kuya emahlweni, 15% wa nhlayo ya ku cinciwa, 2% wa ku fa ka le mahlweni ka ku lumuriwa, 2% wa ku fa endzhaku ka ku lumuriwa na 4% wa ku tirhisiwa ka tinkunzi leti fuyiwaka swi tekiwile. Kutala ka matirhiselo ya mati ya wasi yanga ringanyetiwa hindlela leyi fanaka, naswona aku ehleketiwile leswaku eka kg yin’wana na yin’wana ya swakudya swo oma leswi dyiwaka xifuwo lexi dyaka swilava 4 wa tilitara (L) ta mati, kambe xinga engeteriwa hi 50 % loko xi hisa. Hikokwalaho, ku tirhisiwile xiringaniso xa 5 wa tilitara ta mati lawa ya dyiwaka. LSU yilava 9kg ya swakudya swo oma hi siku naswona hikokwalaho ka sweswo 45 wa tilitara ta mati hi siku. Xisweswo swiringanyetiwile leswaku tilitara ta mati ya wasi lawa ya tirhisiwaka e purasini akuri 16 425 wa tilitara/lembe/LSU ku andzisiwa hi 200 wa ti LSU leswi ringanaka na 3 285 wa tikhilolitara. Mimpimo ya xiviri ya vuhumelerisi leyi kandziyisiweke (ndzilo wa ku lumuriwa, ntiko wa tihomu, ku veleka) eka muxaka wun’wana na wun’wana wutirhisiwile. Eka tinxaka letintsongo ta frame, Afrikaner na Nguni, aku ringanyetiwa leswaku matimba ya methane (kg methane hi kg ya ntiko lowu hanyaka lowu humaka
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e purasini) akuri 0.60kg na 0.68 kg, hiku landzelelana. Eka furemu yale xikarhi, ya Bonsmara, Angus, Hereford, Brahman, Brangus, matimba ya methane akuri 0.59kg, 0.59kg, 0.64kg, 0.61kg, 0.62kg, hiku landzelelana. Naswona eka furemu leyikulu, Charolais na Simmentaler, matimba ya methane akuri 0.85kg na 0.73kg, hiku landzelelana. Nhlayo ya methane ayi hambana kusuka eka 0.59kg CH4 kuya eka 0.85kg CH4, leswi yimelaka ku hambana ka 44%. Hambiswiritano, loko ku pimanyisiwa tinxaka tohambana hambana ta vukulu, hiku tekela enhlokweni ku cinca ka 10% eka mfanelo yin’wana na yin’wana, matimba ya methane ya hambana kusuka eka 0.55kg kuya eka 0.75kg, hiku landzelelana. Naswona kwalomu ka 55% wa ku hambana ku tlhele ku voniwa. Ku tlula kwalaho, loko ku ringanyetiwa matimba ya matirhiselo ya mati, ya hambana kusuka eka 103 kuya eka 148 kilolitres kusuka eka tinxaka letintsongo kuya eka letikulu ta furemu naswona loko 10% wa ku cinca ku cheriwa kutani akuri kusuka eka 96 kuya eka 131 kilolitres hi ntiko lowu hanyaka lowu humaka e purasini. A swi hlamarisa kuva va Nguni ayiri na methane yale xikarhi xikan’we na mati yotala, tani hileswi kunga muxaka lowu noneke swinene. Hambiswiritano, swifanele ku tekeriwa enhlokweni leswaku Nguni akuri muxaka lowuntsongo swinene naswona 147 wa tihomu letingana marhole tinga hlayisiwa eka purasi ra 1 200ha. Tihomu leti na marhole ya humesa nhlayo leyikulu ya methane naswona ya tirhisa mati lamakulu/yale henhla loko ku pimanyisiwa na tinxaka ta Afrikaner, Bonsmara, Angus, Brahman na Brangus. Tinxaka ta Afrikaner, Bonsmara, Angus, Brahman na Brangus tina methane yale hansi na matirhiselo ya mati naswona tinga tekiwa tani hi letinga onhi mbango. Tinxaka ta Nguni na Hereford tina methane yale xikarhi xikan’we na matirhiselo ya mati kasi tinxaka ta Charolais na Simmentaler tina methane yale henhla xikan’we na matirhiselo ya mati. Mahungu lawa yanga tirhisiwa ku tumbuluxa modele lowu nga ringanyetaka ku humesiwa ka methane ya le purasini xikan’we na matimba ya matirhiselo ya mati eka tinxaka tohambana hambana ta tinxaka, swiyimo swa vuhumelerisi na tisisiteme. Modele wo tano wu ta va wa nkoka loko ko tshuka ku nghenisiwa swibalo swa khaboni naswona xirhendzevutani xa vutomi hinkwabyo xa matirhiselo ya mati xi ta xopaxopiwa hi ku hetiseka.M. Sc. (Agriculture)College of Agriculture and Environmental Science
The contribution of adult literacy programmes towards gender equality of rural women: a case study from Nepal
Get PDFThis dissertation looked at the contribution of adult literacy programmes (ALPs) to the gender equality of rural women. In a patriarchal society directly linked to the Hindu caste system, Nepalese women from remote places and low-caste groups struggle particularly with traditional gender roles and limited freedoms. Acknowledging the benefits of ALPs in developing countries, on the one hand, and realising persistent inequalities among the participants, on the other hand, the researcher explored to what extent surrounding conditions or internal structures of ALPs promote or prevent positive outcomes. For this qualitative case study, the researcher conducted focus group discussions with participating women of ALPs and women of the same rural Nepalese community and also qualitative interviews with local literacy teachers. The researcher selected the participants based on ‘purposive sampling’ and organised the data using deductive analysis strategies. Following the methodical steps of ‘grounded theory’ and qualitative content analysis, the researcher analysed the data to generate a theoretical understanding. The results showed a partial improvement in women's gender equality status. With the help of imparted literacy, numeracy and life skills, ALPs provide rural women with increased freedom of movement and enable them to participate increasingly in community activities and employment. ALPs raise awareness of women's rights and the possibility of changing gender-related responsibilities. However, this research proved that persistent patriarchal structures prevent ALPs from generating more extensive and sustainable achievements towards women's gender equality. As much as gender-focused and awareness teaching during the ALPs emphasise equality between the genders, the deficient consideration of regional inequities and gender-biased teaching material limit the positive outcomes. The study contributes to already established research on the impact of ALPs and contains recommendations for their improved performance.M.A. (Development Studies)Development Studie
Electricity access and poverty reduction dynamics in Botswana: an ARDL approach
Get PDFPurpose: In this study, the impact of access to electricity on poverty reduction is examined using annual data from 1990 to 2021 for Botswana. The study was motivated by the need to establish if access to electricity could be a panacea on poverty reduction in Botswana. Given that the United National Sustainable Development Goal deadline is fast approaching, and Botswana being one of the signatories, is expected to end poverty in all its forms – Goal 1. Establishing the role that electrification plays in poverty alleviation helps in refocusing Botswana’s poverty alleviation strategies on factors that have high impact on poverty. The main objective of this study, therefore, is to investigate the relationship between poverty alleviation and access to electricity in Botswana.
Approach: The study uses the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach to investigate the nature of the relations. Two poverty proxies were used in this study namely, household consumption expenditure and life expectancy.
Findings: The study found access to electricity to reduce poverty in the long run and in the short run, regardless of the poverty measure used. Thus, access to electricity plays an important role in poverty alleviation and Botswana is recommended to continue with the rural and urban electrification initiatives.
Originality: The study explores the impact of access to electricity on poverty reduction in Botswana, a departure from current studies that examined the same relationship using energy consumption in general. This is on the back of increasing dependence of economic activities on electricity as a major source of energy.Economic
QGP probes from a dynamical holographic model of AdS/QCD
No full textAbstract
In this paper, we employ the gauge/gravity duality to study some features of the quark–gluon plasma. For this purpose, we implement a holographic QCD model constructed from an Einstein–Maxwell-dilaton gravity at finite temperature and finite chemical potential. The model captures both the confinement and deconfinement phases of QCD and we use it to study the effect of temperature and chemical potential on a heavy quark moving through the plasma. We calculate the drag force, Langevin diffusion coefficients and also the jet quenching parameter, and our results align with other holographic QCD models and the experimental data
An action plan to enhance the transfer of learning of pain management competencies of nurses in Saudi Arabian teaching hospitals
Get PDFText in EnglishPurpose: The purpose of this study was to develop an action plan that would facilitate the enhancement of the transfer of learning (TOL) of pain management competencies amongst nurses at teaching hospitals in Saudi Arabia.
Methods: The study employed a five-phase explanatory sequential mixed method de-sign. The study commenced with quantitative data collection and analysis, followed by qualitative data collection and analysis. Nurses and clinical facilitators completed a self-administered questionnaire to assess pain assessment resources in Phase 1. Phase 2 collected data and analysed nurses’ characteristics and learning styles with a self-administered questionnaire. Phase 3 described hospital teaching methods, the learning content, and the learning climate using clinical facilitator data from self-ad-ministered surveys with closed and open-ended questions. In Phase 4, Phases 1, 2, and 3 data and a literature review were used to develop an action plan to enhance nurses’ pain management competencies. In Phase 5, a purposively selected panel of clinical facilitators and nurses validated the action plan to enhance the transfer of learning of pain management competencies of nurses within the context.
The Systemic Model of Transfer of Learning by Donavan and Darcy (2011) was the study’s theoretical framework. This model suggests individual and organizational performance as the link between the transfer of learning and work environment characteristics. The model is based on the idea that four factors influence the transfer of learning in the workplace: 1) trainee characteristics (the nurses), 2) training design (learning content), 3) training transfer climate, and 4) work environment.
The findings:
The action plan was validated and approved to enhance the transfer of learning of pain management competencies of nurses in Saudi Arabian teaching hospitals. The action plan encompassed the specified actions, which were to motivate nurses to further their studies, make appropriate and relevant pain management tools accessible to the nursing team in every clinical area, develop a practice-oriented content-specific short pain management training program, develop a pain management short program that accommodates all learning types, incorporate different teaching approaches to accommodate diverse learners and facilitators in the training of pain management, develop strategies to motivate nurses to participate in the short training program and motivate nurses to apply the knowledge gained in the training program into practice.
Conclusion:
The action plan was prepared by incorporating the insights of twelve e-Delphi panelists consisting of clinical facilitators and registered nurses. The presence of two teaching hospitals in Saudi Arabia will increase the likelihood of adopting and implementing the action plan that will help nurses effectively transfer their knowledge of pain management and enhance their competencies.D. Phil. (Nursing)Health Studie