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South Africa illustrated : visual rhetoric and the communal identity
Get PDFAbstract: This study investigates the construction of personal and communal identity in the work of selected contemporary South African illustrators, with the additional aim of contributing to initiatives that endeavour to compile a local archive that serves as a critical inquiry into South African image-making practices. The official nation-building efforts of the South African government, especially in a post-apartheid setting, are examined in the context of the study. Furthermore, the contentiousness of the construction of national identity and ‘new’ national symbols in relation to multicultural societies is noted. The investigation of communal identity, as constructed by members of said community, is offered as an alternative area of study. Illustrators as both creators and consumers of visual culture offer a unique sample with which to explore the creation of communal identity, particularly in South Africa’s multicultural community. The construction of identity is viewed through the lens of visual rhetoric in order to determine the communal identity which is created and subsequently argued for by the illustrators. Modes of interpretation and elements of visual rhetoric are explored and applied in the analysis of the sample of illustrations.M.A. (Design
Teaching of the number concept at junior primary phase in the Oshana region of Namibia
Get PDFAbstract: Before Namibia’s independence, the education system in Namibia was segregated along ethnic lines and until then only a few Namibian children could access education. With independence in 1990, the future looked bright for many Namibian children because article 20 of the Namibian constitution provides that all persons shall have the right to education. In the Namibian context, education for all means equal access to quality education as based on the four major goals of education (access, equity, quality and democracy). The new government prioritized both pre- and in-service teacher education to help teachers develop the required expertise and skills for them to offer quality education. The investment of the Namibian government was evident especially towards the junior primary, mathematics and science, and languages teachers. Despite all the support to teachers, many studies continue to reveal that the majority of Namibian teachers especially in the fields of mathematics were unable to teach effectively. Studies (Ottenvanger, Macfarlane and Clegg, 2005; Ilukena & Schäfer, 2013) revealed that Namibian mathematics teachers were poorly trained and so lacked both subject content and pedagogical knowledge. In terms of the ability to use learner centered strategies, Van Graan & Leu (2006) argued that Namibian primary teachers were unable to use learners-center strategies effectively with the exemption of group work. Although in general, a great deal is known about instructional strategies which junior primary teachers use to teach the number concept to young learners, only a few studies have been conducted on junior primary (grades 1-3) mathematics in Namibia. The researcher is not aware of any study which focused on the teaching of the number concept in the junior primary phase in Namibian schools. This study therefore, examines the instructional strategies used by junior primary teachers to teach the number concept to grade one learners. Specific attention was also paid to the difficulties the grade one teachers experience while teaching the number concept and a manual on how they can be supported in this regard was developed. The study employed a qualitative case study approach. Fifteen teachers from ten schools participated in this study. Data was collected through pre-observation conferences, observation, post-observation conferences (as discussed in the clinical observation model), a questionnaire as well as document analysis.Ph.D. (Education
Exploring the housing experiences of single mothers who are heading households in Kathrada Park, West of Johannesburg
Get PDFAbstract: Despite its effort to close the housing gap, South Africa’s low-income individuals and communities continue to contend with the dilapidated housing, most of which lack basic infrastructure and services. The centrality of adequate housing to individuals and families cannot be over emphasised. The post-1994 housing landscape still features discrimination and exclusion of female single parents. Thus, the female-headed households (FHHs) are left behind in development due to the systematic exclusion of poor single-mothers who are heading households. Women and men experience the lack of housing differently because of the numerous roles that women assume such as collecting firewood, cooking and childbearing. Hence this qualitative study focused on exploring the housing experiences of female headed households from the perspective of female single parents who are heading these households. Using purposive snowball sampling methods, the study drew its eight participants from a low-income community, South West of Johannesburg. Semi structured interviews were used to gain in-depth understanding of the housing experiences of these single mothers. Interviewing and interaction between the researcher and the participants were influenced by the social development pillar of democracy and participation. The study found that while some participants expressed lack of safety, privacy and compromised dignity, others indicated that they had actually lost hope of getting better housing from the government. The latter utilised their yards to plant vegetables in order to augment their meagre income. The researcher recommends that housing especially for FHHs needs to be seen as more than just brick and mortar, butalso acknowledge their needs of food, shelter, economic opportunities and advanced services.M.A. (Community Development
Experimental and numerical analysis of Hybrid MIG-TIG welding of dissimilar stainless steel/mild steel joints
Get PDFAbstract: There is a popular and ever-growing interest in the manufacturing world for cost and lightweight reduction for sustainable development. This is especially true in developing nations. Dissimilar welding of relatively low-cost low carbon steel to stainless steel has a lot of economic advantages in these regions. The outstanding corrosion resistance property, high formability, weldability, and excellent mechanical properties make austenitic stainless steel arguably the most demanded engineering material. AISI 316 austenitic stainless steel was specifically developed for improved corrosion resistance. This addition of molybdenum in the development of AISI austenitic stainless steel gives it superior corrosion resistance property over other types of austenitic stainless steels such as the AISI 304 type. This makes it suitable material in the fabrication of pressure vessels, heat exchangers, furnace building and pharmaceutical equipment. Despite the advantages of AISI 316 austenitic stainless steel, its wide application is still limited due to its high cost compared to low carbon steel. This makes the welding of lower-cost mild steel and austenitic stainless steel inevitable. AISI 1008 mild steel with appreciable resistance to chloride pitting and strength at elevated temperature also find application in pressure vessels, furnaces, boiler, and marine engineering. However, welding dissimilar materials are challenging due to differences in thermal properties and precipitation of brittle intermetallic compounds. Solid-state welding process such as friction stir welding and laser welding have successfully achieved dissimilar welding of mild steel and stainless steel due to their several advantages such as narrow heat-affected zone, little or no precipitation of intermetallic compounds, high corrosion resistance and outstanding mechanical properties. However, their high equipment cost, the requirement of high technical ability and low suitability for outdoor welding make arc welding processes such as Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) and Metal Inert Gas (MIG) the choice many fabrication industries. TIG and MIG welding processes require less technical ability, are relatively cheap, have high gap bringing capability, high energy density and suitable for outdoor welding. This work has studied the TIG and MIG dissimilar welding of AISI 1008 mild steel and AISI 316 austenitic stainless steel in both butt and lap joint configurations experimentally and numerically. Successful weld joints were obtained. Welding process parameters such as welding current, welding voltage and gas flow rate were optimized by Taguchi optimization. Welding current and gas flow rate were found to be the most significant factors for the ultimate tensile strength and ultimate tensile shear strength in the TIG butt and lap welded samples respectively while the welding voltage was the most significant process parameter in all the joint configurations v considered. In the TIG welded samples, the respective average optimal ultimate tensile strength and ultimate tensile shear strength in the butt and lap joints were 493.29 MPa and 507.36 MPa while in the MIG welding process, the corresponding values were 559.20 MPa and 683.05 MPa. The average ultimate tensile strengths of the base metals were 395.92 MPa and 638.13 MPa for the mild steel and stainless steel respectively. The ultimate tensile strength and ultimate tensile shear strength observed in the hybrid TIG-MIG welded samples were 513.33 MPa and 526.76 MPa respectively. The microhardness of the fusion zone of TIG-welded samples was higher than that of the MIG welded samples. The maximum weld zone hardness in TIG and MIG welded samples were 386.10 HV and 244.63 HV respectively. At high heat input except in the TIG lap joint weldments, widmanstatten ferrite structure was detected at the heat-affected zone on the mild steel side and growth in the austenite grain size on the stainless steel side. The microstructure of the weld zone in all the welded samples was comprised of equiaxed austenite grains with dark skeletal delta ferrite at the grain boundaries. The presence of silicon in ER309LSi welding wire and higher heat input led to the development of a bigger bead in the MIG welded samples. Greater resistance to pitting corrosion was observed in the MIG welded samples. From the Ansys numerical analysis, the MIG welding process with higher heating loads gave higher temperatures and thermal stresses, while the TIG welding gave lower temperatures and stresses. In addition to that, the thermal distribution within the base metal is directly affected by the thermal conductivity of the material. AISI 1008 mild steel materials with higher conductivity easily allow heat energy to flow through them, preventing the build-up of thermal stresses at any point within the material.Ph.D. (Mechanical Engineering
Digital game based learning, learning interactivity and motivation
Get PDFAbstract: The fast evolution of technology over the past years has changed the human’s learning from traditional methods of learning to modern methods of learning. Traditional methods of teaching and learning no longer interest the digital native learners. This study aimed to establish the perception of learners and teachers on the use of Digital Games Based Learning (DGBL) on learning, learners’ motivation and learning interactivity in Oshikoto region. Group focused interviews were conducted with the teachers and learners from three different schools in Oshikoto region. This study made use of Jonassen’s Constructivist Learning Environment (CLES), and Rogers Diffusion of Innovation to determine both the teachers and learners’ perception of DGBL. This study found the benefits of DGBL include increased motivation in learners, learners increased engagement with the learning content and increased knowledge on the use of technology tools that supports DGBL. This study also found that educational games make learning interactive and fun through the combination of multiple design elements. Moreover, this study found the factors why teachers are reluctant to use DGBL in the lessons are: the lack of technological tools that support DGBL, teachers’ lack of sound knowledge on DGBL, still obstacles in implementing DGBL in schools. The study established that the perception of some teachers and some learners on DGBL differs for some questions, while similar for some questions, due to their prior knowledge and experience with using DGBL. This study suggests future work on DGBL to consider the cognitive benefits of DGBL to the learners, and the impacts of DGBL on the academic performance of the learners, to determine the effectiveness of DGBL...M.Ed. (Information and Communication Technology in Education
Design principles for a pre-undergraduate foundation programme Mathematics course promoting academic growth
Get PDFAbstract: Within higher education, wicked problems such as massification and underpreparedness contribute to the demand for foundation programmes to reduce attrition levels. If academic growth is addressed, students are more likely to be prepared for undergraduate study and less likely to drop out. Therefore the aim of this study was to generate design principles for a pre-undergraduate foundation programme mathematics course that can promote academic growth in order to prepare students for undergraduate studies and improve the pass rate of such a course. A pragmatic paradigm was adopted to promote a real-life intervention. Specifically, a four-phase design-based research strategy was implemented across a pilot study and three iterative cycles. Participants, sampled purposively, were invited to take part in the pilot study and iterative cycles, and 827 students of a population of 1 136 students (72.8%) consented to contribute data to this study. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected in each iteration and merged during the data analysis stage. Written qualitative feedback and focus group conversations were thematically analysed using varied qualitative coding methods. Participants also completed questionnaires pertaining to motivation, learning strategies, and beliefs about mathematics. These data, along with institutional data relating to attendance and formative and summative assessments, were analysed quantitatively using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 26.0. Design principles were generated from the main findings relating to five aspects of academic growth: content, teaching, learning, motivation, and disposition. The main findings were first that students’ algebraic knowledge development was optimised when current learning was connected to prior learning and linked to future knowledge and applications so that students could detect the relevance of their learning. Secondly, students appreciated a supportive teacher who was caring and could explain in ways that were easily understandable. In addition, students enjoyed a classroom environment that enhanced learning, where they could collaborate and felt confident to ask questions. Most students were also able to adapt their pace of learning to match the pace of teaching as a result of the resources supplied and vi support provided. Students’ intrinsic motivation to study algebra improved over the duration of the course and their extrinsic motivation declined. Furthermore, anxiety relating to mathematics and test-taking was reduced over the duration of the course. Lastly, conclusions relating to disposition remained unresolved, possibly as a result of highly heterogeneous cohorts. This study merged theory and practice to improve the learning experience of students. The design principles that emerged could be replicated in classrooms that offer other subjects at different levels. This study shows that it is possible to put in place strategies that afford students, and teachers, the opportunity to promote academic growth. Key words: Academic growth, Design-based research, Disposition, Learning, Mathematics, Motivation.Ph.D. (Mathematics Education
Revisiting mentoring strategies to support teachers in the current teaching climate
Get PDFAbstract: During these uncertain times we are living in, the inner workings of a school must be adapted to reflect an alternative to face-to-face teaching. This led me to believe that mentoring strategies should also be adapted or redesigned to reflect the new age of teaching. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced principals and school managements to search for alternative ways to mentor staff in order to cope during these trying times. This research will provide insightful mentoring ideas that could be utilised to resuscitate mentoring strategies for teaching staff. In my experience, I have found that there has been a stagnation in implementing mentoring strategies. This led new teachers to feel overwhelmed with the environment they teach in, whilst others experienced a lack of motivation. After speaking to several individuals that hold managerial roles, I have come to notice that there is a lack of knowledge on how to implement mentoring strategies. Furthermore, I realised that most of the individuals I have spoken to still use outdated strategies to mentor staff. This motivated me to explore the extent to which managements implement mentoring strategies and how it supports the modern-day teacher. With the accumulation of the above knowledge the research problem of the study can be outlined as follows: How can mentoring strategies be adjusted to support teachers in the current teaching climate? The findings of this study indicate that mentoring has a profound effect on the quality of teaching and that mentoring strategies such as induction programs, professional development session, time management support and assisting staff with their health and wellbeing should be prioritised. Based on my findings it is recommended that when mentoring policies are put in place, that both management and teachers have a say in drafting such policies. Furthermore, both the school and the community’s needs should be considered when selecting which mentoring strategies to implement. Finally, school managements should provide teachers with platforms to enhance their teaching experience. KEYWORDS Current climate, Digital literacy, Mentoring strategies, Mentor and mentee, School management.M.Ed. (Educational Leadership and Management
The black label : the exploration of the black mans memory of inferiority and the medium of escape from misery
Get PDFAbstract: Please refer to full text to view abstract.M.Tech. (Architecture
The relationship between psychological wellbeing and work stress among healthcare workers
Get PDFAbstract: Work stress has become a major global concern over the last decade, and healthcare workers are more vulnerable to stress because of the nature of their jobs and the expectations of society. It is becoming increasingly serious due to a variety of problems in the healthcare sector, such as inadequate personnel, high public expectations, long working hours, exposure to infectious and dangerous diseases, the possibility of misconduct, and continuing death and death experiences. Research on the support available to healthcare workers is sparse. This study therefore explored the moderating effect of co-worker support and perceived organisational support on the relationship between work stress and psychological well-being among healthcare workers. The study employed an exploratory quantitative research design. Purposive and snowballing sampling techniques were used. Participants included 239 healthcare workers, consisting of doctors, nurses and health administrators. The results showed a significant negative relationship between psychological well-being and perceived work stress (r = -.40, p <.01), a significant relationship between co-worker support and psychological well-being (r = .19, p <.01), and a significant positive relationship between perceived organisational support and psychological well-being (r = .24, p <.01). The moderation analysis showed that co-worker support (ΔR2 = .00, F (3, 235) = 18.03, ns), as well as perceived organisational support (ΔR2 = .00, F (3, 235) = 19.01, ns), has no moderating effect on relationship between work stress and psychological well-being. The study recommends that hospital management must provide periodic psycho-educational intervention on stress management.M.Com. (Industrial Psychology
Forts of sand : a reimagining of black childhood through critical fabulation
Get PDFAbstract: Please refer to full text to view abstract.M.Tech. (Architecture
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