1,720,957 research outputs found
Bridging the Gap: Teaching Paper-Based Geographic Information Systems through information and communication technology integration in secondary schools
No full textGeographic Information Systems (GIS) are crucial in modern Geography education, cultivating spatial thinking and data analysis skills. While included as a core topic in school curricula, many under-resourced secondary schools in South Africa still depend on Paper-Based Geographic Information Systems (PBGIS) methods due to limited access to digital tools and infrastructure. This study explores how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can support the teaching of PBGIS in secondary schools. Guided by the Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework, the study examines how these knowledge domains interact to enhance teaching effectiveness. In thisstudy, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with six Geography teachers from three South African secondary schools in which PBGIS teaching is integrated with ICT. The results show that projectors, computers and internet access, and GIS software such as QGIS and ArcGIS, can enhance PBGIS teaching. A blended approach that integrates PBGIS with ICT tools is recommended. This should be driven by partnerships between the Department of Basic Education, geospatial and educational technology sectors, universities, teacher training institutions, and NGOs to build teacher capacity and ensure effective curriculum integration
Geography teachers’ perceptions of implementing paper-based Geographic Information Systems in a rural learning ecology.
Get PDFMasters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The purpose of the study was to explore the Geography teachers’ perceptions of implementing
paper-based Geographic Information Systems (paper-based GIS) in a rural learning ecology.
Three research questions were identified to give direction to the study; 1) what are geography
teachers’ perceptions of implementing paper-based Geographic Information Systems in a rural
learning ecology, 2) how do geography teachers implement paper-based Geographic
Information Systems in a rural learning ecology, 3) why do teachers implement paper-based
GIS in a rural learning ecology the way that they do. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and
Use of Technology (UTAUT) constituted the theoretical framework that was used to
understand the Geography teachers’ perceptions in this inquiry. Qualitative research methods;
semi-structured interviews and a focus-group interview were used to generate data to answer
the research questions. Four Geography teachers from a rural learning ecology made up were
purposively selected to participate in this study. The data generated from the field was then
analysed thematically. The findings reveal that Geography teachers experience challenges in
implementing paper-based GIS in a rural learning ecology. These challenges include
inadequate teacher training, lack of information, resources and financial constraints, lack of
teaching time, poor facilitating conditions, and complex paper-based GIS concepts. The study
proposes that the Department of Basic Education in collaboration with institutions of higher
education should provide GIS teacher training opportunities for teachers that wish to advance
their knowledge of GIS
Experiences of the Geography Subject Advisors in the Implementation of Geographic Information Systems in KwaZulu-Natal Province
Get PDFThis paper explored the experiences of geography subject advisors (GSAs) in the implementation of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in South African schools. This was done to determine how they assist in the implementation of GIS. National senior certificate diagnostic reports for matric results indicate every year that learners are performing poorly in the GIS section of geography subject. The current literature shows that there is a lack of pedagogical content knowledge in geography teachers in the teaching and learning of GIS. Several scholars have written about learners and educators in the implementation of GIS in schools, but there is a lack of literature on GSAs’ experiences in the implementation of GIS in schools. This paper is underpinned by instructional leadership theory, which argues for leadership to focus their efforts on implementing of practices that positively impact students’ learning. Qualitative research approach, and semi-structured interviews were used to generate data to answer the research questions. Two GSAs from two selected districts were purposively chosen to participate in this study. The findings showed that GSAs organise workshops for educators. However, certain educators do not attend workshops and other workshops which are planned, do not materialise. GSAs rely on geography educators that are knowledgeable about GIS to assist in workshops by teaching others. GIS teaching in schools was aledged to be focused on a theoretical aspect without integrating the practical part. The study proposes that the DBE in collaboration with higher education institutions, should provide GIS teacher training opportunities for teachers.  
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Teachers’ Perceptions of Paper-Based GIS Implementation in The Rural Learning Ecology
Get PDFIn South Africa, paper-based geographic information system (PBGIS) was introduced as a strategy to resolve the hindrances in schools without computers in implementing GIS. This study explores the geography teachers’ perceptions of implementing PBGIS in a rural learning ecology. In this context, PBGIS is defined as teaching and learning of GIS utilising topographic and orthographic maps, while rural learning ecology refers to a school in a rural environment consistent with how learners learn in a particular context. The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) constituted the theoretical framework used to understand the geography teachers’ perceptions in this inquiry. Qualitative research methods, and semi-structured interviews were used to generate data to answer the research question. Two geography teachers from a rural learning ecology were purposively selected to participate in this study. The data generated from the field was then analysed thematically utilising a deductive and inductive approach. The findings showed the following: inadequate teacher training; teachers are unsure about the resources required for PBGIS; lack of teaching time; and the complexity of PBGIS concepts, and improper PBGIS examination setting. This study proposes that the Department of Basic Education (DBE), in association with universities, train teachers and provide resources; support teachers by reviewing the time allocated in the Annual Teaching Plan (ATP) for teaching PBGIS; engage teachers about ways to simplify PBGIS concepts when teaching; and guide teachers on the approaches that must be used when teaching PBGIS
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