1,720,956 research outputs found
The adoption of virtual reality for medical training in the context of South African higher education.
Get PDFMasters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.Virtual reality (VR) is progressively being acknowledged as a useful tool for medical training. The adoption of VR for medical training in developing countries is at a slow pace compared to developed countries. The paucity of innovative systems such as VR training systems and the lack of exposure to these systems in developing countries tend to widen the gap in competency between medical professionals from developed and developing countries. VR in South Africa is a new concept and, therefore, limited literature exists from a South African educational perspective. This study aimed to fill the gap in literature from a South African perspective by investigating the determinants of the adoption of VR for medical training at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) was used as the guiding framework to investigate the perceived usefulness of using VR, the perceived effort required to use it, and the social factors and facilitating conditions that can influence its adoption for medical training. The study further aimed to determine the challenges associated with the adoption of VR for medical training within the South African higher education context.
Findings from interviews with 12 purposively sampled lecturers revealed that most respondents perceived that VR would be easy to use for medical training should the necessary training and support be provided. Some respondents had not previously experienced VR immersive environments and hence felt that using VR for medical training would be difficult. The researcher deduced from the responses that the respondents would be influenced to adopt VR for medical training by other medical professionals who were currently using VR and that the degree of influence would be an important factor in adoption. Although the respondents perceived VR to be useful, they voiced that the adoption of VR for medical training at South African educational institutions could be hampered by challenges associated with the lack of infrastructure, knowledge of VR, finance, resistance to change, user’s inability to differentiate simulated environments from the real-world and poor design of the VR system (interface). The respondents suggested a gradual approach to VR adoption, forming partnerships with VR companies and seeking sponsorships or donations from alumni to address the finance-related impediments. Furthermore, to ensure the successful adoption of VR for medical training by South African educational institutions, they mentioned the need for: government to address financial constraints by increasing the budget allocated to South African healthcare; an effective change management process to address resistance to change; a cost-benefit analysis; and, finally, training to surmount the challenges.List of Tables on page ix
Managing the challenges of digital divide among first year students : a case of UKZN.
Get PDFMaster of Commerce in Information Systems and Technology. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2019.The integration of technology into the educational system has brought about changes in the style of teaching and learning. Nowadays, institutions are adopting technologies such as computers and the Internet to enhance their teaching and learning activities. Students that grew up using computers and related technologies are often at an advantage with their learning because they would have developed the skills required for using technological resources to enhance their learning. However, students that have not been exposed to any form of technology are often at a disadvantage with their learning because they often lack or do not possess sufficient technological skills. The disparity between students that have been exposed to technology and those that have not, is often referred to as digital divide. The literature shows that the digital divide is a challenge that is impacting on students’ academic performance. This study was therefore conducted to understand the challenges faced by the first-year students of UKZN with regards to the digital divide.
In this study, a quantitative research methodology was employed. The findings of this study show that students with little or no exposure to technology prior to joining the university often face challenges that include the use of application programs (e.g. MS Word, Spreadsheet), downloading of informative materials, conducting online tasks and navigating the Internet. The findings also show that time of access/ownership to technology (before or after joining the university), technology skills and computer anxiety affects student’s computer self-efficacy. However, the study’s findings also showed that irrespective of student’s exposure level to technology prior to joining the university, students are faced with the university’s technological challenges that include insufficient technological resources (e.g. printer, computers, scanners), power interruption, poor Wi-Fi connectivity and lack of technology assistants.
Based on the findings in this study, it is therefore recommended that universities organize frequent orientation and IT training programs for first year students. Such programs should focus on the effective use of technologies for learning purposes. In addition, universities should ensure the availability of administrative and technical support whenever students are performing technology related learning tasks. Furthermore, universities should setup a team that will focus on continuous monitoring of whether students are coping with technology or not. This team should also evaluate the available resources on monthly basis to identify the possible or required maintenance
Genetic algorithm based prediction of students' course performance using learning analytics = I-Genetic algorithm esekelwe ukubikezela kokusebenza kwesifundo sabafundi kusetshenziswa ukuhlaziya kokufunda.
No full textDoctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.Learning Analytics (LA) can play a key role in understanding students’ learning and academic performance. By identifying poorly performing students early, LA can also be used to identify students who are at risk of dropping out of programmes. This enables academic advisors to intervene early and provide help to ensure students stay on track and succeed in their studies. Hence, LA is becoming a common trend in education particularly in higher education. Previous studies of LA have not dealt with specific courses in information systems and information technology. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a model for the application of LA to different courses with the discipline of Information Systems and Technology using various data sources. This study used the design science research approach to help towards solving the problem of understanding students’ learning and performance in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Multiple data sources were used. The data that was obtained was pre-processed using MS Excel. Thereafter, the WEKA tool was used in the analysis of the data and prediction of performance. Decision tree, Random Forest and genetic-based algorithms were used to develop prediction models for each of the courses in the discipline of Information Systems and Technology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The study also resulted in the development of an integrated dataset for the discipline of Information Systems and Technology in higher education and a process model for the implementation of LA in a specific discipline. The involvedness of the data allows future researchers to continuously improve/evolve the area of LA. This study should, therefore, be of value to LA practitioners wishing to implement LA to courses within other disciplines as well.
Iqoqa.
I-Learning Analytics (LA) ingadlala indima ebalulekile ekuqondeni ukufunda kwabafundi nokusebenza kwezemfundo. Ngokuhlonza abafundi abangenzi kahle kusenesikhathi, i-LA ingasetshenziswa futhi ukuhlonza abafundi abasengozini yokuyeka izinhlelo zokufunda. Lokhu kwenza abeluleki bezemfundo bakwazi ukungenelela kusenesikhathi futhi banikeze usizo lokuqinisekisa ukuthi abafundi bahlala besendleleni futhi bayaphumelela ezifundweni zabo.
Ngakho-ke, i-LA isiba umkhuba ojwayelekile kwezemfundo ikakhulukazi emfundweni ephakeme. Izifundo zangaphambilini ze-LA azizange zibhekane nezifundo ezithile ezinhlelweni zolwazi nobuchwepheshe bolwazi. Ngakho-ke, inhloso yalolu cwaningo bekuwukusungula imodeli yokusetshenziswa kwe-LA ezifundweni ezihlukene ngokuqeqeshwa Kwezinhlelo Zolwazi Nobuchwepheshe kusetshenziswa imithombo yedatha eyahlukene. Lolu cwaningo lusebenzise indlela yocwaningo lwesayensi yokuklama ukusiza ekuxazululeni inkinga yokuqonda ukufunda nokusebenza kwabafundi ezikhungweni zemfundo ephakeme (HEIs). Kusetshenziswe imithombo yedatha eminingi. Idatha etholiwe yacutshungulwa ngaphambilini kusetshenziswa i-MS Excel. Ngemva kwalokho, ithuluzi le-WEKA lasetshenziswa ekuhlaziyeni idatha nokubikezela kokusebenza. Isihlahla sezinqumo, Ihlathi Elingahleliwe kanye nama-algorithms asekelwe ofuzweni kwasetshenziswa ukuthuthukisa amamodeli okuqagela esifundweni ngasinye somkhakha Wezinhlelo Zolwazi Nobuchwepheshe eNyuvesi yaKwaZulu-Natali.
Ucwaningo luphinde lwaholela ekwakhiweni kwedathasethi edidiyelwe yokuqeqeshwa Kwezinhlelo Zolwazi Nobuchwepheshe emfundweni ephakeme kanye nemodeli yenqubo yokuqaliswa kwe-LA emkhakheni othile. Ukubandakanyeka kwedatha kuvumela abacwaningi bakusasa ukuthi baqhubeke bethuthukisa/baguqule indawo ye-LA. Ngakho-ke, lolu cwaningo kufanele lube wusizo kubasebenzi be-LA abafisa ukusebenzisa i-LA ezifundweni ezikweminye imikhakha futhi
A study of genetic algorithms for solving the school timetabling problem.
No full textThesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.The school timetabling problem is a common optimization problem faced by many primary and secondary schools. Each school has its own set of requirements and constraints that are dependent on various factors such as the number of resources available and rules specified by the department of education for that country. There are two objectives in this study. In previous studies, genetic algorithms have only been used to solve a single type of school timetabling problem. The first objective of this study is to test the effectiveness of a genetic algorithm approach in solving more than one type of school timetabling problem. The second objective is to evaluate a genetic algorithm that uses an indirect representation (IGA) when solving the school timetabling problem. This IGA approach is then compared to the performance of a genetic algorithm that uses a direct representation (DGA). This approach has been covered in other domains such as job shop scheduling but has not been covered for the school timetabling problem.
Both the DGA and IGA were tested on five school timetabling problems. Both the algorithms were initially developed based on findings in the literature. They were then improved iteratively based on their performance when tested on the problems. The processes of the genetic algorithms that were improved were the method of initial population creation, the selection methods and the genetic operators used.
Both the DGA and the IGA were found to produce timetables that were competitive and in some cases superior to that of other methods such as simulated annealing and tabu search. It was found that different processes (i.e. the method of initial population creation, selection methods and genetic operators) were needed for each problem in order to produce the best results. When comparing the performance of the two approaches, the IGA outperformed the DGA for all of the tested school timetabling problems
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
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