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The pre-service preparation of secondary school mathematics teachers: a case study of curriculum effectiveness

  • Authors: Msomi, Dumile Dennis
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa -- Curricula Mathematics teachers -- Training of -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- Esikhawini College of Education
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
  • Identifier: vital:1711 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003594
  • Description: The quality of education in most historically black schools is a source of concern for many people. The high failure rate in mathematics in particular, is believed to result in part, from the inadequacy of the teacher preparation programs at many of the colleges of education in the country. Esikhawini College of Education in KwaZulu-Natal is one of the colleges which is involved in the preparation of secondary school mathematics teachers. The appropriateness of the mathematics curriculum of this College was the subject of the study. In particular, the study aimed at the following: (i) To analyse aims and philosophies underlying the prescribed mathematics curriculum of the College. (ii) To establish the teacher educators' and student teachers' perceptions of the appropriateness of the curriculum in general. (iii) To establish the teacher educators' and student teachers' perceptions of the mathematics curriculum content and processes. (iv) To establish the quality of available materials used at the College for realisation of the curriculum goals. (v) To offer proposals and recommendations for the improvement of the education of prospective secondary mathematics teachers. Data about the perceptions of the appropriateness of the mathematics curriculum was gathered through a questionnaire which was administered to one hundred and one student teachers. The issues that arose from the questionnaire study were followed up by an interview study. The interview schedule was administered to a sample of fourteen student teachers and all six mathematics teacher educators in the College. In addition, a survey of mathematics materials available at the College library and in the mathematics department was carried out to collect further data. Some of the significant findings of the, study were : • Limitations in the College mathematics curriculum in as far as the curriculum content and processes were concerned. • Inadequacy of mathematics curriculum materials that were available and used at the College. • Low attainment in mathematics at matriculation level of most of the student teachers. • Widespread dissatisfaction with the curriculum, especially that of Mathematics Didactics. The implications of the findings for the College were considered. Amongst other suggestions is the suggestion that the College introduces a preliminary STD course in which prospective student teachers' mathematics background is enriched to enable them to cope with the demands of the College curriculum.
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  • Date Issued: 1995

The reaction of cyanide with iron (II) hexadecachlorophthalocyanine

  • Authors: Nyokong, Tebello
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/293447 , vital:57086 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-5387(94)00291-L"
  • Description: Kinetics and equilibria for the reaction between cyanide and iron(II) hexadecachlorophthalocyanine ((Cl)16PcFe(DMSO)2, where Pc(−2) = phthalocyanine dianion) in dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) are reported. Only the spectrophotometric changes due to the formation of the dicyano, [(Cl)16PcFe(CN)2]2−, complex were observed. This complex is formed with the equilibrium constant, K3 = 1.6 × 103 dm3 mol−1 and a rate constant of k3f = 4.2 × 10−3 dm3 mol−1 s−1. The K2[(Cl)16PcFe(CN)2] complex dissolves in DMSO and dimethyl formamide (DMF) with ϵ = 110 000 and 92 000 dm3 mol−1 cm−1, respectively.
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  • Date Issued: 1995

The recycling of domestic waste in the Cape Peninsula: implications for environmental education

  • Authors: Gobregts, Engela
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: Recycling (Waste, etc.) -- South Africa Refuse and refuse disposal -- South Africa Environmental education -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
  • Identifier: vital:1723 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003606
  • Description: This case study investigates domestic waste recycling schemes in the Cape Peninsula with special reference to educational aspects as a basis for developing educational resource materials. It explores the question: "In what way can projects for the recycling of domestic waste serve as a vehicle for environmental education?". The study employs the concept of education for the environment, following a socially critical approach with action-oriented and participatory dimensions. The research sample constituted interviewees and/or workshop participants from fourteen different municipalities, six recycling industries, one private waste contractor and the three most prominent voluntary organisations involved in recycling in the Cape Peninsula. A small-scale -interview survey was done to review existing recycling initiatives, combined with a case study of several small participatory initiatives towards educational resource development. The results were analysed qualitatively. The case study indicates that recycling initiatives have excellent potential for education for the environment. This potential was partially explored in this research by addressing key issues such as the role of local authorities in recycling of domestic waste, the short-term perspectives on the part of the local authorities, as well as the importance of and constraints on participation in recycling projects and in the research. Other issues discussed include the educational implications of personal (economic) benefits of recycling, the social development dimension of some recycling projects, the value of school children organising recycling projects, limited teacher participation in existing recycling projects, and the need for environmental education resource material. The major value of the project lies however in critical reflection on the research process. Recommendations regarding participatory resource development as an approach to socially critical environmental education are put forward to inform similar studies in the future and to elucidate the approach. Recommendations regarding the recycling of domestic waste in the Cape Peninsula are also made.
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  • Date Issued: 1995

The road ahead

  • Authors: NUMSA
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: NUMSA
  • Language: English
  • Type: text
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/113080 , vital:33699
  • Description: Comrades, in 1993 we set out what we wanted to win by June 1996. Then we achieved the victory that we had fought so hard for - a non-racial government that is democratic and transparent. But on the shopfloor we still see apartheid: racial inequalities - high wage differences between workers and management, poorly trained workers (mostly black and our members) racist management who oppress our members, badly managed factories with S old machinery. All these are obstacles that prevent us building worker power, worker control and a better life for all. Read what we have won. Discuss what we should campaign around in 1995.
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  • Date Issued: 1995

The small business entrepreneur : a psychological profile

  • Authors: Street, David Michael
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: Businessmen -- Psychology , Businesswomen -- Psychology , Self-employed -- Psychology , Entrepreneurship -- Psychological aspects , Small business -- Psychological aspects , Businessmen , Businesswomen , Businesspeople
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
  • Identifier: vital:3065 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002574 , Businessmen -- Psychology , Businesswomen -- Psychology , Self-employed -- Psychology , Entrepreneurship -- Psychological aspects , Small business -- Psychological aspects , Businessmen , Businesswomen , Businesspeople
  • Description: With the growing importance being placed on the small business environment as having a positive influence on economic growth and vitality (Erwee, 1987: Burns & Dewhurst, 1989), there has been a corresponding increase in attention being paid to entrepreneurship and the characteristics of the entrepreneur. This increased attention is due to the fact that entrepreneurs have long been linked to small business creation and recognised as an important factor in the small business development process (Boyd & Gumpert, 1983). Despite the quantity of research on entrepreneurship, there appears to be an ongoing controversy oyer what characterises an entrepreneurial business. and the specific characteristics of the small business entrepreneur. It has been argued that although there is an overlap between entrepreneurial and non-entrepreneurial businesses. they are in fact different entities (Carland, Hoy, Boulton & Carland, 1984: Drucker, 1985), and that not every individual who starts a business is an entrepreneur (Drucker. 1985). Small business entrepreneurship has been found to be specifically related to the psychological characteristics of the owner-manager who controls the business (Miller. 1983). The purpose of this research was to identify and describe psychological characteristics displayed by a group of South African small business entrepreneurs, thereby compiling a psychological profile of the small business entrepreneur. Given the nature of entrepreneurial activities and processes, Hofer and Bygrave (1992) recommend that accurate, precise qualitative data that is rich in its descriptive characterisation of the situation and the phenomenon involved be collected. As a result the researcher used qualitative rather than quantitative methods of investigation. Innovative behaviour has long been linked to entrepreneurship (Schumpeter. 1934) and entrepreneurial businesses were distinguished from other small businesses by their use of innovative strategic practices. Two sample groups consisting of entrepreneurial and non-entrepreneurial businesses, were created and the data collected were analysed independently. The results, based on personal interviews with 32 small business owner-managers and the administration and interpretation of tihe Structured Objective Rorschach Test (SORT), indicate that small business entrepreneurship should not be used as a term synonymous with small business ownership and/or management. Despite similarities between small business entrepreneurs and other small business owner-managers. the results suggest that a distinction between the two groups is necessary for accurate future research on entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurs differed from other small business owner-managers in terms of their psychological characteristics including their motives, their perception and attitude towards the external environment, and various sociological factors. The entrepreneurial businesses were also different in that they were more innovative and growth oriented than the non-entrepreneurial businesses. The research contributes towards a clarification of the concept of small business entrepreneurship and indicates a need for more precise sampling techniques to be used in entrepreneurial research.
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  • Date Issued: 1995

The vocal works of Olivier Messiaen

  • Authors: Donkin, Deborah Jean
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: Messiaen, Olivier, 1908-1992 Vocal music -- Research
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: vital:2634 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002299
  • Description: Olivier Messiaen's compositions for voice, though less widely known than his instrumental works, span some forty years and comprise a fifth of his total output. They have hitherto not been subject to much attention. A study of the elements comprising the vocal lines and accompanying instrumentation from the piano-voice song set, Trois melodies (1930), to the vast orchestral-choral La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jesus-Chlist (1969) reveals, amongst other characteristic and evolving features, the emergence of a unique, simulated, plainchant style and its subsequent transformation into incantation with suitably modified accompaniment. While wide-ranging, chromatic and rhythmically free vocal lines are typical of many twentieth century compositions, Messiaen's use of such features is found to be novel, by virtue of the peculiar modal and temporal ambits within which he operated. Vocal delivery is progressively expanded from conventional bel canto production to humming, howling,and eventually speech and percussive sounds and reaches an apotheosis in the virtuoso effects of Cinq Rechants (1949). This recedes somewhat in La Transfiguration, which displays instead a wealth of hybrid plainsong-type writing. Choral works are interesting in that the emphasis shifts from standard part-writing to monody or accompanied unison singing, with an attendant absence of characterised solo parts. By constantly varying the colour of the single melodic line with different permutations of voice types, timbre assumes a new importance, particularly in La Transfiguration. The study of the texts, most of which were conceived by the composer simultaneously with the music, contributes much to the understanding of each work. Biblical symbolism in the early lyrics is progressively enriched by references to numerological, mythological and nature symbolism, mixed in an increasingly Surrealistic manner. The gradual incorporation of emotive phonemes in the texts, culminates in the invented language of Cinq Rechants. The thesis thus reveals an evolving yet persistently idiosyncratic vocal style, which establishes Messiaen as one of the most original composers of his time. It further demonstrates that his vocal works are an important component of his total oeuvre and also a significant contribution to twentieth century vocal literature.
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  • Date Issued: 1995

Title Unknown

Tong Magni

Trade Union Education training and development institute

  • Authors: COSATU
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: COSATU
  • Language: English
  • Type: text
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/118706 , vital:34660
  • Description: There is acceptance within Cosatu that a Trade Union Education Institute should be urgently set up to assist in the building of Cosatu and affiliate capacity and skills in our new situation. It is recognised that there is a need for a more systematic.ongoing,professional education and development service winch such an Institute could provide. However, the form,status, control programme of this Institute is not yet agreed upon. Cosatu is in danger of losing control of this project,as other bodies set up and acquire funds to train trade unionists.
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  • Date Issued: 1995

Two articles focusing on participatory approaches

  • Authors: Biggs, Stephen D
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: Agricultural innovations , Rural development -- Evaluation , Agricultural extension work -- Research , Agriculture -- Technology transfer -- Evaluation , Agricultural extension work -- Evaluation
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/75076 , vital:30371 , 10250468
  • Description: In recent years there has been a growing literature that advocates various forms of participatory development. This is illustrated by the promotion of approaches/tools such as participatory rural appraisal (PRA), participatory technology development (PTD), and participatory process projects 1 These "new" approaches are fast taking on the form of a new generalised orthodoxy for solving development problems. It would seem from the perspective of some of the promoters of this orthodoxy that the problem of development is no longer one of not having the right approaches and methods, but one of getting recalcitrant policy makers, bureaucrats, academics to appreciate and adopt these new methods and techniques. My concerns with this new advocacy are that: i It does not relate to experience; ii It does not address issues of power structure and control over information and other resources in multiple and complex arenas of science and technology (S&T); iii By placing major emphasis on management approaches and tools, the new orthodoxy is cutting itself off from a critical reflective understanding of the deeper determinants of technical and social change. Unfortunately, I suspect that if this new orthodoxy does not develop a more critical reflective view of itself then, like previous dominant orthodoxies, it will soon have to develop a range of "escape hatches" to explain why these participatory approaches are not giving the results that their advocates promise. , AVOCADO series; v 06/95
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  • Date Issued: 1995

Using the topic "Water management in Umtata" to promote the use of an environmental approach in the teaching of geography

  • Authors: Nduna, Joyce Nothemba
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: Geography -- Study and teaching -- Environmental aspects Water -- Management -- Study and teaching -- Environmental aspects Environmental education -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
  • Identifier: vital:1819 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003705
  • Description: This study first offers a critique of some conventional approaches to environmental education and geography. The critique is followed by an analysis of current learning theories which underpin environmental and geographical thinking. On the basis of this analysis an environmental approach to the teaching of geography is identified. Within the broad theoretical context provided by debates on the importance of environmental education for the solution of environmental problems, the study promotes student teachers' understanding of an environmental approach in the teaching of geography at Transkei College of Education. Water management, a section of the geography syllabus, is selected to illustrate the process and implementation of such an approach in geography. The educational effectiveness of an environmental approach with regard to the students' conceptual understanding of water management is evaluated. The study as a whole is set within the general literature of environmental education, and particularly that of education for the environment.
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  • Date Issued: 1995

William Plomer's and Sol Plaatje's South Africa: art as vision and reality

  • Authors: Ogu, Memoye Abijah
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: Plaatje, Sol. T. (Solomon Tshekisho), 1876-1932. Mhudi , Plomer, William, 1903-1973. Turbott Wolfe , Race in literature
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:2239 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002282 , Plaatje, Sol. T. (Solomon Tshekisho), 1876-1932. Mhudi , Plomer, William, 1903-1973. Turbott Wolfe , Race in literature
  • Description: This thesis essays a comparative study of William Plomer's Turbott Wolfe (1925) and Sol Plaatje's Mhudi (1930). Although writing from very different subject positions within the social order of the time, Plomer and Plaatje embody in their novels a strikingly similar vision of a South Africa free of racial barriers. Plaatje's version of South African history in Mhudi deconstructs colonial binarism by dramatizing not only conflict and difference but also co-operation and commonality. Holding the past up as a mirror to the present, it protests against racial injustice while implying the continuing possibility of reconciliation. Plomer reacts angrily to white hypocrisy and insists on the rights and humanity of his African characters, in the name of imperatives both moral and political. He seeks additional sanction for these by situating the South African race questioning the context of a Western world slowly awakening to the consequences of modernity. During a time of political turbulence, both writers speak out boldly and confidently against the rising dominance of segregationist ideology. The imminent inception of full democracy in South Africa has reanimated the relevance of these writers' vision of a non- racial social order. If one of the challenges facing the South African literary historian 'today is the reconstruction of a truly national literary tradition, then Mhudi and Turbott Wolfe would appear to be key works in such an enterprise. As different as Plaatje's epic myth-making is from Plomer's modernist irony, both novels contrive to speak with a new voice: a national voice which expresses the aspirations of all South Africa's people. They are, moreover, novels whose survival seems guaranteed as much by their aesthetic qualities as by their ideological orientation. The novels are examined against the backgrounds of South African society and colonial literary production. They are seen as milestones in the development of a liberal South African literary tradition. By breaking with the dominant oppositional mode, whether that of "white writing" or an emergent "writing black", Plomer and Plaatje exemplify a literature at once socially relevant and possessed of a prophetic vision that remains of significance in South Africa today.
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  • Date Issued: 1995

WISC-R coding incidental recall, digit span and supraspan test performance in children aged 6 and 7

  • Authors: Avis, Cheryl Esme
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:3155 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007506 , Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children
  • Description: The primary aim of this study was to develop age-related normative data for the WISC-R Digits Forward, Digits Backward, Digits Difference, Digit Supraspan, and Coding Incidental Recall (Immediate and 30' Delayed) tests for a non-clinical population of South African school children aged 6 and 7. The effects of sex, English versus Xhosa language, and white versus black race groups, were additional investigations. Subjects were randomly selected from three English speaking Grahamstown schools; level of education ranged from pre-school to Sub Standard B; English speaking subjects included predominantly white children, with a small proportion of coloured, Chinese and Indian children; Xhosa speaking children were all black. Interim normative data on all tests across two age groups (6 and 7) are presented, and are considered reliable and diagnostically useful in clinical neuropsychological assessment. There were no significant effects for age, sex, English versus Xhosa language or white versus black race groups, on any of the tests with the exception of Digits Backward which yielded marginally lower scores for black Subjects. Although the mean IQ estimate based on the Draw-A-Person test was equivalent across age, sex, English versus Xhosa language and white versus black race groups, an intelligence rating of subjects by teachers revealed that black subjects were evaluated significantly lower than white subjects. This suggests the presence of prejudicial racial attitudes amongst educators in these predominantly English speaking white schools.
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  • Date Issued: 1995
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