Eco-Schools and the quality of education in South Africa: Realising the potential
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/370511 , vital:66349 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122759"
- Description: Eco-Schools South Africa is increasingly being used by external partners as a framework for supporting environmental education in schools. This paper shares the findings of a recent evaluation of the programme in relation to the quality of education in South African schools. Do Eco-Schools activities help to improve the conditions of teaching and learning? Or do they take teachers and students away from their core focus? Evaluation of learner and teacher work in Eco-Schools found signs of the quality problems that currently plague the schools system, and there is evidence that the programme can add to the complexity to which many teachers struggle to respond. The evaluation also found, however, that the programme has significant potential to improve conditions for teaching and learning. The paper is an opportunity to reflect on how environmental education support for schools, in general, and Eco-Schools South Africa, in particular, can detract from and strengthen teaching and learning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/370511 , vital:66349 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122759"
- Description: Eco-Schools South Africa is increasingly being used by external partners as a framework for supporting environmental education in schools. This paper shares the findings of a recent evaluation of the programme in relation to the quality of education in South African schools. Do Eco-Schools activities help to improve the conditions of teaching and learning? Or do they take teachers and students away from their core focus? Evaluation of learner and teacher work in Eco-Schools found signs of the quality problems that currently plague the schools system, and there is evidence that the programme can add to the complexity to which many teachers struggle to respond. The evaluation also found, however, that the programme has significant potential to improve conditions for teaching and learning. The paper is an opportunity to reflect on how environmental education support for schools, in general, and Eco-Schools South Africa, in particular, can detract from and strengthen teaching and learning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Creating a virtual classroom: evaluating the use of online discussion forums to increase teaching and learning activities in an introductory accounting class
- Authors: Bezuidenhout, L Peta
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Conference paper
- Identifier: vital:6069 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004630
- Description: In teaching large classes, the educationally beneficial informal interaction between students and between lecturer and students is generally reduced, while effective use of both students' and lecturer's time is often a challenge. During student consultations, especially over the already stressful test and examination periods, many of the questions asked by the students are the same or similar. The lecturer needs to respond to each query by providing the same detailed explanation for the problem, resulting in ineffective use of time for the lecturer, while students waste time waiting for an appointment, or more often, simply don't bother to follow up on any queries they may have. Having a social presence is important for students' cognitive development, but in a large class posing questions or interrogating issues during a lecture appears to be challenging for many students. It is often not easy for students to initiate discussions or establish relationships with peers or the lecturer due to feelings of vulnerability and due to the size and impersonal atmosphere of the lecture theatre. This paper deals with the introduction of online discussion forums in an introductory accounting course and the benefits and problems experienced by the students, tutors and lecturer as a result thereof. Feedback received from these participants is discussed. The introduction and use of these forums resulted in a virtual classroom being created, where significantly more teaching and learning activities took place, to the benefit of all participants. Participation could have been peripheral - in the form of simply reading discussions; or active – through posting questions, or responding to questions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Bezuidenhout, L Peta
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Conference paper
- Identifier: vital:6069 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004630
- Description: In teaching large classes, the educationally beneficial informal interaction between students and between lecturer and students is generally reduced, while effective use of both students' and lecturer's time is often a challenge. During student consultations, especially over the already stressful test and examination periods, many of the questions asked by the students are the same or similar. The lecturer needs to respond to each query by providing the same detailed explanation for the problem, resulting in ineffective use of time for the lecturer, while students waste time waiting for an appointment, or more often, simply don't bother to follow up on any queries they may have. Having a social presence is important for students' cognitive development, but in a large class posing questions or interrogating issues during a lecture appears to be challenging for many students. It is often not easy for students to initiate discussions or establish relationships with peers or the lecturer due to feelings of vulnerability and due to the size and impersonal atmosphere of the lecture theatre. This paper deals with the introduction of online discussion forums in an introductory accounting course and the benefits and problems experienced by the students, tutors and lecturer as a result thereof. Feedback received from these participants is discussed. The introduction and use of these forums resulted in a virtual classroom being created, where significantly more teaching and learning activities took place, to the benefit of all participants. Participation could have been peripheral - in the form of simply reading discussions; or active – through posting questions, or responding to questions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Contextualising formal education for improved relevance: A case from the Rufiji Wetlands, Tanzania
- Authors: Hogan, Rose
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/373591 , vital:66705 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122762"
- Description: The aim of this action research case study was to engage a community of villagers, teachers, students and district officers in a participatory process to adapt a module of a school curriculum to the local context, and teach it in order to describe one way in which contextualisation, using local and indigenous knowledge and active discovery teaching-learning processes, can be done. The major research question was: Does integrating local environmental cultural knowledge into formal schooling contribute to curriculum relevance? If so, in what way? This paper summarises the background and context of the research, the motivation and the theoretical basis for the work, the methodology and methods, and the action research process itself. The results are interpreted and discussed in light of current theoretical perspectives on education and environmental education.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Hogan, Rose
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/373591 , vital:66705 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122762"
- Description: The aim of this action research case study was to engage a community of villagers, teachers, students and district officers in a participatory process to adapt a module of a school curriculum to the local context, and teach it in order to describe one way in which contextualisation, using local and indigenous knowledge and active discovery teaching-learning processes, can be done. The major research question was: Does integrating local environmental cultural knowledge into formal schooling contribute to curriculum relevance? If so, in what way? This paper summarises the background and context of the research, the motivation and the theoretical basis for the work, the methodology and methods, and the action research process itself. The results are interpreted and discussed in light of current theoretical perspectives on education and environmental education.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
consumed society
- Authors: Krueger, Anton
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/229840 , vital:49716 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC47802"
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Krueger, Anton
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/229840 , vital:49716 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC47802"
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
An investigation into the time-saving benefits of using a computerised taxation program
- Forster, Rory, Stack, Elizabeth M
- Authors: Forster, Rory , Stack, Elizabeth M
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Conference paper
- Identifier: vital:6065 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004610
- Description: Software programs designed to calculate the tax liability of individuals and other types of tax entity are being designed and used with increasing frequency. Research done in the United States of America appears to indicate that these programs do not achieve any saving in time and, in fact, may take longer to use than to complete a tax return by hand. As the South African revenue collection system appears to be moving closer to a self-assessment system, where the calculation of tax owing will be the responsibility of the taxpayer, the research essay sets out to determine whether there is a saving in time when calculating a tax liability using a tax software program, instead of calculating it by hand. In addition, the research aims to determine how much time, on average, is saved or lost, using such a program, and whether there is any correlation between the time taken to perform a calculation by hand and that using the software program. It does so by comparing the average estimated time it would take to complete tax calculations for individuals by hand with the average time taken to complete the same tax calculations using a tax software program. The average time taken to do the calculations by hand is based on the time allocation given for questions by the authors of a published question bank for university students. The time taken using software is determined by using a stop-watch to time each question being processed. The results, subject to assumptions made in carrying out the research, show that there is a substantial saving in time using the software program. Based on the data, however, the results indicate a weak correlation between the estimated time taken to do a calculation by hand and the estimated time using the software program. Possible reasons for the weak correlation are discussed. A recommendation is also made for the standardization and certification of existing tax calculation software.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Forster, Rory , Stack, Elizabeth M
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Conference paper
- Identifier: vital:6065 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004610
- Description: Software programs designed to calculate the tax liability of individuals and other types of tax entity are being designed and used with increasing frequency. Research done in the United States of America appears to indicate that these programs do not achieve any saving in time and, in fact, may take longer to use than to complete a tax return by hand. As the South African revenue collection system appears to be moving closer to a self-assessment system, where the calculation of tax owing will be the responsibility of the taxpayer, the research essay sets out to determine whether there is a saving in time when calculating a tax liability using a tax software program, instead of calculating it by hand. In addition, the research aims to determine how much time, on average, is saved or lost, using such a program, and whether there is any correlation between the time taken to perform a calculation by hand and that using the software program. It does so by comparing the average estimated time it would take to complete tax calculations for individuals by hand with the average time taken to complete the same tax calculations using a tax software program. The average time taken to do the calculations by hand is based on the time allocation given for questions by the authors of a published question bank for university students. The time taken using software is determined by using a stop-watch to time each question being processed. The results, subject to assumptions made in carrying out the research, show that there is a substantial saving in time using the software program. Based on the data, however, the results indicate a weak correlation between the estimated time taken to do a calculation by hand and the estimated time using the software program. Possible reasons for the weak correlation are discussed. A recommendation is also made for the standardization and certification of existing tax calculation software.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Adsorption of 4-nitrophenol onto Amberlite® IRA-900 modified with metallophthalocyanines
- Marais, Eloïse, Nyokong, Tebello
- Authors: Marais, Eloïse , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/268576 , vital:54211 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2007.06.096"
- Description: The adsorption of 4-nitrophenol using commercially available Amberlite® IRA-900 modified with metal phthalocyanines (MPc) was investigated. The metallophthalocyanines immobilised onto the surface of Amberlite® IRA-900 include Fe (FePcS4), Co (CoPcS4) and Ni (NiPcS4) tetrasulphophthalocyanines, and differently sulphonated phthalocyanine mixtures of Fe (FePcSmix), Co (CoPcSmix) and Ni (NiPcSmix). Adsorption rates were fastest for the modified adsorbents at a loading of 1 × 10−3 g MPc/g Amberlite, at pH 9. The highest amount of 4-NP removal was obtained on FePcSmix modified Amberlite® IRA-900 with Qt = 42.9 mmol g−1 and adsorption efficiency of 86%. The recovery efficiency of 4-NP within 150 min was 76%. Using the Langmuir–Hinshelwood kinetic model, the complexes showed an order of 4-nitrophenol adsorption to be as follows: CoPcSmix > NiPcS4 > NiPcSmix > FePcS4 > FePcSmix > CoPcS4. The MPc modified Amberlite® IRA-900 was used repeatedly, following removal of 4-NP by nitric acid, without any significant loss of activity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Marais, Eloïse , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/268576 , vital:54211 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2007.06.096"
- Description: The adsorption of 4-nitrophenol using commercially available Amberlite® IRA-900 modified with metal phthalocyanines (MPc) was investigated. The metallophthalocyanines immobilised onto the surface of Amberlite® IRA-900 include Fe (FePcS4), Co (CoPcS4) and Ni (NiPcS4) tetrasulphophthalocyanines, and differently sulphonated phthalocyanine mixtures of Fe (FePcSmix), Co (CoPcSmix) and Ni (NiPcSmix). Adsorption rates were fastest for the modified adsorbents at a loading of 1 × 10−3 g MPc/g Amberlite, at pH 9. The highest amount of 4-NP removal was obtained on FePcSmix modified Amberlite® IRA-900 with Qt = 42.9 mmol g−1 and adsorption efficiency of 86%. The recovery efficiency of 4-NP within 150 min was 76%. Using the Langmuir–Hinshelwood kinetic model, the complexes showed an order of 4-nitrophenol adsorption to be as follows: CoPcSmix > NiPcS4 > NiPcSmix > FePcS4 > FePcSmix > CoPcS4. The MPc modified Amberlite® IRA-900 was used repeatedly, following removal of 4-NP by nitric acid, without any significant loss of activity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
A Bernsteinian analysis of the integration of natural resource management in the curriculum of a rural disadvantaged school
- Authors: Nsubuga, Yvonne
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/386415 , vital:68139 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122771"
- Description: Knowledge integration is one of the key principles that underpin curriculum reform in post-apartheid South Africa. One form of teacher support that has been adopted in South Africa is to provide schools throughout the country with samples of pedagogic texts such as curriculum documents and examination exemplars to act as guidelines to teachers as they implement this new curriculum requirement. In the isolated and under-resourced rural schools of South Africa, these texts are the main form of curriculum guidance to teachers. Hence the knowledge integration principles and messages conveyed within these texts are of crucial importance. One contributory factor to the lack of information on knowledge integration at rural underresourced schools is the lack of simple and effective research tools by which to analyse and compare the extent of knowledge integration within pedagogic texts and classroom practices. This article reports on a Bernstein informed analysis that was carried out on three different Grade 10 Life Sciences pedagogic texts in order to assess the extent to which they integrate natural resource management (NRM). The study involved the construction of two indicator frameworks as the research tools with which the analysis was conducted. Results from the analysis showed that although the official Grade 10 Life Sciences pedagogic texts contained very high levels of NRM integration, this was not the case for the Grade 10 Life Sciences text that was produced at the school level. The study provides useful insight into curriculum recontextualisation at a rural under-resourced school through the lens of NRM integration within the Grade 10 Life Sciences pedagogic texts. Such insight has the potential to contribute to better curriculum design and implementation strategies to service schools. This will hopefully help to narrow the gap that currently exists between the official and enacted curricula.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Nsubuga, Yvonne
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/386415 , vital:68139 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122771"
- Description: Knowledge integration is one of the key principles that underpin curriculum reform in post-apartheid South Africa. One form of teacher support that has been adopted in South Africa is to provide schools throughout the country with samples of pedagogic texts such as curriculum documents and examination exemplars to act as guidelines to teachers as they implement this new curriculum requirement. In the isolated and under-resourced rural schools of South Africa, these texts are the main form of curriculum guidance to teachers. Hence the knowledge integration principles and messages conveyed within these texts are of crucial importance. One contributory factor to the lack of information on knowledge integration at rural underresourced schools is the lack of simple and effective research tools by which to analyse and compare the extent of knowledge integration within pedagogic texts and classroom practices. This article reports on a Bernstein informed analysis that was carried out on three different Grade 10 Life Sciences pedagogic texts in order to assess the extent to which they integrate natural resource management (NRM). The study involved the construction of two indicator frameworks as the research tools with which the analysis was conducted. Results from the analysis showed that although the official Grade 10 Life Sciences pedagogic texts contained very high levels of NRM integration, this was not the case for the Grade 10 Life Sciences text that was produced at the school level. The study provides useful insight into curriculum recontextualisation at a rural under-resourced school through the lens of NRM integration within the Grade 10 Life Sciences pedagogic texts. Such insight has the potential to contribute to better curriculum design and implementation strategies to service schools. This will hopefully help to narrow the gap that currently exists between the official and enacted curricula.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008