Higher Learning In South Africa Research Articles

Strategies to enhance employee wellbeing in an institution of higher learning in South Africa

Employee wellbeing is a crucial challenge in many organisations in South Africa and abroad. Interventions at a management level are vital to ensure that organisations do not lose quality employees due to poor employee well-being. Therefore, the paper assessed the strategies that can be used to enhance the well-being of academics in an institution of higher learning in South Africa. The paper employed a qualitative approach to collect data from the Management Committee (MANCO) at the Durban University of Technology in Durban, South Africa. Purposive sampling was be used to collect data directly from the MANCO. All data are analyzed using Nvivo. Findings from the study revealed that leadership plays a pivotal role in the well-being of employees. The findings of the paper can assist the management of the university with solutions related to the turnover of academics and will also be a wake-up call to other universities on the subject matter.

Is Load Shedding another Pandemic, Post COVID-19 at Institution of Higher Learning in South Africa?

In 1994, the African National Congress (ANC)-led government implemented a Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) program that entailed providing South Africans with stable and regular electricity supplies. Government through the state president declared COVID-19 a pandemic in 2019. Institutions of higher education resorted to introduce online teaching and learning as a method of ensuring that section 27 (1) (a) (b) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa was executed. Load shedding brought numerous challenges in the education settings in the institutions of higher learning. The crisis led to institutional economy and disrupted academic performance at institutions of higher learning. The purpose of this study is to examine whether load shedding can be regarded as a pandemic post COVID-19. Access the impact of load shedding at institutions of higher learning. Therefore, this is a conceptual paper and it relied on existing data for analysis and interpretation. The study recommends that institution of higher learning should invest in alternative sources of energy, and develop an effective communication strategy.

Students with criminal record vs. safety rights challenges for prospective students in the institutions of higher learning in South Africa

Students with criminal record vs. safety rights challenges for prospective students in the institutions of higher learning in South Africa

The Influence of Intrinsic Factors on Personal Attitude to Start a Farming Business: The Moderating Role of Gender

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the influence of intrinsic factors (proactiveness, motivation, creativity) on the personal attitude of agricultural students to start a farming business in South Africa. This relationship was looked at from gender perspective. Research Design & Methods: An estimated 3,486 students were enrolled for various agriculture-related qualifications in various 27 institutions of higher learning in South Africa when this cross-sectional, quantitative study was carried out. Data from 421 agricultural students were collected through a Prospective Farmers Profile Questionnaire at six institutions of higher learning in South Africa. Findings: The study finds no significant gender influence on all intrinsic factors and also on the personal attitude of agricultural students to start a farming business. The results further revealed that personal attitude to start a business is predicted by intrinsic factors, motivation, and creativity, but not proactiveness. Implications and Recommendations: Entrepreneurial syllabi should aim to equip students with intrinsic factors as these shape the personal attitude to start a business. It is a positive personal attitude that will likely result in a start-up. Farming entrepreneurship, especially among the youth will assist in employment creation as well as food security, two problems that many countries are currently facing. Contribution & Value Added: Proactiveness is one of the most important dimensions of entrepreneurship but agricultural students do not consider it significant in their personal attitude to start a business. Proactiveness should be built into the syllabi for students to be better acquainted with this critical business start-up element.

Undergraduate Students’ Experiences with Electronic Learning Platforms During the Covid 19 Pandemic at a Rural-Based Tertiary Institution in South Africa

The Covid-19 pandemic necessitated a transformative shift in the South African education sector, compelling universities to adopt electronic learning platforms (E-LPs) as the primary mode of delivering lectures during the pandemic. However, there is a dearth of systematic literature documenting the implications of migration to this electronic based model for undergraduate teaching and learning in South African rural-based universities. Addressing this research gap, this qualitative study drew on transitional distance theory (TDT) to identify the challenges associated with electronic learning (e-learning). The study also examined the implications of these challenges for teaching and learning, based on experiences of 30 purposefully selected undergraduate students at the University of Venda, in the rural Limpopo province of South Africa. A thematic narrative analysis of the students’ experiences shows three major challenges as encapsulating the use of E LPs: practical unpreparedness and lack of skills needed for online learning; complicated domestic obligations; and inefficient interactions with lecturers and peers, which were limited by lack of physical contact. These findings add to the growing body of literature on the impact of Covid-19 on learning at institutions of higher learning in South Africa. The findings have implications for discussions on gender inequality in the domestic sphere in South Africa, as well as the material disparities between traditionally White universities and rural-based universities in South Africa. Based on these findings, it is recommended that rural-based tertiary institutions in South Africa implement effective strategies to enhance students’ computer skills and familiarize them with E LPs at the early stages of their tertiary education.

Perceptions of Chemical Engineering Students on Decolonizing the Curriculum by Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge Practices

The #FeesMustFall movement, which rocked institutions of higher learning in South Africa in 2015/2016, inspired robust engagement around the decolonization of knowledge. Students argued that the epistemological context of higher education in South Africa does not reflect the African context. Activists argued that if the curricula did not speak to local issues, the challenges facing higher education would remain. Incorporating indigenous knowledge practices into mainstream education could signify a shift away from Western dominance in the local episteme. Engineering is not immune to decolonization. This paper attempts to extract the views and observations of 38 chemical engineering students, from second year until PhD level, at the University of Johannesburg on decolonizing the curriculum by incorporating indigenous knowledge practices. The data was generated through an open-ended questionnaire. The questionnaire required that participants briefly describe indigenous practices with the potential for elucidating chemical engineering principles. Participants identified umfuso, which is the process of drying vegetables in the sun, sieving with leselo, which is made up of reeds and is used to separate light materials from heavy ones, drinking cow urine as a remedy to cure various diseases, making traditional mageu, brewing traditional beer (umqombothi) and milling and grinding maize meal, as practices which they believe had potential to reshape the curriculum. The findings of the study show that students concurred with the call for decolonization and transformation of the chemical engineering curriculum, but that there was a lack of consensus on whether incorporating indigenous knowledge practices could help achieve it, as the system of acquiring education itself needs decolonization.

Assessment of Students’ Knowledge Regarding PTB and Its Causes at Rural Institution of Higher Learning in South Africa

Assessment of Students’ Knowledge Regarding PTB and Its Causes at Rural Institution of Higher Learning in South Africa

Transformation of Higher Learning in South Africa: Perceptions and Understanding of Speech-Language Therapy and Audiology Undergraduate Students

The professions of speech-language therapy and audiology in South Africa developed under apartheid and historically consisted of and catered to a predominantly white English- or Afrikaans-speaking minority population. Over 25 years into democracy, there continues to be a stark incongruence between the demographic profile of the South African population and the speech-language and hearing (SLH) professions in terms of “race”, linguistic, and cultural diversity, and this has implications for training as well as clinical service provision within the South African context. This article explores undergraduate students’ perceptions and experiences of transformation within South African SLH university training programmes through a cross-sectional descriptive survey research design. A self-developed questionnaire was used to collect data from students enrolled in SLH programmes at South African universities. Thematic analysis identified two themes: 1) progress towards attainment of transformation and, 2) visibility of transformation. These findings highlight the need for diversity through inclusivity, redressing past injustices and incorporating local knowledge into current training and practice. These findings have global relevance for transformation in higher education, not just in the field of SLH. Implications for translation of theory and/or knowledge into practice, with more visible and deliberate application of policy in curriculum reform and institutional culture, are raised.

Students’ perceptions of the influence of media on perpetuating xenophobia in South African universities

Immigration and emigration are inevitable however, some South Africans have shown a strong dislike of those coming from other countries, in the form of xenophobia. Several studies have attributed the prevalence of xenophobia in South African communities to socio-economic, sociopolitical and scapegoating issues, with some researchers highlighting the role of the media in perpetuating xenophobia-related violence. On the other hand, xenophobia in institutions of higher learning in South Africa, which are a microcosm of society, has been under-prioritised in exploring the prevalence of xenophobia. This article aims to explore students’ perceptions on the influence of media stereotypes of foreign nationals on xenophobia-related behaviours in selected higher education institutions. In part, it aims to explore students’ perceptions on the influence of media-perpetuated stereotypes that may be attributed to possible symbolic xenophobia among university students. Therefore, this article looked at three South African universities, namely the University of Fort Hare, Alice Campus in the Eastern Cape province; the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard Campus in KwaZulu-Natal province; and the University of Johannesburg, Soweto Campus in Gauteng province. To achieve the aims of this study, a qualitative case study approach, based on the interpretivist design, was adopted. A nonprobability sampling method, based on purposive sampling and the snowball sampling technique, was used to select participants in this study. Data were generated through focus group discussions and analysed through thematic analysis. The findings of this article revealed that xenophobic attitudes, behaviour and perceptions were prevalent among university students. The South African print media’s perpetuated negative stereotypes and its adoption of derogatory names – amakwerekwere, amagrigamba, aliens, illegal immigrants, ‘my friend’ – to represent immigrants (especially from other African countries) were highlighted as some of the contributing factors toward ongoing xenophobic violence. As part of the recommendations of this study, the Student Representative Council (SRC) and other student communities, together with students in general, have a role to play in promoting xenophobia-free university campuses through antixenophobia campaigns.Transdisciplinarity Contribution: Most xenophobic-related studies show that media reportage has an influence on xenophobic violence in South Africa. This study therefore shifts its focus toward South African universities to investigate the prevalence of xenophobia among students and explores students’ perceptions of the influence of media in perpetuating xenophobic-related violence

The Roles of Campus Protection Services for Students’Safety: A Case of a Higher Education Institution in South Africa

Purpose: Students’ safety and security problem have been reported as a regular problem across institutions of higher learning in South Africa. This paper departs from regularly reported cases of theft in student belongings in a South African university. The purpose of this study was to investigate the roles and involvement of the Campus Protection Services (CPS) in ensuring students’ safety in an identified institution of learning.Methodology: The paper report findings obtained through the mixed methods approach which used questionnaires – with 265 cases returned and analyzed with document analysis to support the quantitative results.Findings: The main findings reveal in descending order, that the main forms of campus crimes are theft, mugging, damage to property, robbery, assault, and stalking. Ascribed reasons to these crimes were administrative shortfalls, broken equipment, frequent substance abuse and students’ negligence and lifestyle. This paper recommends that campus management and security departments reach a holistic solution that brings together all stakeholder of the learning environment, thus establishing baseline policies for keeping students and their belongings safe in a typical learning environment.Originality/Value: This research assesses The Roles of Campus Protection Services for Students ‘Safety in South Africa.

Embedding digital preservation strategies in the management of institutional repositories in South Africa

Institutional repositories (IRs) have received substantial consideration from various researchers across disciplines and around the world. Universities have considered prioritising the IR’s functionality by putting in place various measures to make IRs more efficient. This paper focuses on issues of institutional repositories and digital preservation in South Africa. The study drew from the secondary source of information in the African context and around the globe to have a sound argument that is more systematic towards IRs. The paper shows that in the past, various studies have focused on the field of preservation of cultural heritage in general. The gap identified by literature was that there was very little provision of reliable long-term digital repositories in Africa. The literature further revealed that most institutions of higher learning in South Africa are now migrating to have full implementation of digital preservation for their IRs. It is recommended that digital preservation strategies should be embedded in institutional repositories in South Africa.

Students with criminal record vs. safety rights challenges for prospective students in the Institution of Higher Learning in South Africa

Students with criminal record vs. safety rights challenges for prospective students in the Institution of Higher Learning in South Africa

Challenges of Transformation in Higher Education Curriculum Development in South Africa during Time of Decolonisation

Globally, the universities are recognized as the centres of higher learning, which are considered as expedient agents of development in the nation building. Curriculums determine the skills and knowledge that will be obtained from the qualification, and these are vital in the progress and transition of one’s life. However, in South Africa higher education requires a synergy to engage the issues of redress. In addressing apartheid legacy, transformation in higher education curriculum remains a mechanism for achieving the needed change. Although, the general purpose of higher education may change overtime, as it remains important for individuals to gain access to education. This study is premised on the belief that, the purpose of higher education is to meet the socio-economic and developmental needs of a country. As a result, this study investigated the challenges of transformation in higher education curriculum development in South Africa. A qualitative approach was employed. The finding was that institutions of higher learning in South Africa are still mired in the past, as a result, the curriculum in place isn't geared towards meeting the residents' economic needs or the country's overall social goals. Furthermore, South Africa government raced towards reforming the higher education curriculum system shortly after 1994, when the new government took control, with the primary goal of repressing everything, notably in education. The researchers recommend that effective transformation for higher education curriculum in South African institutions requires an alignment of skills and knowledge taught in universities qualifications should address the need of the society.

Application of machine learning approaches to analyse student success for contact learning and emergency remote teaching and learning during the COVID-19 era in speech-language pathology and audiology.

BackgroundThe onset of the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe resulted in countries taking several measures to curb the spread of the disease. One of the measures taken was the locking down of countries, which entailed restriction of movement both locally and internationally. To ensure continuation of the academic year, emergency remote teaching and learning (ERTL) was launched by several institutions of higher learning in South Africa, where the norm was previously face-to-face or contact teaching and learning. The impact of this change is not known for the speech–language pathology and audiology (SLPA) students. This motivated this study.ObjectivesThis study aimed to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on SLPA undergraduate students during face-to-face teaching and learning, ERTL and transitioning towards hybrid teaching and learning.MethodUsing course marks for SLPA undergraduate students, K means clustering and Random Forest classification were used to analyse students’ performance and to detect patterns between students’ performance and the attributes that impact student performance.ResultsAnalysis of the data set indicated that funding is one of the main attributes that contributed significantly to students’ performance; thus, it became one of the priority features in 2020 and 2021 during COVID-19.ConclusionThe clusters of students obtained during the analysis and their attributes can be used in identification of students that are at risk of not completing their studies in the minimum required time and early interventions can be provided to the students.

Women academics and the changing psychological contract during COVID-19 lockdown.

This study examines the psychological contract between academics and their institutions during a time of great stress—the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that relationships between these parties have been found to be deteriorating prior to the pandemic, we believed it pertinent to explore how environmental changes brought about through lockdown conditions may have shifted the academic-institution relationship. Through a qualitative research design, our data is from 2029 women academics across 26 institutions of higher learning in South Africa. The major shifts in the psychological contract were found to be workload and pressure, provision of resources, top-down communication, as well as trust and support. Whilst these shifts altered the transactional and interactional nature of the psychological contract, violation, rather than breach, occurred since the emotional responses of participants point to incongruence or misalignment of expectations between academics and their institutions during this time of crisis. We offer recommendations for rebuilding trust and negotiating the psychological contract to re-engage academics in the institution.

The Roles of Campus Protection Services For Students’ Safety: A Case of A Higher Education Institution in South Africa

Students’ safety and security problem have been reported as a regular problem across institutions of higher learning in South Africa. This paper departs from regularly reported cases of theft in student belongings in a South African university. The purpose of this study was to investigate the roles and involvement of the Campus Protection Services (CPS) in ensuring students’ safety in an identified institution of learning. The paper report findings obtained through the mixed methods approach which used questionnaires – with 265 cases returned and analysed with document analysis to support the quantitative results. The main findings reveal in descending order, that the main forms of campus crimes are theft, mugging, damage to property, robbery, assault, and stalking. Ascribed reasons to these crimes were administrative shortfalls, broken equipment, frequent substance abuse and students’ negligence and lifestyle. This paper recommends that campus management and security departments reach a holistic solution that brings together all stakeholder of the learning environment, thus establishing baseline policies for keeping students and their belongings safe in a typical learning environment

Experiences of Teaching Transformative Pedagogies for Peace-building across Selected Institutions of Higher Learning in South Africa

The primary objective of this study was to report on a series of workshops that were held in three institutions of higher learning on resilience, peace-building and prevention of violence using transformative pedagogies (TP). This progressive approach to teaching and learning is known as an activist approach and it is a reaction to the traditional approach to teaching and learning which perceive teachers as the people who control the teaching and learning process. The study was a mixed method and was premised on transformative paradigm. Data was collected using evaluation survey from participants and reflection from facilitators on the feedback and experiences in the delivery of the workshops in the three institutions. The participants in the series of workshops were the lecturers, student teachers and members of students’ representative council (SRC). The workshops aimed at equipping the participants with the skill to be peace-builders by articulating how the issues of peace and violence manifests and intersect in the South African contexts and beyond. Furthermore, the participants were expected to identify strategies for enhancing education for peacebuilding in their own contexts using transformative pedagogies. The results revealed and provided feedback not only on the effectiveness of the project but also assisted in illuminating the effectiveness of the use of transformative pedagogies in the classrooms and change learners and students to be peace ambassadors.

Students’ perceptions of online reading behaviour at an institution of higher learning in South Africa: A pilot project

Technological advances and the internet have altered the way people engage with reading material. Students’ reading preferences are increasingly screen-based as most students prefer and are required to use online reading in higher education institutions. The research explored the perceived impact of online reading on students’ reading comprehension and academic performance. A non-experimental research design was utilised for this survey, typically including the quantitative domain and, to a lesser extent, the qualitative domain. Seventy-one students who were available and consented completed the survey and included 20 first year, 19 second year, 22 third year and ten fourth year students. The results from a pilot study conducted on first to final year students at a department from a Health Care Sciences University indicated mostly positive feedback regarding the perceived effect of online reading on reading comprehension and academic performance. Most students prefer online reading as it is easily accessible, visually interactive and provides unlimited access to information. The results showed correlations and contradictions to the findings presented in the literature. Conclusions, recommendations and implications are made based on the findings of the study. The findings indicate that students, especially first-year entering students, should be prepared for online reading and be made aware of online reading techniques to support them in attaining academic literacy. These reading techniques could improve the throughput rate and lower the dropout rate in higher institutions in South Africa.

Factors That Affect the Morale of Employees in the Institution of Higher Learning in South Africa

The paper focuses on assessing and identifying the factors that affect the morale of employees in the institution of higher learning in South Africa. Employee morale is a drive to keep the organisation growing and achieve its objectives. In the worldwide ranking there are two institutions of higher learning that are featured in the top 250 of the universities which could be the result that employees are engaged in their institutions. However, it is imperative to maintain or improve more by understanding and dealing with the factors that may contribute negatively in the institutions of higher learning in SA. A quantitative approach was utilised for the paper and a questionnaire was constructed to collect data from 108 academics and support staff. A stratified approach method wad used and divide participant into groups academics and support employees. All data collected was analysed using SPSS version 22 and the findings of the paper reveals that the level of employee morale was very low and further reveals that management support and feedback, conditions of work, remuneration packages, benefits, promotion processes and recognition, communication and understanding of policies as well as treatment and workload were the crucial factors affect the morale of employees. The paper recommends that all institutions of higher learning to review they own policies and ensure that all stakeholders of their institutions understand them effectively. Similar research should be conducted in other institutions of higher learning as well in order to generalise or enrich the findings of the present paper which serve as a wake-up call.

Magnitude of Covid-19 on Rural Universities in the Eastern Cape Province: Lessons Learnt

This research paper aims at assessing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on rural institutions of higher learning in South Africa. It further explores lessons learnt from the magnitude of the pandemic. Covid-19 does not discriminate – it spares no institution, no organisation, and no country but infects and affects everyone. Some institutions of learning, when hit by Covid-19 were better prepared to fight it because their alert levels were higher than that of African countries. This study adopted a desktop approach which relied on published data. The paper concludes that the impact of Covid-19 on institutions of higher learning was catastrophic. The magnitude of the Covid-19 pandemic on rural institutions of higher learning in South Africa was devastating because some universities had no strategy to counter the challenge. One of the lessons learnt was that the universities’ think-tanks should plan in advance, be proactive, and be ahead of any challenge.
 Keywords: Covid-19; e-learning; higher learning; impact; lessons; pandemic    
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