Public Universities In South Africa Research Articles

Perceptions of academic staff about mentoring in a Faculty of Dentistry in a public university in South Africa

Mentoring programs contribute to the development and retention of academics in dental education. To describe the perceptions of academic staff of the Faculty of Dentistry, University of the Western Cape, South Africa, about a funded pilot mentoring process. Cross-sectional, purposive sampling qualitative design. Twenty mentees who had engaged in the funded mentoring process were targeted for semi-structured interviews, to describe their perceptions about the ongoing mentorship process, experiences in other mentoring processes, and expectations about future formal mentoring in the faculty. Quantitative data was analysed descriptively, while content analysis of the qualitative data was performed to identify themes. Perceptions of eight mentees, aged 37 to 59 years and spent between 3 and over 20 years in the faculty, were categorized into two themes - ‘A welcome initiative’ and ‘Mentorship seen as a holistic experience’. The program provided the much-needed space where mentees felt they could seek guidance for their development. Expectations from a future formal program included assistance in meeting institutional and personal demands. Participants’ expectations were broader than what the pilot program offered, though

Introducing the second law of thermodynamics using Legitimation Code Theory among first year chemistry students

This study investigated the introduction of the second law of thermodynamics using the Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) (semantic waves) among first year chemistry students. The aim of the study was to investigate the extent LTC (semantic waves) reduce the entropy concept’s complexity and abstractness when introducing the second law of thermodynamics. A purposive sampling technique was used to sample participants from the accessible population. A sample of two hundred (n = 200) first-year chemistry students was chosen at a public university in South Africa. The study adopted a mixed-method research design. Data were collected using an Introductory Second Law of Thermodynamics Questionnaire (ISLTQ) and semi-structured interviews. Creating semantic waves during the lectures left many students in the trough of the sinusoidal wave of abstractness and complexity. Ranking the concepts related to entropy showed that many students knew the hierarchical order of the concepts. However, the interviews revealed that students tended to link entropy to the spread of particles instead of energy. The findings of this study are diagnostic and they assist module designers in determining the level of abstraction and complexity students face when introducing the second law of thermodynamics.
 
 Key words: Abstraction; complexity; Legitimation Code Theory; second law of thermodynamics; semantic waves.

The Effect of PhET Simulation vs. Phenomenon-based Experiential Learning on Students’ Integration of Motion Along Two Independent Axes in Projectile Motion

Research in the past decades has repeatedly revealed that first year university students struggle to understand two-dimensional projectile motion concepts. In contrast to high school, projectile motion frequently makes use of components and it requires at least a basic understanding of trigonometry concepts. To follow the lessons and generate conceptual understanding in two-dimensional projectile motion, students need to connect the concepts developed in the last three years of high school. The present study compared the effects of two instructional approaches, i.e. projectile motion Physics Education Technology (PhET) simulation vs. phenomenon-based experiential learning, on students’ conceptual understanding of the integration of motion along two independent axes among first-year physics students. A purposive sample consisted of 154 first-year physics students at a public university in South Africa. The study adopted an experimental, mixed-method research design. A self-developed and piloted Projectile Motion Conceptual Test and semi-structured interviews with 12 students from across the performance spectrum were used for data collection. A reliability coefficient of 0.72 was established using the Kuderson–Richardson correlation moment coefficient. The results denoted that PhET simulation outperformed phenomenon-based experiential learning in improving students’ conceptual understanding of the integration of motion along independent axes in projectile motion. The ANOVA-test showed that the PhET groups achieved significantly higher scores on the post-test than phenomenon-based experiential learning groups. The findings of this study are diagnostic and they assist module designers in determining conceptual difficulties students face in projectile motion.

A non-parametric assessment of efficiency of South African public universities

This article seeks to assess the efficiency of 23 South African public universities using a Data Envelope Analysis (DEA) model for the period 2009–2016. A recent study on this subject matter found a decline in the average TE score of the South African public universities from 83 per cent in 2009 to 78 per cent in 2013. However, the study did not account for non-academic staff among other input variables that are assumed to potentially influence performance outcomes of the universities. We believed that a biased conclusion on the subject matter is likely if academic staff are assumed to dominate efficiency of public universities in South Africa, while the effort of non-academic staff is not considered. In this respect, our model incorporates both academic and non-academic staff as input variables among others. Our findings show that over the study period 2009–2016 the average Technical Efficiency (TE) of the South African public universities increased from 91 per cent to 95 per cent. For this result in particular, we deduce that in assessing efficiency of South African public universities, academic and non-academic staff can be deemed as mutually inclusive variables and therefore, neglecting either of the two can lead to biased estimated average TE scores. In addition to this empirical contribution, we also estimate scale and pure efficiency. Our findings show that on average South African public universities are relatively better off in scale efficiency (at 97%) as compared to pure technical efficiency (at 96%). The efficiency levels provided in this study can be used as performance benchmarks for identifying potential improvements required to reach a satisfactory level of efficiency.

Service failure and complaints management in higher education institutions

The higher education sector has evolved over the past decade due to the ever-changing needs of students who are its primary customers. As a result, most students have to deal with unmet expectations which subsequently lead to service failure. Even though service failure cannot be eliminated, higher education institutions are expected to provide an effective complaints management system to resolve student problems and service failure incidents. This study analyzed service failure and complaints management in higher education institutions. A quantitative, descriptive, and cross-sectional study was undertaken using 430 full-time students across three public universities in South Africa. The findings of this study showed that students encounter various forms of service failures in institutions of higher learning with the majority experiencing service failures in respect of funding and academic registration. Also, most of the students were generally satisfied with the complaints management system. Thus, this study can help institutional managers to understand service failure incidents confronting the sector. Furthermore, the study provides an opportunity for institutional managers to assess the effectiveness of the complaints management system and make improvements to ensure a better student experience

Higher Education Funding and Student Access in the Global South

Globally, the increasing cost of university eduation, growing student enrolments and weak economic of nations have caused a reduction in public funding for university education. This decline in public funding seems to have increased tuition fees, caused deterioration of infrastructure, thereby affecting student access to university education. In the Global South particularly, Ghana and South Africa, there is the quest for universities to widen access. This is as a result of the perceived association of the activities of universities to socio-economic development. However, funds allocated by these governments to the sector is woefully inadequate. The study reveals that public universities in South Africa and Ghana rely on alternative sources such as fees of international students and non-traditional learners to enhance their fiscal strength but this seems inadequate owing to the financial strain that comes with the growth in domestic student numbers.

African Language Material in Institutional Repositories: Visibility and Scholarly Impact

Various international organisations such as the United Nations and the African Union recognise the value of language in development, peacebuilding and reconciliation. Language is also recognised in planning policies of countries such as South Africa where the National Development Plan of the country seeks to ensure that every citizen learns at least one African language by 2030. This paper sought to determine the availability, impact and visibility of African language material hosted by institutional repositories (IRs) at public universities in South Africa. Informetrics methods were applied using data obtained from DSpace, Google Scholar and ResearchGate to determine the impact and visibility. The most important findings were that 65.2 per cent of public university IRs had at least one African language document in their IRs. Overall, only 0.16 per cent of documents in public university IRs were in African languages. A total of 16 per cent of African language documents hosted by these IRs are in ResearchGate. This study appears to be the first to determine the visibility of African language documents hosted by IRs in South Africa in ResearchGate and their citation impact in Google. This study will add value to the literature on the role of academic libraries in preserving indigenous languages, knowledge, and culture.

ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF SERVICE RECOVERY STRATEGIES ON PROCEDURAL JUSTICE IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Students in higher education institutions encounter different problems which are normally reported through the appropriate complaints channels. Sometimes institutions and their employees do not address the reported problems on time due to systematic issues such as internal processes or procedures which are cumbersome. This paper assessed the impact of service recovery strategies (speed and empowerment) on procedural justice in higher education institutions. The study was conducted across three public universities in South Africa using a purposive sample of 430 students. The findings showed that speed and empowerment have a positive and significant impact on procedural justice. The findings underpin the importance of fairness in the procedures being used to address student problems. Besides, the study could help faculty and institutional managers to pinpoint areas that are hindering the smooth running of the operations and interface between students and employees of the universities. This study contributes to the literature on procedural justice in the higher education sector and provides an analysis of students' experiences from the developing world where infrastructural and financial challenges contribute to the final recipe.

Faith-based agency and theological education: A failed opportunity?

After attending to shifts in the landscape of theological education at a public university in South Africa, this article explores the re-imagination of theological education as fostering faith-based agency. With reference to the (potential) role faith-based organisations play in response to developmental challenges in local communities, it then suggests a deliberate retrieval of faith-based sources – locatedness, voices, assets, agency and formation – in liberating theological education. It concludes with concrete curriculum recommendations for consideration.

Efficiency assessment of public universities in South Africa, 2009-2013: Panel data evidence

With ever increasing enrolments of students into the public universities and limited funding, assessing the efficiency of universities is vital for effective allocation and utilisation of educational resources. Are higher education institutions in South Africa making the most efficient use of resources made available to them? This study attempts to provide an answer to this question. We apply a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach to assess technical efficiency (TE) of 22 public universities in South Africa for the period 2009 to 2013. A university is said to be efficient if it is producing maximum output (number of graduates and publications) from a minimum quantity of inputs (number of staff, students’ enrolments, and expenditure). The results indicates that over the study period the average TE of universities declined from 0.83 to 0.78. Research-intensive universities were more efficient than professional-oriented universities. These results can help key decision makers such as the Commission on Higher Education and universities management in identifying possibilities for improving institutional performance by identifying their strengths and weaknesses and benchmarking with their peers.

An Analysis of the Throughput Rate of Doctoral Students in LIS Schools in South Africa, 2005–2015

South African universities produce fewer graduates than the number specified in the National Development Plan (NDP). According to the NDP, South Africa needs more than 5 000 doctoral graduates annually, against the 1 420 produced in 2010 and 2 258 in 2014. The 2030 target is to produce more than 100 doctorates per million people per year, as the current figures are below international standards. This study employed informetric research techniques as the main method, triangulated through questionnaires administered to doctoral supervisors to examine the throughput rates of doctoral students in the field of library and information science (LIS) at public universities in South Africa between 2005 and 2015. Data were extracted from institutional repositories of universities offering LIS in South Africa, and after the relevant information (i.e. gender, race, institution, and nationality of both students and supervisors) had been obtained, the data were saved and analysed in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Key results suggest a low throughput rate of doctoral students in LIS schools. The findings further suggest that social factors such as the gender, race and nationality of doctoral students in relation to those of their supervisors have a direct impact on the completion of doctoral projects in LIS schools.

ASSESSING THE INFLUENCE OF SERVICE RECOVERY STRATEGIES ON DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

In recent times, students in higher education institutions have raised their expectations and are becoming less tolerant to poor service. The reality is that service failures are bound to happen. However, effective service recovery strategies could minimise the impact of service failure. The aim of this research was to analyse the influence of service recovery strategies on distributive justice in higher education institutions. A total of 430 students from three public universities in South Africa participated in this research as respondents. The research adopted a quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional approach. The findings of this research showed that compensation and explanation have a positive and significant influence on distributive justice. Furthermore, the results showed a positive and insignificant influence of apology on distributive justice. The findings of this research are a wake up call to higher education institutions to focus on the two strategies of service recovery, namely explanation and compensation to achieve distributive justice. Thus, higher education institutions should firstly, focus on the use of an explanation to achieve distributive justice because it is offered at no cost compared to compensation which normally wears a financial face. This is based on the fact that higher education institutions are non profit making institutions such that they cannot afford to offer financial compensation on regular basis to address student problems. Ultimately, higher education institutions are advised to consider the severity of service failure before offering any form of service recovery to avoid double deviation. Keywords: distributive justice, field-based research, higher education institutions, service failure, service recovery strategies.

The Influence of Safety and Security on Students’ Choice of University in South Africa

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are experiencing increased interest and enrolments in study programs by international students. For recruitment and retention purposes it is important that HEI managers understand the factors that influence a student’s choice of HEI. Prior studies have found that these factors may differ from country to country and may include culture, educational needs, campus activities, safety, and security, and socio-economic issues (such as an economic downturn and political or social instability). This article reports specifically on research into the influence of safety and security issues on national and international students’ choice of public university in South Africa. Two surveys conducted at different times were used to collect data from local and international students. The results indicate that safety and security, played a deciding role in both local students’ and international students’ choice of university in South Africa, and that the disruption to campus life associated with the #FeesMustFall student protests in South Africa in 2016 may have made international students more aware of safety and security issues on South African university campuses.

Data Sharing Practices among Researchers at South African Universities

Research data management practices have gained momentum the world over. This is due to increased demands by governments and other funding agencies to have research data archived and shared as widely as possible. This paper sought to establish the data sharing practices of researchers in South Africa. The study further sought to establish the level of collaboration among researchers in sharing research data at the university level. The outcomes of the survey will help the researchers to develop appropriate data literacy awareness programmes meant to stimulate growth in data sharing practices for the benefit of research, not only in South Africa, but the world at large. A survey research method was used to gather data from willing public universities in South Africa. A similar study was conducted in other countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Turkey but the Researchers believe that circumstances in the developed world may differ with the South African research environment, hence the current study. The major finding of this study was that most researchers preferred to use data produced by others but less keen on sharing their own data. This study is the first of its kind in South Africa which investigates data sharing practices of researchers from multi-disciplinary fields at the university level and will contribute immensely to the growing body of literature in the area of research data management.

COGNITIVE LOADING DUE TO SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING, COMPLEX QUESTIONS AND TASKS IN THE ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENTS

The aim of the research was to explore the levels of cognitive loading induced by certain tenets of constructivist pedagogy namely self-directed learning complex questions and zone of proximal development. The study also sought to investigate the associations between these constructs and with cognitive loading and complex questions. Data for the research were collected using a questionnaire survey of a sample of students studying towards undergraduate degrees in construction-related studies at - public universities in South Africa. The data were factor analyzed to determine the factor structure of the constructs and to assess instrument validity and reliability. The relationships between the various constructs were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Consistent with other studies, the research found that complex questions induce a statistically significant amount of cognitive loading in students. The study also found that self-directed learning does not induce cognitive loading while subjecting students to tasks which are in their zone of proximal development is likely to induce some cognitive loading albeit much less than that from complex questions. Locating tasks in the zone of proximal development of students is likely to lead students to engage in some self-directed learning. It was also found that complex questions had a small significant association with self-directed learning. To reduce the amount of cognitive loading which students are subjected to, complex questions should be avoided for students with little subject prior knowledge, otherwise, students should be appropriately scaffolded. Students should be encouraged to engage in self-directed learning in order to reduce cognitive loading. Learning tasks assigned for self-directed learning should not be complex relative to the knowledge of the students as this discourages students from persisting with self-directed learning due to high cognitive loading. Keywords: cognitive loading, complex questions, self-directed learning, zone of proximal development.

Colonial legacies in internationalisation of higher education: racial justice and geopolitical redress in South Africa and Brazil

ABSTRACTInternationalisation of higher education has mostly been theorised from a Euro-American perspective, taking less into account how legacies of colonial expansion impose unique demands on universities. This article highlights the tensions that arise when universities must respond simultaneously to transnational pressures for internationalisation and local demands for racial justice. Drawing on insights from two qualitative case studies at public universities in South Africa and Brazil, it is argued that the inbound mobility of regional students serves the instrumental purpose of holding together these conflicting imperatives at the level of the individual institution without fully accounting for international students in institutional discourses, policies and structures.

Are universities Serving Lunch before Breakfast through Staff Development Programmes? A comparative study of the experiences of female academics in South African and Zimbabwean universities

Using a qualitative approach, the study examines the female academics experiences in academia and the hurdles they encounter in their career trajectories regardless of the Staff Development Programmes (SDPs). The sample consisted of two public universities in South Africa and Zimbabwe and ten senior female academics participated in the study. Data were collected through semi-structured face to face interviews. The findings revealed that indeed both universities had on and off the job SDPs. However, it emerged that both universities could still do more to ensure that the SDPs in place meet the female academics needs theoretically and practically through capacity building programmes and adequate human and financial resources. The paper recommends that adequate funding should be provided for the SDPs offered in both universities, identifying capacity building programmes to ensure that the training provided to the female academics will meet their needs and enhance their career mobility.

Between a rock and a hard place: dilemmas regarding the purpose of public universities in South Africa

This paper examines the idea of ‘core business’ in contemporary South African public universities. South Africa’s public higher education system has global ambitions, but is also highly internally stratified. Drawing on new data from interviews with higher education leaders and government policymakers across a number of South African institutions, we show that while the rhetoric of ‘core business’ of the university has been adopted by higher education leaders, the question of what constitutes the purpose of the university, in South Africa and arguably beyond, is subject to ongoing debate and negotiation. The multiplicity of conflicting but coexisting narratives about what universities should do in South African society—producing excellent research, preparing a labour force, or addressing societal inequalities—exposes a persisting tension surrounding the purpose of a public university. And while this tension has historical origins, we show that responses to addressing these various roles of the institution are not developed organically and in a neutral context. They emerge under conflicts over limited state funding and attendant and opportune market pressure put on public universities in times of crisis, that shape profoundly their framing and outcomes, and the future of the universities.

The Deployment and Impact of LibGuides at Public Universities in South Africa

ABSTRACTWebometrics techniques were used to establish the extent of deployment and impact of LibGuides at public universities in South Africa using their content, usage, and views. There are 1,166 LibGuides hosted by 16 universities, and published by 299 owners in South Africa giving the country a 0.22% of the world's share of LibGuides, and a 0.22% share of the world's LibGuides owners. Each LibGuide owner in the country owns almost four LibGuides. Close to 70% of public universities in South Africa own LibGuides. The University of the Witwatersrand has more LibGuides than any other university followed by the Universities of Cape Town, South Africa, Johannesburg, Stellenbosch, and others. 68.4% of LibGuides in South Africa are faculty and department LibGuides followed by “how to” guides (8.94%). Another finding was that the Ranking Web of Universities correlates moderately with the university rankings by number of LibGuides in the country meaning that LibGuides may play some role in enhancing or at least proving the extent of a university's Web presence and visibility. The views data shows mixed results as North-West University (NWU) views have increased by close to 571% between 2014 and 2015 while those of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) were inconsistent. The combined CPUT and NWU LibGuides cost R0.56 per view, all other factors such as the time and effort it takes to create LibGuides excluded. The results of this study can be used by libraries to demonstrate the value of LibGuides to academic libraries. Therefore, the continued subscription to LibGuides by academic libraries is supported.

Collaboration on LibGuides in public universities in South Africa

PurposeThis paper uses co-ownership as a proxy for determining the extent of collaboration on LibGuides in public universities in South Africa.Design/methodology/approachThis is a quantitative study that uses webometrics techniques to establish collaboration on LibGuides among librarians in public universities in South Africa. The LibGuide pages of all public universities in the country are visited. Co-ownership of those LibGuides is established by going through the list of co-owners usually situated on the right-hand side menu bar. The data are divided into 16 Excel spreadsheets, each representing a South African public university with LibGuides.FindingsThe results show that only 8.1 per cent or 95 of 1,166 LibGuides are co-owned, whereas in 9.4 per cent (109 of 1,166) of LibGuides, the ownership reverts to the host library, as there are no authors indicated. Only 34 of 95 or 35.8 per cent of co-owned LibGuides are cross-campus or inter-campus collaborations suggesting that there is very little cross-pollination of ideas between different campuses of the same universities in South Africa.Research limitations/implicationsThis study will lead to a better understanding of the extent of collaboration between librarians in Africa, generally, but specifically in South Africa. In addition, it poses a challenge to library managers to develop strategies that promote and nurture a culture of collaboration between and among librarians to avoid unnecessary duplication. The recommendations of this study can be used to improve collaboration between and among librarians. The biggest limitation of this study is that it did not look into the attitudes, constraints and impediments of collaboration between and among librarians. This area, however, is recommended for further research.Practical implicationsThe implication of these results is that there is a duplication of LibGuides, effort and time across different campuses of the same universities, as some universities have a number of LibGuides on the same subject areas across the institutions. There is very little cross-pollination of ideas between various universities as reflected by a lack of inter-university LibGuides in the country.Social implicationsDuplication of LibGuides does not assist the users as it only adds to the information overload rather than assisting them by streamlining the information.Originality/valueThis study may well be the first study of its nature in the world. It is the view of the authors that this study will not only close the gap in the literature on LibGuides but also explain the use of Web 2.0 tools in libraries in developing countries as collaboration tools. It will add another perspective to the discourse about the collaboration in library and information science generally. This paper may lead to further research on the collaboration efforts of practising librarians.