Universities In South Africa Research Articles

Student Voices: A Critical Reflective Exploration of an Online Groupwork Video Analysis Task During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The shift to online learning in universities prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic impacted field learning, an important component in nature conservation qualifications. Academics used video resources as an alternative approach to mitigate related challenges. This case study critically reflects on students’ experiences and views on the use of an internet video and WhatsApp text messaging to complete a groupwork task in a conservation module offered at a university in South Africa. The video content focused on threats to rare indigenous plant species in South Africa. Data were collected using an online electronic questionnaire (n=26) and through the analysis of five group-discussion text-messaging transcripts. Mixed-method analysis was used to analyse the data. Descriptive analysis was used to analyse the closed questions in the questionnaire, and qualitative analysis was used for the open questions and transcripts. Ethical protocols were followed, with anonymity and confidentiality maintained. The findings, amongst others, indicate that overall, students agreed that the video promoted their understanding of threats to rare indigenous plants (76.9%); most students watched the video more than three times (84.6%); students had a positive response to the use of text messaging for group discussions (91.6%); and evident in the transcripts was active group engagement. Overall, WhatsApp text messaging facilitated student discussions in the asynchronous group work video analysis task. This reinforces underlying social constructivist pedagogy, which facilitates the integration of course content with group interaction and promotes critical thinking and problem-solving in a post-COVID-19 society.

Spatial perspectives on student profiling to inform open distance e-learning (ODeL) in various geographical contexts: a case study from the Global South

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 underpins the other SDGs and emphasizes the importance of increasing access to inclusive, equitable, quality education. Equitable and inclusive access to education remains a pressing issue in many parts of the world, especially in the Global South. Developments and challenges experienced in the Global South have increased awareness of the potential of open distance e-learning to increase access to higher education. This potential has to be considered from the perspective of the digital divide. Analyzing student data can play an important role in obtaining insights into students' lives to improve the quality of the educational services provided.This paper aims to reflect on the use of spatial statistics in compiling a profile of the students registered for a Geography module at the University of South Africa. This paper has two objectives. The first is to specify the broad student profile in terms of the geographical location of students. The second objective is to reflect on the lifeworlds of the students in the different clusters and the challenges they may face in successfully completing their studies. Four representative student profiles could be compiled using lifestyle data. Marked differences in lifestyle factors between the four identified profile types were observed. These may directly impact students' ability to progress with their studies.

The Unnoticed Few: Exploring the Challenges Confronting International Students and Staff at a Rural University in South Africa

Globalisation and international student and staff mobility are not new phenomena, and South African universities have been fairly successful in the recruitment of internationals – particularly from other African countries, yet the challenges associated with internationalising universities remain persistent. This study sought to examine the challenges faced by international students and staff at a rural university in South Africa. We relied on a qualitative research approach which enabled us to rely on semi-structured interviews with international students, staff, and managers from the university’s International Office. The findings revealed that while some of the opportunities for studying and working abroad are to widen one's horizons and experience new cultures, international students and staff often experience difficulties such as language barriers, culture shocks, mental health issues, and financial pressures when adapting to their new context. We recommended that there be behavioural interventions, cultural interventions, and also financial support for student and staff expatriates.

Effective Interventions for Enhancing Academic Achievement in Higher Education: Views of Entrepreneurship Students

Entrepreneurship is considered a vehicle for fighting unemployment in developing countries such as South Africa. As a result, research focusing on entrepreneurship education continues to gain traction. Graduates of tertiary institutions are expected to contribute meaningfully either through employment or job creation. This expectation puts the role of tertiary institutions in converting students into graduates in the spotlight. Tertiary institutions deal with many challenges, such as the heterogeneity of the student population, which calls for evidence-based interventions that are tailor-made to the needs of specific cohorts. Thus, various stakeholders should support tertiary institutions by helping them achieve the desired graduate attributes. This paper sought to suggest effective interventions that would enhance the academic success of entrepreneurship students and prepare them to become future job creators. Interventions should capitalize on students’ strengths and improve on their weaknesses. The researchers argue that interventions to promote academic success should consider students’ abilities and drive to complete qualifications, lecturers’ teaching methods, and graduate attributes required by society. The study used a quantitative approach to address the research question and collected data from 204 undergraduate entrepreneurship students at a technology university in South Africa. The study suggests effective interventions from descriptive statistics. This study reveals the importance of understanding students’ backgrounds, entrepreneurial attributes and teaching methods when designing academic interventions. Implications to the academic administrators and lecturers as well as recommendations for future studies are flagged.

Data literacy training needs of researchers at South African universities

Purpose The aim of this study was to determine data literacy (DL) training needs of researchers at South African public universities. The outcome of this study would assist librarians and researchers in developing a DL training programme which addressed identified needs. Design/methodology/approach A survey research method was used to gather data from researchers at these universities by convenience. Online questionnaires were distributed to public universities through library directors for further distribution to researchers. Findings The results indicate low levels of DL training at the respondent South African public universities with most researchers indicating that they had not received any formal training on DL. A few researchers indicated that they would welcome DL training. Research limitations/implications This study was exploratory in nature and data was received from eight universities, which is not representative of all the 26 public universities in South Africa. Nonetheless, the low DL confirmed by the majority in the realised sample is indicative of the need to further investigate the subject. Practical implications Librarians and research support personnel should collaborate on the development of DL training courses, workshops and materials used by researchers at institutions of higher learning to enhance DLs on campus. Originality/value This study may be novel in South Africa in investigating the DL training needs of researchers at several universities and contributes to the growing body of literature on research data management

Learning Management Systems as a platform for information sharing during the COVID-19

Background: During the outbreak of the deadly respiratory coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the 2019–2022 period, many South African institutions of higher learning adopted online learning management systems (LMS) to share information and salvage the academic project. This adoption was fraught with challenges including a lack or preparedness, resources and strategy on how to manage change. Objectives: The study examined the challenges faced while using an online LMS as an information sharing platform in academia, specifically in a rural-based university in South Africa during (COVID-19) lockdown period. In addition, the study also explored the state of readiness of the rural-based university to transition to an online LMS. Method: A quantitative research methodology was used to collect data through the administration of a survey to respondents from a rural-based university. The target population for the study was students and academic staff. Results: The study revealed that online learning management provided a collaborative knowledge and information sharing platform. This study established that LMS enabled the university to continue sharing knowledge and interact with their students, staff, and stakeholders to continue to facilitate teaching and learning. Internet connectivity, a lack of preparedness and data costs were cited as key challenges. Conclusion: This study highlighted how an online LMS was used as a collaborative and knowledge sharing platform during a global crisis. Contribution: The study contributes to information and knowledge sharing disciplines to create awareness to authorities on the importance of technology during a crisis.

Students’ Experiences of Tippy Tube Video-assisted Learning during the COVID-19 Lockdown in an Open and Distance Learning Environment

The University of South Africa (Unisa) College of Education (CEDU) set up Tippy Tube as an online educational video channel to engage lecturers around the country. The outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which was declared a global pandemic on 11 March 2020, imposed a lockdown period from February to August 2021. This article reports on a study that explored how the use of Tippy Tube optimised support to first-year mathematics education students at Unisa during the lockdown. Moore’s Transactional Distance Theory (TDT) underpinned the study. The study used a qualitative research design to explore students’ views on whether the Tippy Tube tool had optimised student support in the mathematics education module during the lockdown. The module has five units and five Tippy Tube videos were developed for each unit. Open-ended questionnaires were administered to 100 purposively sampled first-year mathematics education students. Only 21 respondents completed the questionnaires. Thematic analysis was then used to analyse the data from the open-ended questionnaire responses. The findings of the study revealed that Tippy Tube video-assisted learning had benefitted the students in mathematics education. Further, the study findings suggested that lecturers can consider using the Tippy Tube tool to teach students mathematics and other disciplines as they are able to replay the videos for the purpose of clarity if they did not understand the videos during live presentations.

Role of organisational readiness and stakeholder acceptance: an implementation framework of adaptive learning for higher education

Despite its advantages and potentials, the extent of the implementation of adaptive learning remains limited. Recent studies identified the critical determinants associated with its scaled implementation and proposed various frameworks and strategies to support it. However, little has been done to identify the empirical relationships between such determinants, the strategies for addressing them, and a scaled implementation as the desired outcome. Identifying such relationships can however help elucidate the processes involved in the implementation process of adaptive learning and, therefore, better explain the reasons for its slow implementation. The current study aims to identify the relationships between critical factors associated with the successful implementation of adaptive learning, strategies that address such factors, and the desired outcomes. Based on the identified relationships, the study presents an empirically supported implementation framework for adaptive learning. We used the secondary analysis of qualitative data, which were previously collected from 51 participants in an international Delphi study conducted in two universities in Switzerland and South Africa. For coding, we used inductive coding techniques suitable for identifying connections (e.g., causal relationships) between the identified factors. We conclude by turning the attention of implementation researchers and educational leaders to the key role of organisational readiness and the stakeholder acceptance of adaptive learning during the implementation process.

Academic leadership and leadership styles in strategic plans: a study of five top-ranked public universities in South Africa

Academic leadership and leadership styles in strategic plans: a study of five top-ranked public universities in South Africa

Learning first-year mathematics fully online: Were students prepared, how did they respond?

This paper reports on empirical results from a study that investigated first-year mathematics students’ preparedness for, and response to, online learning. With the appearance of COVID-19 in 2020, lecturers were forced to make sudden changes to the established face-to-face learning environments, and students were expected to adapt to these changes. The idea of a blended learning environment is not new, and students globally have demanded flexibility in mathematics learning environments for some time. However, the idea of a sudden change in environments, particularly to fully online, was new to most lecturers and students. Key aspects in an online environment are students’ ability to self-regulate their learning, and the availability and accessibility of technological resources. Quantitative data from the self-developed questionnaire were collected early in 2021, at a public university in South Africa, from a large sample over several modules. Results indicate students are partially prepared for learning fully online, with significant effect on performance.

Paragons of inequality: Challenges associated with online learning at a selected rural university in South Africa

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions (HEIs) globally were forced to abruptly transition from traditional face-to-face classrooms to online classrooms in order to salvage teaching and learning. This was especially tougher for HEIs in the Global South where little to no infrastructure and technologies had been rolled-out prior to the pandemic. Navigating this ‘new normal’ was even tougher for poor rural institutions and students who were already grappling with several inequalities. Against this background, this study explored the challenges associated with online learning at a rural university in South Africa. The study was grounded in the connectivism learning theory and was underpinned by a qualitative approach. To this end, data were collected using in-depth interviews and analysed thematically. The findings revealed that students and staff were grappling with connectivity problems, lack of technological skills, academic dishonesty, and poor attendance, among other things. Because online learning will remain a feature of HEIs for the foreseeable future, the study thus recommended that governments and non-government actors work together to ensure that learning technologies filter to students in least technologically accessible areas to create a genuinely inclusivepedagogy. The study also recommended that additional support be provided for students and teachers to ensure effective participation, and that universities actively promote the creation of online communities where students can connect so as to avoid isolation and solitude that have been known to be features of online learning.

Partnership as a strategy to overcome the difficulties associated with policy implementation: South African teachers’ views

The purpose of the study reported on here was to investigate the role of partnerships in helping in-service teachers overcome the difficulties associated with performing practical work prescribed in the Life Sciences Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), an educational policy intended to transform the South African school curriculum in the wake of the apartheid years. CAPS is the latest of a plethora of educational policies that have been introduced in post-apartheid South Africa. However, teachers have lamented the lack of skills and resources necessary for its effective implementation. With this study we investigated how partnership between schools and 1 university in South Africa helped teachers to acquire practical skills and techniques related to CAPS implementation. A qualitative research approach with purposeful sampling was used. Data were collected through focus-group interviews, document analysis and observations that entailed observing teachers performing the experiments prior to the training. Teachers from 22 secondary schools participated in this research. Collected data were analysed using Creswell’s method of coding. Findings of this study indicate that partnership with the University helped equip teachers with the necessary skills and knowledge to perform science experiments, ultimately resulting in improved learner performance. Partnerships between schools and institutions of higher learning to enhance policy implementation are, therefore, recommended.

Article Title: "Reading Psalm 100 from an African (Yoruba) Perspective"

Journal for Semitics 27 (2) 2018, #4186 When this article was originally published, David Tuesday Adamo's affiliation was incorrectly given as the University of South Africa instead of Stellenbosch University. The electronic version of the article has been corrected and can be located under the DOI specified above.

Distance Education Research in South Africa: A Longitudinal Study into the Research Levels of ODL Journal Articles

The measure of an academic field lies in the richness and depth of its published research, especially within the ever-developing field of distance education, which is relatively new. The University of South Africa is one of the oldest open distance learning (ODL) higher education institutes globally, which has given rise to its status internationally as a leader of distance education. It is prudent to analyse and reflect on the research outputs published by South African academics, particularly regarding the levels of research that are conducted. This article follows the research published by Roberts, which analysed South African distance learning research levels and sublevels from articles published between 2011 and 2015. This longitudinal study applied a thematic content analysis of the titles and abstracts of all ODL-related papers published by South African authors. The findings compare ODL trends for the five-year periods from 2010 to 2014 and 2015 to 2019. The data were obtained from the Scopus and SABINET databases, using the same search criteria employed by Roberts. The levels of research publications were analysed according to the open distance learning research framework of Zawacki-Richter presented through descriptive statistics. The results indicate that although the number of published open distance learning research articles has more than doubled, the research levels have not shown any significant change from the previous five years. The South African ODL publications should give attention to meso- and macro-level research to enhance the ODL development within Southern Africa and create local trends fit for purpose.

A professional development needs analysis instrument for junior and mid-level academic management

The professional development of managers poses fundamental challenges that higher education is facing in these fast-changing times. These challenges include a lack of induction into managerial roles and responsibilities, conflicting roles and responsibilities and a lack of general skills pertaining to managerial positions. Experiencing these challenges necessitates the need for sustainable development programmes and practices within higher education institutions. To address this need, the purpose of this exploratory research was to develop a professional development needs analysis instrument as a reliable and valid instrument to determine the professional development needs of junior and mid-level academic managers. A gap analysis was conducted, involving 156 junior and mid-level academic managers at a university in South Africa. The construct validity of the instrument was determined through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. To determine the reliability of the instrument, Cronbach alpha coefficients were calculated. The outcome of both the factor analysis and the Cronbach alpha coefficients indicated that the questionnaire was a valid and reliable measuring instrument that could be employed in future research to determine the professional development needs of academic managers. The implementation of the professional development needs analysis instrument may contribute to sustainable management activities at universities for junior and mid-level academic managers.

Investigating the Pedagogical Potential of Entrepreneurial Projects in Higher Education

The current rate of technological advancement across the globe underlines the importance of higher education institutions incorporating project-based learning into their teaching approaches. This article investigates the capacity of entrepreneurial projects to address the skills gap in the Sub-Saharan African higher education sector. This study was conducted in two rural universities in South Africa and Nigeria. Data were collected from student participants from the two institutions using semi-structured questionnaires. The authors discovered that, despite the involvement of student participants in entrepreneurial projects over a considerable period of time, most participants from both universities still exhibit inadequate skill levels. This result suggests that certain conditions should be met for entrepreneurial projects to be considered effective for teaching and learning in the higher education context. It is imperative to include enabling factors such as high-quality mentoring from industry professionals and an unwavering university support system for student entrepreneurs. These enabling factors are cornerstones that strengthen a university's entrepreneurial standing.
 
 Received: 8 January 2023 / Accepted: 2 April 2023 / Published: 5 May 2023

Challenges of First-Year Extended Curriculum Programme Students at a University in South Africa

The Extended Curriculum Programme (ECP) is an academic foundation programme established and supported by South Africa’s Department of Higher Education and Training as a route and an enabling environment for educationally disadvantaged, underprepared, unprepared, and at-risk students to access and succeed in higher education. However, beyond the academic concerns for students enrolled on this programme, there are social issues that could hinder the success of the enrolled students. This study examines the challenges of students enrolled in Extended Curriculum Programme in a selected university in South Africa. Using a qualitative research method, data was collected following a focus group discussion comprising twelve groups in the Faculty of Management and Commerce ECP first-year students. This study found that students face a number of challenges including information asymmetry, mismatch between high school subjects and university courses, transitioning from high school to university setting, inadequate and unequal academic support, and stigmatization. The findings imply a need for guidance and counselling in the choice of a future career at high school level, an awareness about ECP, and strengthened support beyond academic support by improving social integration and boosting ECP students’ self-confidence. Government and institutions need to introduce educational anti-stigma interventions to correct individuals’ and society’s misinformed perceptions about ECP programmes and to promote awareness about the potential and possibilities of the programme.

Effectiveness of technology in Open Distance Learning

Technology was gradually embraced by distance education institutions to interact and instruct their diverse student body. To reach students in far-flung locations, the University of South Africa (Unisa) has embraced the Open Distance and E-learning (ODeL) paradigm. The digital gap is a problem as technology advances because it makes it difficult for pupils to access the Internet. The study went over the literature with a particular emphasis on the usefulness of technology in ODeL. To thoroughly examine the case, the study has chosen a qualitative research methodology. To analyze the data acquired from students enrolled in ODeL courses, the study has utilized a community of inquiry structure. The study made use of the interpretative paradigm, which holds that reality is a multi-layered, complicated phenomena that may be interpreted in several ways. The study is comprehensive in character since a qualitative research technique using a case study design method was chosen most appropriate for it. Twelve individuals were chosen by the researchers from two Unisa regional offices in the Eastern Cape Province using a purposive sample technique. The participants were questioned about their opinions and experiences with using technology during semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis, a method of finding themes within qualitative data, was used to analyze the acquired data. The results showed that students who used technology well were better communicators, had better grades on their assignments, and fared well on tests

Challenges Faced by Multi-Campus Institutions with Online Teaching during the COVID-19 Lockdown

In December 2019, the COVID-19 virus was first detected in Wuhan, Hebei Province, China. On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organisation declared the COVID-19 virus a world pandemic. Even though the physical closure of tertiary institutions had proven to be an effective strategy in breaking the transmission chain in the pandemic, the closure still had various negative effects on students’ academic endeavours. In an attempt to keep the disruption of studies to a minimum, higher education institutions across the world implemented online learning programmes by converting face-to-face programmes, thereby creating various challenges for students and lecturers on different levels. The purpose of this article was to determine how challenges faced by multi-campus universities in South Africa during this time would compare to challenges faced by other countries. This study focused on two specific multi-campus universities in South Africa with similar student bodies that offered various accounting courses on different campuses. These courses ranged from diplomas to CTA degrees.

Hybrid and virtual work settings; the interaction between technostress, perceived organisational support, work-family conflict and the impact on work engagement

PurposeThe study assessed the impact of technostress creators, work–family conflict and perceived organisational support (POS) on work engagement for employees operating within the virtual and hybrid work settings. The idea is to redefine the antecedents of work engagement in work settings that are characterised by excessive technology and work–family conflict.Design/methodology/approachData gathered from 302 academics and support staff employees at a selected university in South Africa were utilised to assess the abovementioned relationships via variance-based structural equation modelling.FindingsThe combined effect of technostress, work–family conflict and POS on work engagement indicates that work–family conflict is a critical component in the relationship between technostress and work engagement. Although POS is seen as a job resource that lessens stress, the study found that the influence of work–family conflict is stronger than that of POS; hence, a negative influence is reported on work engagement. Despite the presence of support, overwhelming technostress creators and work–family conflict issues increase demands and influence work engagement negatively.Research limitations/implicationsThe results noted that, in hybrid and virtual work settings, managers can drive employee engagement by focussing on designing more favourable work–life balance (WLB) policies, providing adequate information communication technology (ICT) support, fostering aspects of positive technology and defining the boundaries between work life and family time.Practical implicationsThe managers need to realise the detrimental effects of both technostress and work–family conflict on work engagement in virtual and hybrid work settings. Expanding the personal and job resources of individuals in hybrid and virtual settings is critical to enable them to meet the additional work demands and to manage the strain imposed by technostress. Instituting relevant organisation support has proved to be inadequate to address the challenges relating to technostress and work–family conflict. Therefore, introducing WLB policies that assist employees to set clear boundaries between work and family time to avoid burn out and spillover is critical. This is especially important when dealing with technostress creators in the remote work setting. Additionally, providing adequate ICT support as well as training related to use of different devices and software should be part of the organisational culture.Social implicationsA manageable and reasonable workload should be maintained bearing in mind the complexity and ambiguity associated with the hybrid work setting. Managers should make allowances for employees to adjust managers' schedules to accommodate personal obligations, as well as adjust employees' workloads to accommodate family responsibilities. As for the coping strategy of technostress and work–family conflict, considering the positive effects of the supportive work environment is important.Originality/valueThis study provides a model on the interaction of the redefined antecedents (technostress and work–family conflict) of work engagement in high-tech environments such as virtual and hybrid work settings.