Browse
Recent Submissions
Item Open Access Retreating to a Vygotskian stage where pre-service teachers play out social, ‘dramatical collisions’(University of the Free State, 2011) De Beer, Josef; Henning, ElizabethEnglish: This article describes student engagement in simulation games in a field trip retreat for first-year Education students. The authors propose that the methodology can be a useful vehicle to address key social elements of pre-service teachers’ professional learning. They explore a theoretical view of such collaborative learning from the neo-Vygotskian perspective of activity theory, in which the simulation games are viewed as the main tool for mediating learning. From this position they suggest that field trips hold some promise for exploring HIV/AIDS education, issues of race and racism, and an understanding of poverty and food security in education.Item Open Access Exploring teaching strategies for training programmes in business coaching(University of the Free State, 2011) Maritz, Jeanette; Poggenpoel, Marie; Myburg, ChrisEnglish: Coaching and business coaching, in particular, is an academically immature, yet emerging discipline. While there appears to be general consensus about the requisite knowledge, skills, and attitudes of business coaches, there is currently little agreement on facilitating these competencies in the higher educational setting in order to develop the core competencies of business coaches. This qualitative study explores and describes teaching strategies to facilitate the core competencies of business coaches in business coaching training programmes. The findings indicate that the nature of business coaching practice demands a critical disposition to thinking and acting. The nature of the business coach learner as a mature adult emphasises the importance of an experiential learning environment that promotes learner reflexivity. Possible teaching strategies depend on and promote interactive discourse and real-time learning.Item Open Access The impact of a community service learning project on the professional growth of pre-service teachers(University of the Free State, 2011) Bansilal, Sarah; Mthembu, ZuziweEnglish: This article reports on a qualitative study based on a group of third- and fourth-year science student teachers, who participated in a community service learning (CSL) project. This study followed five students at three community drop-in centres in order to explore how their participation contributed to their learning. Data was generated from the lecturer’s field notes and reports, as well as from the students’ reflections, summative reports and presentations. The findings indicate that students found the experience academically, personally and professionally enriching. Working with poor orphans and community workers also helped the students develop a greater awareness of social responsibility.Item Open Access HIV and AIDS education in pre-service teacher programmes(University of the Free State, 2011) Wood, LesleyEnglish: Currently there is very little integration of HIV and AIDS into curricula at higher education institutions. The Higher Education AIDS Programme piloted a module at a national level to address this gap. This report presents the findings of a qualitative investigation of the experience of one university that chose to implement the module with a group of 60 postgraduate students in education. The findings suggest that, although the students found the module to be interesting and indicated that it offered them new perspectives on the educational consequences of the pandemic, there was little evidence of an in-depth understanding of how to practically adapt pedagogical processes and curriculum content to integrate HIV and AIDS meaningfully into their teaching. The report provides lessons relevant to the design of future HIV and AIDS education.Item Open Access Meeting the social and emotional needs of first-year mathematics students through peer-tutoring(University of the Free State, 2011) Maitland, Irene; Lemmer, EleanorEnglish: Academic under-performance among first-year university students calls for effective support systems. In this regard, a peer tutor-mentor programme was introduced at a private university in South Africa to improve the academic outcomes of vulnerable first-year mathematics students enrolled in an academic development programme. This article examines the influence of peer tutor-mentoring through a qualitative inquiry framed by a bricolage of learning theories. Data gathered from a comprehensive sample of students, tutor-mentors and lecturers indicate that the programme assists students’ social adjustment in a multicultural setting; that cultural diversity among tutor-mentors is both a barrier and a resource, and that positive campus perceptions of the programme are essential to its continuation, thus forging a new community of mathematics practitioners.Item Open Access Critical liberatory inclusive pedagogy: arguing for a zero-defect discourse(University of the Free State, 2011) Nkoane, MiltonEnglish: This article explores the discourses within critical pedagogy and inclusive education. It highlights the obstacles that academic institutions and educators need to overcome in order to realise an emancipatory and critical pedagogy. The article valorises muted voices and reflects on how the dominant discourse has camouflaged its hegemonic ideology while perpetuating the centre for dominance and pushing students with special educational needs to the periphery; actions which often make such students feel disempowered, disenfranchised, silenced and marginalised. A critical theory is applied in this article to cast light on exclusion, social injustice and marginalisation.Item Open Access Participation in higher education: experiences of students with disabilities(University of the Free State, 2011) Swart, Estelle; Greyling, ElsabéEnglish: Higher education institutions are required to promote equal access to all qualifying students, including those with disabilities. These institutions are expected to create environments that accommodate the diverse needs of all students and facilitate their learning and participation. The aim of this qualitative study is to obtain an in-depth understanding of how a group of students with disabilities experience participation at a university. This article supports the notion that disability is an experience that develops out of the interaction between individuals with a functional limitation and the social, attitudinal and physical environment in which they live. It focuses on their personal experience of living with impairment, both socially and individually, and demonstrates how both personal characteristics and proximal processes play an important role in participating in higher education.Item Open Access Lessons in managing visitors’ experience at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival(University of the Free State, 2011) Williams, Karen; Saayman, MelvilleEnglish: This article aims to determine the key success factors that are of importance from the visitor’s point of view. The study found that visitors rated the most important factor as value and quality, which included affordable day and weekend passes, effective token service, adequate ablution facilities and personnel who are trained to handle inquiries.Item Open Access Internal audit and risk management in South Africa: adherence to guidance(University of the Free State, 2011) Coetzee, Philna; Lubbe, DaveEnglish: governance. Sound corporate governance requires, among other things, that the board should ensure that there is an effective risk-based internal audit. The importance of internal audit within risk management and assisting the board of directors in this regard cannot be over-emphasised. The formal guidance of the IIA should be a starting point for internal auditors when performing their duties. Further applicable and comprehensive guidelines and legislation in this regard are urgently needed. This article aims to obtain input from heads of prominent internal audit functions within the private and public sectors on the role of internal auditing in the management of risk.Item Open Access Defining mathematics(University of the Free State, 2011) Strauss, DanieEnglish: Any definition of mathematics falls outside its field of investigation. When mathematics is set theory, the history of mathematics prior to the investing of set theory is eliminated. Arguing that the aspects of number and space delimit mathematics makes it possible to avoid both Platonism and constructivism in mathematics. Every philosophy of mathematics should be able to account for the nature and status of the infinite. That set theory is a spatially deepened theory of numbers cannot be accounted for by what Lakoff and Núñez call the Basic Metaphor of Infinity. Gödel’s 1931 results point to an immediate, evident, intuitive insight.