scholarly journals ADDRESSING THE LOCAL IN LOCALIZATION: A CASE STUDY OF OPEN TEXTBOOK ADOPTION BY THREE SOUTH AFRICAN TEACHERS

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Jimes ◽  
Shenandoah Weiss ◽  
Renae Keep
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Collaborative Authorship ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Study Support ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Open Textbooks

This article presents a case study of the adoption and use of open textbooks by three high school teachers in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The textbooks, collaboratively authored and distributed through the South African-initiative, Siyavula, are available online and are openly licensed, allowing teachers to freely use, modify, print, and share them with peers. Building on prior research conducted on the Siyavula project, the study consisted of interviews with teachers in South Africa to assess their reasons for adopting open textbooks, and their experiences using Siyavula’s open textbooks in the classroom. The study revealed that beyond the cost-savings and flexible printing possibilities afforded by using open textbooks, the teachers’ adoption and use of the open textbooks were tied to the local nature of the textbooks, as well as the localization opportunities made possible through open licensing. Specifically, the study revealed the importance of content rooted in the cultural and geographic contexts in which teachers teach—for example, through authentic scenarios and accessible texts for students and teachers to work with. Moreover, because the Siyavula textbooks were collaboratively written by local field experts and scholars, the content was viewed by the teachers as higher quality than proprietary textbooks, which often have few authors and are disseminated by large publishing companies. Furthermore, the study found that localization of the textbooks involved not only to the ability to modify and annotate the content to meet classroom needs, but also the ability to meet local socioeconomic constraints, including technological and budgetary limitations. The findings also indicated that the textbooks’ collaborative authorship and possibilities for user modifications facilitated communication about enhancements to the textbook between the textbook authors and the teacher users. On the whole, the findings support nascent, prior research revealing that when open educational resources (OER) are created, developed and evaluated through processes drawing upon individuals who live and work within the context in which the OER are being created for, the end result is more useable. The results of the study support the need for further research in other settings globally, centering on, for example, the role of collaborative authorship in relation to perceived quality of content.

scholarly journals Results from a Psychology OER pilot program: faculty and student perceptions, cost savings, and academic outcomes

Open Praxis ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 83
Author(s):  
Juliana Magro ◽  
Sara V Tabaei
Keyword(s):  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Academic Outcomes ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Pilot Program ◽  
Open Textbooks ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Pedagogical Changes ◽  
Better Than

This case study describes the library’s experience of collaborating with an undergraduate Psychology Department at Touro College to integrate open textbooks into their program. We discuss the pedagogical changes as well as explore the impact of Open Educational Resources (OER) on students’ savings, their academic outcomes and perceptions of OER. Furthermore, we highlight the successes and shortcomings in having the library as a central OER partner. To measure the results, we surveyed students and conducted a faculty survey and a focus group, in addition to analyzing the students’ final grades. This pilot program delivered strong results. The students’ perception was very positive, and faculty’s opinions on the textbooks used were mixed. Some professors felt that the textbook lacked important content, but because of its openness, they added their own content to the book. Students enrolled in OER courses performed better than those enrolled in the same courses using a commercial textbook.

scholarly journals Implementation of Kaizen costing towards improving cost management at the water and sanitation and electricity departments of the Ethekwini Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Siyanda Percy Khuzwayo
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Cost Management ◽  
Service Organizations ◽  
Water And Sanitation ◽  
Descriptive Case Study ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Quantitative Descriptive ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Improve Cost

Little is known about kaizen costing opportunities and challenges in service organizations since little research has been conducted about its implementation in this sector (Singh and Singh 2009: 63). Kaizen costing is a management accounting technique that is mainly focused on improving the cost management of the organisation. Since the cost management performance of South African municipalities is very poor, the purpose of this study is to evaluate whether implementing kaizen costing will improve cost management at the water and electricity departments in eThekwini municipality. Studies have shown that there are a lot of unexploited benefits which can be gained by South African municipalities as well as other organisations by implementing kaizen costing. This is a quantitative descriptive case study of the Water and Sanitation and Electricity Departments in the eThekwini Municipality where data was collected from the target respondents using questionnaires. The 320 questionnaires, which consisted of predominantly closed-ended questions, were self-administered to the target respondents. The results were analysed using the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0. The findings of this study revealed that the adoption of kaizen costing may be successful in improving the cost management inefficiencies faced by the South African municipalities. Based on the findings, the majority of the respondents indicated that they would embrace and support the application of a kaizen costing at the Water and Sanitation and Electricity Departments in the eThekwini Municipality. The study recommends that the Water and Sanitation and Electricity Departments in the eThekwini Municipality should consider implementing kaizen costing to improve its cost management.

scholarly journals The involvement of parents in the implementation of Curriculum 21 in a rural KwaZulu-Natal primary school : a case study

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Phiwayinkosi Manqoba Biyela
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public School ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Primary School ◽  
South African ◽  
Academic Development ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Family Home ◽  
South African Schools Act

The introduction of Curriculum 21 in South Africa in 1998 has brought with it added responsibilities for parents. According to the South African Schools' Act, No.84 (1996), parents have been granted powers to "support teachers in the performance of their task "and "determine subject choices" for their children. However, when Curriculum 21 was introduced in 1998, relevant programmes for introducing parents to these ideas dia not exist. According to Schlebusch and Spady (1999) family, home, identity and respect are important features of Curriculum 21 and only parents can create the best conditions for the academic development of their children. Therefore, the involvement of parents in the education of their children is vital. This dissertation is a case study of a rural KwaZulu- Natal public school, Hopewell Primary School, in which a pilot study of a programme to introduce parents to their responsibilities in the implementation of Curriculum 21, was first introduced.

scholarly journals Organisational conflict: Reflections on managing conflict, identities and values in a selected South African organisation

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude-Hélène Mayer ◽  
Lynette Louw
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
South African ◽  
Automotive Industry ◽  
Middle Managers ◽  
Managerial Values ◽  
Contextual Understanding ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Depth Interviews

This article presents a case study on organisational conflict in a selected international organisation in the South African automotive industry to increase the contextual understanding of the topic. Data was gathered through in-depth interviews with 45 senior and middle managers in the selected international organisation at the head off ce and two branches in Gauteng and at one branch in KwaZulu-Natal. The data analysis was conducted through content analysis as well as triangulation of data. The research results show that managers in this industry in post-apartheid South Africa experience organisational conflicts that are associated with their managerial values and identities.

scholarly journals As Good or Better than Commercial Textbooks: Students’ Perceptions and Outcomes from Using Open Digital and Open Print Textbooks

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajiv S Jhangiani ◽  
Farhad N Dastur ◽  
Richard Le Grand ◽  
Kurt Penner
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Digital Format ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Open Textbooks ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Better Than

The increase in the cost of college textbooks together with the proliferation of digital content and devices has inspired the development of open textbooks, open educational resources that are free, openly licensed, and often peer-reviewed. Although several published studies have investigated the impact of open textbook adoption on educational outcomes, none have separated the effects of textbook openness and format and only two have taken place in Canada (Hendricks, Reinsberg, & Rieger, 2017; Jhangiani & Jhangiani, 2017). This study investigates the perceptions, use, and course performance of Canadian post-secondary students assigned a commercial or open textbook in either print or digital format. Results show that students using the print format of the open textbook perceive its quality to be superior to the commercial textbook. Moreover, students assigned an open textbook in either format perform either no differently from or better than those assigned a commercial textbook. These results are consistent with the existing literature and support the conclusion that the cost savings to students associated with the adoption of open textbooks do not come at the expense of resource quality or student performance. L’augmentation du coût des manuels universitaires ainsi que la prolifération du contenu numérique et des appareils électroniques ont inspiré le développement de manuels ouverts, des ressources éducationnelles qui sont gratuites, dont les licences d’exploitation sont ouvertes et qui sont souvent évalués par les pairs. Bien que plusieurs études publiées aient étudié l’impact de l’adoption de manuels ouverts sur les résultats éducationnels, aucune n’a séparé les effets du caractère ouvert des manuels et du format et seulement deux études ont été menées au Canada (Hendricks, Reinsberg & Rieger, 2017; Jhangiani & Jhangiani, 2017). Cette étude examine les perceptions, l’emploi et les résultats des étudiants dans des établissements d’enseignement supérieur canadiens à qui on avait assigné un manuel commercial ou un manuel ouvert en format imprimé ou numérique. Les résultats ont montré que les étudiants qui avaient utilisé le format imprimé du manuel ouvert avaient perçu que sa qualité était supérieure à celle du manuel commercial. De plus, les étudiants à qui on avait assigné un manuel ouvert dans l’un ou l’autre des formats avaient obtenu des résultats semblables à ceux des étudiants à qui on avait assigné un manuel commercial. Ces résultats concordent avec les publications existantes et confirment la conclusion que les économies de coûts pour les étudiants liées à l’adoption de manuels ouverts n’entraînent pas une dégradation de la qualité des ressources ni des résultats des étudiants.

scholarly journals A preliminary examination of the cost savings and learning impacts of using open textbooks in middle and high school science classes

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 262 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Wiley ◽  
John Levi Hilton III ◽  
Shelley Ellington ◽  
Tiffany Hall
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Standardized Test ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
School Science ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
High School Science ◽  
Successful Model ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Open Textbooks

<p>Proponents of open educational resources claim that significant cost savings are possible when open textbooks displace traditional textbooks in the classroom. Over a period of two years, we worked with 20 middle and high school science teachers (collectively teaching approximately 3,900 students) who adopted open textbooks to understand the process and determine the overall cost of such an adoption. The teachers deployed open textbooks in multiple ways. Some of these methods cost more than traditional textbooks; however, we did identify and implement a successful model of open textbook adoption that reduces costs by over 50% compared to the cost of adopting traditional textbooks. In addition, we examined the standardized test scores of students using the open textbooks and found no apparent differences in the results of students who used open textbooks compared with previous years when the same teachers’ students used traditional textbooks. However, given the limited sample of participating teachers, further investigation is needed.<br /><br /></p>

scholarly journals An evaluation of serological tests in the diagnosis of bovine brucellosis in naturally infected cattle in KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Songelwayo L. Chisi ◽  
Yoanda Marageni ◽  
Prebashni Naidoo ◽  
Gloria Zulu ◽  
George W. Akol ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽  
Infected Cattle ◽  
Serological Tests ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Cost Efficacy ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Rose

The diagnostic sensitivity (DSe) of the Rose Bengal test (RBT), the complement fixation test (CFT), the serum agglutination test (SAT), the competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) and the indirect ELISA (iELISA) were determined in naturally infected cattle in KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa with known infectious status from culture (gold standard). Natural brucellosis infection status of animals was determined by culturing and identification of Brucella abortus biovar 1 from abomasal fluid, milk, hygroma fluid, lymph nodes or uterine discharges samples. The diagnostic specificity (DSp) of the tests mentioned above was determined using samples from known negative herds. There was no statistically significant difference between the tests in their ability to diagnose brucellosis. The RBT and iELISA had the highest DSe of 95.8%, whereas RBT and CFT had the highest DSp of 100%. In South African laboratories, the RBT and CFT serological tests are used, because of the cost efficacy of CFT when compared to the less labour intensive but more expensive iELISA.

scholarly journals Church Uniforms as an Indigenous Form of Anglicanism: A South African Case Study

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-171
Author(s):  
Beverley Haddad
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Church Leadership ◽  
Elderly Women ◽  
African Women ◽  
Women Missionaries ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
The Church

AbstractAfrican women members of the Mothers’ Union in South Africa have forged a neo-indigenous expression of Christianity best expressed in the characteristics of the manyano movement (women’s prayer groups) which include extempore prayer and preaching, extensive fundraising, and the wearing of a church uniform. These women had to resist the restrictions placed upon them by women missionaries and church leadership from England, which included the abolishment of the church uniform during the 1950s. The article traces their struggle of resistance during this period and shows how they fought to wear a uniform and so identified themselves with the movement of women’s prayer unions existing in other churches. It also addresses the significance of the uniform as identified by elderly women from Vulindlela, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and suggests some of the existing ambiguities of the church uniform in the current church context.

The Socio-Economic Challenges of South African Indigenous Musicians: A Case Study of Venda-Based Vho-Ntshengedzeni Mamphodo

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
N G Mugovhani ◽  
Lebogang Lance Nawa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Cultural Policy ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Arts Management ◽  
Black South African ◽  
Indigenous Music ◽  
Entire Country

This article discusses and raises awareness about the socio-economic plight of indigenous musicians in South Africa. Through a qualitative case study of the Venda musician, Vho-Talelani Andries Ntshengedzeni Mamphodo, dubbed the “Father of mbila music,” the article highlights the fact that the welfare of Black South African artists, particularly indigenous musicians in South Africa, is generally a precarious affair. Their popularity, at the height of their careers, sometimes masks shocking details of exploitation, neglect, and the poverty they are subjected to, which are exposed only after they have died. Empirical data identifies this as a symptom of, among other things, cultural policy and arts management deficiencies in the promotion of indigenous music. The article aims to find ways to redress this unfortunate situation, which is partially a product of general apathy and scant regard that these artists have perennially been subjected to, even by their own governments, as well as some members of their societies. All these factors mentioned are compounded by ignorance on the part of South African artists. Part of the objective of this study was to establish whether the exposition of the Vhavenda musicians is a typical example of all Black South African indigenous musicians and, if this is the case, whether the suggested ways to redress this unfortunate situation could contribute to or play a role in alleviating the plight of such artists in the entire country.

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