Using “Live” Public Sector Projects in Design Teaching to Transform Urban Green Infrastructure in South Africa

Urban green infrastructure is not acknowledged in the Global South for the critical social and ecological functions it can provide. Contextual design solutions and innovative approaches are urgently needed to transform the status quo. University-local government collaboration could be a way to encourage new thinking, new roles and design skills to develop solutions to these complex problems. This paper presents a case study analysis of such a collaboration. Qualitative research was conducted to establish the degree to which the exposure to real-life projects stimulates postgraduate design students’ transformative learning. The researchers also inquired into the benefits of the collaboration for the municipality. The participants’ reflections were recorded by means of anonymous questionnaires. The findings show that the live project created a municipal setting for seeking alternative solutions in design processes and outcomes. For the students, the project created rich social dynamics and an interplay of familiarity and uncertainty, which aided transformative learning. The students’ deeper learning indicates greater social empathy, reconsidering the role of the profession, greater design process flexibility, and learning and valuing skills across disciplines. The findings hold promise for a more just and sustainable future built environment through collaborations that transform the design professionals involved, the outcomes they pursue, and the processes they follow.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among midwives after exposure to maternal death and stillbirth in Khomas Region of Namibia

Objective: Despite global efforts to decrease maternal death and stillbirths worldwide, maternal mortality rate and stillbirth remain high in the global south countries. These deaths often have immediate and long-lasting effects on midwives who care for these women.Methods: This paper explores the effects of maternal death and stillbirth on midwives in Namibia. A qualitative approach was adopted using a descriptive, exploratory and contextual design. The objective of this study was to explore the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) related feelings among midwives after exposure to maternal death and stillbirth. Data was collected using Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and individual interviews. Four FGDs and four individual interviews were conducted with midwives from two state hospitals in Windhoek. Midwives were purposively selected, and a total of 29 midwives participated in the study. Individual interviews and FGDs were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using content analysis and coded using Tech’s steps of open-coding.Results: The researcher identified one central theme with six sub-themes. The study showed that the midwives experienced PTSD related feelings such as insomnia and nightmares, recollection of the event (flashbacks), sense of self-blame, guilt, anger, shame, and being haunted/tormented.Conclusions: It is concluded that maternal death and fresh stillbirth can lead to PTSD effects on midwives, hence addressing these challenges. Therefore, the researchers recommend that hospitals in the Khomas Region develop and implement the wellness programmes in the workplace, such as the Employee Assistance Programme, to support midwives who experienced these traumatic events to prevent and manage these effects in the future. Equally, further research is needed to evaluate the impact of the wellness programme on midwives who experienced MDs and FSBs in Namibia.

Shouldn’t All Architecture Be Designed with Empathy?

Rapid urbanisation and, as a result fast growing informal areas, increase the need for affordable housing. This urgent need requires new forms of input from the architects active in the Global South. The profession must adapt and evolve. Based on previous research, I argue that to build sustainable communities, the residents must be heard and be part of the development process. To involve residents, architects can use new contextually suitable and effective design methods. The study comprised action research on an affordable housing design project in Zanzibar, Tanzania. This paper presents the early stages of a design process for a project still in progress. A close look at the Zanzibar case reveals four human-centred methods from the design discipline to the architectural design process: applied ethnography, empathic design, contextual design, co-design and participatory design. Through the analyses of these different methods, I explored the importance of empathy while designing in settings with contextual constraints. The study revealed the potential of developing empathic methods from the design discipline in the context of architectural design. Further, it suggests that empathic methods can be used by architects pursuing sustainable development.

A “Bird’s Eye View” on Communication Acts in a Classroom of Low Literacy Adults

This paper starts by discussing the relevance of dialogues in Adult Education and Training courses with low levels of literacy. In this group, the educational challenges are complex, and innovating the knowledge creation process involves a better understanding of the teaching/learning process. With these case study, we pretend to understand which Communicative Acts are effective in adult learning process, mainly in adults with low literacy. Based on a mixed methods, applied to a convenience sample, we used an ethnographic approach, and the Grounded Theory Methodology. Using the Contextual Design approach, we developed several models of the context (work models) and got a bird's-eye view of the way the communicational acts and the dynamic acts flow in the classroom. The results showed that it was important to integrate the learners' emotions in an existing framework, the SEDA Framework. We found also essential to expand the Communicative Acts coding, with a new set of 17 codes organized in 3 categories in order to understand better the flow of communication in the classroom.

To Flip or Not to Flip? A Meta-Analysis of the Efficacy of Flipped Learning in Higher Education

Although flipped classroom pedagogies have been widely touted for their ability to foster diverse 21st-century learning objectives, previous syntheses of flipped learning have focused almost exclusively on outcomes related to academic achievement. Using data from 317 studies, our research addresses this deficit by providing a comprehensive meta-analysis of the effects of flipped versus lecture-based learning on academic, intra-/interpersonal, and satisfaction-related outcomes in higher education. Overall, flipped classroom interventions produced positive gains across all three learning domains, and we found significant advantages of flipped over lecture-based instruction for seven out of eight outcomes (gs = 0.20–0.53). At the same time, there was substantial heterogeneity in flipped learning effects, and we identified several variables that influenced the relative efficacy of flipped versus traditional courses. Of the three types of moderators examined (contextual, design-based, and methodological), educational context (e.g., discipline, location) accounted for the most variability in flipped learning outcomes.

Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Challenges when Writing Research Proposals at the University of Namibia

Research topic selection and problem formulation are prerequisites when preparing a proposal for conducting research. However, nursing students find this a daunting task when doing it for the first time, despite the research methodology module that introduces nursing students to research. Institutions of higher learning should, therefore, establish the challenges that undergraduate nursing students face when writing their research proposals to develop strategies in order to mitigate these challenges. In Namibia, students’ challenges when writing research proposals have not been extensively researched. This study aimed to explore and describe undergraduate nursing students’ challenges when writing research proposals at the University of Namibia (UNAM), with a view to describing the factors that affect this. Accordingly, a qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual design was applied and purposive sampling was used to select 20 undergraduate nursing students enrolled for the Bachelor of Nursing Science (Clinical) (Honours) at UNAM. Individual interviews were conducted, using semi-structured interviews in line with an interview guide. Data were analysed by means of qualitative thematic analysis, which identified the following themes: challenging experiences when writing the research proposal; influence of the supervisor; and recommendations for improvement. The findings of this study call for well-articulated plans and actions from the lecturers and supervisors involved to address the challenges highlighted in this study, as well as actions and plans that should inform the curriculum. A need was identified for a strong focus on library information literacy and English for academic writing to be taught simultaneously with the writing of research proposals from the third year.

Experiences of parents of an adolescent with intellectual disability in Giyani, Limpopo province, South Africa

Background: Parents of adolescents with intellectual disability experienced stress caused by challenges that come from having such adolescents. Those challenges affected the parents physically and emotionally, depending on the severity of the adolescent’s intellectual disability. Having an adolescent with an intellectual disability becomes a burden if the challenges were not resolved.Aim: This study aimed to explore and describe the experiences of parents of adolescents with intellectual disability in Giyani.Setting: This study was conducted at the participants’ homes in Giyani, Limpopo province, South Africa.Methods: A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual design was utilised. The main question was ‘How is it to have an adolescent with intellectual disability?’ Eight purposively sampled parents participated, and data were collected through in-depth interviews, observations and field notes. Data were analysed by means of thematic coding and an independent coder was consulted.Results: Four themes were identified. The study revealed that parents of adolescents with intellectual disability experienced negative emotional responses. Most parents reported a lack of support from family members and the community. They also reported caring challenges, yet some showed positive coping mechanisms.Conclusion: Parents of adolescents with intellectual disability experienced various challenges in caring for these children. A collaborative approach from relevant stakeholders could have a positive impact in supporting the parents of adolescents with intellectual disabilities.

Perceptions of strategies to facilitate caring for patients in primary health care clinics

Background: Caring in nursing helps patients feel better, whilst the absence of caring will affect patients psychologically, emotionally and physically.Aim: The aim of this article was to explore and describe primary health care (PHC) professional nurses’ and PHC nurse managers’ perceptions of the developed strategies to facilitate effective caring for patients in PHC clinics.Setting: This study was conducted in two PHC clinics in Ekurhuleni, an area east of the Gauteng province, South Africa.Methods: The study used a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual design. In-depth individual phenomenological interviews were conducted with eight purposively selected PHC professional nurses working in PHC clinics and two PHC nurse managers supervising PHC clinics in Ekurhuleni. Giorgi’s coding method was used to analyse the data.Results: Three themes were identified from the results of the exploration and description of PHC professional nurses’ and PHC nurse managers’ perceptions of the developed strategies. The use of active listening skills, showing interest in what is being said, asking questions and providing constructive feedback that focuses on the issue were the most effective strategies in improving effective communication between PHC nurse managers and PHC professional nurses. The PHC professional nurses were encouraged to put patients’ interests first whilst adhering to the ethical principles of nursing.Conclusion: Although caring is considered as the core of nursing practice, PHC professional nurses and PHC nurse managers perceive that rendering effective caring for patients needs to be reinforced through the use of strategies that will enable change and improve clinical practice in PHC clinics.