Software engineering practices have experienced significant changes over the period of past two decades. Keeping in view the competitive market trends, now is the high time for many organizations to shift from traditional waterfall models to more agile technologies like Scrum [22][23]. A change of this magnitude is often not easy to undertake. The reason that both software engineering techniques are different in many respects, organizations require considerable amount of analysis of the whole transitioning process and possible scenarios that may occur along the way. Small and medium organizations are normally very skeptical to the change of this magnitude. The scale of change is not limited to only software processes, in fact, difficult part is to deal with old attitudes and thinking processes and mold them for the new agile based Scrum development. The process of change therefore need to be understood in the first place and then carefully forwarded to the implementation phase.

Economic development remains elusive for many world economies, but especially those of African countries. The current global inequalities in terms of GNP per capita and human living standards between developed and developing nations have ensured that the challenges of food insecurities are only some of the many negative experiences of underdevelopment in the African continent. Hence, delivery pressures are increasing on policy makers and researchers to provide tangible and timely economic solutions to the resilient state of underdevelopment. In the policy fights against the challenges posed by a lack of development in South Africa, the agricultural sector has in the past and continues in the present to play a central role. Such is the case because the majority of citizens rely on agricultural production activities for their livelihoods. For instance, even though the sector only contributed four percent towards the national Gross Domestic Product in 2006, in the Eastern Cape Province, more than seventy percent of the total population resided in rural areas. Moreover, in 2004 more than sixty percent of the national formal and informal employment levels were found in the sector. These economic indicators do not only reinforce the assertions that high levels of geographical and sectoral inequalities exist in the country’s economy, but they also illustrate the importance of the agricultural sector in public policy attempts, which are aimed at achieving food security alongside long-term developmental objectives. Some economists, especially the proponents of institutionalism, have argued that most of the recommendations to public policy interventions from mainstream economic research endeavours are not adequately helpful. The recommendations generally lack well considered and socially effective ideas, mainly because there remains some level of ignorance about the impacts that institutions have on economic and social systems. Some argue that this ignorance is reflected in (flawed) hedonistic and rationalist assumptions made about economic actors and in the methodological thinking of many research designs and economic analyses. The misuse of formal tools and statistical methods, for example, are some of the important factors, which have led to failures of the discipline of economics to provide effective policy solutions to problems of underdevelopment and poverty, especially in poor country environments. The thesis, having taken account of the majority of criticisms levelled against the classical and new-classical economic schools of thought, argues that the discipline as a whole lacks a paradigmatic integration of institutional and new-classical economic perspectives to offer appropriate guidelines for a methodology aimed at achieving socially responsive research outputs. The lack of this integration has resulted in a skewed selection of methods by economists, which are employed in research without a supportive and in-depth understanding of institutional and social factors. To support the thesis, a more effective and integrated framework for economic research is developed and presented with case study illustrations in a cumulative manner. The 20th century history of agricultural policies in South Africa, the agricultural and institutional case studies from the Eastern Cape Province alongside reviews of other agricultural studies are all used in presenting a case for rigorous institutional investigations in general economic research. These are also used in developing the proposed integrated framework, which aims to give guidance in developing research methods, which are more socially responsive. Having shown the usefulness of the proposed research framework, the thesis recommends that public policy interventions (at national and local levels) should aim to eliminate all types of institutions which have high associated transactional costs. The interventions should also encourage the emergence and growth of the types of institutions, which present the lowest costs to initiatives of economic development. In the primary case studies from the Eastern Cape Province, the insecurity of land tenure and the various local initiatives of business ventures are highlighted as two examples of the types of institutions, which respectively present high and low transactional costs to local initiatives of agricultural and economic development.

Yadav & Khanna (2015) argue that quality of work life (QWL) defines the life at work and the life at home with family members. The work of research-fieldworkers is an exceptional work in that it requires them to frequent households and commercial businesses, unlike other occupations where the work is conducted at the workplace of the employer. The private households by their very nature, and the locations where these households are based present risky conditions to the research-fieldworkers. In order for remedial measures to be suggested that can be implemented to improve the QWL of the research-fieldworkers of the agency, the perceptions of the QWL need to be investigated. Research objectives: To address the research problem, research objectives and questions were established. The main objective of the study is to investigate the perceptions of the QWL of the research-fieldworkers of the research agency in the Western Cape with the goal of improving employee performance through the cost effective interventions that will be implemented. Research questions: Three research questions were established and these were; What is the QWL among the research-fieldworkers in the Western Cape? Do some groups, distinguished by gender, age, work experience, working hours and location experience significantly different levels of QWL? Which measures can be recommended for maximizing QWL among the research-fieldworkers in the Western Cape Province? Research design: The nature of this research is descriptive in nature. The study used a self-administered questionnaire to collect work-related quality of life information from research-fieldworkers. Major findings: The results above show that research-fieldworkers perceptions of the QWL were more affected by the location, working hours and age sub-groups. Gender, family responsibility and marital status did not have much impact on the perceptions of research-fieldworkers on the QWL. Differences were observed with regards to control at work, stress at work, home-work interface against sub-groups. Lastly, the fieldworkers’ perceptions about the working conditions were negative for all the sub-groups. For example, the results show that there are poor working conditions for research-fieldworkers of the agency. This was evident irrespective of gender, age, family responsibility, hours of work and location.

This study is part of an NRF sponsored research project entitled “Neotectonics and its applications for the exploration of groundwater in the fractured Karoo aquifers in the Eastern Cape” under the NRF Niche area of Water Resources Management and Sustainable Development in the Eastern Cape Province. The identification of relatively highly productive wells in the Karoo fractured aquifers is extremely difficult. This study aims to identify neotectonic zones and lower stress fields, and apply the results to groundwater exploration in the Eastern Cape Province. The methodologies adopted in this study include: a comprehensive literature review, extensive field mapping and investigation such as road cuts, sampling for laboratory studies, examination of seismic data, study of hot and ordinary springs, and interpretation of aerial photography and satellite images. Three main neotectonic belts were identified in the Eastern Cape (southern neotectonic belt, northern neotectonic belt and eastern neotectonic belt) based on literature review and field interpretations. The southern neotectonic belt (from the Cape Fold Belt to the lower Beaufort Group boundary) is characterized by the reactivation of the Coega-Bavianskloof and Sauer faults, the presence of a hot spring near Fort Beaufort, the slickenlines and discrete slickenlines and specifically the seismic events that were recorded in the Eastern Cape from 1850 to 2007. In this southern neotectonic belt the remote sensing has also revealed the presence of the Fort Beaufort fracture, the quartz veins seen in some dolerites and the different vegetation types along it may indicate that this fracture is possibly a fault; moreover the Quaternary sediments and weathered dolerites indicate that the Fort iii Beaufort fracture is characterized by groundwater circulation and accordingly is a good target for groundwater exploration, this fracture is a post-Karoo structure and possibly a neotectonic feature. In addition, the kaolin deposit, chiefly developed in the Dwyka tillite near Grahamstown is clearly controlled by neotectonic fracture zones. The northern neotectonic belt near the country of Lesotho is marked by the presence of the Senqu seismotectonic regime and hot springs. The Quaternary Amatole-Swaziland (formerly Ciskei-Swaziland) axis of uplift makes the eastern part of the province the third neotectonic zone, the asymmetric meanders of the Mbashe river in the vicinity of Qunu near Mthatha derived possibly from this Quaternary uplift; this asymmetric feature of meanders implies that the river has tried to maintain stability of its valley where tilting occurred. Within these neotectonic belts the central part of the Eastern Cape may be considered a static and inactive belt. A northwesterly trend for the maximum principal compresssional stress predominates in the Eastern Cape and is correlated with the present major structural control of the province. The current stress regime determination was derived from faults, joints and quartz veins only on kaolin deposits. Systematic joints reflect regional tectonic stress trajectories at the time of fracturing. Discharge rates of groundwater from boreholes as provided by the Department of Water and Forestry were used to confirm and predict water exploration targets. The region of Tabankulu (near Kwazulu Natal) in the northern neotectonic belt has remarkable discharge rates of groundwater (11.1 l/s, 4.65 l/s, 6.49 l/s, 42 l/s). The region of Mthatha, nearly surrounding the Amatole-Swaziland axis (former Ciskei-Swaziland iv axis) of uplift which might have generated some new faults, has a number of springs. These two regions should serve as case studies for future research. Apart from these two regions, two others regions can be considered as case studies for future groundwater exploration targets: the Bath Farm hot spring near the Fort Beaufort neotectonic fault and the vicinity of what is known as the Fort Beaufort fracture near Teba and Cimezile villages 20km north west of Fort Beaufort. It is concluded that the study of neotectonics and stress fields may be a useful tool for groundwater exploration in the Karoo fractured aquifers in the Eastern Cape, and in similar regions elsewhere in South Africa and in Africa.

M.Ed. (Linguistics and Literary Science) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Orientador: Linda Gentry El-Dash / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-07T22:20:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Armentano_AnaLuizaTeixeira_M.pdf: 24731292 bytes, checksum: b14232318057e7b745682681e2635a8a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Resumo: Esta pesquisa partiu da nossa observação que muitos aprendizes apresentam fluência, mas não precisão lingüística, em seu desempenho em contexto de aula comunicativo de inglês de nível intermediário como LE. Uma alternativa encontrada na literatura de ASL para promover a precisão lingüística é o uso de tarefas que promovam o esforço cognitivo de produzir e refletir sobre a produção, estendendo e indo além do nível de competência real do aprendiz, ou seja, uma produção mais exigente (pushed output) (Swain, 1985, 1995). A reflexão sobre a produção (output) pode estimular o aprendiz a perceber (notice) formas lingüísticas e fazer uma comparação cognitiva entre as formas de sua interlíngua e as formas de L2/LE (notice the gap), o que pode facilitar a re-estruturação de interlíngua. Nosso objetivo nesta pesquisa é investigar a tarefa dictogloss pelo seu potencial em promover uma produção mais exigente. Para tal levamos em conta aspectos cognitivos e interacionais. Sob a perspectiva cognitiva, nos apoiamos nos estudos sobre tarefas de Skehan (1996, 1998), o modelo de processamento de insumo de VanPatten (1996, 2002), a Hipótese da Produção de Swain (1985) e as diferenças individuais segundo Robinson (2002, 2005). Sob a perspectiva sócio-cultural, levamos em conta o construto do diálogo colaborativo de Swain (2000) e os padrões de interação de Storch (2002). Os instrumentos de pesquisa foram um mini-questionário, uma tarefa dictogloss, cujos procedimentos foram adaptados de Wajnryb (1990), e entrevistas semi-estruturadas com os sujeitos. Cinco pares de alunos universitários do nível intermediário de um centro de línguas de uma universidade pública paulista fizeram parte da pesquisa. Sem a intervenção da pesquisadora, as duplas reconstruíram uma passagem escutada por três vezes. Após a reconstrução em pares, os sujeitos receberam o texto por escrito e compararam as suas versões com a do original. Todas a interações foram gravadas em áudio. Dentre os aspectos cognitivos, os resultados das análises apontam para a complexidade da tarefa implementada em termos do código lingüístico, processamento cognitivo e o stress comunicativo. Observa-se que alguns pares abordaram a tarefa focando mais no significado eoutros na forma, sugerindo um efeito trade-off nos recursos de atenção. Nota-se grandes diferenças individuais entre os sujeitos, entre elas o nível de proficiência e habilidades cognitivas dos sujeitos, tais como a aptidão para notice the gap. Dentre os aspectos interacionais, constatamos que o padrão colaborativo prevalece nas interações, mas que com o decorrer da tarefa, algumas interações mudam para os padrões dominante/passivo, e outras para o padrão dominante/dominante, com alguns momentos de conflito. O diálogo colaborativo gerou construção de conhecimento nos padrões colaborativos mas demonstrou seus limites em outros padrões de interação, como no menos experiente/menos experiente, não geralmente relatado na literatura. Os depoimentos dos sujeitos sugerem que esses perceberam a complexidade da tarefa, mas que a consideram de potencial utilidade para a aprendizagem. Além disso, relataram que o trabalho em pares foi positivo / Abstract: In our teaching practice and within a communicative-oriented instruction of intermediate levelleamers of English as a foreign language, we have noticed that many leamers become fluent but lack accuracy. It has been suggested in SLA that in order to promote accuracy certain kinds of tasks can be used: those that encourage pushed output, defined as the cognitive effort to produce and reflect on production, stretching and going beyond the actual competence of the leamer. This reflection on production may encourage the leamer to notice linguistic form and make cognitive comparisons between their interlanguage form and the L2 form, i.e., notice the gap, which may encourage the restructuring of the interlanguage. Bearing this in mind, this research was designed to investigate cognitive and interactional factors involved in the implementation of the pedagogical task known as dictogloss. Five dyads of college students attending an intermediate leveI course in a language center in a state university in the state of São Paulo in Brazil took part of the experiment. The interaction of the dyads was audiotaped as they carried out the task. It required them to listen, take notes, and produce a written reproduction of the oral text with their partners. After that they received a copy of the written text, and went on to compare and notice differences between their versions and the original. From a cognitive perspective, the theoretical background comes from task-based research of Skehan (1996, 1998), the modeI of input processing of VanPatten (1996, 2002), the Output Hypothesis of Swain (1985, 1995) as well as the investigation of individual differences of Robinson (2002, 2005). From a socio-cultural perspective, the theoretical background comes from the collaborative dialogue proposed by Swain (2000) and the interaction pattems by Storch (2001, 2002). From a cognitive perspective, the findings suggest that the high complexity of the task produced a trade-off effect in attentional resources: attention was either allocated to the meaning or to the formoThe oral comprehension and production and the written comprehension and production revealed individual differences in the subjects' cognitive abilities, such as noticing the gap. From a socio-cultural perspective, the collaborative pattem of interaction prevails, but over time, some of the pairs changed to other pattems such as dominant/passive and dominant/dominant, indicating some conflict in their interactions. The collaborative dialogue shows the co-construction of knowledge, but this does not take place in all interaction pattems, such as novice/novice, which is rarely discussed in the literature. In follow-up interviews, the subjects reported that they found the task complex but useful and that working with a partner helped them perform the task / Mestrado / Lingua Estrangeira / Mestre em Linguística Aplicada

Esta tese apresentou como objetivo geral investigar e capacitar professores na cidade de Petrolina-PE em parceria com a Secretaria Municipal de Educação, mediante uma proposta que levasse em consideração a realidade local para o ensino a respeito da temática alimentação e nutrição na disciplina Ciências, por meio de uma ação de oficinas temáticas, com base na perspectiva Ciência-Tecnologia-Sociedade (CTS). A pesquisa teve como proposta a de averiguar o perfil, os conhecimentos prévios e a percepção dos professores de ciências dos anos finais do Ensino Fundamental a respeito da importância do tema alimentação e nutrição, além de investigar como eles ensinam tal temática e que materiais pedagógicos utilizam. A pesquisa ocorreu entre os anos de 2015 e 2016 e apresenta caráter essencialmente qualitativo. Utilizamos a pesquisa-ação como metodologia, com vistas a interligar conhecimento e a ação, buscando informações sobre situações reais, e como método optamos por utilizar a Análise de Conteúdo, no intuito de melhor analisar o material coletado. Os professores investigados, apesar de reconhecerem a importância de ensinar temáticas relacionadas à alimentação e nutrição, poucos atuam de forma a construir e desenvolver atividades que acrescentem e melhorem o desenvolvimento dos estudantes Os resultados da pesquisa indicam que o tema da alimentação e nutrição merece maior destaque entre os conteúdos de ensino de ciências reservados para o nível fundamental da educação básica. Mediante a investigação realizada, pudemos observar como os professores, após a intervenção da pesquisa, construíram uma melhor compreensão e sentiram-se melhor capacitados para ministrar a temática sobre alimentação e nutrição abordada no curso. A partir dessa visão, ressaltamos que o incentivo dado ao profissional, ao perceber a discussão de temas sociocientíficos, utilizando a metodologia da pesquisa-ação e baseados na perspectiva CTS, fez com que as professoras e os professores despertassem a visão sobre a importância de se ter essas metodologias como aliadas no processo de ensino e de aprendizagem, o que colabora tanto em seu crescimento profissional quanto pessoal, e pode servir como estímulo para inúmeras possibilidades de ressignificação da sua prática pedagógica. / This thesis presented a general objective to investigate and train teachers in the city of Petrolina-PE in partnership with the Municipal Department of Education, by means of a proposal that takes into account the local reality for teaching about the theme of food and nutrition in the discipline of science , through an action of thematic workshops, based on the CTS perspective. The research had the purpose of investigating the profile, the previous knowledge and the perception of science teachers of the final years of Elementary School regarding the importance of the theme of food and nutrition, besides investigating how they teach this subject and what pedagogical materials use. The research occurred between 2015 and 2016 and is essentially qualitative. We use action research as methodology, with a view to linking knowledge and action, seeking information about real situations, and as a method we chose to use Content Analysis in order to better analyze the material collected. The teachers investigated, while recognizing the importance of teaching food and nutrition issues, few act in a way to build and develop activities that add to and improve student development The results of the research indicate that the theme of food and nutrition deserves greater prominence among the contents of science education reserved for the fundamental level of basic education. Through the research carried out we can observe how the teachers, after the intervention of the research, built a better understanding and felt better able to minister the thematic about food and nutrition addressed in the course. Based on this view, we emphasize that the incentive given to the professional, when perceiving the discussion of socio-scientific topics, using the methodology of action research and based on the CTS perspective, caused the teachers and teachers to raise the vision about the importance of having these methodologies as allies in the teaching and learning process, which collaborates both in their professional and personal growth, and can serve as a stimulus for numerous possibilities of reframing their pedagogical practice.

This project is designed for junior high school teachers who wish to initiate environmental issues-based education in Taiwan. It addresses the current education at junior high schools and important environmental issues in Taiwan, presenting instructional strategies for teaching controversial environmental issues. The appendix of the project is an original design for a systematic environmental issues curriculum, including student-centered and teacher-centered activities that could be integrated into curricula on related subjects. Lessons include the environmental awareness, ethics, skills for analyzing issues, research skills, debate practice, negotiation practice, and projects.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This thesis examined the difficulties experienced by Grade 6 isiXhosa-speaking learners in learning Natural Science through English as the medium of instruction at a primary school in the Western Cape. In 1994, South Africa became a democratic country where people were given the right to choose the language of learning and communication (Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996). The assumption made in relation to the right to language was that this would provide equal opportunities and equal access to education for all learners. All learners would then be able to attain academic success. The study was pursued against the backdrop of the serious academic underachievement of African learners at schools around the country (often culminating in high matric failure rates), particularly in mathematics, science and technology (Probyn, 2005; Cleghorn, 2005; Taylor & Vinjevold, 1999). Following a mixed-method approach (involving both qualitative and quantitative research methods), within the constructivist paradigm, the study examined the various factors which act as barriers to learning and contribute to difficulties in learning Natural Science by Grade 6 isiXhosa-speaking learners in one school in the Western Cape. It also examined the coping strategies used in dealing with the barriers by both the learners and educators in order to address the learning difficulties. The study was conducted over a period of four months, spread over two years (2008 and 2009), in the Metropole Central Education District (MCED) of the Western Cape. The following participants were involved in the study: 205 Grade 6 learners (103 learners in 2008 and 102learners in 2009), 4 Natural Science educators (including 2 HODs), 1 principal, and 4 parents. The focus of the study was, however, on 26 isiXhosa-speaking learners (13 learners from each year in 2008 and 2009). The data were collected using the following research methods: questionnaires, classroom observation, document analysis, and interviews. The data were analysed through content analysis and (analysis of) language usage (including sentence construction), and were interpreted with respect to the study's research questions. The findings of the research revealed that language (including both the English language of learning and teaching or LOLT, and the language of science) was a major barrier to the learning of Natural Science by Grade 6 isiXhosa-speaking learners. The language barrier was exacerbated by factors within the teaching and learning context, the school environment, as well as by social factors in the learners' own home backgrounds. On the basis of the findings of the research and the related literature, the study makes recommendations regarding what could be done to address the difficulties, as well as proposals for future research. The key recommendations include: • Introducing a more flexible bilingual education policy to enable additive bilingualism to be practised by both learners and educators; • Compiling a list or glossary of words, concepts and terms that matter in Natural Science and ensuring that the learners fully understand their meaning and use them appropriately; • Educators constantly reflecting on their own teaching styles and practices in relation to their effectiveness and impact on their learners; • Educators constantly considering 'different and creative ways' of assessing learners for whom the English LOLT is not a home language; and • District Offices providing systemic support for schools and creating an enabling learning environment.

The world is facing a food shortage as the world’s population increases and arable land decreases. Despite this, the food industry is wasteful, and 30% - 40% of all produced food is lost before reaching the end consumer. Emerging technologies aim to increase the amount of food that can be grown per m2 or allow the growing of food in climates or on lands previously impossible. Four main farming techniques utilising these emerging technologies are Controlled Environment Agriculture, Hydroponic Farming, Urban Farming and Vertical farming. When used together, these techniques form the basis for what can be called a Plant Factory. Despite the positive effects these technologies have on the production rate, few Plant Factories have managed to achieve profitability. By creating support for developing the post-harvesting system for a plant factory, this thesis aims to aid in the development of profitable plant factories. The thesis uses Design Research Methodology to achieve this aim in three parts. The first part identifies the underlying factors of the post-harvesting system affecting plant factory profitability. The second presents a set of support components that will aid the developers to improve key factors affecting profitability. The third part is a case study where the support components applicability at targeting the key factors are evaluated, and suggestions for further improvements and testing of the support is suggested.  Further, using Design Research Methodology, the methods used to develop support in this thesis are presented to easily be replicated by other researchers to aid them in developing support for other industries and circumstances. The suitability of the developed support was tested using the principles of an initial DS-II. The developed support proved very useful for the investigated case, and with its conditions, the application evaluation was considered a partial success. Two key factors were successfully improved and indicated that the intended support is ready for a comprehensive DS-II. A third support component needs more work to provide the intended support fully. Therefore a second  PS iteration is recommended before a comprehensive DS-II is done to increase its value.