This dissertation explores the notion of decolonial reconstruction to promote the decolonising process in South Africa. Decolonial reconstruction entails the creation of a new South African society through a clear paradigmatic shift from a Eurocentric one to a decolonising paradigm. Decolonising is required in South Africa due to its colonial past, as well as the fact that contemporary South African society is neocolonial. In order to change the neocolonial status quo, it is necessary to create a decolonising framework. For the purposes of this dissertation the framework will be applied to South African universities. Universities are the focus because they exist as microcosms of the broader South African society. A tetralogy of books by Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o provide the blueprint for the four aspects of the decolonising framework. These four aspects are: decolonising the mind; moving the centre; re-membering Africa; and globalectics. Decolonising the mind addresses the fact that in order to begin decolonising one must start with the minds of the coloniser and colonised and begin to shift their minds away from a colonial or neocolonial paradigm. In terms of the second aspect of the decolonising framework, it is necessary to move the centre away from Eurocentrism towards a multiplicity of centres. Another aspect of the decolonising framework is re-membering Africa, this is pertinent as Africa underwent dismemberment through colonialism which brought about epistemicide. As a result, it is necessary to put African cultures and epistemologies back together by re-membering them. The final aspect of the decolonising framework is to enter into global dialectics so that cultures and epistemologies can learn from each other and come to coexist in a pluraversal world. Through applying this framework to South African universities, they can undertake a decolonising process of decolonial reconstruction that will make them into pluriversities which promote harmony and coexistence. / Mini Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Jurisprudence / LLM / Unrestricted

A test instrument, made up of 25 items, derived from existing standardized tests from literature, was used to probe for the students' knowledge and understanding of basic mechanics concepts, as well as the confidence in the correctness of their answers. The test was administered to 982 first entering physics students; enrolled at three South African universities, at the beginning of the year before any formal instruction could take place. Data collected for this study included students' responses from multiple-choice questions and open-ended explanations to their chosen answers. The analysis of the multiple-choice responses and the written explanations revealed the existence of alternative conceptions among students and that the students' accuracy of judgment about their knowledge and understanding of basic mechanics concepts is different among the different cohorts. Physics education research, has over a number of years, revealed that students have alternative conceptions about physical processes. These alternative conceptions are accumulated from the students' past personal experiences, interactions with people around them and the environment they live in. It was found from the study that the strength of the known alternative conceptions differs among the different cohorts. There are those alternative conceptions that are easier to correct with sound teaching. These alternative conceptions exist mostly in worst performing cohorts and less so in the best performing cohorts. There are those alternative conceptions that persisted despite better teaching. These alternative conceptions are found in all the cohorts. The certainty of response analysis revealed the differences in the relationship between performance and confidence among the students from the three universities. It was also found that students make incorrect judgment about their knowledge and understanding of basic mechanics concepts. The overall trend emerging from the study was that students seem to be overconfident about their knowledge and understanding of basic mechanics concepts, but that students with a good command of mechanics concepts made the best judgment about the correctness of their answers. The item-by-item analysis of students' responses revealed that in most cases the best performing students make quality judgment about their performance, while poor perfOlming student always make inaccurate judgments about their performance. Analysis of the students' written explanations and item difficulty revealed that the Hasan et al. (1999) study is lacking in the differentiation between lack of analytical skills and the presence of alternative conceptions. Lack of analytical skills cannot be classified as evidence of the presence of alternative conceptions. The student may be having knowledge of the necessary concepts, but lack higher order analytical skills to be able to interpret situation presented. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Chemistry / unrestricted

Often academic departments have little knowledge about the course content that is presented by similar departments at other universities. This study aims to investigate the economics curricula offered by South African universities in order to contribute to the quality and content of the economics courses. International best practices with regard to the structure and content of, as well as the logistics behind an economics curriculum are identified, and the economics curricula offered by South African universities are compared to these international best practices. This study is attempted through gathering of available open source information as well as conducting a survey study to determine the status quo situation with regard to various issues relating to the economics curricula offered at South African universities. In terms of the structure of an economics curriculum, a benchmark tree structure is drawn from international best practices. To compare the structure of the economics curricula offered by the South African universities included in this study to international best practices, a tree structure of each university's curriculum is drafted in the same format as the benchmark tree structure. These tree structures are used to determine how each university's curriculum complies to international best practices. The textbooks that are used in a course are thought to be an indication of the content of that course. Therefore, the textbooks that are used by the different universities in each course are indicated in this study. With regard to the logistical aspects of an economics curriculum, e.g. student/lecturer ratios, the actual situation at most universities differs substantially from international best practices. International best practices suggest class sizes of no more than 25 students. Student-lecturer ratios in economics courses offered by South African universities are far remote from this. / Thesis (M.Com. (International Commerce))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Thesis (M.A. (History)) --University of Limpopo, 2018 / Student activism is a global phenomenon which mostly refers to work by students to cause political, environmental, economic, or social change. Most countries have benefited tremendously from student activism. For example, the students have played a central role in the independence and anti-colonial struggles in most African countries. The dissertation focuses on an exploration of the role played by University of the North student activism in the struggle against apartheid from 1968 to 1994. This was a period which was characterised by an upsurge of the nationalist struggle in South Africa led by political organisations such as the African National Congress (ANC), the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), Azanian People’s Organization (AZAPO) the South African Communist Party (SACP) and United Democratic Front (UDF). Student organisations such as South African Student Organisation (SASO), University Christian Movement (UCM), South African National Students’ Congress (SANSCO), Azanian Student Organisation (AZASO) and many others played a significant role. The dissertation deployed both primary and secondary sources. Secondary data was derived from published and unpublished dissertations, journal articles, newsletters, books and autobiographies. Primary information was obtained through archival materials, official university documents, speeches and, unstructured and interactive interviews in order to provide evidence for the nature and character of student activism in the university. Periodisation theory as articulated by Hollander, Rassuli, Jones and Farlow (2005) was utilised to interpret and illuminate the political struggle activities of the student activists. This theory was the most appropriate frame to tackle student activism because it divides the chronological narrative into separately labelled sequential time periods with distinct beginning and ending points. The investigation reveals that the dominant ideology at the beginning of the period under investigation was Black Consciousness inspired by Steve Biko. However with the lapse of time this ideology was watered down by the liberal ideology which underpinned the Freedom Charter. The student activists operated within organisations such as SASO, UCM, AZASO, SANSCO and many others. The dissertation also reveals that while the students were relatively successful in mobilising the support of rural schools and communities, they also faced vicious repression by the apartheid security establishment. The dissertation lays a solid foundation for further critical historical investigation.

Often academic departments have little knowledge about the course content that is presented by similar departments at other universities. This study aims to investigate the economics curricula offered by South African universities in order to contribute to the quality and content of the economics courses. International best practices with regard to the structure and content of, as well as the logistics behind an economics curriculum are identified, and the economics curricula offered by South African universities are compared to these international best practices. This study is attempted through gathering of available open source information as well as conducting a survey study to determine the status quo situation with regard to various issues relating to the economics curricula offered at South African universities. In terms of the structure of an economics curriculum, a benchmark tree structure is drawn from international best practices. To compare the structure of the economics curricula offered by the South African universities included in this study to international best practices, a tree structure of each university's curriculum is drafted in the same format as the benchmark tree structure. These tree structures are used to determine how each university's curriculum complies to international best practices. The textbooks that are used in a course are thought to be an indication of the content of that course. Therefore, the textbooks that are used by the different universities in each course are indicated in this study. With regard to the logistical aspects of an economics curriculum, e.g. student/lecturer ratios, the actual situation at most universities differs substantially from international best practices. International best practices suggest class sizes of no more than 25 students. Student-lecturer ratios in economics courses offered by South African universities are far remote from this. / Thesis (M.Com. (International Commerce))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Questions of the dominance of cultures of whiteness are pre-imminent issues in historically white South African universities. Even when historically white universities – such as Rhodes University, the site of study for this thesis – have a predominantly black student body post 1994, there are still reports of students experiencing such institutions as alienating and excluding due to the privileging of whiteness. This thesis draws on the significant role played by discourse in how the world is constructed and reconstructed, to better understand how whiteness may continue to be produced and reproduced in everyday interactions at a historically white South African university, and how some students may feel less at home than others within such institutions. The thesis seeks to answer the following research question: what discursive strategies do Rhodes University students use to describe their raced experiences, and what role do these strategies play in either reinforcing and or challenging a culture of whiteness? The thesis engages with and is informed by literature on whiteness as constitutive of both social aspects and phenotypical essence. Drawing primarily from discourse analysis tools, and from interviews with Rhodes University students completed between 2014 and 2015, the thesis argues that whiteness is far from being a zero-sum game of winners and losers. Rather, there are gradations of whiteness where speakers draw upon whatever capital (social, phenotypical or a combination of both) to attain the best possible outcome for themselves. The thesis therefore takes seriously the idea that whiteness is a social construct which can, through socialisation be acquired, lost and, in some cases, decanted partially into other vessels. Whiteness, the thesis argues, is ever incomplete and subject to change as the context changes in order to ensure that it remains associated with privilege, opportunity and power. If whiteness is not limited to white bodies only, as suggested by both the data and literature review, then it must be studied in relation to blackness as well. The interactional, inter-relational and inter-racial construction and use of whiteness both methodologically and conceptually is one of the key contributions to the field of whiteness studies made by this thesis. This open-ended, permanent work in progress approach to whiteness can be the beginning of conversations about race that are not necessarily bounded by phenotype or essence – especially in South Africa, where race and a fixation of rigid social categories continue to be a central part of how South Africans navigate and understand the world around them.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Headline reports on data breaches worldwide have resulted in heightened concerns about information security vulnerability. In Africa, South Africa is ranked among the top ‘at-risk’ countries with information security vulnerabilities and is the most the most cybercrime-targeted country. Globally, such cyber vulnerability incidents greatly affect the education sector, due, in part, to the fact that it holds more Personal Identifiable Information (PII) than other sectors. PII refers to (but is not limited to) ID numbers, financial account numbers, and biomedical research data. In response to rising threats, South Africa has implemented a regulation called the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), similar to the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which seeks to mitigate cybercrime and information security vulnerabilities. The extent to which African institutions, especially in South Africa, have embraced and responded to these two information security regulations remains vague, making it a crucial matter for biomedical researchers. This study aimed to assess whether the participating universities have proper and reliable information security practices, measures and management in place and whether they fall in line with both national (POPIA) and international (GDPR) regulations. In order to achieve this aim, the study undertook a qualitative exploratory analysis of information security management across three universities in South Africa. A Technology, Organizational, and Environmental (TOE) model was employed to investigate factors that may influence effective information security measures. A Purposeful sampling method was employed to interview participants from each university. From the technological standpoint, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy, whereby on average, a student owns and connects between three to four internet-enabled devices to the network, has created difficulties for IT teams, particularly in the areas of authentication, explosive growth in bandwidth, and access control to security university servers. In order to develop robust solutions to mitigate these concerns, and which are not perceived by users as overly prohibitive, executive management should acknowledge that security and privacy issues are a universal problem and not solely an IT problem and equip the IT teams with the necessary tools and mechanisms to allow them to overcome commonplace challenges. At an organisational level, information security awareness training of all users within the university setting was identified as a key factor in protecting the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of information in highly networked environments. Furthermore, the University’s information security mission must not simply be a link on a website, it should be constantly re-enforced by informing users during, and after, the awareness training. In terms of environmental factors, specifically the GDPR and POPIA legislations, one of the most practical and cost-effective ways universities can achieve data compliance requirements is to help staff (both teaching and non-teaching), students, and other employees understand the business value of all information. Users which are more aware of sensitivity of data, risks to the data, and their responsibilities when handling, storing, processing, and distributing data during their day to day activities will behave in a manner that would makes compliance easier at the institutional level. Results obtained in this study helped to elucidate the current status, issues, and challenges which universities are facing in the area of information security management and compliance, particularly in the South African context. Findings from this study point to organizational factors being the most critical when compared to the technological and environmental contexts examined. Furthermore, several proposed information security policies were developed with a view to assist biomedical practitioners within the institutional setting in protecting sensitive biomedical data.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Headline reports on data breaches worldwide have resulted in heightened concerns about information security vulnerability. In Africa, South Africa is ranked among the top ‘at-risk’ countries with information security vulnerabilities and is the most cybercrime-targeted country. Globally, such cyber vulnerability incidents greatly affect the education sector, due, in part, to the fact that it holds more Personal Identifiable Information (PII) than other sectors. PII refers to (but is not limited to) ID numbers, financial account numbers, and biomedical research data.

The aim of this study was to determine the quality of work-life (QWL) of nurse educators at South African universities. The objectives of the research was to describe the demography, home, and work factors of these nurse educators, and its effect on their experience of QWL. It also entailed triangulation of these experiences with the perceptions of the heads of nursing departments (HODs) for a thorough understanding, and designing guidelines to address the situation. A mixed methods methodology was followed, with a partly mixed sequential equal status sampling design and equal weight to the first quantitative and second qualitative phases. The population for the first phase was all the nurse educators teaching at South African universities, who on invitation completed an electronic questionnaire. The data obtained was analysed by utilising both descriptive and inferential statistics. The population for the second phase was all the HODs of the nursing departments of the 22 South African universities. The qualitative data obtained in the second phase was analysed with the Atlas.ti 8 program. The results of the study indicate that nurse educators’ QWL is influenced by meso, macro and micro environmental factors, with work, home and individual situations that are contextual to the African and specifically South African positioning on the globe. A conceptual framework improving on Easton and Van Laar ‘s (2007) model are v proposed for the African higher education edcuation (HEI) context, to better understand these influences. Recommendations to address the situation include: • Mitigation of international, national and provinical influences through attention to curriculisation and improved governance and funding • Strengthening the structure across the HEIs by improved governance, consideration of salaries and benefits of all staff to be fair and equal, investing in good technology for better output, developing methods to distribute the workload fairly, and support to staff for research • Support of nursing departmental output by addressing the needs of HODs, line managers, the nurse educators themselves, supportive staff and students, with the focus on personal and individual factors that influence physical, mental and social health, inclusive of the support of family life The developed guidelines flows from application of industrial psychological principles to propose improving both the QWL and symbiotically, the output for HEI nursing departments. / Health Studies

Few South African students pass Grade 12 Physical Science with symbols required by university science, engineering and health science faculties. A large number of students who sit for Grade 12 Physical Science and Mathematics exams pass with symbols that are well below those required by the mainstream science courses at South African universities. Most South African universities have introduced Science Foundation Programmes with the aim of upgrading those students who failed to obtain university entrance symbols in the relevant subjects. Amongst the courses offered in Science Foundation Programmes is Foundation Physics. This study investigates the influence of Foundation Physics in order to find out if the programmes in different institutions are successful in empowering the students who failed to get the required entrance mark in Grade 12 Physical Science. Four South African Historically Black universities participated in this study. The Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation test (FMCE) (Thornton & Sokoloff, 1998) and mechanics marks were used to assess students' understanding of Newtonian mechanics. Data was analyzed from socio-cultural perspective. A total of 194 students participated in the study. Two groups of students were compared, i.e. those who did Foundation Physics (Foundation group) and those who did not do Foundation Physics (non-Foundation group). The students were tested after they had completed a mechanics module, which forms a great foundation of Physics I (Introductory Physics). Two focus group interviews were held with selected Foundation and non-Foundation students per institution. Students voiced their experiences in Physics I and Foundation Physics. Students were chosen to represent focus groups according to their performance in the FMCE test. Mechanics class performances were also used to evaluate students' performance. In order to establish how Foundation Physics is taught, Foundation Physics Lecturer interviews were conducted at all four institutions. Analysis of data showed that both Foundation and non-Foundation students performed equally in Physics I mechanics module. Foundation group performed better than the non-Foundation group in the FMCE, which is a conceptual test. Foundation Physics lecturers indicated that there were some differences in the way mechanics was taught in Physics I and Foundation Physics. These differences affected students' performance. The lecturers also indicated that there was minimal interaction between Physics I lecturers and Foundation Physics lecturers pertaining to the teaching of the two courses. What influence does Foundation Physics have on the performance of students in Physics I? This study found that students who did Foundation Physics performed better than those who did not do Foundation Physics in conceptual questions and both the groups perform equally in questions that require memorizing and calculations. This implies that Foundation Physics courses are empowering the students to perform well in Physics I. However, as it is evidenced by this research, the differences in assessment in Physics I and Foundation Physics courses in some institutions hampers Foundation Physics students' learning, because the questions asked require them to memorize without understanding, something they are not used to. The researcher recommends that Foundation Physics staff and Physics I staff should start communicating, not only about how Foundation Physics should be run as was the case in the past, but also on how best Physics I should be run. This might help in making sure that the two courses are assessed similarly at one institution. / Mathematics, Science and Technology Education / D. Phil. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)