Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Instructional Systems and Workforce Development. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Traditional network monitoring techniques suffer from a number of limitations. They are usually designed to solve the most general case, and as a result often fall short of expectation. This project sets out to provide the network administrator with a set of alternative tools to solve specific, but common, problems. It uses the network at Rhodes University as a case study and addresses a number of issues that arise on this network. Four problematic areas are identified within this network: the automatic determination of network topology and layout, the tracking of network growth, the determination of the physical and logical locations of hosts on the network, and the need for intelligent fault reporting systems. These areas are chosen because other network monitoring techniques have failed to adequately address these problems, and because they present problems that are common across a large number of networks. Each area is examined separately and a solution is sought for each of the problems identified. As a result, a set of tools is developed to solve these problems using a number of novel network monitoring techniques. These tools are designed to be as portable as possible so as not to limit their use to the case study network. Their use within Rhodes, as well as their applicability to other situations is discussed. In all cases, any limitations and shortfalls in the approaches that were employed are examined.

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree MASTER OF TECHNOLOGY: Business Information Systems in the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology / The aim of this research was to describe the effects of information systems on staff performance and institutional business process performance at a selected University of Technology (UoT); as an indicative example of a University of Technology. This research was also to investigate different end-users’ experience of the use of certain information systems/processes and performance thereof. This led to the determination of what caused different role players to perceive a varying range of problems in the use of organisational information systems and internal business processes at the selected UoT. The unit of analysis was selected integrated information systems at the UoT and the object of analysis was the staff of the Faculty of Engineering. The research adopted a quantitative approach in order to investigate verifiable data which was amassed using a questionnaire. This research was undertaken ethically in order to protect all participants, as well as the integrity of the University. Statistical Package for Social Software (SPSS 22.0) was used for data capturing and analysis. The output was a general framework to guide the determination and effects of information systems on end-users and on institutional processes at a University of Technology. Furthermore, it will guide the design and modelling of institutional business processes to improve operational efficiency.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / In South Africa there is a fierce competition among Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to attract as many students as possible. This makes most institutions to strive to meet and exceed students (customer) satisfaction. Most institutions strive to meet and exceed customers’ (students) expectations similar to business organisations. It however remains to be investigated if they do succeed in this goal. The purpose of this study was to explore students’ and staff members’ perceptions in regards to customer satisfaction and the level of efficiencies during the registration process at the Business and Management Sciences Faculty at CPUT. This study measures if the registration processes is aligned with students’ needs.

The first ten years of democracy (1994-2004) in South Africa was an important period marked by a plethora of research activities in South Africa. The 2004 exhibition of artworks by academic staff from the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) was an example of one such event. A critical reading of these artworks exhibited diverse representations of their world views and also informed the initial research for this study. All the artworks on exhibition illustrated a commonality of purpose in the artists’ interrogation and representation of their fragmented identities in a transforming political landscape. Therefore, this thesis considers a political reading of the ideas of identity, place and displacement in the artworks of thirteen female artists at VUT from 1994 to 2004. The rationale of this thesis was to examine in what way the artists’ construction and representations of identity, place and displacement were influenced by the environmental factors of the historical, political and academic culture in the microcosm of the Vaal region. However, the inclusion of Tracey Rose in this study extended the discourses of identity, place and displacement to consider the disjunctures and continuities of cultural practices in ethnicities in South Africa. This thesis furthermore proposed to address the gendered omissions of female artists from contemporary literature and therefore focuses on the creative productions of female artists from VUT. The significance of this study lies in the contribution of knowledge on the existing body of literature of art and artists in South Africa and in initiating the exercise of documenting the visual history of the Vaal region. The theoretical underpinnings are informed by the discourses of cultural studies, postcolonial studies and feminism/s. The thesis delimits the political and historical events of South Africa from pre-history to contemporary South Africa. A postcolonial reading of history is carried out in order to draw attention to inconsistencies and fallacies inherent in the colonial recording of historical events relevant to this study. The influential historical and political events in the discourse of place and displacement have been included in view of their depiction or references made by the artists discussed in this study and to contextualise the geopolitical space of the Vaal Triangle. The political events before and after the decline of apartheid were included to frame the strategy of decolonisation of the new political dispensation. A context for the shifting identities of the artists in a neoliberal democracy, namely the political and historical events germane to the Vaal Triangle and to the artists dealt with in this study, is provided to position the ideological divide between Afrikaner nationalism and a neoliberal democracy. The thesis provides a brief overview of South African art in order to delineate a national perspective and framework for the discussion of the artworks later in the study that are located predominantly in the Vaal Triangle. An average of three artworks per artist were selected for discussion. The selected artworks reflect heterogeneous interpretations of the discursive themes of landscape, the positions of women, shifting timelines and contemporary politics in South African social and cultural practice. There was an observable divide in the artworks that displayed explicit and implicit signifiers referring to the constructs of identity, place and displacement. Identities formed in the spaces of colonisation and in the dislocated, displaced, raced and gendered identities, inform the world views of the artists selected for this study. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Visual Arts / unrestricted

This case study is based on the Assessment of Work-integrated Learning at the Vaal University of Technology, Vanderbijl Park, South Africa. It explores the possible conditions that affect the final assessment of work-integrated learning. Work-integrated learning in the South African context of Higher Education is considered to be an integral part of a programme. It not only allows students to incorporate theory into practice but it also prepares students for the world of work. It is for this reason that work-integrated learning becomes the focus of all Universities of Technology in South Africa. The Universities of Technology’s success or failure to integrate quality work-integrated learning effectively will either promote or retard the South African economy. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD (Library and Information Studies) / The study examined the availability of e-resources in the Ibrahim Babangida Library at Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola (MAUTECH) focusing to integrate e-resources in a dedicated portal for easy access. The study was motivated by the Nigerian vision 20:2020 and the trend in 21st century academic libraries to offer electronic resources and services to meet users? demands and use of technology. Mixed methods were sequential, concurrent, conversion and integrated approaches used. A descriptive case study approach was employed. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Diffusion of Innovation (DoI) theories framed the study. Based on these, a conceptual framework was constructed. To achieve triangulation, questionnaires, interviews and scanning of library portals were used to gather both quantitative and qualitative data. Academics, students, academic librarians, and information and communication technology experts acted as participants. Findings reflected low use of the Ibrahim Babangida Library, dissatisfaction with the quality and quantity of the library collection, insufficient and unreliable Internet access on campus, limited information literacy education, familiarity and utilization of e-resources due to flexibility and easy access to academic information, need for digitisation of library resources and the need for a dedicated library portal. The study recommends, amongst others, information literacy education for students and academics, subscription to full-text databases, provision of sufficient and free Internet access, e-resource and e-services policies, and establishing a consortium with other Nigerian academic libraries. The outcome of the study was a designed, established and functioning library portal based on the input of all the stakeholders of the MAUTECH community.

Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / Student counselling services, typically located within a holistic developmental approach, aim to render comprehensive student services to service users in relation to their psychological, social, educational and spiritual well-being. However, a number of cognitive and affective barriers reportedly reduce the likelihood of young people at universities seeking professional psychological help for personal-emotional problems. Accordingly, the aim of this study, which is located within the Theory of Reasoned Action, was to explore students' attitudes towards utilising student counselling services, as well as their interpretations of the influence of age, gender and education on their attitudes and self-rated knowledge regarding seeking psychological help. The study thereby attempts to provide an understanding of the factors that influence help-seeking behaviours in university students. The research sample consisted of twenty nine students from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. The data was collected through focus group discussions, which were conducted using an open-ended and participant centred approach to the discussion. The qualitative approach of the study was informed by the theory of social phenomenology. Data gathered from the focus group discussions was thematically analysed. The results suggest that attitudes have a potentially important influence on intentions to seek out psychological counselling. Findings show that students feel shame and guilt when they are struggling psychologically and as a result avoid seeking psychological intervention for fear of being negatively stigmatised. The study revealed that education around mental health disorders and the management thereof was crucial in order for them to be demystified and de-stigmatised, and to facilitate openness in the sharing of these problems, and society's understanding and acceptance of people experiencing psychological disorders. Results also indicate that there is a shift taking place in these attitudes, and suggest ways in which this change can be further facilitated, such as the utilisation of peer helpers who could playa key role in facilitating and reinforcing help seeking behaviour. The outcomes of the study may further contribute to informing universities' goal to provide accessible, quality and effective development and support services to its students.

Masters of Art / Libraries use technology to improve the management of scholarly information and to provide faster access to information elsewhere. Over time, an important change was perceived in collection development policies and practices of libraries. Printed materials were increasingly replacing electronic forms of information. This research investigated the use of electronic resources by Postgraduate certificate Education (PGCE) students at the Central University of Technology (CUT). The research adopted the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by Fred Davis (1989) as its theoretical framework.

Doctor Educationis / Writing is an important skill throughout learners’ schooling trajectory because it is through writing that learners need to situate meaning and sense-making across the curriculum. Writing proficiency becomes even more important when learners access tertiary studies. Yet studies suggest that most students struggle with academic writing. Various authors suggest that writing has not been taught appropriately especially in secondary schooling contexts in South Africa and that writing becomes even more daunting for Second Language speakers of English when they reach tertiary education. There is abundant literature on students’ challenges with academic writing and ways to address academic writing challenges but the use of digital storytelling in relation to academic writing development is recent and distinctively underexplored in the literature.