Some text in Zulu / Psychology of Education / M. Ed.

MSCAGR (Plant Production) / Department of Plant Production / Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an excellent utilizer of residual soil moisture in agricultural ecosystems. However, its seed quality and hence reproduction is constrained by water stress, seed size and storage conditions. This study was carried out at the University of KwaZulu- Natal (UKZN), Pietermaritzburg Campus. It was conducted to evaluate the performance of chickpea genotypes (Desi-K, Saina-K and ICCV-K) with different seed sizes on seedling emergence (i), seed ageing effect on seed quality and imbibition of genotypes produced under water stressed and non-stressed conditions (ii), and (iii) the effect of water stress during seed development on sugars and protein accumulation, germination and seed vigour. Pot experiments were conducted under glasshouse / tunnel conditions at the Controlled Environment Facilities (CEF). The experiment for objective 1 was laid out as a single factor in completely randomized design (CRD). Data on emergence rate, final hypocotyl and complete emergence was collected. The small seeded Desi-K showed higher and faster emergence compared to medium sized Saina-K and large seeded ICCV-K. In the experiment of the second objective, seeds of the three genotypes were first obtained by production under water stressed and non-stressed growing conditions. They were then aged for 0, 1, 3, 5, or 7 days at 41 ºC and 100% relative humidity to form a 2 x 3 x 5 (water levels x genotypes x ageing) factorial design. Data was collected on germination percentage (GP), mean germination time (MGT), electrical conductivity (EC), tetrazolium chloride test (TZ) and imbibition weight. Seed ageing caused progressive loss of seed viability and vigour in all genotypes, which resulted in lower GP, delayed MGT, reduced TZ staining, cell death and high solute leakage from the seeds produced under the two water regimes. However, the effect was more severe under water stressed conditions. In the experiment for objective 3, seeds of all three genotypes were larger when grown under non-stressed condition compared to those under water stressed condition. These larger seeds had higher seed viability and germination percentage but lower electrical conductivity and mean germination time. Stressed seeds had higher soluble sugars than non-stressed seeds. It was deduced that irrigation during seed development reduces the final sugars and protein content but increases the seed size and physiological quality parameters allied to production of chickpea. Therefore, water provision to chickpea crop is critical during seed development. / NRF

The aim of this study was to determine the role of tourism, empowerment and participation in the socio-economic upliftment of the community of Umgababa. The research examines the views of the community on their socio-economic conditions, their willingness to participate in tourism business ventures and their perceptions and attitude towards communicating with other rural communities on tourism development. The study concludes that the socio-economic living conditions of the community of Umgababa are very poor and that empowerment and participation of the community in tourism could be an answer to their problems. Given the opportunity, the majority of the people were willing to participate in a tourism business venture. Investigation revealed that there is an abundance of natural and human resources in Umgababa to start a tourism business. The community also felt that by communicating their knowledge and experience they would be able to help other communities in their own development. / Geography / MA (Geography)

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the personal experiences of enrolled nurses while caring for patients infected with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in an urban tuberculosis hospital in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. Generic qualitative research was conducted with a sample of purposively selected enrolled nurses who cared for MDR-TB patients. Data was collected through in-depth individual interviews and analysed using Colaizzi’s (1978) method of data analysis. The research findings revealed six major themes: the working context, fear of contracting the disease, problems that have an impact on the quality of nursing care, nurses' perceptions of the patients, support structures and nurses' expressed needs. The findings of this study indicate that the nurses work in a challenging environment and need to be supported, as they experience more negative than positive feelings while caring for these patients. / Health Studies / (M.A. (Health Studies))

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Technology Degree in Cost and Management Accounting, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2014. / Small businesses are vital for employment and job creation in South Africa. The implementation of sound cash management practices is essential to ensure to profitability and sustainability of any successful business. The commonly used expression, “Cash is king” cannot be contested as its validity was more prevalent in this research study. The aim of the study was to identify the current cash management practices of small retail businesses in the Tongaat area and identify the impact of such practices on their profitability and sustainability. This descriptive, cross sectional study, using a quantitative research paradigm and a non-probability sampling method targeted a sample of 69 businesses in the chosen area. The sample structure consisted of small retail businesses in the Tongaat area of KwaZulu-Natal. There was a significant relationship between drawing budgets and sustainability. This finding suggests that the more often the business draws up cash budgets, the more viable and sustainable the business is. 78.3% of the respondents acknowledged the importance of keeping records in the business, however, only 29.9% drew up cash budgets. The findings of this study could be useful to potential, emerging and established owners of all types of businesses since effective and efficient cash management is an integral component of any successful business. There should be more emphasis placed on the impact of how proper cash management practices can affect profitability and sustainability of a small retail business. A recommendation that adds value to the study was to engage the final-year, National Diploma: Cost and Management Accounting students in an integrated project, where they can provide cash management advice to these businesses. This will enhance the small businesses’ knowledge of cash management and encourage implementation of these procedures to assist in increasing profitability and sustainability in their business.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Technology: Language Practice, Durban University of Technology, 2011. / The literacy levels in South African schools are alarmingly low. Educators are challenged in diverse classrooms with multicultural and multilingual learners as they are faced with the problems that these learners are experiencing in literacy. Educators therefore need to be able to adapt their teaching strategies to suit the needs of their learners to address learners’ different learning needs and styles. This study investigated the use of adapted teaching strategies used by grade 3 educators in literacy in selected schools in northern KwaZulu-Natal. A mixed methods research design was used which included the use of a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to gather data. The findings which were linked to the literature review revealed that educators lacked adequate knowledge and skills to adapt their teaching strategies as they have not been adequately trained to teach literacy within multilingual contexts. Although some educators were using adapted teaching strategies they were not using them effectively in their multilingual classrooms while some educators did not have a wellstructured intervention programme at school to deal with learners who were experiencing problems with literacy. Inexperienced educators also had problems identifying learning styles and adapting their teaching strategies. This study found that teachers require continual professional development to enable them to effectively adapt their teaching strategies to suit individual learning needs and styles.

Thesis in compliance with the requirements for the Doctor’s Degree in Technology: Language Practice, Durban University of Technology, 2012. / This study, in adopting a phenomenological approach, provides an overview of the contextual realities surrounding language choice and usage as it impacts on the academic performance of English second language learners. There have been concerns that the majority of learners with indigenous mother tongues can be seen to fare badly in a post liberation educational system in which English or Afrikaans is still used as medium of instruction. The focus of this study was therefore the impact of English as the medium of instruction on the academic performance of English second language learners. Using a mixed method approach, through a case study, data from questionnaires, interviews and observations were analysed using various statistical packages and the findings were reported on. It was established that it was not so much the language per se which had a negative impact on the academic performance of English second language learners: it was rather the efficacy of usage of the chosen language and other periphery issues in the formal environment, such as lack of interactions with target language speakers, code-switching, and teacher competence, which resulted in the poor academic performance of English second language learners. Furthermore, it was also established that the informal environment, consisting of learners’ culture and traditions, family educational qualifications, absenteeism and appropriate resources at home and community libraries, which also had a negative impact on academic performance. It was therefore recommended that, amongst other things, the Language in Education Policy be amended to provide for more opportunities for learner interaction with the target language. Furthermore, given that the efficacy of education is contingent upon the competence of the teachers, relevant skills and competencies among teachers should be developed to enhance their performance in class. It was also found that code-switching was counterproductive to learning the target language, thus holding back ESL learners’ acquisition of content knowledge. As such, code-switching should be used very restrictively, if at all, in the Further Education and Training phase. It was also recommended that necessary lexicons and registers of the indigenous languages be developed sufficiently so that these are worthy of use as media of instruction, without necessarily being seen as a replacement of English as medium of instruction. There should also be greater involvement of all stakeholders in the choice of and availability of resources which are relevant to the context of learners. Other issues requiring intervention from a broader stakeholder involvement include iii interdepartmental integration to alleviate poverty, and provision of transport so that learners might report regularly and timeously to school, thus reducing absenteeism. The solution to improving learner academic performance requires concerted and co-ordinated inter-governmental, community and other stakeholders’ effort and the necessary will of the government to ensure that learners receive quality education. / Durban University of Technology Postgraduate Development and Support Centre.

Thesis in compliance with the requirements for the Doctor's Degree in Technology: Language Practice, Durban University of Technology, 2011. / In adopting a critical realist approach, this study offers a view of the complex social and contextual factors impacting on literacy acquisition and development in primary education, which is thought to be its main contribution to the field. The study‟s focus was on reading because reading is a fundamental part of literacy acquisition and development in primary education. Its purpose was to establish the state of current literacy teaching and learning practices in formal education so that, ultimately, recommendations could be made for teacher training and support. In the changing face of education in post-apartheid South Africa, provision has been made by the government to democratise education, and, in particular allow all students equity of access to key competences such as literacy. However, there are signs that all is not well at the level of implementation, for example, the low learner pass rate. In particular, teachers do not appear to be coping with the new dispensation, and are generally demoralised and demotivated. It must be stressed that the issue of literacy acquisition and development is complex and multi-layered, and not just a simple question of applying linguistic knowledge or skills. While literacy is a key competence for schooling and a key life skill, education is an essential variable in literacy acquisition and development. However, there are indications that the South African educational system is failing to deliver quality education to its learners. It has been estimated that illiteracy is costing the government as much as R550 billion a year. The fact remains that the main responsibility for teaching literacy rests with schools. Currently there is a literacy crisis in South Africa. This means that large numbers of children are not acquiring the high level skills in reading and writing that will enable them to take part in the new knowledge economy. The general aim of this project was to investigate the process of literacy acquisition and development in primary schools. The investigation focused specifically on how learners acquire literacy, and the involvement of teaching training and support for educators. It was anticipated that the investigation would identify gaps in the acquisition and development of literacy, as well as iii provide recommendations for teacher training and support: the findings might then feed specialist knowledge on the current state of literacy acquisition in formal education into the area of teacher training as to address the problem of lack of preparedness of teachers to deal with literacy acquisition. The project involved an investigation of literacy teaching and learning practices in three different types of public school in the Ethekwini Region, comprising ex-Model C, semi-urban and rural schools. The scope of the study was confined to three primary schools in KwaZulu Natal. The selected research sites were Joel1 Primary School (urban) in the Pinetown area, Milo Primary School The semiurban) in the Mariannhill area, and John Primary School (rural) in the Ndwedwe District. No attempt was made to generalise on the acquisition of language and development, and the provision of teacher training and support at these selected primary schools with reference to schools in the rest of South Africa. However, it is thought that the findings might well be relevant to some schools to enable them to cope and understand the role and function of language acquisition and development. The social factors which negatively impact on literacy acquisition and development were found to include features of the local social context, security for literacy resources and other physical challenges. Factors impacting negatively on teacher performance were inadequate teacher training, the impact of teacher unions, and the effects of poverty and HIV/AIDS. Some of the clearly intertwined challenges experienced at the Intermediate Phase education level include the problems of insufficient teaching staff numbers and insufficient numbers of competent and trained staff; lack of sufficient support for African language learners; large class sizes; lack of resources; and lack of quality leadership in schools. These challenges are the shaky ground upon which we build education for some of our learners, especially those in rural and poor areas. / Durban University of Technology Post Graduate and Support Centre.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Technology: Nursing, Durban University of Technology, 2014. / South Africa has a high prevalence of obesity, and many people live with diseases where dietary adaptations are part of the management of the disease. Nurses are important in the facilitation of people obtaining dietary advice. While nutrition education is part of the nursing curriculum, student nurses’ knowledge of nutrition was not known, nor was their dietary intake and nutritional health status. The purpose of the study was to assess the nutrition knowledge of students at a nursing college, and to assess their dietary diversity. A quantitative study was used, with random sampling chosen for selection of campuses and convenience sampling for student group selection. Students of the KwaZulu-Natal College of Nursing were invited to complete a General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire. A Food Frequency Questionnaire was completed to assess dietary diversity, and respondents’ anthropometric measurements were recorded to assess Body Mass Index and Waist to Height Ratio. The results showed that a significant percentage of student nurses were overweight or obese. While students had a satisfactory knowledge of dietary recommendations and sources of different nutrients, their ability to make correct food choices, as well as their knowledge of diet-disease relationships was poor. They displayed good dietary diversity in their food intake. There were no statistically significant correlations between the students’ Body Mass Index and their knowledge, which assumes that the individual’s knowledge of nutrition does not directly influence their own food intake. It is recommended that aspects of the content in the nutrition curriculum be emphasised during the training of nurses in order to increase nutrition awareness in areas where knowledge was found to be lacking.

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for a Masters Degree in Technology: Chiropractic, Durban University of Technology, 2010. / Introduction: Equestrian sport as a competitive sport first began in 1868 at the Royal Dublin Horse Show 1. Injuries, especially minor injuries, are seldom reported, and there are no regulatory requirements anywhere that compel formal injury notification of this sport 2. Objectives: The objectives were to describe a profile of horse riding injuries, to determine the association between the type of equestrian activity and location and mechanism of injury, the association between use and type of equipment and location of injury and to determine anthropometric and history variables associated with location of horse riding injuries. As well as determining if non riding related injuries were associated with riding related injuries in the same sites. Therefore, for the purpose of this study, the following information was gathered in order to build up an injury profile: Anthropometric values (age, height, weight, gender, ethnicity, dominant hand and medical aid) of competitive horse riders in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, The participants horse riding history, Their record of any past or current injuries, Factors associated with previous and current injuries were also investigated, Equipment and facilities used Methods: This study was a quantitative descriptive design, which was questionnaire based and was administered by the researcher at various competitions in KwaZulu Natal or sent via email to those not present at the competitions. The study was limited to adult members of the KwaZulu Natal Horse Society that competed in on the Olympic disciplines of dressage, show jumping and eventing. iv Results: There were 176 respondents to the study. The average age was 36.3 years. The vast majority of participants were White (99.4%) females (81%). The overall prevalence of injury was 90.3%. Muscle strains were the most common type of injury. The head was the most commonly injured site (46.4%), the lower back was the site most likely to be injured many times. Forceful falls were ranked as the most severe type of injury mechanism. Most injuries occurred whilst jumping (63.8%). Use of protective equipment was associated with injury prevention and protection. Muscle strains due to riding were significantly less common in those who presently did regular exercise. Having no medical problems was associated with not having any riding injuries. There was no significant association between riding and non riding related injuries.