1. Academic Wits Research Publications (Faculties submissions)

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End date: 2017Has files: Yes

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 125
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    Describing objectively measured physical activity levels, patterns, and correlates in a cross sectional sample of infants and toddlers from South Africa
    (BioMed Central, 2017-12) Prioreschi, Alessandra; Micklesfield, Lisa K.; Brage, Soren; Hesketh, Kylie D.; Hnatiuk, Jill; Westgate, Kate
    Background: Physical activity is considered to have health benefits across the lifespan but levels, patterns, and correlates have not been well described in infants and toddlers under the age of two years. Methods: This study aimed to describe objectively and subjectively measured physical activity in a group of South African infants aged 3- to 24-months (n = 140), and to investigate individual and maternal correlates of physical activity in this sample. Infants’ physical activity was measured using an Axivity AX3 wrist-worn accelerometer for one week and the mean vector magnitude was calculated. In addition, mothers reported the average amount of time their infant spent in various types of activities (including in front of the TV), their beliefs about infants’ physical activity, access to equipment in the home environment, and ages of motor development milestone attainment. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and pair-wise correlations were used to test age and sex differences and associations with potential correlates. Results: There were significant age and sex effects on the distribution of time spent at different physical activity intensities (Wilks’ lambda = 0.06, p < 0.01). In all cases, the trend was for boys to spend more time in higher intensity physical activity and less time in lower intensity activity than girls; and for time spent in higher intensity activities to be higher in older children. Time spent outside was higher in boys, and this reached significance at 18-months (F =3.84, p =0.02). Less concern around floor play was associated with higher physical activity at 12-months in females only (p = 0.03, r = 0.54), and no other maternal beliefs were correlated with physical activity. The majority (94%) of children were exceeding TV time recommendations. When controlling for age and sex, overall TV time was positively associated with BMI z-score (β=0.01, p = 0.05). Conclusion: This study is the first to show sex and age differences in the patterns of physical activity, and to report on objectively measured and maternal reported physical activity and sedentary behaviour in the first two years of life in South Africa infants. Infants and toddlers should be provided with as many opportunities to be active through play as possible, and TV time should be limited.
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    The shift to outcomes based frameworks: key problems from a critical perspective
    (The Federal Institute for Adult Education (bifeb), 2011) Michael, Young; Allais, Stephanie Matseleng
    This paper takes a step back from the discussions and debates about qualifications frameworks per se, to think more broadly about the role of „qualifications“ in educational reform. The aims of the paper are to locate the reform of qualifications in its broader social and institutional context, to propose a way of conceptualizing the change from qualification systems as they have emerged historically to qualifications frameworks andoutcomes-based qualifications and to explore the tensions involved in the different goals that the introduction of a (National) Qualifications Framework – (N)QF will achieve. We argue that what is at stake in current reforms is the role of educational institutions in the education and training of the next generation, the balance between institution-based education and informal (in some cases work-based) learning, and the ways in which trust in qualifications is established and maintained. Our two-model analysis explores the balance between an emphasis on institutions and outcomes. This paper was written to provoke debate, and help all involved in researching qualifications frameworks to think more clearly about the issues.
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    The role of education as an agent of change: a two fold effect
    (1997) Muller, Marius M.; Hindle, R.D.
    Several aspects of change to the procedures in the construction delivery process have been described in recent times, particularly those affecting building procurement systems. This paper describes the results of an investigation into one of the underlying causes of such change, particularly that which is affecting the traditional roles of the various parties that participate in the construction procurement process. It is proposed that one of the 'agents' of change is the product of tertiary education programmes that have been producing 'professional builders'. It describes how a new generation of builders, equipped with business skills and an inherent dissatisfaction with the traditional structure and procedures of the industry, are allowing leading construction companies to develop innovative construction marketing strategies and systems. These systems are based upon sound business practice, offer improved customer satisfaction and allow them to get closer to customers. In so doing they are taking over the roles of various built environment consultants who were principal agents and leaders in the traditional building procurement system.
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    Expert systems : the fifth generation -more than a genealogical pursuit
    (University of the Free State, 1995-12) Muller, Marius M.
    This paper describes the nature of Expert Systems and outlines their possible use in the field of building economics. Their usefulness in terms of quantification of uncertainty is also examined. It was found that the benefits of developing Expert Systems are tremendous, but that the success of Expert Systems would be determined by their acceptance by the general public.
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    Contractor's plant: whether to buy or to lease?
    (University of the Free State, 1997) Muller, Marius M.
    This article comments on the concepts of buying versus leasing in terms of decision-making theory regarding the procurement of contractor's plant. It was found that leasing offered the better option in the worked example presented herein, but that every plant buying or lease decision would have to be made individually on proven calculation and on merit. In hierdie ortikel word die bestoonde opsies behondel woorvoor die boukontrokteur te stoon kom wonneer hy toerusting oonskof. Die vroog is: moet hy huur of koop. Uit die voorbeeld wot hier oongehool word blyk dit dot huur 'n beter opsie bied. Dit is egter ook boie duidelik dot elke gevol meriete het en dus individueel bekyk moet word. Kostes moet teen mekoor opgeweeg word. verol met die kontrokteur se doelwit voor oe.
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    Practicalities of the National Development Plan: prospects and challenges, using the rural economy as a case study
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2017) Chilenga, Thokozani J
    The National Development Plan 2030 (NDP) is arguably South Africa’s widest and most inclusive plan for economic and social development since 1994. It is evidence of the urgent need for development in South Africa, although its political will is yet to be determined. A test of the NDP’s strength is whether it can implement development beyond the document using existing state institutions and structures. This article argues that the NDP may be a prudent plan for South Africa to become a democratic developmental state. However, the plan fails to mention critical factors in its chapters that will affect the strength and achievability of the plan. The chapter on the rural economy is evidence of this major flaw of the plan as it fails to mention the role of women in the rural economy and the critical factor of traditional leadership and governance (TLG) in a meaningful way that will establish the connection between the two. Ultimately, the NDP does not recognise the interface between women, rural development and TLG, and this flaw will lead to complications in the implementation of the NDP unless it is clarified, refined and asserted.
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    Education service delivery: the disastrous case of outcomes-based qualifications frameworks
    (SAGE Publications, 2007) Allais, Stephanie Matseleng
    International trends towards outcomes-based qualifications frameworks as the drivers of educational reform fi t in well with trends in service delivery and public sector reform. Education reform in South Africa provides a particularly interesting case study of this phenomenon, because of the very comprehensive outcomes-based national qualifications framework that was implemented shortly after the transition to democracy. Problems with the framework as a basis for education reform became rapidly apparent, and the system is now deadlocked in a series of unresolved policy reviews. A key to understanding this collapse is the role of knowledge in relation to education. The outcomes based qualification framework approach turns out to have very little to do with education, and in fact to have the potential to increase educational inequalities, particularly in poor countries.
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    Will skills save us? Rethinking the relationships between vocational education, skills development policies, and social policy in South Africa
    (Elsevier, 2012-09) Allais, Stephanie
    This paper examines experiences with ‘skills development’ in South Africa to contribute to broader debates about ‘skills’ and the relationships between vocational education and development. Numerous policy interventions and the creation of new institutions and systems for skills development in South Africa are widely seen as having failed to lead to an increase in numbers of skilled workers. I analyze some of the underlying reasons for this by considering South African policies and systems in the light of research in developed countries. The dominant view in South African media and policy circles is that a skills shortage, coupled with an inflexible labour market, are the leading causes of unemployment. This has led to a policy preoccupation with skills as part of a ‘self-help’ agenda, alongside policies such as wage subsidies and a reduction of protective legislation for young workers, instead of collective responsibility for social welfare. Skills policies have also been part of a policy paradigm which emphasized state regulation through qualification and quality assurance reform, with very little emphasis on building provision systems and on curriculum development. The South African experience exemplifies how difficult it is to develop robust and coherent skills development in the context of inadequate social security, high levels of job insecurity, and high levels of inequalities. It also demonstrates some of the weaknesses of so-called ‘market-led’ vocational education.
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    Educating for work in the time of Covid-19: moving beyond simplistic ideas of supply and demand
    (South African Comparative and History of Education Society (SACHES), 2016) Allais, Stephanie; Marock, Carmel
    This article describes how the Covid-19 pandemic has been particularly negative for skill formation in South Africa but, at same time, there are high expectations for the technical and vocational education and training system to support economic recovery and individual livelihoods. We argue that many policy recommendations for how education can meet these expectations are trapped in a narrow and mechanistic notion of supply and demand. The knowledge and skills required to do work are not developed somewhere outside of the economy, and then ‘supplied’ to meet labour market ‘demand.’ Skill formation is embedded in a range of different economic, social, and political arrangements and systems. Policy notions of ‘supply and demand’ of skills also underestimate how the ability of education to prepare for work is shaped by the ways in which work is organised. We argue that both researchers and policymakers need to think about vocational skills development programmes within industry sector master plans that drive economic recovery. We provide ideas of how policymakers can think about education and work more holistically, and argue that the key move is away from market-based regulatory models and towards models focused on building institutional capacity.
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    Claims vs. practicalities: lessons about using learning outcomes
    (2012) Allais, Stephanie
    The idea of learning outcomes seems to increasingly dominate education policy internationally. Many claims are made about what they can achieve, for example, in enabling comparison of qualifications across countries, improving the recognition of prior learning and improving educational quality. The claims made for the role of learning outcomes rest on the assumption that outcomes can be transparent, or that they can capture or represent the essence of what a learning programme or qualification represents. But in practice, either learning outcomes are open to dramatically different interpretations, or they derive their meaning from being embedded in a curriculum. In both instances, learning outcomes cannot play the roles that are claimed for them. I draw on insights from South Africa, where learning outcomes were a major part of curriculum and education policy reform. I suggest that outcomes cannot disclose meaning within or across disciplinary or practice boundaries. They did not enable the essence of a programme to be understood similarly enough by different stakeholders and they did not facilitate judgements about the nature and quality of education and training programmes. Learning outcomes do not carry sufficient meaning, if they are not embedded in knowledge within a curriculum or learning programme. But if they are thus embedded, they cannot play the roles claimed for them in assisting judgements to be made across curricula and learning programmes. The notion of transparency (or even, a more moderate notion of sufficient transparency) which proved unrealisable in practice is the basis of nearly all the claims made about what learning outcomes can achieve. In addition, the South African experiences demonstrated how outcomes-based approaches can distort education and training programmes, and lead to practical complexities, which are a direct consequence of the need for transparency, and its impossibility, and not (although this was probably also the case) the product of ‘poor implementation’ in South Africa.