Designing a social work online self-coaching program: Integrated support and joint ownership

The paper explores critical success factors (CSFs) in relation to the support structure for an online self-coaching pilot project, by the Centre for Innovative Education and Communication Technologies of the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in South Africa, in collaboration with UWC’s Social Work Department and the University of South Africa (Unisa). The CSFs focus on concepts of structure and agency. The research study is primarily qualitative but employs supporting quantitative data, and entails an interpretivist approach. The researchers highlight unfolding processes which led to an Instructional Designer (ID) taking on the role of an e- Coach within the pilot study. The importance of the creation of a well-designed environment to strengthen partnerships, and an effective learning pathway for student development is deliberated. The importance of the selection of appropriate eTools is emphasized in order to promote students’ personal learning and eSkills. Moreover, the pilot project is aligned to national imperatives within a South African context, namely student “access” and “success”. We recommend the expansion of online self-coaching programs to social work students to assist with their self-development and growth

ePedagogy as a threshold concept: a reflection on a programme for Science Teaching Assistants

A Science Teaching Assistant (TA) Programme, at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), focused on preparing promising lecturers. A key component of this programme was the contribution by the Centre for Innovative Education and Communication Technologies (CIECT), which promoted the pedagogical adoption of eTools to assist development of Science TAs. A questionnaire enabled TAs to reflect on the eTools and CIECT’s sessions. The authors reflect on academic developer roles in higher education. Within CIECT’s contribution, ePedagogy was identified as a threshold concept that the TAs found challenging, but that could lead to transformed and improved teaching and learning

E-Learning change management and communication strategies within a HEI in a developing country: institutional organisational cultural change at the University of the Western Cape

The paper attempts to report on the strides that UWC has achieved in the adoption of eLearning among the campus teaching community, namely the academics from across different faculties, in order to supplement their traditional face-to-face instruction. The qualitative approach was predominantly used. The case study methodology was uniquely applied in this paper because it was used in collaboration with documentary analysis to highlight the achievements and challenges encountered in the adoption and implementation of the existing homegrown Open Source eLearning system. A multi-dimensional non-coercive eLearning implementation approach was used highlighting the various communication and change management strategies that the institution has employed in its endeavours to achieve broad eLearning buy-in within a resistant environment. A generic Instructional Design Model was developed to portray a continuum in the support for a changing organisational culture. The results indicated that the institution has realised a 26% success rate of academics who have managed to have experienced a paradigm shift towards the use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in supplementing their teaching practices

Biodegradability testing and Toxicity

Biodegradatietoetsen dienen met een niet-toxische concentratie van de te onderzoeken stof te worden uitgevoerd. Omdat blijkt dat in de voorschriften van, door de OESO en EG erkende en aanbevolen, biodegradatietoetsmethoden, onjuiste aanbevelingen worden gedaan t.a.v. controle-experimenten m.b.t. eventueel toxische effecten, werd een onderzoek verricht naar de bacterietoxiciteit van p-chloorfenol en p- nitrofenol. De NOEC-waarden werden bepaald m.b.v. manometrische respirometrie, remming van het respiratietempo van actief slib (NEN 6512) en ATP-afname als toetscriterium voor acute toxiciteit. De laatste methode bleek het meest geschikt als prealabele toets voor een biodegradatieonderzoek.Abstract not availableDGMH/BWS-S / KonemannW.H

Biodegradability testing of some chemicals of means of respirometric methods

De stoffen hexamethyleentetramine, tetrahydrofuraan, pentaerythritol, 1-naphtol, natriumbenzeensulfinaat, thioglycolzuur en aniline (referentiestof) werden onderzocht met twee testmethoden voor het schatten van gemakkelijke afbreekbaarheid in water. Beide methoden zijn gebaseerd op respirometrie en voorzien in een behoefte wat betreft het toetsen van moeilijk oplosbare verbindingen. De toetsmethoden zijn gelijkwaardig aan de door de OECD en de EEG erkende en aanbevolen toetsen voor het screenen van gemakkelijk afbreekbare chemische stoffen ("ready biodegradability") in water.Abstract not availableDGMH/BWS-S / KonemannW.H

Standaardmethoden voor het bepalen van de biologische afbreekbaarheid van industriele chemicalien in water ; huidige status en toekomstige ontwikkelingen

Abstract niet beschikbaarThis report contains an appraisal of the OECD hierarchy for testing the biodegradability of industrial chemicals. A more pragmatic system is proposed which encompasses (1) selecting both the "soft" and the "hard" chemicals, (2) screening chemicals for potential biodegradability in a specified environmental compartment and (3) simulation methods. Methods of level 91) should be applicable to all chemicals, irrespective of their physico-chemical and biological properties. "Soft" chemicals can be recognized by a positive result in a Ready Biodegradability Test (RBT), wheras a negative result in a so-called Inherent Biodegradability Test (IBT) is an indication for persistence of a compound. Although RBT's have been update in 1990, they still suffer from some shortcomings. In this report simple modifications of existing methods are discussed to overcome these shortcomings together with more satisfactory methods, which have been developed the last decade. The limitations of Inherent Biodegradability Tests are evaluated and alternative techniques are proposed to make IBT's applicable to a wider range of physico-chemical properties. Recently developed useful methods, such as test for sea-water and the anaerobic compartment, proved problematic to place in the current OECD test hierachy but fitt easily in level (2) of the proposed test system.DGM/S

Aerobic biodegradation of cyanuric acid

De afbreekbaarheid van cyanuurzuur onder aerobe omstandigheden werd onderzocht met behulp van toetsen op drie verschillende niveaus. Er werd geen afbraak van deze verbinding geconstateerd binnen 4 weken. Cyanuurzuur is wel afbreekbaar als het de enige stikstofbron is in een medium waarin bacteriegroei optreedt t.g.v. de afbraak van natriumacetaat.Abstract not availableRIV

Anaerobe afbreekbaarheid: Resultaten van een Nederlands ringonderzoek

Abstract niet beschikbaarIn 1990/1991 a round-robin test was carried out in the Netherlands to investigate s simple serum bottle technique for anaerobic biodegradability, organized by the RIVM. Six laboratories participated in this inter-laboratory exercise and tested four chemicals, according to methods published earlier by the RIVM (1987) and ECETOC (1988). The most satisfactory and simple procedure to evaluate the degree of anaerobic mineralization is to combine two parameters that can easily be measured, i.e. the net gas production and the increase of dissolved inorganic carbon. This approach is more succesful than monitoring the evolved methane. Both procedures to wash the anaerobic sludge are effective in reducing the blank gas production due to the sludge. The blank values are all in the surprisingly small range of 20 and 100 ml per g sludge. Polyethyleneglycol-400 is a suitable positive reference compound. Aniline was most persistent but it also showed toxic effects. 2-Propanol was mineralized in most laboratories after a lag varying from 1 to 4 months. 2-Aminophenol is an erratic compound: participants reported persistence during the test period, toxic effects and (partial and ultimate) biodegradation.DGM/SV

Simpletreat: een boxmodel gebaseerd op een spreadsheet om het lot van chemicalien in een conventionele afvalwaterzuivering te voorspellen

A non-equilibrium steady state box model is reported, that predicts the fate of new chemicals in a conventional sewage treatment plant from a minimal input data set. The model, written in an electronic spreadsheet (Lotus TM 123), requires a minimum input: some basic properties of the chemical, its emission rate and a few parameters to account for the scale and mode of operation of the plant. Compound properties necessary as input are air-water and sludge solids-water partition coefficients. If these distribution coefficients are not available but the compound is hydrophobic, default values are calculated from input data such as solubility, vapour pressure and octanol-water partition coefficient. Biodegradability data and the degree of dissociation or protonation are the required input data to account for degradation and speciation changes of the chemical in the water phase. The standard output shows the chemical's concentration in effluent and sludge. The presented model, SimpleTreat, is an application of a general purpose box modelling system, SimpleBox. Examples are evaluated and results are compared with measured concentrations.DGM/S

Being a Higher Education Professional Today: Working in a Third Space

This section not only provides a snapshot of the contemporary professional workforce in higher education, but also aims to identify emergent trends and indicators in relation to roles and identities, collectively and individually. To introduce the range of perspectives that follow, this chapter reviews current thinking about what it means to be a professional in higher education today, including a converging relationship with academic roles and identities, and illustrates ways in which higher education professionals are pushing the boundaries of their domains. Key themes that emerge in the chapters that follow are the fluidity of identity, a sense of transition and “work-in-progress” as new fields of practice evolve, and issues around building confidence and recognition, particularly for staff working between professional and academic domains