First-Year Student Transition at the University of the Free State during COVID-19: Challenges and Insights

First-year seminars and university induction programmes are embedded with academic and social skills required by students to  transition into their first year of study. The first-year seminar at the University of the Free State is a credit-bearing module called UFS101, and is a prerequisite for degree completion. Students are assessed through summative assessment opportunities throughout the year. In 2020, the UFS101 module embarked on new territory by condensing the contact time for the first semester into a week-long summer school. Furthermore, the summer school was presented a week prior to the start of university, with repeat sessions during the first week of class, and during the March holiday. However, due to national lockdown regulations as a result of COVID-19, a part of the cohort had to self-study the content via an interactive online study guide. This created four distinct groups of students: those who attended face-to-face classes, some face-to-face classes and some self-study, self-study only, and students who could not access the content. In order to measure their transition into university, a questionnaire was distributed to the students, and the results were stratified according to one of the aforementioned categories. Unique similarities and differences were observed in the findings. The results depict that effective content design is at the heartbeat of student transition, but that other factors such as face-to-face interaction with students, and access to resources assist with the transition into university. This study highlighted the need to explore the challenges students experience within their first six months at university, and substantiates that this type of exploration should be routinely conducted to assist with the understanding and implementation of first-year student support. Keywords: COVID-19; first-year seminar; summer school; student transition; UFS10

Purpose-orientated stocking of procedure trolleys saves time in busy emergency centres

Background. Inefficient storage and sourcing of routinely required consumables located on procedure trolleys result in time wasted when preparing for common procedures in emergency centres (ECs), contributing to poor efficiency and quality of care.Objectives. We designed a novel purpose-orientated procedure trolley and evaluated its impact on time spent on procedure preparation and efficiency.Methods. In an urban EC, eight participants were measured each day over 24 days, once using the standard setup and once using the modified procedure setup. During each simulation, efficiency markers were assessed (time spent on procedure preparation, steps taken, stops made, and time spent opening drawers to locate required items).Results. The mean (standard deviation) time required to collect the required items for intravenous cannulation and blood sampling from the purpose-orientated trolley was 22.7 (3.66) seconds, compared with 49.2 (15.45) seconds using the standard trolley. There was a significant difference between the two trolleys in mean collection time (p<0.0005) and in all the other categories: steps taken, stops made and drawer opening (p<0.0005).Conclusions. In our setting, stocking procedure trolleys in a purpose-orientated manner has the potential to improve efficiency by reducing time spent on procedure preparation

First-Year Student Transition at the University of the Free State during Covid‑19: Challenges and Insights

First-year seminars and university induction programmes are embedded with academic and social skillsrequired by students to transition into their first year of study. The first-year seminar at the Universityof the Free State is a credit-bearing module called UFS101, and is a prerequisite for degree completion.Students are assessed through summative assessment opportunities throughout the year. In 2020, theUFS101 module embarked on new territory by condensing the contact time for the first semester intoa week-long summer school. Furthermore, the summer school was presented a week prior to the start of university, with repeat sessions during the first week of class, and during the March holiday. However, due to national lockdown regulations as a result of Covid‑19, a part of the cohort had to self-study the content via an interactive online study guide. This created four distinct groups of students: those who attended face-to-face classes, some face-to-face classes and some self-study, self-study only, and students who could not access the content. In order to measure their transition into university, a questionnaire was distributed to the students, and the results were stratified according to one of the aforementioned categories. Unique similarities and differences were observed in the findings. The results depict that effective content design is at the heartbeat of student transition, but that other factors such as face-to-face interaction with students, and access to resources assist with the transition into university. This study highlighted the need to explore the challenges students experience within their first six months at university, and substantiates that this type of exploration should be routinely conducted to assist with the understanding and implementation of first-year student support

Work-Integrated Learning for lecturers at a TVET college in the Western Cape

TVET colleges in South Africa are primarily tasked with preparing students for the workplace. However, employers noted dissatisfaction in the skills and abilities of students entering the workplace. A possible reason for the poor preparation of students may have been found in past research. The curriculum at TVET colleges, as elsewhere in higher education, is very Eurocentric and theoretical in nature. The need for decolonisation of the curriculum thus arises. A decolonized curriculum prepares students to work in a variety of social contexts and considers issues like poverty, inequality and unemployment. A decolonized curriculum needs to include content and context derived from local sources, and need to connect theory with practice. It is thus expected of TVET lecturers to interpret and link theoretical content from the curriculum to the needs of local sources, workplaces and industry. TVET lecturers thus need to have knowledge and experiences from a variety of backgrounds. Past research indicated certain lecturers lack workplace experience and qualifications. It was found that intermediate and FET (grade 10‒11) qualified teachers and graduates from universities who lack workplace experience are employed at TVET colleges. Lecturers who lack workplace experience may find it difficult to link content with the needs of the industry for which they have to prepare their students and may not know how to link theory with practice during lessons. Teaching and learning at TVET colleges require concrete experiences and deliberate encounters. Actual, concrete experiences change the perspectives of students and lecturers and affects them profoundly, which can be seen as a pedagogic piligrimage (Davids and Waghid 2019, 7). To address the latter, SSACI, a Swiss-South African initiative launched a work-integrated learning (WIL) project to identify lecturers that are only equipped with a teaching qualification and lack workplace experience. The work-integrated learning program flared up lecturer’s experience of work-integrated learning and increased motivation and enthusiasm, as they were able to integrate the examples learned from the workplace, to make lessons and lesson preparation more interesting. In addition, lecturers were able to tell students what to expect after graduation when they enter the workplace. A factor that negatively influences the effectiveness of work-integrated learning is the lack of policy supporting the program

Violent societies: Educating the upcoming generations about their social contract

The citizens of many countries in the world, particularly of South Africa, are experiencing the collapse of the social order in their country as a result of certain circumstances. This fact of social disintegration has led educationists to again examine the nature and contents of the social contract that the South African citizenry has entered into. In secular states, the social contract should at least be rooted in two ethical principles, namely trust and humanistic versions of the Golden Rule. Analysis of the South African social contract demonstrates this point, and also shows how a positive modus vivendi [living together] can flow from the recognition and application of these two principles. The upcoming generations should therefore be educated to understand the nature and content of their social contract, the two ethical principles, and the need for a positive modus vivendi based on their particular social contract

Perceived Barriers to Entry into Self-employment in Khayelitsha, South Africa: Crime, Risk, and Start-up Capital Dominate Profit Concerns

In South Africa, the broad unemployment rate for Africans has remained near or above forty percent for most of the last ten years. One critical reason is the relatively low level of employment in small-scale entrepreneurial work. This paper explores the factors that constrain individuals from engaging in self-employment activities in a large township in Cape Town. Crime is perceived to be the dominant hindrance to entering the micro-enterprise sector. A number of other hindrances, including capital constraints, transportation costs, and community jealousy, are on par or surpass concerns over profitability or government regulation. These findings are robust to a series of alternative ranking scheme

Aborsie: ’n Juridiese, etiese en regsetiese vraagstuk

In die geledere van skokkende en onetiese dade in die menslike samelewing, beklee aborsie ’n besondere plek. Vir wetenskaplike doeleindes kan aborsie oor die algemeen gedefinieer word as die skeiding van of afdrywing uit die moederlyf van die „produk” van konsepsie, synde ’n fetus (Geldenhuys, 1974:11; O’Donovan 1975:2). ’n Verdere element van die definisie, wat die blote afdrywing van die vrug gewoonlik kwalifiseer, is dat die fetus, met betrekking tot nageboortelike lewe gesproke, nie lewensvatbaar moes gewees het nie. Met die byvoeging van hierdie element tot die eie definisie word tans egter vertoef ten einde eers die belangrike vraag wanneer lewe ontstaan, te beantwoord

Recurrent LDL-receptor mutation causes familial hypercholesterolaemia in South African coloureds and Afrikaners

No Abstract

Bydraende faktore tot leerderdissiplineprobleme: ’n Multiveranderlike analise

Contributory factors to learner discipline problems: A multivariate approach. Hitherto, researchers in the field of the various causal or contributory factors of learner discipline problems in schools tended to approach each of those factors in isolation. This article reported on research regarding the theoretically justifiable notion of the confluence of the various factors that culminate in learner discipline problems at school. Grade 9 learners as well as their educators completed questionnaires in which they had to indicate on a semantic differential scale the extent to which they thought each of the 36 possible causes played a role in the incidence of learner discipline problems in their school. Routine factor analysis revealed that seven factors contributed to learner misbehaviour in their particular school, namely social problems in society, the influence of parents on the behaviour of their children, the authority of the educator, democratic participation in school governance, the nature of school structures, and also physical and psychological disabilities

Canine parvovirus detected from a serval (Leptailurus serval) in South Africa

Canine parvovirus first emerged in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris), most likely as a variant of the feline panleucopaenia virus. Relatively recently, canine parvovirus-2a and canine parvovirus-2b infections have been identified in both symptomatic and asymptomatic domestic cats, while canine parvovirus infections have also been demonstrated in wild felids. This report documents the first known case of canine parvovirus-2b detected in unvaccinated serval (Leptailurus serval) from South Africa. The serval presented with clinical signs of vomiting, anorexia and diarrhoea that responded to symptomatic treatment. Two weeks later, severe leucopaenia, thrombocytopenia and death occurred. Typical enteric histological lesions of parvovirus infection were not observed on histopathological examination of the small intestine; however, histological lesions consistent with septicaemia were present. Canine parvovirus was detected in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded small intestine using polymerase chain reaction. Phylogenetic analysis of the sequence of the canine parvovirus viral capsid protein gene showed similarities between the sample from the serval and canine parvovirus-2b isolates from domestic dogs in Argentina and South Africa. A case of canine parvovirus-2b in a domestic dog from South Africa in 2012 that fell within the same clade as the serval sample appears distantly related because of the long branch length. The significance of these findings is explored. More extensive surveys of canine parvovirus in domestic and wild felids and canids are needed to understand the epidemiology of canine parvovirus in non-domestic felids in South Africa