Everyday Entrepreneurs: Documenting African Entrepreneurial Journeys

In recent years, stories of African entrepreneurship have become popular online, highlighting the journeys, success and challenges that emerging entrepreneurs experience. However, many of these stories and platforms focus mainly on opportunity entrepreneurs and exclude necessity entrepreneurs who operate medium to small businesses, despite the fact that these entrepreneurs overwhelmingly outnumber their more affluent counterparts. Everyday Entrepreneurs is Media Creative Production undertaken with the aim of beginning to fill this gap by highlighting the narratives of some of the entrepreneurs that we encounter daily. The researcher created a web-based platform to showcase various entrepreneurial journeys. This was done by conducting qualitative interviews with seven small-to-medium business owners operating in Cape Town, South Africa, selected through a purposive sampling process. These interviews informed a series of profiles detailing the experiences of these entrepreneurs. The supporting research, as well as the motivations and experiences of the research are documented in the accompanying reflective essay

“Reap what you have not sown” Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Intellectual Property Laws in South Africa

About the publication The aim of this book is to analyse the current status of indigenous intellectual property rights protection in South Africa. The current intellectual property laws and legislations in South Africa do not fully protect indigenous knowledge systems and in some instances the indigenous knowledge is misappropriated, abused without proper recognition and acknowledgement of the custodian of this knowledge. The book suggests that in order for us to fully understand the developments of intellectual property in South Africa, we need to look at similar developments in the United States and Australia. Using conceptual tools dealing with post-colonial, contested culture and legal theories such as the natural-law and the economic model, the book tries to analyse the current predicament: how can one possibly marry indigenous property rights and the western legal frameworks in a practical and ethical way? About the editor: George Sombe Mukuka holds two PhD degrees; in History from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and in Archaeology from the University of the Witwatersrand.Publishe

Affirming the Traditional Teaching of Imbusa as a Tool against Gender-based Violence

The main objective of this paper is to provide light on the traditional teaching of Imbusa, which is utilized to combat the problem of gender-based violence. Violence against women has increased to incredible rates in modern societies, to the point where many women continue to perpetuate anguish in the form of physical abuse, assaults, and molestation, and all these social evils have left women badly devastated, scared, disoriented, and defenceless. Violence entails the use of physical force, such as sexual assault, to injure, mutilate, or kill humans, and occasionally to ruin an individual\u27s life. This paper examines several forms of gender-based violence and the traditional teaching of Imbusa regarding gender violence. The study will also show how this teaching style fosters and strengthens positive relationships between partners in the home

Zambian University Student Teachers’ Conceptions of Algebraic Proofs

This paper reports on a case study that aimed to evaluate the perceptions of 73 student teachers at Mukuba University on the nature and purpose of mathematical proof. They were presented with a mathematical reasoning and proof arguments assessment tool followed by a 10-member focus group interview. Algebraic tasks presented to them involved (i) proof construction on simple number and set theory, (ii) assessment of given mathematical statements and arguments to validate them, and (iii) validating formally structured inductive proofs. More than 75% of the student teachers had limited understanding of the nature and purpose of mathematical proofs and they believed that proof construction and validation entailed inspection of a few examples and the testing of single extreme cases. Concrete examples of empirical forms of mathematical arguments which student teachers perceived as valid were found but these demonstrated limited forms of mathematical reasoning and comprehension. It is proposed that paying attention to analytical and deductive mathematical arguments in school based assessment will alleviate mathematical learning problems and improve the quality of mathematics education. Keywords: student teachers, algebraic proof, conceptions of proof, mathematical reasoning, school based assessment.

Fostering students’ mathematical reasoning through a cooperative learning model

This study sought to ascertain whether the student teams-achievement division (STAD) model of cooperative learning is effective in fostering students’ mathematical reasoning. Using the cluster random sampling technique, 301 eleventh-grade students between the ages of 14 and 20 were chosen from six public secondary schools within one district in Zambia. Students were given tasks on quadratic equations and functions both before and after the intervention. A robust analysis of the covariance test revealed that students’ mathematical reasoning abilities were significantly higher for the group that received instruction using the STAD approach than for the group that was taught using conventional methods of instruction at each of the five design points where regression slopes were comparable. A Chi-square test of independence further revealed that the STAD learning approach was associated with a greater proportion of students who demonstrated an appropriate degree of mathematical reasoning ability for each of the three indicators (conjecturing, justifying, and mathematizing). These results demonstrate that enhancing students’ mathematical reasoning abilities through the integration of classroom activities that engage students intellectually, physically, and socially is beneficial

Learning Time of Day and Students’ Academic Achievement at School Certificate Level: A Case Study of Chibote Girls’ Secondary School.

A case study presented here is an investigation into whether time of day for instruction has an effect on students’ academic achievement in Mathematics, Science, Biology and English at school certificate level by focusing on the grades candidates obtained after sitting for national examinations. The focus is primarily on 33 randomly selected morning and afternoon pupils at Chibote Girls Secondary School. We hypothesized that morning pupils perform better than afternoon pupils owing to the fact that pupils who learn in the morning have a higher retention rate as compared to those who learn in the afternoon when the temperature is quite high. This hypothesis was tested using a non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test which showed that there was no statistically significant difference across the categories of the two learning modes in Mathematics, Science and English. Furthermore, the same results were analysed through a component plot in rotated space (factor analysis) which showed a significant difference in students’ performance between Mathematics and English for both learning modes. Descriptive statistics were computed and the general picture was that pupils performed poorly in all the four subjects with mathematics placed at the tail and English in the lead. Keywords: Learning time, Academic achievement, Core subjects

Construction Project delays in Lusaka, Zambia: Causes and Effects

This paper assesses the construction professionals’ perception on the major causes of construction project delays and there consequential effects of on the Lusaka – Zambia, construction industry. This is due to the fact that the Zambia construction industry is a major key sector in the development and economic growth of Zambia. Despite this belief, the industry has not escaped the challenges facing other countries worldwide in terms of construction projects performance with regards to the delivery of projects on time as stipulated in the contracts. Data used in this study were derived from both primary and secondary sources. The secondary data was collected through a detailed review of related literature. The primary data was collected through a structured questionnaire survey, distributed to construction professionals, who include: architects, quantity surveyors, builders, civil engineers, land surveyors and project managers. Out of the 50 questionnaires sent out, 32 were received back representing 64% response rate. The primary data from the questionnaires was analyzed using descriptive statistics procedures. Hence, findings from the study revealed that delay in progress payments, difficulties in financing projects by the contractor, delay in approving major changes in the scope of work amongst others, were the major causes of construction delays. The study also revealed that extension of project time and cost over runs are the two major effects of construction project delays in Lusaka, Zambia. The study contributes to the body of knowledge on the subject of the causes and the effects of delay construction project delays in Lusaka, Zambia