Effectiveness of academic writing activities and instruction in an academic literacy writing course at the University of Botswana

The purpose of this paper is to report on the University of Botswana undergraduate students’ and lecturers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of academic writing activities and instruction given in Communication and Academic Literacy Skills (COM112) academic writing module. Students (n= 46) and lecturers (n=2) who have taught the course were probed through a questionnaire adapted from (Krause, 2001) on their instruction and assessment of the course. Fifteen (n= 12) Students were also interviewed in a focus group. The data obtained indicated that students and lecturers held different perceptions about the effectiveness of the academic writing activities and instruction. These results have implications for classroom pedagogy in that lecturers need to consider the perceptions and needs of students (Nunan, 1989) if they are to fully adopt a learner centred approach to learning and teaching that is suggested by the University of Botswana (UB) Learning and teaching policy (2008)

Reading competency of first-year undergraduate students at University of Botswana: A case study

The ability to read and interpret textbooks and other assigned material is a critical component of success at university level. Therefore, the aims of this study are twofold: to evaluate the reading levels of first-year students when they first enter the university to determine how adequately prepared they are for university reading. It is also to find out if there will be any significant improvement after going through the academic literacy course offered to first-year students. The participants were 51 first-year undergraduate humanities students enrolled in the Communication and Academic Literacy course at the University of Botswana. The data were collected through a reading test adopted from Zulu which was administered at the beginning of the first semester. The same test was administered at the end of the semester after the students had gone through the academic literacy course to see if there was any difference in performance. The findings of this study indicate that there is a mixed and wide variation of students reading competency levels when students first enter the university and that a significant number of first-year entrants are inadequately prepared for university reading

Revealing the social face of innovation

CITATION: Hart, T.G.B., et al. 2015. Revealing the social face of innovation. South African Journal of Science, 111(9-10): 1-6, doi: 10.17159/sajs.2015/20140126.The original publication is available at http://www.sajs.co.zaDespite the introduction of social innovation in the 1996 White Paper on Science and Technology, the concept of social innovation has not been actively implemented or even diffused outside of the policy arena in South Africa. Perceptions about what the concept of social innovation should encompass are contested and range from ideas of social welfare outcomes, public goods and a primary focus on the poor. More recently, the emphasis has been on inclusive development that embraces and supports the poor as innovators and which incorporates elements of social and economic development. While contestation in terminology persists, evidence from South Africa’s rural areas suggests that although there may be limited state intervention, hampered by structural constraints, and limited understanding of contemporary ideas about innovation and social innovation, local actors practise a variety of forms of social innovation. In most instances, the purpose is to improve social and economic well-being of the poor. Such innovation activities occur almost as widely and as often as strictly commercially oriented innovation activities. However, it is unclear from observed social innovation practices who should benefit from these practices (the poor or everyone), how (directly or indirectly) and when (immediately or gradually). It is suggested that extensive use of the actor-oriented sociological approach to understanding social dynamics in both science and development can provide a means of understanding the subtleties involved in innovation practices and its use should be adopted to address structural challenges within the National System of Innovation that mediate against the contribution of innovations to the poor for inclusive development.http://www.sajs.co.za/revealing-social-face-innovation/tim-g-b-hart-kgabo-h-ramoroka-peter-t-jacobs-brigid-lettyPublisher's versio

Social innovation in South Africa's rural municipalities: policy implications

HSRC Policy Brief, March

Promoting innovation for inclusive rural transformation in South Africa

HSRC Policy Brief, October

π-Conjugated Polymers and Their Application in Organic and Hybrid Organic-Silicon Solar Cells

The evolution and emergence of organic solar cells and hybrid organic-silicon heterojunction solar cells have been deemed as promising sustainable future technologies, owing to the use of π-conjugated polymers. In this regard, the scope of this review article presents a comprehensive summary of the applications of π-conjugated polymers as hole transporting layers (HTLs) or emitters in both organic solar cells and organic-silicon hybrid heterojunction solar cells. The different techniques used to synthesize these polymers are discussed in detail, including their electronic band structure and doping mechanisms. The general architecture and principle of operating heterojunction solar cells is addressed. In both discussed solar cell types, incorporation of π-conjugated polymers as HTLs have seen a dramatic increase in efficiencies attained by these devices, owing to the high transmittance in the visible to near-infrared region, reduced carrier recombination, high conductivity, and high hole mobilities possessed by the p-type polymeric materials. However, these cells suffer from long-term stability due to photo-oxidation and parasitic absorptions at the anode interface that results in total degradation of the polymeric p-type materials. Although great progress has been seen in the incorporation of conjugated polymers in the various solar cell types, there is still a long way to go for cells incorporating polymeric materials to realize commercialization and large-scale industrial production due to the shortcomings in the stability of the polymers. This review therefore discusses the progress in using polymeric materials as HTLs in organic solar cells and hybrid organic-silicon heterojunction solar cells with the intention to provide insight on the quest of producing highly efficient but less expensive solar cells