Online assessment in Moodle: A framework for supporting our students

With the increased intake of students at many higher education institutions, the teaching, learning and assessment of large groups is one of the biggest challenges facing educators. Appropriate online assessment may address some of the challenges faced in the teaching and learning setting. In this paper, the experiences of 392 mathematics students, undertaking their assessments via Moodle at a University in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, are described. Student experiences informed the design of a supportive-environmental framework for online assessment.The theoretical lens for this research study is framed by mastery learning, student experience and online assessment. The research reported on in this paper highlights one aspect of the project: the third phase of the action-research cycle, namely, to observe the implementation of online assessment.Examples from two blended-learning Moodle courses highlight some of the experienced difficulties and successes. The lessons learnt informed the online-assessment design and implementation to introduce supportive environments for online assessment. The knowledge gained from this study culminated in a 4-Pillar Supportive-Online Assessment Framework for Blended-Learning environments, which could contribute to an improvement in online-assessment practices.

Can credit derivative instruments be utilised by South African banks to effectively hedge the credit risk they face in lending to the small, medium and micro enterprise market?

Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.The objective of this research proposal is to explore the extent to which credit derivatives can be used effectively by domestic financial institutions, in particular, Commercial Banks to hedge the credit risk associated with lending to the Small, Medium and Micro enterprise (SMME) market segment, thereby making lending to this market segment an attractive and viable banking proposition. The financial services sector in South Africa has come under severe criticism from Government, trade unions and the unbanked, low income earners for not fulfilling their social responsibility, in terms of, not banking the Small, Medium and Micro enterprise (SMME) customer base. In particular, financial institutions have been accused of ignoring or not giving sufficient attention to the financial/credit needs of this market segment. These parties have argued that many of the domestic financial institutions are applying standard credit criteria to this market segment, which they feel is incorrect. This has often resulted in SMME's having their requests for credit facilities declined by domestic financial institutions and then having to resort to approaching unscrupulous "loan sharks" for credit facilities, which facilities are often made available to them at exorbitant interest rates. The alleged reluctance on the part of domestic financial services institutions to make available credit facilities, in the form of start-up business loans and asset-based finance to the SMME segment has possibly hindered economic growth, productivity, employment and resulted indirectly in a host of other social anomalies. Alister Ruiters of the Department of Trade and Industry has been publicly vociferous in his attack on domestic financial institutions (Business Day, August18, 1999). It would appear these financial institutions are only prepared to do business with this market segment in partnership with Government, where Government bears a large proportion of the risk by providing guarantees or indemnities on behalf of the client. Examples of such guarantees include Khula and Sizabantu guarantees issued by agencies controlled within the ambit of the Department of Trade and Industry. Financial service institutions have defended their actions by countering that the credit risk attached to making loans available to the SMME market segment is often unacceptable to them. Many of these potential clients are characterised by adverse credit records, show little stability, in terms of, employment and domicilium and often do not have any tangible collateral available to support their loan requests. That is, the risk from lending to this market segment far outweighs the potential returns. Further, these financial institutions have argued that with South Africa having been accepted into the international fold and following the accelerated pace of globalisation, new markets have opened up for their shareholders. Hence, shareholders are requiring improved returns (capital gains and/or dividends); else they are at liberty to move their funds to other investment destinations. The pressure on domestic financial institutions to deliver consistently better returns on equity has been and continues to be a difficult one. This is exacerbated by the increasing competitive pressure from both retail competitors who are now offering financial services, such as Pick 'n Pay Financial Services, Woolworth's, and foreign financial institutions, who have entered the domestic scene. For many of the retail competitors the offering of financial services is seen merely as an extension of their product line. Existing infrastructure, in the form of, branches /outlets and technology are largely already in place. Further, they are not bound by the same liquidity reserve requirements imposed by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), as are the domestic financial institutions they now compete against. Hence, the retail competitors' profit margins are likely to be higher. Further, as many of the foreign financial institutions are not constrained by the same social responsibility obligations local financial institutions face and as they have not invested substantially in branch networks and other infrastructure in South Africa, their profit margins are higher and hence their returns on equity is likely to be significantly higher than the domestic financial institutions. Following the increasing popularity of Credit Derivatives in countries, such as, the United States of America, the United Kingdom and India, it is my intention to explore whether this instrument can be used effectively by domestic financial institutions as an hedging tool to insure against what they might otherwise consider unacceptable risk in the SMME market segment. That is, will the use of credit derivatives make the lending of funds to this client base an acceptable or attractive proposition to domestic financial institutions. However, we first need to define credit risk and credit derivatives before we proceed further. Creditex (Commentary, May 2001) defines credit risk as: "the risk of loss following default. " PriceWaterhouseCoopers defines a credit derivative as : "a credit risk management instrument that allows a financial institution to transfer credit risk to another party". Having, in simple terms, defined what we mean by credit risk and credit derivatives, we proceed by suggesting how credit derivatives can be used as an effective hedging tool and also some of the possible shortcomings that may be associated with the use of credit derivatives in South Africa. Cheow and Chiu (Managing Credit Risks, May 23,2001) suggest credit derivatives have the potential to transform the way in which Commercial Banks do business. The impact of credit derivatives is likely to result in changes in Bank's operating and credit models of assessment, pricing policies and offer insight into how products and services may be developed and implemented. Traditionally Banks appear to have been involved in all aspects of lending from origination to administration, monitoring and collection. These authors suggest the resulting credit model emanating from the use of credit derivatives is likely to only concentrate on origination of the loan with the view of later selling-off the book itself or insuring the credit risk. This latter alternative involves credit derivatives. We turn our attention to highlighting some possible constraints to the effective use of credit derivatives in South Africa. These are as follows : Lack of effective infrastructure Lack of liquidity Lack Of Transparency Restrictive Central Bank regulations and exchange controls limited number of large financial institutions

Learning to belong: Navigating liminal spaces between disciplinary and teaching identities

The continuous professional learning of academics as university teachers is a national imperative in South Africa. At our university, a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Higher Education) was introduced in 2015 with the aim to professionalise university teaching through a formal qualification. Students (i.e., candidates) must transition in two ways: firstly, from being disciplinary specialists to being students again; and secondly, into the community of scholarly teaching in higher education. This article examines the liminality experienced by candidates as they navigate the programme and learn to belong to a new scholarly teaching community. Drawing on empirical data collected from graduates and programme coordinators, the authors track candidates’ shifting identities and showcase how, though initially turbulent and unsettling, the process of learning to belong to a new teaching identity can be rewarding and enriching. The authors conclude by discussing the conditions required to enable candidates to acquire a strong university-teacher identity

From pandemic disruption to post-pandemic transformation: New possibilities for teaching in South African higher education

The COVID-19 pandemic has had previously unimaginable and far-reaching effects on higher education globally (Baker et al. 2022; Cranfield et al. 2021; Kara 2021; Le Grange 2020). On top of the widespread loss felt by students and teachers across the world, we have had to make rapid changes to previously taken-for-granted ways of doing, being, learning and teaching (Baker et al. 2022; Cranfield et al. 2021). Emergency Remote Teaching and Learning (ERTL) brought constraints and opportunities, challenges and innovations. This article gives form to the statement: “there is an opportunity in the moment for genuine equity-focused innovation in policy-making, provision and pedagogy” (Czerniewicz et al. 2020). We use a theoretical framework of structure, culture and agency through which to view possibilities for transformation of pedagogy, and a form of semi-autoethnography as methodology. Two lecturers, one in the Humanities (Education) and one in the Life Sciences, wrote extended narratives of their experiences of ERTL and the other authors then posed a series of questions to the story authors, which elicited a set of analytic descriptions and explanations. Through iterations of this analysis, we identified two important themes: attending to students’ socio-emotional needs and developing students’ engagement, self-regulation and reflexivity. The analysis identifies key opportunities and challenges that these required and how they were addressed by the lecturers concerned. Based on the analysis and drawing on Case’s (2015b) argument for an expanded sense of agency for students, we argue that the lecture is a key structural and cultural element of the university space that was disrupted during the pandemic and can be transformed going forward. We thus argue for decentering the lecture. Furthermore, we argue that care and concern for students has not been a primary cultural element of teaching and learning in higher education, for structural reasons, and that it should be an integral part of pedagogies going forward

Oral Medicine Case Book 56: Oral Manifestations of aplastic anaemia

A 22-year old female patient was referred to the Oral Medicine Clinic from the Haematology Ward at Groote Schuur Hospital for evaluation of a painful oral ulcer, which had been present for three weeks. The patient reported that, six weeks ago, she had sought treatment from her own dentist for painful and bleeding gingivae. The dentist performed a scale and polish and prescribed a combination of amoxicillin and metronidazole, at normal adult doses, for seven days. The gingival bleeding had not resolved by the time she presented for her recall visit, two weeks later. The patient also reported the presence of 'small, purple spots' on her lower limbs and trunk.DHE

Determining an average distance from the external mandibular cortex to the inferior alveolar canal using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) imaging: An aid to harvesting mandibular ramus autogenous grafts.

OBJECTIVES: To provide average measurements relating the external mandibular cortex (EMC) to the inferior alveolar canal (IAC) using CBCT. METHODS: 100 CBCT images from UWC Dental hospital patient database were analysed using CBCT software (NewtomVGi Image works Corps) to produce coronal slices at four defined points along the IAC. Each point was measured from the IAC to the outer aspect of the mandibular buccal cortex and to the alveolar ridge crest (edentulous mandibles) or buccal cortical plate crest (dentate mandibles). The paired t-test was used to analyse right and left side measurements in order to test for differences in right and left side means. RESULTS: A mean width of 5.891mm (±1.09) from the IAC to the EMC in the horizontal plane and a mean height of 13.068mm (±2.963) from IAC to the alveolar crest or buccal cortical plate was demonstrated. Mean height was lower in edentulous mandibles (11.142mm in females; 13.490mm in males) than in dentate mandibles (12.916mm in females; 14.102 in males). There was no significant difference in width values. Height values were greater in males (14.102mm) than in females (12.916mm), being marginally significant (p-value of 0.00948:p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These measurements are clinically applicable when harvesting mandibular autogenous block grafts.DHE

'Birth to Ten' - pilot studies to test the feasibility of a birth cohort study investigating the effects of urbanisation in South Africa

Birth to Ten' is a birth cohort study currently being conducted in the Johannesburg-Soweto area. This paper describes the various pilot studies that were undertaken to investigate the feasibility of a cohort study in an urban area. These studies were designed to determine the monthly birth rate, the timing, frequency and duration of maternal antenatal visits, the timing and frequency of visits to well-baby clinics and the accuracy and reliability of routinely collected growth data. In addition, a birth data collection form was tested to ascertain the . appropriateness of its use in clinics within the study area

A dedicated vascular access clinic for children on haemodialysis: Two years' experience

BACKGROUND: Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) formation for long-term haemodialysis in children is a niche discipline with little data for guidance. We developed a dedicated Vascular Access Clinic that is run jointly by a transplant surgeon, paediatric nephrologist, dialysis nurse and a clinical vascular scientist specialised in vascular sonography for the assessment and surveillance of AVFs. We report the experience and 2-year outcomes of this clinic. METHODS: Twelve new AVFs were formed and 11 existing AVFs were followed up for 2 years. All children were assessed by clinical and ultrasound examination. RESULTS: During the study period 12 brachiocephalic, nine basilic vein transpositions and two radiocephalic AVFs were followed up. The median age (interquartile range) and weight of those children undergoing new AVF creation were 9.4 (interquartile 3-17) years and 26.9 (14-67) kg, respectively. Pre-operative ultrasound vascular mapping showed maximum median vein and artery diameters of 3.0 (2-5) and 2.7 (2.0-5.3) mm, respectively. Maturation scans 6 weeks after AVF formation showed a median flow of 1277 (432-2880) ml/min. Primary maturation rate was 83 % (10/12). Assisted maturation was 100 %, with two patients requiring a single angioplasty. For the 11 children with an existing AVF the maximum median vein diameter was 14.0 (8.0-26.0) mm, and the median flow rate was 1781 (800-2971) ml/min at a median of 153 weeks after AVF formation. Twenty-two AVFs were used successfully for dialysis, a median kt/V of 1.97 (1.8-2.9), and urea reduction ratio of 80.7 % (79.3-86 %) was observed. One child was transplanted before the AVF was used. CONCLUSIONS: A multidisciplinary vascular clinic incorporating ultrasound assessment is key to maintaining young children on chronic haemodialysis via an AVF

Perceptions and knowledge about the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome among students in university residences

Using an anonymous questionnaire to obtain baseline data on sexual behaviour and knowledge of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) among students in university residences, the following information was obtained: Knowledge of AIDS was found to be high, although misconceptions regarding transmission of the virus were prevalent. Mosquito bites (15%) and the donating of blood (31%) were incorrectly identified as methods of transmission of the virus. Deep kissing was recognised by only 27% of the students as a possible method of transmission while 22% and 13% of the students, respectively, failed to identify the sharing of razor blades and blood transfusions as possible means of contracting HIV infection. The students' knowledge had not greatly affected sexual behaviour. Two-thirds of the respondents had previously had sexual contact; 38% .were sexually active at the time of the study, and of these 74% had engaged in unprotected intercourse with casual partners in the previous 6 months. There was a negative attitude towards condom use and over 80% of sexually active students did not perceive themselves to be at risk of contracting AIDS. Campus Health (82%), State health services (51%), and public advertisements (60%) were preferred sources of AIDS information. Newspapers/ magazines (80%) and leaflets (69%) were identified as the preferred media. In reality, significantly fewer students obtained their information from Campus Health (15%; P &lt; 0,05), State health services (19%; P &lt; 0,05) and leaflets (44%; P &lt; 0,05). It can be concluded that education programmes should be developed by credible organisations to ensure that an awareness of AIDS results in appropriate sexual behaviour