Undergraduate student wellbeing: The lived experience in higher education

The wellbeing of undergraduate students in Higher Education (HE) is often associated with the student experience. Previous research has shown that measuring wellbeing is problematic because of its complexity. Moreover, the lived experiences of students are often missing from the equation of measuring wellbeing. This article explores the perceptions of students’ wellbeing pre-COVID19 and their lived experiences both inside and outside of HE; and the relationships between students’ characteristics. This study increases our understanding of student’s lived experiences and student wellbeing in HE. A survey was used to identify the perceptions of undergraduate students (n=105) of wellbeing. The findings indicated that student recognise the importance of access to library systems on and off campus (m=4.44, S.D.=0.752), module tutor (m=4.37, S.D.=0.657), computers on campus (M= 4.17, S.D.=0.902), photocopying and printing (m=4.11, S.D.=0.926) for student wellbeing in HE. In their personal lives, students believed that access to study facilities where they live (m=4.30, S.D.=0.876), friends (m=4.22, SD=0.734), health (m=4.18, SD=0.948) and their wider family (m=4.07, S.D.=1.129) were critical elements for their wellbeing. The most popular activities outside university life that improve student wellbeing were talking to peers and friends (98%), sleeping and resting (86%). Sports activities (16%) and counselling (12%) ranked lower. Student’s perceptions of wellbeing were not associated with notions of “medicalised” mental health. This study concludes that student wellbeing in their academic and personal lived experiences revolves around access to resources and relationships that helps them get on with their studies while at university, and where they live

DEVELOPING GUIDELINES FOR A SOUTH AFRICAN TEXTBOOK OF TRANSLATION

Published ArticleThe declaration of eleven languages as the official languages of South Africa brought about an increased need for translation and language planning in South Africa. However, many students of translation experience difficulty to produce quality translations, even after completing a course in translation. The purpose of this article is to report the findings of the original research on an investigation of the possible cause of this problem, as well as to find a possible solution to the problem. The results of the study show that the reason for this problem might be the training of translation students by using foreign textbooks and the lack of a South African textbook of translation. The findings further suggest that a translation textbook true to the South African context might be the solution to this problem. This study focuses on developing guidelines for the compilation of such a textbook

Sulphur-substituted Pyrrolo[3,4-b]quinolines: Synthesis, Chemistry and Antimicrobial Activity

2,3-Dihydro-2-propyl-3-propylimino-9-thioxo-pyrrolo[3,4-b]quinolin-1-one reacts with an aliphatic primary, secondary or tertiary amine to forma 1:1 substrate:amine (thiolate) complex. It also readily undergoes S-alkylation (with diazomethane or with an alkyl halide), S-acetylation (with acetic anhydride), hydrogenolysis (Raney nickel) with removal of sulphur, and acid-catalysed hydrolysis (with selective replacement of the 3-propylimino function by oxygen). Two novel di-(pyrrolo[3,4-b] quinolinyl) sulphide reaction products are described and their structures established. Treatment of these ‘dimers’ and related 9-alkylthio-substituted pyrroloquinolines with an aliphatic amine provides a convenient access to ‘simple’ or ‘mixed’ 2-alkyl-9-alkylamino-3-alkylimino-pyrroloquinoline derivatives. Preliminary antimicrobial (in vitro) tests indicate that: (a) the weak antimicrobial activity of the aforementioned 9-thioxo-pyrroloquinoline substrate against three selected Gram-positive pathogens is significantly enhanced in its amine complexes, and by the presence of a 6-fluoro atom in the quinoline moiety, and (b) that substitution of the 4-oxo-function in 4-oxo- 3-quinolinecarboxylic acids by an ethylimino group leads to a marked reduction in antimicrobial properties.Keywords: 2-Alkyl-3-alkylimino-9-thioxo-2,3-dihydro-pyrrolo[3,4-b]quinolin-1-ones, pyrrolo[3,4-b]quinoline (1:1) amine complexes, 6-fluoro-derivatives, antimicrobial activities, di-[(pyrrolo[3,4-b]quinolinyl)] sulphides, 9-alkylthio-substituted pyrrolo[3,4-b] quinolines

Customer satisfaction, trust and commitment as predictors of customer loyalty within an optometric practice environment

Optometric businesses need to adopt strategies to enhance loyalty, as customer satisfaction is not enough to ensure loyalty and customer retention. It has been stated that 85% of patients in the optometric industry who defect to other service providers were satisfied with the service received just before defecting. Consequently, to assist optometric practices in South Africa with their customer loyalty strategies, the purpose of the research conducted for this article was to develop an understanding of theinfluence of the independent variables of customer satisfaction, trust and commitment on customer loyalty within an optometric practice. The methodological approach followed was exploratory and quantitative in nature. The sample consisted of 357 patients who had visited the practice twice or more within the past six years. A structured questionnaire, with a five-point Likert scale, was used. A descriptive and multiple regression analysis approach was used to analyse the results. The main conclusion is that customer satisfaction had the highest correlation with customer loyalty, but the other independent variables also significantly influence customer loyalty within an optometric practice environment. The implication is that optometric practices need to focus on customer satisfaction, trustand commitment in order to improve customer loyalty.Key words: optometric practice, customer loyalty, customer retention, customer satisfaction, customer relationship managemen

An Old Dog Learns Some New Tricks: Ready to Embrace Online Learning with Collaborate

https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/weeklyreader/1058/thumbnail.jp

Developing health enhancing physical activity modules for higher and vocational education

Health enhancing physical inactivity is a growing concern leading to health problems in Europe and nationwide. WHO (2017) stated that the current levels of physical inactivity are the consequence of insufficient participation in physical activity and an increase in sedentary behavior. The British Heart Foundation (2015) also reported that 13 to 15 years in England were sedentary for six hours or more for both genders (boys = 24%, girls = 16%) on weekdays, and there was a spike of sedentary behaviour on weekend days with 43% of boys and 37% for this age group. The "Sport, Physical Education and Coaching for Health" (SPEACH) project, is an Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union (2015-2017). The key purpose of the project to prepare professional practitioners in higher and vocational education in the areas of Physical Education, Sports and Physical Activity to change behaviors of the citizens of Europe and increase physical activity. To achieve this, the project culminated in developing, validating, piloting and evaluating five Health Enhancing Physical Activity (HEPA) related modules, which may be embedded into existing education structures in the areas of Physical Education, Sports and Physical Activity. The design of the HEPA modules attempts to test a cutting edge multidisciplinary approach that bridges the gap between research / theory and practice (Armour, 2014). The needs analysis phase of the project comprised survey responses of 660 students in higher and vocational education studying Physical Education, Sports and Physical Activity from seven European countries; 14 interviewees with subject experts; and a focus group with professional and academic field experts. The results demonstrated that students in particular welcome a multidisciplinary approach for module content. The combination of “dual” content themes in modules was a key innovation that students responded favourably to, therefore HEPA modules covered themes such as changing behavior; personal leadership; physical activity for special target groups; health policy; linked to young people, their families and sport; management; nutrition, walking sports and healthy aging; and so on.. Surveyed students’ views of desirable pedagogy / didactics for these modules were practice oriented; training; internship / work based; group-and classroom based teaching. Three HEPA modules were piloted in a real-life setting in an intensive week of teaching (20 hours) each module to three groups of undergraduate students from Physical Education, Sports and Physical Activity from Europe that opted to participate in the pilot study. The developed HEPA modules were evaluated by students and staff; and the findings demonstrated relevance, enjoyment, flexibility and differentiated levels of instruction that will facilitate the embedding of any of these modules at vocational, bachelor as well as master level. These modules will be available online in an open resource that will facilitate free access, collaboration and cooperation of stakeholders in higher and vocational education in the areas of Physical Education, Sports and Physical Activity

Antibacterial and antimycobacterial activities of South African Salvia species and isolated compounds from S. chamelaeagnea

Extracts of 16 South African Salvia species commonly used in traditional medicine to treat various microbial infections were investigated for in vitro antibacterial and antimycobacterial activities using the micro-dilution and respiratory BACTEC method, respectively. The micro-organisms tested include two Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus); two Gram-negative (Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae) bacterial strains and the common pathogen responsible for tuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Extracts of the majority of species exhibited moderate to good antibacterial activity with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 0.03 to 8.00 mg/ml. Promising activity was observed against M. tuberculosis (MIC ≤ 0.50 mg/ml) with S. radula, S. verbenaca and S. dolomitica displaying the most favourable activity (MIC: 0.10 mg/ml). The antibacterial bioassay-guided fractionation of S. chamelaeagnea resulted in the isolation of four compounds: carnosol, 7-O-methylepirosmanol, oleanolic acid and its isomer ursolic acid as the active principles against S. aureus. The in vitro antibacterial and antimycobacterial activities may support the use of Salvia species in traditional medicine to treat microbial infections

Scenarios as the basis for assessment of mitigation and adaptation

The possibilities and need for adaptation and mitigation depends on uncertain future developments with respect to socio-economic factors and the climate system. Scenarios are used to explore the impacts of different strategies under uncertainty. In this chapter, some scenarios are presented that are used in the ADAM project for this purpose. One scenario explores developments with no mitigation, and thus with high temperature increase and high reliance on adaptation (leading to 4oC increase by 2100 compared to pre-industrial levels). A second scenario explores an ambitious mitigation strategy (leading to 2oC increase by 2100 compared to pre-industrial levels). In the latter scenario, stringent mitigation strategies effectively reduces the risks of climate change, but based on uncertainties in the climate system a temperature increase of 3oC or more cannot be excluded. The analysis shows that, in many cases, adaptation and mitigation are not trade-offs but supplements. For example, the number of people exposed to increased water resource stress due to climate change can be substantially reduced in the mitigation scenario, but even then adaptation will be required for the remaining large numbers of people exposed to increased stress. Another example is sea level rise, for which adaptation is more cost-effective than mitigation, but mitigation can help reduce damages and the cost of adaptation. For agriculture, finally, only the scenario based on a combination of adaptation and mitigation is able to avoid serious climate change impacts

Energy Security of China, India, the E.U. and the U.S. under Long-term Scenarios: Results from Six IAMs

This paper assesses energy security in three long-term energy scenarios (a business as usual development, a projection of Copenhagen commitments, and a 450 ppm stabilization scenario) as modeled in six integrated assessment models: GCAM, IMAGE, MESSAGE, ReMIND, TIAM-ECN and WITCH. We systematically evaluate potential long-term vulnerabilities of vital energy systems of four major economies: China, the European Union, India and the U.S., as expressed by several characteristics of energy trade, resource extraction, and diversity of energy options. Our results show that climate policies are likely to lead to significantly lower global energy trade and reduce energy imports of major economies, decrease the rate of resource depletion, and increase the diversity of energy options, particularly in the especially vulnerable transportation sector. China, India and the E.U. will derive particularly strong benefits from climate policies, whereas the U.S. may forego some opportunities to export fossil fuels in the second half of the century