Students' learning of threshold concepts in undergraduate economics.

Doctor of Philosophy in Education. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2017.Economics is often experienced by students as a difficult subject. Disciplinary difficulty manifests internationally in high failure rates and concerns about the quality of learning and teaching in undergraduate economics. These concerns may be compounded in the South African higher education context, where academic underpreparedness among students is one of many challenges. There is a need to deepen qualitative understanding of students’ learning in economics, and of ways in which it may be facilitated, which calls for a broader framing than the one inherent in the quantitative investigations of performance that predominate in economics education research in this country. This study therefore set out to explore economics students’ learning in a tutorial programme informed by the threshold concepts framework (Land et al., 2016; Meyer and Land, 2003) — a theoretical perspective that offers an encompassing view of disciplinary learning not previously used in this context. This was a qualitative, interpretive study informed by social constructivist principles in teaching and learning as well as research methodology. The case study was set in a threshold concepts-infused, peer-group discussion-centred tutorial programme based in Intermediate Microeconomics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and attended by twenty volunteers from the mainstream class. Interactive Qualitative Analysis (Northcutt and McCoy, 2004) was used to generate and analyze data: focus groups generated affinities (themes) reflecting students’ learning, from which a system diagram was constructed. The affinities were elaborated in individual interviews, supplemented by participants’ written reflections. Together the data provided rich descriptions of learning in the students’ voices. The primary driver of learning was the Group Dynamics affinity — peer interactions in the tutorials — which influenced the other affinities: the Learning Journey through disciplinary concepts and metalearning to Economic Thinking, the Goals that directed and mediated learning, the Personal Outcomes participants related, and the Feelings which pervaded and influenced the course of learning. The systemic nature of this representation of learning and the reciprocal influences among its elements could accommodate complexity and variation in students’ experiences. The thesis offers a graphical and conceptual representation of the experiences and processes of learning in the threshold concepts-infused programme, abstracted from participants’ descriptions. This tentative model depicts disciplinary learning as a challenging and transformative process, requiring that students engage with both head (cognition and metacognition) and heart (conation, affect and identity). In this case, the pedagogy involving peer-group learning supported both aspects. If the discipline as experienced aligns with students’ sense of self, learning is more likely to be experienced as meaningful, facilitating the engagement of students’ inner resources to sustain academic commitment, and in turn enhancing cognitive and metacognitive development. This view of learning can open up our understanding of what it means to learn and to teach in economics and in higher education

The financial and economic feasibility of rural household biodigesters for poor communities in South Africa

Given the persistence of systemic poverty in, most notably, the rural parts of South Africa, the question is whether the use of biodigesters as a source of energy offers potential solutions to some of the difficulties and development needs faced by people in these areas. At the core, this translates into whether this technology would be financially and economically feasible for installation and use by rural households. Here we conduct both a financial and an economic cost-benefit analysis in one such community based on survey data from 120 households. Analysis of these data and supporting literature reveals that a biodigester is not a financially feasible investment for a rural household. Substantial economic benefits are, however, found to make a biodigester a worthwhile investment from a broader societal perspective. This is a compelling argument for further study and the consideration of government support in the light of broader economy-wide benefits.Water Research Commission (WRC Project K5/1955) and South African National Research Foundation (NRF – Freestanding Masters Scholarship programme)http://www.elsevier.com/locate/wasmanhb201

Community-based natural resource management, poverty alleviation and livelihood diversification: A case study from northern Botswana

This paper presents a case study from Ngamiland, northern Botswana, where community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) has been implemented through an ecotourism joint venture between a community-based organisation (CBO) and the private sector. CBNRM is intended to promote sustainable development, by contributing to local poverty alleviation and livelihood diversification through wage employment and CBO fee revenue. The findings in this case suggest that wage revenue and subsequent remittances make a more significant contribution than fee revenue to household poverty alleviation and livelihood diversification. The objective of sustainable tourism development is only partly met by these community benefits.tourism, conservation, community-based natural resource management, Botswana,