The African University Press

While there are new and enabling conditions for university presses to increase production and to widen distribution, the question remains: How can African university presses make the most of these opportunities? Most likely, the answer lies in deploying the technological changes in production, distribution and marketing made possible by digitisation and network effects of the internet. At the same time, propelled by a growing perception in academia of ‘robber capitalism’ on the part of publishers as they protect their oligopoly in the face of dissolving spatial barriers and diminishing value add, we are witnessing a contrary trend: the emergence of the knowledge commons. However, this emergence takes place in an institutional context long dominated by an editorial logic and, in more recent times, by the logic of the market. A holistic way of approaching the question of how African university presses can reposition themselves in support of the broader shift of some African universities towards a greater focus on research, is to consider shifts in the dominant institutional logic in the academic publishing industry. Based on a baseline survey of university presses in Africa, in-depth case studies of selected university presses, and an analysis of the publishing choices made by African academics, this research project examined the opportunities and constraints faced by university presses in Africa. It provides an overview of the African university press landscape and shows that there is a small, active group of university presses. University presses in Africa are not yet making use of technological advances to reconfigure their production, distribution and marketing processes, nor are they experimenting with new publishing models such as open access. While case studies of selected university presses surfaced unsurprising challenges (such as scarce resources and limited capacity), they also show that university presses in Africa are constrained by institutional logics that are holding them back from experimenting with new ways of doing things.The research also reveals that an alarmingly high number of academic authors at one flagship research university in Africa are choosing to publish monographs with predatory publishers. The report concludes with a set of pragmatic recommendations; recommendations that are simultaneously attuned to the opportunities and to the realities of African university presses as revealed by the research conducted

Embedding open data practice: Developing indicators on the institutionalisation of open data practice in two African governments

Final research report of the “Embedding open data practice: Developing indicators on the institutionalisation of open data practice in two African governments” project, which formed part of the World Wide Web Foundation’s "Emerging Impacts of Open Data in Developing Countries" Phase 2 initiative. In order to address the principle question of whether open data practice is being embedded, the project undertook a comparison of government open data in South Africa and Kenya, with a particular focus on open licensing as a key indicator of openness

The state of open data and open data research

Introduction to the book The Social Dynamics of Open Data

Research Universities in Africa

"From the early 2000s, a new discourse emerged, in Africa and the international donor community, that higher education was important for development in Africa. Within this ‘zeitgeist’ of converging interests, a range of agencies agreed that a different, collaborative approach to linking higher education to development was necessary. This led to the establishment of the Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network in Africa (Herana) to concentrate on research and advocacy about the possible role and contribution of universities to development in Africa. This book is the final publication to emerge from the Herana project. The project has also published more than 100 articles, chapters, reports, manuals and datasets, and many presentations have been delivered to share insights gained from the work done by Herana. Given its prolific dissemination, it seems reasonable to ask whether this fourth and final publication will offer the reader anything new. This book is certainly different from previous publications in several respects. First, it is the only book to include an analysis of eight African universities based on the full 15 years of empirical data collected by the project. Second, previous books and reports were published mid-project. This book has benefited from an extended gestation period allowing the authors and contributors to reflect on the project without the distractions associated with managing and participating in a large-scale project. For the first time, some of those who have been involved in Herana since its inception have had the opportunity to at least make an attempt to see part of the wood for the trees. Different does not necessarily mean new. An emphasis on the ‘newness’ of the data and perspectives presented in this book is important because it shows that it is more than a historical record of a donor-funded project. Rather, each chapter in this book brings, to a lesser or greater extent, something new to our understanding of universities, research and development in Africa.

The influence of concrete compressive strength and specimen size on the compression stress block parameters of reinforced concrete

This paper describes the influence of concrete compressive strength and specimen size on the fundamental characteristics of the flexural compressive stress-strain distribution. The main variables were specimen size and cylinder compressive strength. A total of 27 concrete specimens were subjected to flexural tests, with specific reference to analysis of the compression stresses, produced by varying two independent loads in a configuration aimed at controlling the strain distribution. These loads generated a condition of zero strain on the one face of the specimen, and a condition of maximum flexural compression strain on the opposite face. From the strain distribution, the stress-strain curves and stress block parameters were determined, and the influence of specimen size on the stress block parameters described using the Modified Size Effect Law (MSLE). Using a modified form of the moment-axial force (M-N) interaction diagram the BS 8110-1 (1997), SANS 0100-1 (2000), ACI-318 (2014) and EN 1992-1-1 (2004) codes of practice were compared for the design of reinforced concrete beams containing South African materialshttp://www.journals.co.za/ej/ejour_civileng.htmlCivil Engineerin

Case study: Open Data in the governance of South African higher education

The availability and accessibility of open data has the potential to increase transparency and accountability and, in turn, the potential to improve the governance of universities as public institutions. In addition, it is suggested that open data is likely to increase the quality, efficacy and efficiency of research and analysis of the national higher education system by providing a shared empirical base for critical interrogation and reinterpretation. The Centre for Higher Education Transformation (CHET) has developed an online, open data platform providing institutional-level data on South African higher education. However, other than anecdotal feedback, little is known about how the data is being used. Using CHET as a case study, this project studied the use of the CHET open data initiative by university planners as well as by higher education studies researchers. It did so by considering the supply of and demand for open data as well as the roles of intermediaries in the South African higher education governance ecosystem. The study found that (i) CHET’s open data is being used by university planners and higher education studies researchers, albeit infrequently; (ii) the government’s higher education database is a closed and isolated data source in the data ecosystem; (iii) there are concerns at both government and university levels about how data will be used and (mis)interpreted; (iv) open data intermediaries increase the accessibility and utility of data; (v) open data intermediaries provide both supply-side as well as demand- side value; (vi) intermediaries may assume the role of a ‘keystone species’ in a data ecosystem; (vii) intermediaries have the potential to democratise the impacts and use of open data – intermediaries play an important role in curtailing the ‘de-ameliorating’ effects of data-driven disciplinary surveillance.. The report concludes as follows: (i) despite poor data provision by government, the public university governance open data ecosystem has evolved because of the presence of intermediaries in the ecosystem; (ii) by providing a richer information context and/or by making the data interoperable, government could improve the uptake of data by new users and intermediaries, as well as by the existing intermediaries; and (iii) increasing the fluidity of government open data could remove uncertainties around both the degree of access provided by intermediaries and the financial sustainability of the open platforms provided by intermediaries

Mapping undergraduate exit-level assessment in a medical programme : a blueprint for clinical competence?

CITATION: Tan, C. P. L., et al. 2016. Mapping undergraduate exit-level assessment in a medical programme: a blueprint for clinical competence? African Journal of Health Professions Education, 8(1):45-49, doi:10.7196/AJHPE.2016.v8i1.546.The original publication is available at http://www.ajhpe.org.zaENGLISH SUMMARY : Background. Assessment is an essential component of a medical curriculum. High-stakes exit-level assessment used for licensing and certification purposes needs to be sound. Even though criteria for evaluating assessment practices exist, an analysis of the nature of these practices is first required. Objective. To map current exit-level assessment practices, as described in institutional documentation. Methods. This descriptive interpretive study centred on the document analysis of final-phase study guides of the undergraduate medical programme at Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa. Results. The key findings were: (i) there is a diversity of methods and approaches to assessment in the final-phase modules; (ii) modules using similar assessment methods applied different credit weightings; (iii) similar assessment methods were described differently across the study guides; and (iv) study guides varied in the amount of information provided about the assessment methods. Conclusion. There is a diverse range of assessment practices at exit level of the MB,ChB programme at Stellenbosch University. This in-depth analysis of assessment methods has highlighted areas where current practice needs to be investigated in greater depth, and where shifts to a more coherent practice should be encouraged. Assessment mapping provides a useful reference for programme co-ordinators and is applicable to other programmes.http://www.ajhpe.org.za/index.php/ajhpe/article/view/546Publisher's versio

Calibration of an optoelectronic system for the characteristion of ultraviolet sensitive photodiodes

Spectral and electrical characteristion of ultraviolet (UV) sensitive photodiodes requires a calibrated optoelectronic system. For spectral characteristion, the irradiance of the UV light source, after the light passed through a monochromator and optical fiber, was calibrated for wavelengths ranging from 200 nm to 400 nm. Commercially available AlGaN-based photodiodes was characterised and the obtained parameters were compared to that specified.http://www.satnt.ac.z