The international performance of the South African academic institutions: a citation assessment

This article reports the results of an investigation to identify the disciplinary strengths and the international standing of the higher education institutions in South Africa. Even though comparative assessments provide valuable information for research administrations, researchers and students such information is not available in South Africa currently. The Essential Science Indicators database of the Institute for Scientific Information is utilized for the investigation and six South African universities are identified to be included in the top 1% of the world’s institutions cited in the international scientific literature. The identified institutions are University of Cape Town, University of Pretoria, Orange Free State University, University of Witwatersrand, University of Natal and University of Stellenbosch. Analysis of the scientific disciplines in which the South African institutions meet the threshold requirements for inclusion in the database shows that the country has citation footprints in only nine of the 22 broad scientific disciplines. The article identifies the international standing of the South African universities in the various scientific disciplines, and elaborates on the consequences relevant to higher education and science and technology policy.     

Gleichstellung von Frauen und Männern an vollrechtsfähigen Universitäten

Trotz hoher Studentinnen- und Absolventinnenzahlen in den meisten Studienrichtungen ist der Anteil der Frauen an akademischen Spitzenpositionen noch immer gering. Die Gründe für dieses Missverhältnis liegen in einer Reihe spezifischer Schwierigkeiten, mit denen Frauen bei universitären Laufbahnen konfrontiert sind. Die Politik der Europäischen Union verfolgt seit 1999 das explizite Ziel, Frauen stärker in der universitären und außeruniversitären Forschung zu verankern. Mit dem Vertrag von Amsterdam wurde auch der gemeinschaftsrechtliche Rahmen neu gestaltet. Das UG 2002 hat "Frauenförderung" und "Gleichstellung von Frauen und Männern" zur Aufgabe der Universitäten und damit zu einem zentralen Teil ihres Bildungsauftrags erklärt. Die Europäische Strategie des "Gender Mainstreaming" wurde so in eine innerstaatliche, alle Universitätsorgane bindende Verpflichtung umgesetzt. Der Beitrag behandelt die rechtlichen Möglichkeiten der vollrechtsfähigen Universitäten zur Frauenförderung und bewertet Reichweite und Wirksamkeit der neuen Rechtslage.     

Life in the oceanic realms

The marine environment includes the nutrient-rich coastal waters, relatively nutrient-poor open oceanic waters, coral reef atolls, metal-rich hydrothermal vent fluids with temperatures of 200–350°C, cold-seeps, estuaries, mangrove swamps, intertidal beaches and rocky shores. Oceans are home to some of themost diverse and unique life forms. This article is an attempt to introduce some of the fundamentals of biologicaloceanography andmarine biologyto describe life in the sea.     

固支Mindlin 板弯曲问题的辛本征解

Hamiltonian system for the problem on clamped Mindlin plate bending was established by introducing the dual variables for the generalized displacements in this letter. By separation of variables, the transverse eigen-problem was derived based on the sympletic geometry method. With the solved sympletic eigen-values, the generalized sympletic eigen-solution was derived through eigenfunction expansion. An example of plate with all edges clamped was given. The sympletic solution system was worked out directly from the Hamiltonian system. It breaks the limitation of traditional analytic methods which need to select basis functions in advance. The results indicate that the sympletic solution method could find its more extensive applications.     

Assessing the counselling needs of high school students in Kenya

The Student Counselling Needs Scale (SCNS) was administered to 867 participants recruited from high schools in Kenya. The data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis yielding five factors: human relationships, career development, self development, social values, and learning skills were assessed. The findings highlighted the importance of using assessment instruments to identify students’ counselling needs in Kenya.     

Immigrant Families and Children (Re)Develop Identities in a New Context

Resolving conflicting linguistic traditions and struggling with new identities are significant challenges for immigrants to the United States. This case study introduces an immigrant mother from Mexico who renamed her youngest son on his first day of first grade to avoid the widespread stereotypes and academic stagnation experienced by her two older sons. Such (re)naming practices constitute and represent the very precarious social and institutional relationships taking place in schools involving immigrant children. In this case study, there was indication of negative aspects of assimilation processes taking place as the family adapted to a new culture and language. For example, the misconception is still widespread that efforts to learn two languages rather than just one diminish a child’s ability to learn other things, which should be learned. However, research in language acquisition and development, points to bilingualism and multilingualism as resources rather than deficits (Souto-Manning, 2006).     

Making Connections: Learning and Teaching Chemistry in Context

Even though several studies have reported positive attitudinal outcomes from context-based chemistry programs, methodological obstacles have prevented researchers from comparing satisfactorily the chemistry-learning outcomes between students who experience a context-based program with those who experience a content-driven program. In this narrative inquiry we are able to address the question: how do the recalled experiences of a student and her teacher in context-based and concept-based chemistry programs compare? From the student’s unique perspective of experiencing both programs with the same teacher, we have constructed our collective account around four themes; namely, the extent to which the student makes connections between chemistry concepts and real-world contexts, developing research independence through engaging in extended experimental investigations related to contexts, learning chemistry concepts through contexts, and conceptual sequencing in a context-based program. The student reported real-world connections between chemistry concepts and contexts, found her engagement in the context-driven tasks interesting and productive, and identified connected sequences of concepts across the contexts studied. Despite difficulties for teachers who are required to shift pedagogies, the student’s lived experiences and outcomes from a context-based program provide some encouragement in working through these issues.     

Establishing a Competence Profile for the Role of Student-centred Teachers in Higher Education in Belgium

The increasing importance of constructivism in higher education has brought about a shift in pedagogy from a focus on the teacher to a focus on the student. This has important implications for teaching and assessment. A student-centred pedagogy implies a different role for the teacher. What exactly does student-centred teaching require from teachers’ actual teaching practice? What is expected from them in order to teach in a student-centred way? It is in order to respond to these questions that this research project has been carried out establishing a core competence profile of student-centred teachers in higher education. Qualitative data were collected by means of semi-structured in-depth interviews with teachers from different institutions for higher education in Belgium, known for their student-centred way of teaching. This research method is innovative compared to the methods used for existing competence lists in the literature, which were usually developed on the basis of conversations with pedagogical experts. By exploring practice and having teachers participate in the development of a competence list, the acceptance of a competence profile is much higher. The result of the project is a validated competence profile which takes into account the critiques on existing competence lists. The competence profile provides a further insight in the functioning of teachers within a student-centred pedagogy and can be used as a starting point for the educational development of teachers within this pedagogy.     

Metacognition and Self-Regulation in James,Piaget, and Vygotsky

This article investigates the intertwined constructs of metacognition and self-regulation as they emerge in the works and theories of James, Piaget, and Vygotsky. To coordinate this exploration, we use an interpretive framework based on the relation of subject and object. In this framework, James’s perspective on metacognition and self-regulation is aligned with the Self, Piaget’s with the other and object, and Vygotsky’s with the medium or agency of language. We explore how metacognition and self-regulation function within the realm of human behavior and development as described in the works of each of these theorists. Key questions or issues that emerge for current research are outlined, and the limitations and benefits of each theorist’s perspective vis-à-vis metacognition and self-regulation are discussed.