TD: 2008 Volume 4 No 2
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/3857
2024-03-29T13:25:04ZEditorial comment: spare a thought for students in Southern Africa
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/6909
Editorial comment: spare a thought for students in Southern Africa
Tempelhoff, J W N
2008-01-01T00:00:00ZThe cost of banking services and the technical efficiency of a South African bank
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/3971
The cost of banking services and the technical efficiency of a South African bank
Van Heerden, C.; Van der Westhuizen, G.
Does the performance of one of the four largest banks in South Africa justify the customers’ complaints about the higher bank fees? Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used to estimate the technical efficiency and returns to scale of one of the largest banks in South Africa. The intermediation approach was applied to classify the inputs and outputs and the analyses were conducted with both input- and output- orientation under variable returns to scale. Returns to scale efficiency and technical efficiency for 37 districts over a period of 22 months were estimated. The analyses indicated that 19 districts out of the 37 districts were never fully technically efficient during the 22 months (input- and output-orientated). It appears that customers’ complaints about high service fees are justified.
2008-01-01T00:00:00ZEnhancing social skills through cooperative learning
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/3970
Enhancing social skills through cooperative learning
Booysen, M J; Grosser, Mary M
The National Curriculum Statement of South Africa envisages qualified and competent
teachers to deal with the diversity of learners and their needs in the classroom. One of
the needs refers to all learners (Gr R-12) who need to acquire the necessary social skills
to enable them to work effectively with others as members of a team, group, organization
and community. These skills refer inter alia to: learning to work with others, listening to
others, giving attention, asking clarifying questions, learning how to evaluate, and to
praise others, handling conflict, reflecting on group work and allowing all group members
to participate.
The most obvious place to deal purposefully with the development of social skills is the
classroom. This implies that alternative ways and methods of teaching must be introduced
to develop the necessary social skills. This article reports on the findings obtained from
a combined quantitative and qualitative study that set out to determine the levels of
social competence achieved by a group of Grade 2 learners, and the possible association
of a cooperative teaching and learning intervention programme for enhancing the social
skills of these learners. The results revealed the latent potential of cooperative learning
to enhance the social skills of Grade 2 learners.
The significance of this research lies in the contribution it makes to establish the social
competence of a group of Grade 2 learners and to determine the possibilities for enhancing
their social skills through cooperative learning.
2008-01-01T00:00:00ZComparative analysis of energy impacts of traditional and partly electronic environmental auditing: Learning from the Japanese automotive industry case
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/3969
Comparative analysis of energy impacts of traditional and partly electronic environmental auditing: Learning from the Japanese automotive industry case
Mbohwa, C
This paper does a comparative analysis and assessment of energy impacts of traditional
and partly electronic ISO 14001 environmental management system auditing that using
videoconferencing systems. The focus is on the Japanese automotive industry. The idea
is to quantify the environmental impacts of auditing and resolve the important question
on whether or not the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in
environmental auditing reduces environmental impacts in ISO 14001 environmental
management systems. The main results show that there are no clear energy savings or
environmental advantages associated with ICT use in environmental auditing for the set
system boundary. However electronic auditing is shown to have clear advantages for
stated variables within the model, for example when the distance travelled by the
auditors by train and by car is less than 75 km and 17 km per day respectively. A
comparison of modes of travel by auditors, shows that rail travel offers the most
environmental and energy benefits. It is also noted that travel dominates in terms of
energy consumption and environmental burdens compared to all other environmental
aspects associated with auditing. The study contributes to knowledge in that among
other things, it enables researchers to draw parallels from it applicable to other industrial
sectors and other countries. Southern African countries can use this methodology in
analysing auditing methods with little or no changes in the model used.
2008-01-01T00:00:00Z