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Faculty of Accounting and Informatics

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Author: search.filters.author.Sofowora, Mayowa A.

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    Examining the impact of the ethnoscience teaching philosophy on academic performance in introductory computer programming
    (2021-09-20) Sofowora, Mayowa A.; Eyono Obono, Seraphin Desire
    The mastery of the core technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) seems to require a set of skills that are reputed to be difficult to learn. This also includes general STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) related know- how where computer programming is considered by many as the new linking glue of the 4IR despite its reputation of being difficult to learn and to master. 4IR is credited with a wide range of advantages, such as improved production, communication and participation, but it also comes with several disadvantages, such as the widening of the digital divide and higher levels of unemployment, especially for unskilled people. In fact, computer programming and other STEM related skills are crucial for the optimization of the benefits of the 4IR and for the minimization of its disadvantages. This is why this study is examining the impact of a different type of teaching approach known as the ethnoscience teaching approach, a STEM teaching philosophy, on students’ academic performance in introductory computer programming. A content analysis of existing literature on academic performance factors was first undertaken, both for introductory programming and for STEM subjects, in order to design an aggregated theoretically sound model of academic performance factors for these two fields. That model was then partially empirically tested by this study first within a totally culturally neutral teaching approach, then with a quasi- experiment whose experimental group was taught and tested with the use of the ethnoscientific teaching approach and philosophy while the control group stayed with the conventional culturally neutral teaching approach. The results of this study indicate that the ethnoscience teaching approach significantly improves students' academic performance in introductory computer programming compared to the conventional teaching approach. They also indicate that students’ prior language and computing subject choices affect their performance in conventional but not in culturally sensitive introductory computer programming. The participants of this study were selected from the introductory programming 2018 class of the IT Department of the Durban University of Technology. Should the findings of this study be confirmed with more programming concepts and with different samples, they will confirm the intrinsic value of culturally sensitive computing education.
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    Examining the perceived reliability of cost effective e-learning handsets for teaching and learning in schools
    (2015) Sofowora, Mayowa A.; Eyono Obono, Seraphin Desire
    The use of mobile devices such as cell phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants and tablet computers is becoming prevalent in today’s world; and it is facilitating access to a vast amount of data, services and applications for the improvement of people’s lives. Advances in electronics and manufacturing technologies usually lead to the rapid release of newer and sleeker models with new features and capabilities. These newer models therefore render older models obsolete, and this pushes people to frequently replace their devices. The drawback of such frequent replacements is that a large number of devices are disposed and they end up as e-waste. The fact that e-waste constitutes a major hazard to human health and to the environment is the motivation behind this study whose aim is to examine the factors affecting the perceptions of teachers on the durability of cell phones in the e-learning context. This research aims was achieved through the content analysis of existing literature and through a survey of 67 secondary school teachers from the iLembe and UMgungundlovu district municipalities in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The attribution theory was selected as the theoretical framework for this study, and it led to the identification of four independent variables (Demographics, Intention, Knowledge, and Actual use) and of one dependent variable (Perceived Durability). The results of this study indicate that teaching experience and school location are the only two demographics that affect other variables from this research: School location affects cell phone durability, and teaching experience affects cell phone usage intentions. These results also indicate that all the variables of this research are linked except for the relationship between knowledge and perceived durability. One of the recommendations of this study is the proposal of a three year cycle for cell phone renewals in schools mobile learning projects in order to manage e-waste through e-recycling, and this recommendation is based on the finding of this research that teachers believe that cell phones generally lasts between two to three years. The main contribution of this study is to have examined the durability of mobile phones in the e-learning context and this is something new compared to all the studies reviewed by this research.