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The purpose of this paper is to assess the level of financial literacy and impact on youth entrepreneurship in South Africa.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the level of financial literacy and impact on youth entrepreneurship in South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper used both desk research and questionnaire complemented by interview to assess the level of financial literacy among youth entrepreneurs in the Vhembe District of the Limpopo Province, South Africa.
Findings
The paper reveals that financial literacy among youth entrepreneurs in the Vhembe District appears to be above average and contributes meaningfully to their entrepreneurship skills.
Research limitations/implications
Further research is needed to verify in specific and practical terms, the level and impact of financial literacy on youth entrepreneurs in the Vhembe District.
Practical implications
Education and training at both high school and tertiary levels with emphasis on financial literacy and entrepreneurial skills may have significant implications for small‐, micro‐, and medium‐sized enterprise development and growth for the youth entrepreneur in general in South Africa.
Originality/value
The paper is the first to examine the level of financial literacy among youth entrepreneurs in the Vhembe District. The paper therefore sets an important benchmark for further research in this area.
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Jessa Henderson and Michael Corry
A literature review of 28 data literacy, education articles from 2010 to 2018 was conducted to gain a better understanding of the current state of data literacy research.
Abstract
Purpose
A literature review of 28 data literacy, education articles from 2010 to 2018 was conducted to gain a better understanding of the current state of data literacy research.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review of ERIC, Education Source, and JSTOR was conducted. Articles were included in this literature review if they focused on “data literacy” for K-12 teachers or leaders.
Findings
Results demonstrated that the concept of data literacy has become more concrete, but there is still disagreement about the parameters of the construct. While data literacy was shown to be gaining in importance, training from schools of education were focused heavily on assessment literacy. Four recommendations are made as follows: (1) create skill-focused educator prep programs, (2) encourage opportunities for collaboration, (3) model data use from both quantitative and qualitative sources and (4) investigate the role of technology and big data on data literacy.
Research limitations
The scope of this literature review was very narrow and, as such, does not fully encapsulate data-driven decision-making in K-12 education overall.
Originality/value
Data literacy is important for both teachers and leaders, as educational environments strive to better understand individual learners and improve learning outcomes. This literature review looks to pull together the current status of data literacy research with hopes of inspiring more targeted research that influences training practices for both teachers and leaders.
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Yi Jin and Shenghua Zha
The purpose of this paper is to posit that coding should be considered as a critical part of new literacies. Teacher educators should first adopt the new literacies perspective…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to posit that coding should be considered as a critical part of new literacies. Teacher educators should first adopt the new literacies perspective, and then prepare pre-service teachers to teach both traditional literacy and new literacies skills, especially preparing them how to weave coding into K-5 literacy curricula to cultivate younger learners’ new ways of expressions and computational thinking skills. To facilitate this educational transformation, low-cost Web 2.0 tools and apps were introduced as one practical approach, along with some literacy lesson ideas to help teacher educators and pre-service teachers begin to integrate coding into the K-5 literacy curricula.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a viewpoint paper.
Findings
A table of low-cost Web 2.0 tools was presented with sample lesson ideas.
Originality/value
More than ever, coding breaks the traditional definition of literacy as paper-based reading and writing. It empowers students to read, write and create with multimodality on multiple platforms. Weaving coding into the literacy curricula offers the window to promote both computational thinking and new literacies skills. Teacher educators, among all other stakeholders, should begin the efforts to prepare pre-service teachers to weave coding into the literacy curricula and other content areas in the teacher educations programs now.
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The ultimate aim of \ill\ mass literacy campaigns by the FederalGovernment \ill\ Nigeria in September 1982 was to eradicate illiteracyin Nigeria by the year 2000. Subsequently…
Abstract
The ultimate aim of \ill\ mass literacy campaigns by the Federal Government \ill\ Nigeria in September 1982 was to eradicate illiteracy in Nigeria by the year 2000. Subsequently, several agencies such as the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non‐formal Education; Agency for Mass Literacy, etc. were established to achieve this objective. But the library has not been considered as an important agent for promoting mass literacy campaigns. Discusses the roles of the library in the promotion of literacy and suggested strategies to adopt for using the library for mass literacy campaigns in Nigeria.
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Fatima Pirbhai‐Illich, K.C. Nat Turner and Theresa Y. Austin
The purpose of this paper is to examine how digital technologies were introduced in a collaborative literacy intervention to address a population long underserved by traditional…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how digital technologies were introduced in a collaborative literacy intervention to address a population long underserved by traditional schools: the Aboriginals of Canada.
Design/methodology/approach
Situated within a critical ethnographic project, this paper examines how digital technologies were introduced. The questions focused on: how can critical multiliteracies be used to engage students, in both academic and digital literacies development? In what ways does participation in multimodal media production provide evidence of teachers and students' critical literacy development?
Findings
Digital literacies as a part of multiliteracies were developed in teaching contexts where learning is challenged by many factors.
Research limitations/implications
The paper reports on the achievement and the struggles that remain. Implications for further research and teacher education are also drawn from the experience of implementing a broader definition of literacy in academic settings with Aboriginal students of Canada.
Originality/value
The inclusion of a digital curriculum provides possibilities for greater academic success for marginalized students in both mainstream and alternative schools.
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The purpose of this paper is to show how higher education institutions in the Caribbean may benefit from the quality assurance measures implemented by the Caribbean Examinations…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show how higher education institutions in the Caribbean may benefit from the quality assurance measures implemented by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses an outcomes model of quality assurance to analyse the measures implemented by the CXC to assure quality in its examinations. It considers how higher education institutions in the Caribbean can benefit from the approach to quality assurance used by that organization.
Findings
The paper suggests that there are several ways in which the quality assurance in higher education institutions may be improved by using an outcomes model which focuses on the centrality of the student experience by learning from the experiences of the CXC.
Research limitations/implications
The research uses a methodology of theoretical analysis, that is the selection and discussion of theoretical material and descriptive material, in a particular context, and considers their applicability for improving practice, in this case, in higher education institutions in the Caribbean. It therefore does not engage the collection and analysis of quantitative or qualitative data.
Practical implications
The paper suggests that quality assurance practices of higher education institutions in the Caribbean should take into account the lessons that may be learned from the quality assurance measures implemented by the CXC.
Originality/value
The paper calls attention to the need for higher education institutions to make the shift away from a purely institutional approach to quality assurance by adopting a more student-centred approach.
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Masami Isoda, Soledad Estrella, Diana Zakaryan, Yuriko Baldin, Raimundo Olfos and Roberto Araya
The purpose of this study was to examine the digital competence displayed by a primary school teacher who implemented an interdisciplinary cross-border lesson that was designed…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine the digital competence displayed by a primary school teacher who implemented an interdisciplinary cross-border lesson that was designed with the lesson study methodology and involved two countries: Brazil and Chile.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative methodology was adopted via the case study method through which the case of a sixth-grade Chilean teacher participating in the study was documented. The data were collected through a lesson plan, a videotape of the implemented lesson and a questionnaire. A professional digital competence framework for teachers provided an analytical perspective via data analysis.
Findings
The results show that the teacher displayed digital competence in a synchronous collaborative learning environment in which she had time to reflect on the educational value of technology and appropriate teaching methods involving information and communication technologies. Certain elements of the studied case contributed to this performance, namely the cross-border context, the classroom setting and the collaborative Lesson Study methodology.
Practical implications
The lesson study methodology facilitated the teacher's performance in the “Pedagogy and didactics” digital competence by enabling her to participate in planning and implementing a lesson that allowed all those who collaborated, including teachers and researchers, to reflect on teaching in a digital learning environment.
Social implications
The cross-border context, which involved co-designing and implementing a lesson in two countries, allowed the teacher to display her “School in society” and “Ethics” competencies. This was achieved through connecting two classrooms with different languages and cultures digitally and synchronously, thereby providing students the opportunity to debate and participate in a global and local problem such as a country's responsibility for energy consumption.
Originality/value
Modern society requires the transformation of school practices, and new teaching approaches should include the provision of collaborative spaces that incorporate digital technologies. In this sense, this paper shows that cross-border lessons involving a synchronous learning environment offer a potential alternative, as digital teaching competence enables teachers to bring together different social and cultural groups virtually, thereby contributing to the reduction of social gaps and to the promotion of positive identity among less advantaged students.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the quality of a political science program in an Egyptian private university through assessing three particular dimensions: knowledge…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the quality of a political science program in an Egyptian private university through assessing three particular dimensions: knowledge of political science core facts and theories; reading comprehension skills; and critical thinking (CT).
Design/methodology/approach
A case study research approach was used. The study relies also on a quantitative methodology. Quantitative data were collected from students in the second and fourth years of political science to assess their knowledge of core political science facts and theories, reading comprehension and CT through the online California Critical Thinking Skills Test.
Findings
Unlike the results of core knowledge and reading comprehension, positive results were found with regard to students’ CT. The levels of students’ CT increased from 0 percent in Year 2 to 18 percent in Year 4. Variables such as the school GPA, non-Egyptian high school degree and not meeting professors during office hours were found statistically significant to higher levels of CT.
Research limitations/implications
One limitation of the study was the relatively small samples’ size. However, while the samples might look small on the surface, they represent, in reality, between 49 and 59 percent of the students enrolled in Years 2 and 4.
Practical implications
Despite its pilot nature, this study provides some insight into the quality of private political science education in Egypt through assessing the degree it contributes to political science students’ knowledge, reading comprehension and CT and through investigating the most statistically significant variables.
Originality/value
Whilst several studies have investigated the quality of higher education programs, very limited literature attempted to assess the quality of political science education, in particular.
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Jonathan Bradshaw, Dominic Richardson and Veli‐Matti Ritakallio
European Union (EU) indicators on poverty and social exclusion employ only two child breakdowns: the proportion of children living in households with incomes below 60% of the…
Abstract
European Union (EU) indicators on poverty and social exclusion employ only two child breakdowns: the proportion of children living in households with incomes below 60% of the national median using the modified OECD equivalence scale and the proportion of children living in workless households. The UK also uses these indicators in the Opportunities for All series. This article first develops a new indicator of child poverty based on income, subjective and deprivation indicators which may be more reliable than income alone. It then explores the extent to which income poverty and worklessness represent international variation in child well‐being using an index that we have developed. The conclusions are that: (1) relative income poverty and worklessness are poor indicators of child well‐being, especially for some of the new EU countries; (2) deprivation has a stronger association with overall well‐being than relative income poverty or worklessness; (3) there are a number of other single indicators of child well‐being that could be used as proxies for overall child well‐being; and (4) The EU (and the UK) could easily develop its own index of child well‐being.
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B. de Clercq and J.M.P. Venter
Using exploratory research, this study analysed some of the factors that have an impact on the level of financial literacy of undergraduate students studying to become chartered…
Abstract
Using exploratory research, this study analysed some of the factors that have an impact on the level of financial literacy of undergraduate students studying to become chartered accountants. The study utilised an internationally developed instrument to measure financial literacy. It investigated whether some of the factors that were identified in international studies also influence the financial literacy levels of chartered accountant students in South Africa. In line with previous international studies, the study concluded that gender, age, language, race and income levels do have an impact on the level of financial literacy. This information should enable chartered accountant firms to identify trainee accountants who might require special training in the field of financial literacy.
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