THE EFFECT OF STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS ON ACHIEVEMENT IN INTRODUCTORY MICROECONOMICS IN SOUTH AFRICA

This paper uses OLS regression analysis to examine the effect of student characteristics on performance in Introductory Microeconomics at five South African universities. No consistent race‐effects were found, but Indian students performed significantly worse than Whites at historically‐White universities. Male students outperformed females in general. Older students did better at the historically‐White institutions only. At one university, Black students who speak English as their home language outperformed those who are non‐English speakers. Students who devoted more time to study outside formal classes did better in general. Greater verbal and mathematical ability had large and significant positive effects on student achievement.     

Estimating the Size and Impact of Affirmative Action in Undergraduate Admissions at the University of Cape Town

In this paper, we estimate the extent and targeting of affirmative action at the University of Cape Town (UCT), a large public university in South Africa. To do this we use admissions data from the UCT, as well as South African population census data and administrative enrolment and graduation data from the South African Department of Higher Education. We find that affirmative action does have a significant effect on the racial distribution of who is made an offer by the university. We also find that affirmative action is well targeted, with those who we estimate to be beneficiaries being of much lower socioeconomic status than those who we estimate are displaced by affirmative action. Beneficiaries of affirmative action have low graduation rates on average, with those beneficiaries who attend UCT being less likely to graduate than those beneficiaries who enrol at other public universities.     

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE IMPACT OF TUTORIALS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF ECONOMICS STUDENTS

The deteriorating performance of first-year economics students has become a concern at many South African universities. Addressing the issue requires an understanding of the factors influencing students' success. Studies analysing academic performance use the education production function approach. This approach identifies inputs that are crucial to learning and to achieving certain outputs. Factors that have been investigated in other studies include the impact of lecture attendance on performance, school-leaving exam (matriculation) results, particularly performance in mathematics, and the gender and age of students.
This study adds to existing local empirical research by analysing the impact of the tutorial programme as an input. The case study investigates the tutorial programme for first-year economics students at Stellenbosch University using quantitative analysis. Results confirm what previous studies have found, namely that lecture attendance, gender, and matriculation results contribute positively to the performance of first-year economics students. The main finding of the paper is that tutorial attendance also contributes positively to academic performance.     

DOES ATTENDANCE AT A HISTORICALLY WHITE UNIVERSITY BENEFIT NON‐WHITE STUDENTS OF INTRODUCTORY ECONOMICS IN SOUTH AFRICA?

The Equality of Educational Opportunity survey (aka the Coleman Report), published in 1966 in the USA, is arguably the fountainhead of the debate promulgated within the economics of education and allied disciplines concerning the efficacy of schooling. The debate was largely due to the primary conclusion of the Coleman Report that school inputs (other than student demographics) explain little, if any, of the variance in student performance, with the implication that more money was not the solution to educational problems. While the methodology and the conclusions of the Coleman Report have been criticised in the 40 years since its publication, the fundamental question of the magnitude and extent of the consequences of educational inequalities has relevance to the South African situation. Utilising a cross‐sectional data set drawn from three universities, and the theoretical framework of an education production function, this paper addresses the issue of whether, over a decade after the first democratic elections in South Africa, black, Indian and coloured students studying Introductory Microeconomics, have benefited academically from attending historically advantaged (i.e. white) universities (HAU) relative to their counterparts who are attending historically disadvantaged universities (HDU).     

The state of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) training and research in South African universities

Geographical Information Systems or GIS has become one of the more prominent research and training tools in South African university departments in the 1990s. GIS developed in the 1970s in North America in response to the expanding capacity of computer systems and the need to integrate spatial and attribute data (Maguire et al, 1991). It was only in the mid‐1980s that the first systems were set up in South Africa, primarily at research institutions such as the Department of Water Affairs and the Institute for Natural Resources in Pietermaritzburg. Since then the use of the technology has grown exponentially and most of the country's major municipalities (Szecsei, 1990; Van Rensburg, 1992), government departments, town and regional planners (Zietsman, 1992; Venter, 1993), engineering concerns (Poolman, 1990) and universities have become regular users. At universities GIS is used more as a research tool than as a defined analytical procedure. This article reviews the development of GIS and its use in South African universities. It also discusses the advantages and impediments to the use of the technology and its development.     

EVALUATING THE PERFORMANCE OF SOUTH AFRICAN ECONOMICS DEPARTMENTS

Over the past decade, economics departments in South Africa have seen major changes and a certain level of disruption. Much of this can be attributed to the integration of our discipline into the global arena after a period of academic isolation. This paper presents a survey of economics departments and covers everything from staff profiles and qualifications to curricula, and research output. This paper indicates that there has been some improvement in the state of economics at South African universities since 2003 when the previous survey was conducted. Research output is largely up as is the proportion in international journals, and more researchers are producing in leading international economics publications. However, the gap between South African economics departments and their international counterparts remains large.     

新时期来华留学生管理工作策略探究

留学生管理工作是高校工作中的重要组成部分。来华留学生的规模不断扩大,使留学生层次日益多元化,给高校的留学生管理工作提出了更高的要求。以哈尔滨师范大学校实际情况为例,从留学生的招生录取、日常管理、教学管理等几个方面讨论高校留学生管理工作中所出现的问题,并寻求在实际工作中行之有效的解决办法,以期为高校留学生管理工作的进一步完善和发展提供思路。     

The academic effectiveness of a bridging year for commerce undergraduates

Human resources development in South Africa is constrained by the underpreparedness of many students for university. The problem is particularly acute among school leavers for whom English is not their first language and who are thereby at a disadvantage in an English language university. In order to address the problem, which goes beyond language, bridging curricula have been devised. This research analyses how effective one such intervention is, in terms of an academic achievement outcome.

Decisions to allocate resources to bridging intervention need the assurance that the resources are used effectively. An ex post facto experimental research design ts used in this study to test the learning outcome of the PBS bridging intervention. The analysis assesses whether the PBS programme increases the academic achievement of students at first‐year level.

The examination results achieved by an experimental group of PBS students who matriculated from DET schools are compared with the results of a control group of DET matriculants. The research shows that the academic achievements of the PBS group during the bridging year were superior to those of the control group. Furthermore, superior performance was sustained by the PBS students after they Joined the mainstream BCom curriculum. After the bridging intervention, the PBS students achieved 7.7 percentage points better in Business Economics I examinations than the control group. The research design controls for demonstrated academic ability at school At a 0.01 level of statistical significance, the results of the analysis indicate that the PBS intervention has contributed positively to the students’ academic achievement.     

对高校语文教学的实践性思考

大学语文课程是普通高校中除汉语言文学专业以外的其他专业开设的一门公共必修的素质教育课程,对学生人文素质的提高起着关键的作用,但在许多高校中,语文教学并没能够真正发挥出人文教育核心的价值,本文从语文教学在高校中的重要作用以及当前高校语文教学现状出发,通过教学实践提出了几点促进语文教学充分发挥作用的具体措施。     

The Unintended Consequences of Education Policies on South African Participation and Unemployment

In the late 1990s, the South African Department of Education implemented two policies that were meant to reduce the large number of over‐aged learners in the school system: schools were no longer allowed to accept students who were more than two years older than the correct grade age, and students could not be held back more than once in each of four schooling phases. Our analysis uses school administrative data and household survey data to show that these policies coincided with a decrease in school enrolment of at least 400,000 and possibly more than 900,000 learners. These policies appear to have pushed many students into the labour market at earlier ages than was observed for previous generations, which explains much of the sudden increase in labour force participation and unemployment during this period. However, since these individuals would probably have entered the labour market sooner if not for their poor employment prospects, we argue that the resulting increase in unemployment signifies a more accurate reflection of disguised unemployment that already existed in the mid‐1990s rather than a deterioration of labour market conditions.     

关于建立班级学风管理机制的研究

高校的学风是大学的灵魂,是大学精神的集中体现。优良学风是高校提升社会知名度的品牌,是高校师生激情励志、调整心态和规范行为的标尺,是衡量高校教育教学水平和人才培养质量高与低的重要标志之一。本文就如何构建班级学风管理机制进行探讨,对于加强和完善高校学生学风建设具有一定的借鉴意义。     

A Description of Predatory Publishing in South African Economics Departments

Predatory publishers charge fees to authors for open access publishing but have limited peer review or other quality controls. In this paper, we use data from five of the most widely used predatory journals used by South African academics in Economic and Management sciences to show that predatory publications are widespread in Economics departments in South African universities. We also critique the Department of Higher Education and Training’s research publication subsidy system and highlight that several journals on the DHET accredited journal list, that South African academic economists publish in, are probable predatory journals. In improving the data on predatory publications in South African Economic and Management Sciences used by de Jager et al (2017), we show that approximately 50% of predatory publications by South African academic economists are authored by professors or associate professors, a finding which corroborates international evidence on predatory publications in Economics. Our paper is also a source of information on the quality of research produced by South African economics departments.     

高校特点对预算松弛影响的实证研究——以新疆为例

本文在文献综述的基础上,以新疆高校为例,对高校特点影响预算松弛问题进行了实证检验。研究提出5个需要检验的假设,根据有效问卷数据的统计分析,本文的研究结果发现：办学层次和预算松弛程度显著负相关,即办学层次越高,预算松弛程度越低;高校的预算松弛程度与学校规模正相关;相对于专业性院校,综合性院校预算松弛程度更高。     

论改善高校教学中的师生关系

目前高校教学中的师生关系存在一些问题,这种状况是由教师、学生以及学校等多方面的原因造成的。改善这种局面,要增强教师的教书育人使命感;要加强大学生的思想政治教育工作;要充分发挥学校的管理协调作用。     

Reassessing public expenditure priorities: The case of education in South Africa

This paper highlights one of the central challenges facing the present South African government ‐ meeting the strong demands for increased and more equitable provisions of education and maintaining fiscal discipline. This task need not be daunting, as theory and evidence suggest that there is considerable scope for rationalising the existing state provision of social services in South Africa to make them more equitable and efficient. We employ an economic theory of clubs and argue that the provision of basic education should be prioritised while the subsidisation of sophisticated and higher levels of education should be reconsidered. More specifically, the qualitative upgrading of basic schooling deserves more priority from the state while subsidies to exclusive schools and to university students need review. Such rationalisations should encourage sustained economic growth and enable the state to meet its RDP objectives without compromising its commitment to fiscal discipline. However, to achieve this the state will have to resist the strong pressures for the continued provision of services which bestow large private benefits on privileged groups.     

在国际贸易专业课双语教学中实施分班教学

在国际贸易人才培养的过程中,在专业课中实施双语教学是一项行之有效的重要措施,但是由于我国高校学生的英语程度参差不齐,导致双语教学的效果受到影响,如何采取有效的方式使得双语教学达到更好的成效,是目前高校国际贸易专业教学中的迫切需要解决的问题。本文侧重从分班教学的角度阐述了提高双语教学效果的看法。     

The effect of teacher's concurrent administrative position on students' academic outcomes: Evidence and mechanisms

Teacher's holding an administrative position (AP) while teaching is common in schools in China. Does it harm the students' academic performance? This paper uses a representative survey of middle school students in China to answer the question. Using a causal identification based on schools with random class assignments, we find that the effect of a headteacher's holding an AP is negative and significant. In contrast, the effect of a subject teacher's holding an AP may be positive. The results are robust to various robustness checks. The heterogeneity analysis shows that the negative effect is driven by 9th grade students and is larger for boys, rural students, those whose parents migrate out to work, and those whose mothers have lower levels of education. Mechanism analysis suggests that head teachers with an AP devote lower levels of teaching effort, measured by time spent on grading and frequency of adopting supplementary teaching tools.     

Does public expenditure management matter for education outcomes?

This paper examines the significance of public expenditure management for primary education outcomes in public schools in two South African provinces (Gauteng and North West). Using cross-sectional data from 175 public primary schools and 13 local education offices, the analysis finds that while misappropriation of education funds (leakages) is not strongly associated with poor education outcomes, delays on the part of the government in disbursing funds to schools are correlated with Grade 5 dropout rates. The paper finds no evidence that public expenditure and total resource wealth (including public and private contributions) are significantly associated with education outcomes. Increased spending on learning and teaching support materials is associated strongly with lower Grade 1 and Grade 7 repetition rates. The paper also finds that repetition rates are driven strongly by poverty indicators at the district level, while dropout rates are driven strongly by district and school inefficiency.     

高校社团专业化对学风建设的作用

大学生社团活动在活跃校园文化、加强学生自我教育、引领学生适应社会、促进学生成才就业等方面发挥着重要的作用。专业型社团作为高校学生社团的重要组成,在大学生实践创新培养、教育教学模式探索、校园学风建设等方面扮演着重要的角色。高校党团部门要积极引导学生社团健康发展,使其促进高校学风建设,全面提高育人质量。     

South Africa in the Australian mirror: per capita real GDP in the Cape Colony,Natal, Victoria,and New South Wales, 1861–1909

This article compares the real GDP per capita of the Cape Colony and Natal between 1861 and 1909 with that of Australia's two most developed colonies, Victoria and New South Wales. Estimates of European and non‐European GDP per capita for both South African colonies are also provided. Together, this information allows for the first time an evaluation of the growth performance of these important parts of the South African economy in the colonial era. The article concludes that South African performance in this period was stronger than often assumed and that by the beginning of the twentieth century European South Africans, now more fully integrated into a British World economy, operated at a level of GDP per capita that matched and in some places may have exceeded that of Australians. Non‐European South Africans, however, did not share in these same advances.