James Swart

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Papers by James Swart

Factors that affect the provision of visually impaired learners in higher education

2018 Conference on Information Communications Technology and Society (ICTAS), 2018

It has been widely reported that 80% of potential students with disabilities are not attending a ... more It has been widely reported that 80% of potential students with disabilities are not attending a tertiary institution. Figures indicate that when provision of physically or mentally challenged students are taken into consideration, the visually impaired learners are affected the most The fact is that most tertiary institutions in South Africa do not have the required resources for facilitating the entry of visually impaired learners into their engineering programmes. The primary objective of this study is to identify the barriers that visually impaired learners in South Africa face at higher education institutions. A systematic review of current literature in this field forms the methodology for this paper. Studies related to the provision of visually impaired learners in engineering specifically IT courses, were carefully studied during this process. Negative attitude of fellow non-disabled learners, educators and institutions, lack of awareness of the staff, students and managemen...

Work integrated learning in electrical engineering at a distance education institution: Opportunities and challenges

Background: The University of South Africa (UNISA) is an open and distance learning (ODL) institu... more Background: The University of South Africa (UNISA) is an open and distance learning (ODL) institution. All diplomas offered by the School of Engineering at UNISA include a compulsory period of Work Integrated Learning (WIL) in industry. The WIL component consists of one year's training at an approved workplace. The Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) is the accrediting body for all engineering courses in South Africa. A student's WIL work plan is determined according to predefined standards set by ECSA. Recently, ECSA has set new standards prescribing alternate methods of implementing WIL. Purpose: The main aim of the study is to determine how Electrical Engineering students at UNISA and the development of UNISA Electrical Engineering modules would be impacted by new ECSA standards set for WIL. It is our objective to discover how the alternate approaches to WIL may be integrated with the current Electrical Engineering tuition model at UNISA. It is also necessary to an...

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Perceptions of Parents and Teachers of the Use of Mobile Apps for Mathsematical Education

Educational experts believe that primary school learners can benefit from mobile mathematical (ma... more Educational experts believe that primary school learners can benefit from mobile mathematical (maths) applications. The successful use of these applications by primary school learners will depend on their access to mobile devices and on the perceptions of parents and teachers toward the use of these applications. Very little scientific research is currently available that can shed light on the above-mentioned access and perceptions. The aim of this paper was to fill this gap and to investigate the access to mobile devices of grade 1 to 3 learners in the Free State Province in South Africa. In addition, the perceptions of the teachers and parents of the use of mobile applications for maths education of these grade 1 to 3 learners were investigated. Quantitative data was collected by using a survey targeting 11 maths teachers and 450 parents of grade 1 to 3 learners in nine different schools. The results indicated that 63% of the grade 1 to 3 learners had access to a mobile device at ...

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Using a Variety of Tools in a Learning Management System to Enhance Student Engagement Produces Tangible Results

Reinforcing the Attitudes of Aspiring Young African Entrepreneurs towards Entrepreneurship by Using Appreciative Inquiry

Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, 2018

In this article it is argued that one of the aims of entrepreneurship education, among other thin... more In this article it is argued that one of the aims of entrepreneurship education, among other things, is to reinforce the mind-sets or attitudes of young people so that they may become successful entrepreneurs. This may both help to solve the challenges experienced by job seekers and to discover or exploit opportunities available for the development of individuals and of countries at large. The purpose of this article is to highlight how appreciative inquiry can help to identify and reinforce the attitudes of aspiring young South African entrepreneurs so as to assist them to meet some of the many challenges associated with entrepreneurship successfully. The research methodology included an exploratory case study that focused on a singular appreciative inquiry workshop. During this workshop, seven aspiring young African entrepreneurs completed a standardised questionnaire and participated in oral presentations. The results of the questionnaire indicate that, despite lacking conviction...

The Role of ICTs in the Provision of Engineering Education to Visually Impaired Learners in South Africa

Inclusivity in education fosters the academic development and social integration of all learners ... more Inclusivity in education fosters the academic development and social integration of all learners despite their disabilities. In spite of the support extended by higher education institutions towards inclusion, there is a substantial exclusion of visually impaired learners in engineering courses in South Africa. This indicates that there is a lack of an effective framework that guides institutions in South Africa to promote the provision of visually impaired learners in engineering. The purpose of this paper is to firstly obtain the perceptions of visually impaired learners from special schools in the Free State Province regarding the provision of visually impaired learners for engineering education. Secondly, the paper aims to investigate which ICT tools can be used to overcome some of the challenges that visually impaired learners may face in engineering education. Focus groups were used to collect qualitative data from visually impaired learners in the Free State Province of South...

The relationship between demographics and the academic achievement of engineering students

Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Higher Education Advances, Jun 21, 2017

The changing structure of student populations or cohorts over decades' produces changing academic... more The changing structure of student populations or cohorts over decades' produces changing academic achievements or results. This may be due to a number of factors, including the school education system, the political system and the sociocultural system. The aim of this paper is to analyse the relationship between student demographics and the academic achievement of undergraduate engineering students over a 15-year period. A descriptive study is used to determine the relationships between specific variables that existed between 1998 and 2013. These variables include gender, age and home languages of students that are contrasted to their final grade in a compulsory Design Projects module. Students need to obtain more than 50% to successfully complete this module, with the results indicating greater success for students with an Afrikaans or IsiZulu mother tongue than compared to students with a Sesotho, Setswana or Xhosa mother tongue. Younger students, less than 21 years of age, have a higher pass rate than older students who are more than 24 years of age. Finally, males outnumber females by more than 3:1. However, their final overall pass rates differ by only 3%, suggesting that both genders performed equally well in the Design Projects module. A key recommendation is to provide additional academic support to older students who may be struggling to synthesize knowledge and skills from a wide number of modules.

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Heat transfer of de-series MOSFETS

Advances in Power Electronics, 2011

MOSFET devices have developed significantly over the past few years to become the number one choi... more MOSFET devices have developed significantly over the past few years to become the number one choice for high-power applications in power electronics and electronic communication. Commercially available devices (such as the IXYS RF manufactured) now operate into the VHF range with output RF powers of up to 300 W. They are optimized for linear operation and suitable for broadcast and communication applications. This paper presents the heat transfer out of an IXZ210N50L MOSFET which is sandwiched between two identical heatsinks. The results reveal a linear decrease in heat flowing away from the top of the MOSFET when compared to the bottom of the MOSFET for each step increase of drain current. Two graphs (representing the top and bottom heatsinks connected to the MOSFET device) contrast the temperature rise for the Bisink technique when the drain current through the IXZ210N50L MOSFET is kept constant at 5 A. The Bisink technique has the advantages of lower on-state resistances and higher output powers when compared to the traditional mounting using only one heatsink, resulting in improved reliability and performance. Results further reveal that the ambient temperature must be measured in the vicinity of the heatsink.

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Evaluating the effect of radio-frequency pre-treatment on granite rock samples for comminution purposes

International Journal of Mineral Processing, 2013

ABSTRACT The international mining industry needs to enhance its mineral liberation process and re... more ABSTRACT The international mining industry needs to enhance its mineral liberation process and reduce its enormous amount of power consumption, thereby increasing its overall efficiency. Current research studies have found that the mineral liberation process can be enhanced through the use of pulsed power, ultrasound pre-treatment and microwave pre-treatment of run of mine ore. The purpose of this article is to present empirical results of treating specific granite rock samples with RF power within the VHF range. These results indicate that RF treatment of granite rock samples within the VHF range does not significantly weaken the mineral grain boundaries. These results prove that RF pre-treatment of these rock samples will not benefit the mineral liberation process. However, different results may be obtained from samples that contain mineral species that are more absorbent of electromagnetic radiation.

Assessing the effect of variable atmospheric conditions on the performance of photovoltaic panels: A case study from the Vaal Triangle

... [3] TP Chang, "The Sun's apparent position and the optimal tilt angle of a solar co... more ... [3] TP Chang, "The Sun's apparent position and the optimal tilt angle of a solar collector in the northern hemisphere," Solar Energy, vol. ... [8] TV Ramachandra and BV Shruthi, "Spatial mapping of renewable energy potential," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. ...

A comparison of two automatic solar tracking algorithms

E3S Web of Conferences

Due to global climate change as a result of pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels, the ... more Due to global climate change as a result of pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels, the world has changed its view when it comes to power generation. The focus is now more on natural and clean energy, such as solar PV systems. An effective solar PV system is not a simple system, as the sun is not a stationery object. The sun moves from east to west daily and that makes the design and installation of an effective solar PV system challenging for optimal power harvesting. The purpose of this paper is to compare two algorithms (linear regression and fuzzy logic) that are applied to a dual-axis tracker in order to maximize the output power yield that may be obtained from a fixed-axis system. One fixed-axis PV module serves as the baseline for comparing the results of the dual-axis trackers that are controlled by the two algorithms. A key recommendation is to align a PV module perpendicular to the sun from sunrise to sunset using a control algorithm based on fuzzy logic principle...

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Establishing Determinants of Electronic Books Utilisation: An Integration of Two Human Computer Interaction Adoption Frameworks

by Boniswa Mafunda and James Swart

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2016

Academic and Student Perceptions on the Intergation of HIV and AIDS education in an Electrical Engineering Curriculum at a South African University of Technology

by Nicolaas Luwes and James Swart

Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Higher Education Advances, 2016

Evaluating the effects of radio-frequency treatment of rocks: Textural changes and implications for

Student Perspectives of Open Book versus Closed Book Examinations—a Case Study in Satellite Communication

International Journal of Engineering Education, 2014

The purpose of this article is to present student perspectives of open book examinations, contras... more The purpose of this article is to present student perspectives of open book examinations, contrasting them to those for closed book examinations. Reasons and advantages of using open book examinations are offered and may be aligned with important accreditation criteria stipulated by official accreditation bodies, such as the Engineering Council of South Africa. The perspectives of senior electrical engineering students, enrolled in a telecommunications module, regarding open book examinations from two higher educational institutes in South Africa were obtained using a questionnaire survey. More than 80% of students from a residential contact university and less than 60% of students from an open distance learning institute passed their open book examination. The questionnaire survey highlighted that more than 50% of the polled students would prefer open book examinations.

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Evaluating the effect of orientation angles on the output power of a stationary photovoltaic panel

Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, Aug 8, 2014

Economic and environmental concerns over fossil fuels encourage the development of photovoltaic (... more Economic and environmental concerns over fossil fuels encourage the development of photovoltaic (PV) energy systems. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effect of orientation angles on the output power of a PV panel, thereby harnessing more of the available solar energy. The practical setup consists of a number of identical PV systems where the PV panels were set to an orientation angle of 0 N, þ15 W, and À15 E, with a constant tilt angle of 36 . Tilt and orientation angles play a major role in dictating the output power of a PV panel and subsequently on the power fed into the respective load within the PV system. Preliminary results, which include percentages showing when the system was fully charged and the work-time per day, indicate that a 0 N orientation angle produces the highest amount of output power for a latitude of 26 S. V C 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

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Work integrated learning at a university of technology: Assessment and management

2014 Ieee Frontiers in Education Conference Proceedings, Oct 1, 2014

Many universities of technology offer undergraduate diplomas in engineering that includes a Work ... more Many universities of technology offer undergraduate diplomas in engineering that includes a Work Integrated Learning component. Many academic staff members may be involved in the assessment of this component due to student numbers and field expertise. The research question which arises is "What guidelines should academics follow in assessing Work Integrated Learning to ensure a consistent quality of assessments"? The purpose of this paper is to present a structured rubric which was designed at a university of technology to effectively assess Work Integrated Learning of senior engineering students, while at the same time ensuring consistency of quality. The rubric incorporates a report, an interview, an Industry evaluation and syllabus coverage section. The final grade marks obtained by students for the Work Integrated Learning component is correlated to each of the main sections within the rubric to establish its reliability. 100% of students enrolled for these modules have successfully completed their Work Integrated Learning over the past two years and have thereby finally obtained their National Diploma, having become qualified technicians in Industry.

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Higher-Order questions versus Lower-Order questions in the assessment of student learning- The What, Why and When?

Description of Laimaphelenchus patulus sp.n. (Nematoda: Aphelenchoididae) from Pinus pinaster Ait. in South Africa

African Plant Protection, 1997

Exploring the Relationship between Time Management Skills and the Academic Achievement of African Engineering Students--A Case Study

European Journal of Engineering Education, Mar 1, 2010

... There may be more factors that may improve the effective time management of students within H... more

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