http://hdl.handle.net/10628/34 2013-05-21T09:24:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10628/224 Title: On universities ranking: Hype or substance? Authors: Evrard, Laurent Abstract: Universities ranking systems rose to prominence in the earliest 21st century with no less than three methodologies emerging at about the same time, followed by more several years later. These systems aim to rank universities according to sets of variables, all collected through seemingly scientific methods, including from the world wide web. The concept of ranking itself has both its detractors and proponents, while the methods are even more hotly debated. The most well known ranking methodologies will be introduced and partially investigated. Description: Preprint of an article to be published in Nawa, Journal of Language and Communication. 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10628/164 Title: The concept of progress in different cultures - culture and progress in Namibia: Contradiction or concurrence? Authors: Tjivikua, Tjama Abstract: The main title beckons a number of questions, for instance: What is “progress”? What is culture? And eventually, How does culture relate to “progress”? The terms “progress” and “cultures” denote abstract notions – if not concepts – and require a measure of interpretation with respect to each culture’s context and progress. The theme links to such a large number of conceptual challenges, like history, anthropology, linguistics, philosophy, economics, and many more, that it is difficult to limit the scope of discussion. There are thousands of cultures and sub-cultures, and progress means many things to many people and at different times. What is progress in one culture may be perceived as totally irrelevant or taboo in others. What is considered as great progress at one time in history may be perceived or ridiculed as insignificant in another timeframe. It is arguable that Namibian cultures are well studied, documented and understood, for much of a Namibian culture is vested in oral history. For the purpose of this paper, I confine my contribution to the challenges and progress of cultural development in Namibia. This is, however, not a discussion of Namibia cultures in isolation and a global contextualization is considered. 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10628/36 Title: The impact of the HIV/AIDS Awareness Campaign on knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, sexual behaviour change and confidence in sexual practices. Authors: Shimbuli, Frieda; Oyedokun, Comfort; McNally, Alta Abstract: The Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) which is caused by the Human Immune-deficiency Virus (HIV) is the greatest threat facing Namibia today. It is the largest management challenge facing the education sector in Namibia. It has negatively impacted on management, teaching and learning activities in this vital sector. In response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the Polytechnic of Namibia started its HIV/AIDS Awareness Campaign in 1997 under the auspices of the Office of the Dean of Students. The campaign focused on (1) knowledge, (2) attitude, (3) beliefs, (4) sexual behaviour change and (5) confidence in sexual practices. The intention of the 5 aspects was to empower students with knowledge on HIV/AIDS in order to make informed choices and decisions. The major objectives of the study were to: ascertain student knowledge of HIV/AIDS; change the attitudes of student since stigma and discrimination are widespread; gather information on the belief system of students on HIV/AIDS; gather information on sexual behaviour change of students; and develop confidence in sexual practices. The population for the study was the students of the Polytechnic of Namibia. The sample size of the three hundred and ninety nine (399) students was randomly selected from the total sample frame. This comprises one hundred and sixty six (166) males and two hundred and thirty three (233) females. The total number is the unit of analysis. A 3 point scale response survey questionnaire to evaluate the effectiveness of the Polytechnic HIV/AIDS Awareness Campaign and to understand the behaviour that put students at risk of HIV/AIDS infection was administered to the unit of analysis. Data obtained was analysed using percentage computation on knowledge, attitude, belief, sexual behaviour change and confidence in sexual practices of the unit of analysis. The results of the analysis indicate that the awareness campaign has a positive effect on the participants’ knowledge, attitude, belief, behaviour change and sexual practices. 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z