Search Results (120)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being integrated into higher education. Among these innovations, AI teaching assistants have emerged as tools that can provide immediate academic support, personalized feedback, and improved access to learning resources. Despite the growing adoption, limited research has explored students’ knowledge, attitudes, and acceptance of AI teaching assistants in African higher education contexts. The Technology Acceptance Model was adopted as a theoretical lens to explore South African university students’ Knowledge, Attitudes and Acceptance of AI teaching assistants in a clinical learning environment. A qualitative study design within an interpretivist paradigm was employed. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with six undergraduate students who had experienced both traditional teaching approaches and AI-assisted learning. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed three key themes: students’ understanding of AI teaching assistants, attitudes toward AI-assisted learning, and acceptance and concerns regarding AI in clinical education. The results indicate that students generally demonstrate positive attitudes toward AI teaching assistants and recognize their usefulness for supporting independent learning. However, participants also expressed concerns regarding the accuracy of AI-generated information and emphasized the continued importance of human educators in clinical training. The study contributes context-specific insights into technology acceptance in African higher education, highlighting how perceived usefulness may remain strong even in resource-constrained environments. Full article

The dimensionality of the Ego-Resilience Scale (ER89) remains contested, and little is known about the performance of the original and revised versions of the scale in South Africa. This study examined the psychometric properties of the 14-item ER89 and the 10-item ER89-R in 337 undergraduate students from a university in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Participants completed the ER89, the Sense of Coherence Scale, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, and the trait scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The scales were evaluated using classical test theory, confirmatory factor analysis, bifactor modeling, parallel analysis, Mokken scale analysis, and Rasch analysis. For both versions, bifactor models fit better than one-factor models, but the specific factors showed anomalous loadings and accounted for little reliable variance. Parallel analysis and Rasch analysis supported an essentially unidimensional interpretation of both instruments. Although both versions showed acceptable internal consistency and expected associations with sense of coherence, depression, and anxiety, several findings raised concerns about their broader psychometric adequacy. Overall, both scales appeared to reflect a broad general factor of ego-resilience, but their performance in this context was mixed and, in important respects, problematic. Further refinement and validation are needed before either instrument can be recommended for confident use in South African research and practice. Full article

Background: Regular physical activity induces physiological cardiac remodeling (“athlete’s heart”), which may overlap with pathological hypertrophy. Regional echocardiographic and electrocardiographic data among young African adults are limited. This study evaluated how graded physical activity relates to cardiac structure and function among university students in Ghana. Methods: In this comparative cross-sectional study, 174 apparently healthy students aged 18–30 years were categorized into four physical activity groups in the preceding six months: level 1, no regular exercise (n = 29, 16.7%); level 2, <30 min/day of exercise (n = 41, 23.6%); level 3, 30 to 60 min/day of moderate exercise (n = 29, 16.7%); and level 4, >1 h/day of vigorous exercise (n = 75, 43.1%). Anthropometry, blood pressure, 12-lead electrocardiography, and comprehensive transthoracic echocardiography were obtained. Cardiac indices were compared across activity levels using the Kruskal–Wallis or Welch’s ANOVA test, with post hoc comparisons and regression analyses performed where appropriate. Results: Participants were predominantly male (56.3%), with a mean age of 22.3 ± 3.50 years, BMI of 23.0 ± 4.39 kg/m², systolic blood pressure of 118 ± 13.0 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure of 71.3 ± 9.11 mmHg, and heart rate of 66.9 ± 10.9 bpm. Compared with sedentary participants, those in level 4 had a higher IVSd (9.87 ± 1.61 vs. 8.17 ± 1.47 mm, p < 0.001), LVIDd (43.6 ± 6.96 vs. 40.2 ± 3.58 mm, p = 0.002), LVPWd (10.1 ± 1.95 vs. 8.91 ± 1.60 mm, p = 0.003), and LVM (54.6 ± 7.45 vs. 47.1 ± 6.57 g, p < 0.001). EDV and ESV also increased with activity (90.1 ± 24.8 vs. 69.7 ± 17.8 mL, p < 0.001; 32.4 ± 12.8 vs. 25.6 ± 6.52 mL, p = 0.023). Systolic function was preserved across groups, with an EF of 59.3 ± 4.86% in level 4 vs. 58.3 ± 5.34% in level 1 (p = 0.707). Level 4 participants had a higher SV (57.6 ± 16.7 vs. 46.3 ± 10.4 mL, p = 0.003), CO (3.83 ± 1.17 vs. 3.05 ± 0.70 L/min, p = 0.022), and CI (2.19 ± 0.66 vs. 1.77 ± 0.37 L/min/m², p = 0.015). Bradycardia was most frequent in level 4 (35.8% vs. 18.2% in level 1, p = 0.041), and PR interval was longer in participants exercising ≥30 min/day than in those exercising <30 min/day (166 ± 23.2 vs. 162 ± 21.8 ms, p = 0.031). Conclusions: In young African university students, greater physical activity was associated with mild physiological remodeling, including a higher left ventricular wall thickness, cavity size, and mass, while systolic and diastolic indices remained preserved. The mean values in the most active group were 9.87 mm IVSd and 10.1 mm LVPWd with preserved EF, supporting activity-related adaptation rather than overt pathological hypertrophy and highlighting the need for population-specific cardiovascular interpretation. Full article

Experiences of discrimination and/or microaggressions may negatively affect mental health among university students. We assessed the association between experiences of discrimination, microaggressions, and combined exposure on poor behavioral health (PBH) among university students in Spring 2023 (N = 45,386) using cross-sectional data from the American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment III. PBH (an index of severe psychological distress and substance use risk) was reported by 42.9% of students. More than half of sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth reported PBH, and had a high prevalence of discrimination and microaggressions. Among racial/ethnic groups, Black/African American students had the highest prevalence of experiences of discrimination and microaggressions. Minoritized groups who experienced discrimination or microaggressions consistently reported a higher prevalence of PBH compared to their counterparts not reporting these experiences; the opposite pattern was observed among cisgender, heterosexual, and White participants. In the logistic regression models, experiences of both discrimination and microaggressions were associated with an over 2-fold increase in odds of PBH, controlling for demographic variables, compared to those experiencing neither. Interaction effects revealed that experiences of microaggressions did not consistently and differentially predict PBH across subgroups of minority youth. Efforts to increase resilience on university campuses may improve behavioral health. Full article

Many South African schools face educational resource shortages that hinder effective teaching and learning. This study investigates a community-driven Open Educational Resources (OER) initiative implemented within a teacher education programme at a South African university, where Bachelor of Education (BEd) students (n = 400) from first to fourth year across the Vanderbijlpark and Potchefstroom campuses were engaged in designing sustainable Learning and Teaching Support Materials (LTSM) from recyclable materials. A purposively selected qualitative subsample (n = 53) participated in the study. Framed within an interpretivist and qualitative phenomenological design, data were collected through structured written reflections capturing participants’ experiences of the project. The findings show that creating OER from recyclable materials strengthened resourcefulness, collaboration, and awareness of educational inequality, while also encouraging more accessible and context-responsive teaching practices. The study contributes to understanding how Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)-aligned operational innovation can foster self-directed learning and sustainable teacher education in under-resourced contexts. Full article

Notwithstanding the cruciality of the decolonisation project in decentring African perspectives and experiences in education, very few studies have explored the extent to which the Fallist Movements in South Africa have presented foundational pathways for academic staff to negate colonial legacies and recentre African thought systems. Through a systematic literature review of research from the public domain, this study couched within the decolonial lens explored university students’ concerns, embedded in the Fallist Movements in South Africa, and how academic staff could draw lessons from student actions to decolonise education. After screening the initial 65 entries, based on the exclusion and inclusion criteria, 19 research studies published between 2015 and 2025 were retained for analysis. Findings reveal three recurring concerns: disrupting positionality in colonial categories of universities, reasserting their Being, and agitating for a decolonised curriculum, of which these embodied the spirit of students’ resilience against cultural colonisation, epistemic erasure, and economic exclusion. Building on these findings, the paper argues that such resilience from students enlightens the strategies academic staff could learn to transform the decolonisation project into reality. Implications for the academic community in South Africa and comparable contexts are proposed to resuscitate the unfinished business of decolonising education. Full article

Studentpreneurship has gained prominence in South Africa as universities are increasingly expected to foster innovation, job creation, and youth participation in the economy. However, despite the establishment of incubators, entrepreneurship centres, mentorship programmes, and EDHE-aligned initiatives, support for studentpreneurs remains unevenly implemented, poorly integrated, and inconsistently accessible, particularly within a historically disadvantaged university. This study examines how university support mechanisms shape the experiences, challenges, and business development trajectories of studentpreneurs in a South African university. Guided by Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Theory, the study adopts a qualitative research design involving in-depth interviews with 15 studentpreneurs. Thematic analysis reveals significant gaps in awareness, accessibility, and continuity of institutional support. While students valued motivational workshops, pitching opportunities, and limited mentorship, these interventions lacked sustained follow-up, sector-specific guidance, and financial or infrastructural resources necessary for business growth. The study contributes to South African entrepreneurship scholarship by highlighting the lived realities of studentpreneurs at a historically disadvantaged university and by proposing institutional reforms to build more coherent, equitable, and sustainable studentpreneurship ecosystems. Full article

Background: In March 2026, a meningococcal cluster centred on the University of Kent, England, caused two deaths and resulted in over 20 reported cases within the first week, including confirmed and suspected invasive cases. Subsequent UKHSA updates in early April 2026 reported 21 laboratory-confirmed MenB cases (18 linked to the outbreak strain) and two deaths, with the outbreak subsequently spreading to a second Canterbury university, Canterbury Christ Church University, and confirmed as Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B (MenB). Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) bears a disproportionate global burden of meningococcal disease, yet university settings remain a critically understudied outbreak amplifier. This narrative review extracts epidemiological and policy lessons from the Kent event and applies them to the SSA context. Methods: We conducted a narrative review following the SANRA criteria, searching PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Google Scholar, and African Journals Online (2000–2026), with supplementary grey literature retrieved from World Health Organisation (WHO), Africa Centre for Disease Control, and United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA). Outbreak data were drawn from official UKHSA public-health statements (grey literature, archived), the University of Kent communications, and peer-reviewed expert commentary. Results: The Canterbury outbreak exposed six reproducible vulnerabilities: unprotected serogroup circulation (confirmed MenB, not covered for the current university-age cohort), nightlife-linked transmission amplification, delayed serogroup identification, poor student symptom-recognition, inadequate institutional response capacity, and, critically, multi-institutional spread via shared nightlife venues (confirmed extension to Canterbury Christ Church University within five days). Each vulnerability is demonstrably more severe in SSA universities, which face a broader multi-serogroup threat environment (NmA, B, C, W, X), virtually no university-entry vaccination requirement, and critical evidence gap of campus-specific meningococcal evidence in the published literature. Conclusions: This review proposes a five-pillar preparedness framework for SSA tertiary institutions, derived from a synthesis of the Kent outbreak and broader epidemiological evidence, intended to inform policy discussion and future research. Moreover, these should be embedded within a broader age-linked prevention strategy that begins before university entry, particularly during the transition into secondary school in high-risk settings. Priority measures include meningococcal vaccination at key educational transition points, prophylactic antibiotic pre-positioning, serogroup-capable surveillance, symptom-recognition training, and pan-continental alert A predominantly reactive response may carry substantial risk in SSA settings. Full article

Background: South African university students face escalating levels of psychological distress driven by academic overload, financial precarity, and social challenges. Health professions students are particularly vulnerable due to the demanding nature of clinical training and repeated exposure to human suffering. Aim: This study aims to propose an Integrated Student Well-being and Resilience Model tailored to the South African health professions education context. Methods: This conceptual paper draws on empirical evidence from South African studies on student mental health, global campus well-being frameworks, and socio-ecological theory. Bronfenbrenner’s Socio-Ecological Systems Theory and a tiered public health approach were synthesized to develop a multi-level model aimed at addressing the academic, financial, and social determinants of student mental health. Conceptual synthesis: The study unequivocally identified a syndemic of interconnected factors predisposing students to depression, which included the interplay of academic rigour and cognitive burnout, financial vulnerability as a determinant of mental health, the crisis of social connection and psychological safety, and institutional failure and the resilience fallacy. Conclusions: The Integrated Student Well-being and Resilience (ISWR) Model is a systemic architecture designed to coordinate institutional governance with the complex psychosocial needs of health professions students. The model provides a holistic, scalable framework for strengthening student well-being within health professions education. By shifting from reactive counselling to proactive, system-level interventions, the model offers a strategic blueprint for creating resilient, supportive learning environments capable of improving student mental health and fostering a healthier future healthcare workforce. Full article

The use of smartphones and social media has become an increasing feature of daily life among university students. Although technology use can offer benefits, growing evidence links heavier engagement to poorer mental health outcomes. This study examined the associations between social media use and indices of psychological distress among South African university students, and it tested whether smartphone addiction represents a pathway linking social media use to distress. Participants (n = 491) were students who completed the Social Media Use Integration Scale, the Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale-10, the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5, the Beck Hopelessness Scale-9, and the trait scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-5. Mediation analyses with the PROCESS macro was conducted to examine smartphone addiction as a possible pathway between social media use and indices of psychological distress. The results of the mediation analysis indicated that social media use and smartphone addiction had significant positive direct effects on depression, PTSD, and anxiety, but not on hopelessness. In addition, social media use had significant indirect effects via smartphone addiction on depression, PTSD, and anxiety, pointing to the partial mediating role of smartphone addiction. The results highlight the importance of incorporating targeted support within student mental health services. Interventions aimed at reducing distress may benefit from targeting problematic smartphone engagement alongside broader efforts to promote healthier social media practices. Full article

Background: Evidence shows that simulation-based education for nurses and midwives contributes to strengthening patient safety and quality of care in healthcare settings. Nevertheless, it is implemented to a limited degree in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) higher education institutions, including Tanzania. This demands that Tanzania shift from a traditional model of teaching to incorporate simulation-based education to produce a skilled workforce. Objective: To explore perceptions and experiences of nurse educators (lecturers) and midwives on simulation-based education in Tanzania. Methods: The study employed a generic qualitative descriptive study design with purposive sampling. The data were collected through individual semi-structured interview guides with nurse educators and midwives (nine nurse educators and 11 midwife graduates) from two selected universities in the School of Nursing and their respective teaching hospitals. Qualitative inductive content analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: The data analysis revealed three themes and nine sub-themes: 1. Knowledge and skills in simulation-based education. 2. Challenges in the implementation of simulation-based education. 3. Ensuring patients’ safety. Conclusions: Students were indeed experienced, but not trained in how to use simulation-based education, and nurse educators had inadequate skills. A high number of students with inadequate infrastructure and resources is the major challenge experienced by participants. Simulation-based education is at an early stage of adoption in Tanzania and will require ongoing development, support and resources to fulfilll its potential in promoting patient safety. Full article

Students’ use of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) to avoid engaging in generative processing can undermine the validity of higher education. In contrast, Flipped-Interaction Intelligent Tutoring Systems (FIITSs) may promote active engagement by leading a personalised dialogue. The underutilisation of FIITS may stem from the lack of a framework to guide prompt creation and from a dearth of published FIITS prompt examples. This article presents the Flipped-Interaction Prompt (FIP) Framework, abstracted from two validated prompts. To achieve this validation, 26 preservice science education students at a South African university engaged with either prompt in a free GAI five times over ten weeks. The resulting 114 engagements, each involving at least 10 flipped-interaction dialogue exchanges, were analysed for implementation fidelity and for students’ engagement in generative processing. Findings were triangulated against questionnaire and group interview responses, as well as written reflections. The technical implementation was closely aligned with the prompt instruction, with minor deviations noted for not providing answers outright. Additionally, students demonstrated moderate to high levels of generative processing. Findings support the efficacy of the abstracted FIP Framework in guiding the creation of FIITS prompts. Investigating instantiations for additional subject domains would further strengthen confidence in this framework. Full article

Students’ profiles are influenced by a variety of contextual variables. Over a period of eleven years, a variety of these variables was selected to determine why some students perform better than others. The main purpose of this paper is to record and report on the results of the investigation. The main research task was to document combinations of variables and admission requirements according to students’ profiles (N = 9035), and to identify trends and possible patterns contributing to the success of educational studies. The integrated theoretical lens aligns with South Africa’s national focus on equity, access, and success, providing insight into how institutional practices and student diversity intersect. A quantitative research method was used. The study concluded that unique combinations of variables contribute to first-year accounting students’ success. The value of the study contributes to student profiles, in particular, gender, race, marks and subject choices, pre-university knowledge and admission requirements that could predict student success. Full article

Sustainable computing is now a mainstream expectation of the profession, yet its treatment in higher education remains uneven, and often reflects assumptions of stable power, affordable connectivity, and frequent hardware refresh. This conceptual paper offers a critical synthesis of the misalignment between globally promoted sustainability competencies and the infrastructural realities of African higher education. We argue that when curricula designed for resource-abundant settings are adopted without adaptation in contexts shaped by energy volatility, high data costs, and complex device ecologies, a design–reality gap emerges: students may learn the language of sustainability but lack the practical competence to engineer resilient, resource-aware systems. Employing an explanatory synthesis of two evidence pools, i.e., global work on sustainable computing education and Africa-focused scholarship on infrastructure constraints, we propose the Context-Aware Sustainable Computing Education Framework. The framework integrates three dimensions of reform: pedagogy that shifts from awareness to context-aware action competence through constraint-led challenges, curriculum reform that embeds frugal computing and lifecycle stewardship as technical rigour within core modules, and an infrastructure-as-driver stance that treats the campus energy and device environment as a living laboratory for responsible trade-offs. We conclude with tiered implementation pathways, showing how departments can progress from minimum viable changes to institutional approaches. The synthesis positions African universities as credible contributors to global thinking on resilient computing under tightening resource constraints. Full article

Background: Body mass index (BMI) is commonly used to assess obesity but does not differentiate between fat and lean mass, limiting its effectiveness to assess cardiometabolic risk. Measurements of central adiposity, such as waist circumference (WC), waist-hip ratio (WHR) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), are better predictors of metabolic dysfunction, especially with respect to visceral fat. Aim: To examine BMI trends and assess the association between BMI and waist-related anthropometric indicators WC, WHR, and WHtR, among university students in South Africa. Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 842 university students was conducted. Anthropometric measurements were taken according to ISAK standards. Quantile regression models supplemented by ROC curves were used to assess the predictive effects of WC, WHR, and WHtR on BMI across its distribution. Results: A total of 842 participants (63.8% female) were included, with a mean age of 21.8 ± 4.0 years. Significant differences were observed across BMI categories for all demographic and anthropometric characteristics (p < 0.001). Quantile regression analyses showed that WHtR and WC were strong and consistent predictors of BMI in all quantiles, with effect sizes increasing at higher levels of BMI. The WHR showed weaker associations overall, but these became significant in the upper BMI quantiles. Collectively, waist-related indicators, particularly WHtR and WC, exhibited robust predictive values for elevated BMI. Conclusions: Waist-related indicators, especially WHtR and WC are robust predictors of elevated BMI among university students, particularly in higher BMI ranges. These findings highlighted the value of incorporating central adiposity measures alongside BMI for more accurate health risk assessments in young adult populations. Full article