Browsing by Author "Scholtz, Brenda"

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Design and Evaluation of a “Gamified” System for Improving Career Knowledge in Computing Sciences
(LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, 2016-10-31) Scholtz, Brenda; Raga, Larissa; Baxter, Gavin; https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brenda_Scholtz; https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gavin_Baxter
“Gamification”, or the use of game elements outside the gaming context, is a recent trend in learning approaches and has been used to digitally engage and motivate people to accomplish their learning objectives. The study described in this article investigated components of a gamification system and the impact of these components on user experience, usability and education usability. The Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics (MDA) classification framework for gamification design was used to guide the authors’ design of a gamification system intended to improve learners’ knowledge of careers in computing sciences (CS). Criteria for evaluating e-learning systems were derived from literature and used to extend the MDA framework via addition of criteria for evaluating usability, user experience (UX) and educational usability of a gamification system. The extended MDA framework was found to be successful in guiding the design, development and evaluation of the system prototype, and the results gathered from the summative usability evaluation indicated that positive UX and educational usability were achieved. The results suggest that gamification designed for UX and educational usability can potentially play an important role in equipping young people in South Africa with a knowledge of CS-related careers.
Internet Visibility and Cyberbullying: A Survey of Cape Town High School Students
(LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, 2015-12-15) Scholtz, Brenda; Van Turha, Tracy; Johnston, Kevin
The pervasive and open nature of the Internet in the everyday lives of South African children has facilitated benefits such as increased collaboration,learning opportunities and access to knowledge (A2K). However, the online environment’s increased visibility has at the same time provided new ways for children to bully each other, and the evidence in the available literature suggests that online bullying – “cyberbullying” – may result in more harmful consequences than offline variants of such behaviour. This article provides findings from an online survey of cyberbullying experiences among a sample of high school students aged 15 to 21 years in the city of Cape Town. The survey found clear evidence of cyberbullying, as reported by both victims and perpetrators, and it was found that social networking sites (SNSs) were the online spaces most-used for cyberbullying, followed by short message service (SMS) platforms. Among perpetrators, 19% reported that they cyberbullied once or twice a week and 10% said they cyberbullied every day or almost every day. The survey also uncovered gender differences in the length of time it took for victims of cyberbullying to put the incidents behind them, with more females than males taking a long time (i.e., a few weeks, or a month or two or more) to stop feeling “bothered” by the incident. The authors conclude that the findings show a need for improved efforts, in schools and in student households, towards building learners’,parents’ and teachers’ e-safety awareness and capacity for preventative action.
Pilot Testing of an Information Extraction (IE) Prototype for Legal Research
(LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, 2020-06-30) Scholtz, Brenda; Padayachy, Thashen; Adewoyin, Oluwande
This article presents findings from pilot testing of elements of an information extraction (IE) prototype designed to assist legal researchers in engaging with case law databases. The prototype that was piloted seeks to extract, from legal case documents, relevant and accurate information on cases referred to (CRTs) in the source cases. Testing of CRT extraction from 50 source cases resulted in only 38% (n = 19) of the extractions providing an accurate number of CRTs. In respect of the prototype’s extraction of CRT attributes (case title, date, journal, and action), none of the 50 extractions produced fully accurate attribute information. The article outlines the prototype, the pilot testing process, and the test findings, and then concludes with a discussion of where the prototype needs to be improved.