Browsing by Author "Parry, Douglas A."

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    Computing research in South Africa : a scientometric investigation
    (South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists, 2019) Parry, Douglas A.
    Limited attention has been afforded to mapping the ‘landscape’ of South African computing research. Prior studies have considered singular sub-disciplines, publications, or publication types. Given the growing prominence of computing disciplines, it is necessary to identify the patterns of research production, publication, collaboration, and impact of South African computing research. This study presents a scientometric investigation in this regard. Through the analysis of data accessed from the Scopus citation enhanced bibliographic database, the investigation presents findings in relation to annual research production, institutional differences in outputs, topics, collaboration, and citation impact. While characterised by institutional differences, over the period considered, South African computing research output has increased at a greater rate than that of South African research at large. Additionally, despite accounting for a greater proportion of all outputs, conference papers account for a smaller proportion of citations relative to journal articles or book chapters. Corresponding to previous investigations, there exists a tendency towards applied computing topics in contrast to more theoretical topics. Finally, the collaboration network was shown to be particularly de-centralised with many researchers clustered around institutions. The findings are of interest to all researchers conducting computing or related research in South Africa.
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    The digitally mediated study experiences of undergraduate students in South Africa
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2017-12) Parry, Douglas A.; Le Roux, Daniel B.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Information Science.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : The academic experiences of today’s undergraduate students have become increasingly digitally-mediated. The growing prevalence of ubiquitous information systems and pervasive media use in educational contexts has been shown to have the potential to produce detrimental effects for students’ learning and academic achievement. Media multitasking behaviour poses profound implications for cognition and academic functioning. The objective of this study is to explore undergraduate students’ new media usage patterns whilst in academic contexts. Three key aspects of these usage patterns are focused on: behavioural beliefs, behavioural triggers, and, the behaviour itself. Previously studies have focused on determining the prevalence of media multitasking behaviour, or, the implications of such behaviour. Little focus has been placed on studying students’ mediated experiences and beliefs. In this study a qualitative approach is adopted in order to gather the data necessary for furthering the understanding of students’ experiences and usage patterns. In this regard, a series of focus groups were conducted with undergraduate students at Stellenbosch University. Through a thematic analysis approach these focus groups provided a number of useful themes describing many aspects of students’ mediated study experiences, relating to their beliefs, behavioural triggers and behaviour. Synthesizing all of the themes, the principal contribution of this study to this area is the finding that students’ use of media is based on a reasoned evaluation of the impact of their media multitasking behaviour. This implies that contextual factors are primarily responsible for initiating use instances. In addition to this, this study identifies the existence of a ‘snowball’ effect, prompting unplanned, extended media engagement, prolonging use instances. Finally, a model describing students’ media multitasking behaviour in structured and self-regulated academic contexts is proposed.
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    In-lecture media use and academic performance : investigating demographic and intentional moderators
    (South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists, 2018) Parry, Douglas A.; Le Roux, Daniel B.
    The growing prevalence of continuous media use among university students in lecture environments has potential for detrimental effects. In this study we investigate the relationships between in-lecture media use and academic performance. Previous studies have shown that students frequently engage with digital media whilst in university lectures. Moreover, multitasking imposes cognitive costs detrimental to learning and task execution. We propose, accordingly, that the constant distractions created by digital media, interrupt the thought and communication processes of students during lectures and, subsequently, obstruct their ability to learn. To test this proposition we conducted a survey-based empirical investigation of digital media use and academic performance among undergraduate university students. A significant negative correlation was found between the number of in-lecture media use instances and academic performance. Furthermore, this effect was found to be pervasive independent of individual demographic factors and the intention with which a medium was used.
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    Working in a post Covid-19 world : towards a conceptual framework for distributed work
    (AOSIS, 2019) Henry, Michael S.; Le Roux, Daniel B.; Parry, Douglas A.
    Purpose: Against the backdrop of the increased prevalence of telework practices as a result of Covid-19, the purpose of the present article is to address the conceptual confusion, overlap and ambiguity characterising much of the published literature in this domain through the development of an integrated conceptual framework describing distributed work practices at various levels of organisations. Design/methodology/approach: To develop the framework, a collection of definitions for distributed work concepts were systematically selected and reviewed. These concepts include telework, remote work, distributed work and virtual work, as well as telecommuting, virtual teams, virtual organisations and distributed organisations. The reviewed definitions were systematically analysed to elicit the key principles underlying each concept, and then integrated to produce the conceptual framework. Findings: Our analysis suggests that virtuality and distributedness can be defined as distinct continua which, when combined, can be used to describe particular work settings. Additionally, we identify four factors which impact organisational policy in terms of virtuality and distributedness: interdependence of tasks, nature of work, technological environment and temporal distance. Practical implications: The framework offers managers a foundation for establishing distributed work policies and determining policy implications. Additionally, researchers conducting empirical investigations of distributed work practices can utilise the framework to differentiate between and describe particular work settings. Originality/value: The conceptual integration of virtuality, distributedness and organisational levels present a novel and important development. As organisations adapt to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the framework we propose serves as a useful artefact to support and inform their decision making.