We are grateful to you our faculty members as you are instrumental in supporting our students through their research journeys. We

encourage you to use this newsletter as a platform to share

experiences and concerns amongst us colleagues

THE DA VINCI INSTITUTE

NOVEMBER 2014 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2

Next submission deadline As you probably noticed, there was only one graduation ceremony in 2014. It is very important for supervisors to know when the deadline for submission for the Septem-ber 10, 2015 Graduation, will be. The more reason to see your own students submitting their research docu-ments by the final date of 16 March 2015 as stipulated in the Da Vinci calendar.

We need a ‘notice of intent to submit’ from the Academic supervisor three months in advance. This gives us time to invite one external examiner for Master students, and two external examiners for Doctoral students.

The Da Vinci PhD Award

The Da Vinci PhD Award went to Dr Ali Reza Moussavian for his thesis The Integral Telecoms: Towards a sustain-able telecommunications sector. The thesis demonstrates excellence in research quality and made an exceptional contribution towards the crea-tion of new knowledge relating to the specific domain. The research reflects a dynamic balance between the relevancy of the research problem, the appropriateness

Dr W Goosen, Dr AR Moussavian and S Motsieloa, Chairman of the Council

of the theoretical framework, critical accounting of cur-rent scientific knowledge, application of sound methodol-ogy and implementable recommendations. Dr Moussavi-an made remarkable value-adding contributions to the Management of TIPSTM domain.

We have seen the year 2014 come and nearly gone by.… It has been a good year for research and supervision at The Da Vinci Institute as 17 Master and 16 Doctoral stu-dents graduated on 17 September 2014 in the Linder Au-ditorium at the Johannesburg College of Education. This means that a similar number of field supervisors contrib-uted towards their progress while a few academic supervi-sors supported two or more students on their research journeys. Alexander Forbes hosted a President’s Dinner for the doctoral students and their supervisors the evening before the graduation. Prof Ben Anderson and Prof Roy Marcus are accompanying 13 of the PhD graduandi below.

Invitation to supervisors

This year has seen another 153 students submitting their

research proposals with 150 Field supervisors and 98 Aca-demic supervisors having been invited to oversee these students. Da Vinci is committed to improving the student and super-visor communication, thereby ensuring student through-put at a better pace, and within the registered period. With more proposals to come in the new year more super-visors are required. The Research office has forwarded an information form to supervisors to update their status and details as well as their areas of interest for supervision. Please return the form to Karen Karen@davinci.ac.za as soon as possible. If you have not received such a form please let her know.

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Closed from 12 December 2014 till 5 January 2015

THE CATALYST NEWSLETTER A PERSON THAT BRINGS ABOUT CHANGE/TRANSFORMATION

Qualitative Research: The Case study

We have found that often results of a completed work project

are used to build a research case and create a hypothesis.

Consequently, the student may find it difficult to create an

epistemological research design and methodology as after-

math. For this reason the case study as a qualitative re-

search methodology is briefly highlighted in this section.

A Case study can be applied as research methodology for a

holistic, in-depth investigation. For our intent a Case study is

an attempt to examine a specific phenomenon (occasion,

event, incident, or subject-matter) over a particular period. It

is based on a specific real-world, on-the-job sample in which

a problem is identified and active research and

data collection is done to find a solution for the

organisation’s own purpose. It refers to the collec-

tion and presentation of detailed information. The

Case study is designed to give details from the participant’s

viewpoint by using multiple sources of data. Specific types of

Case studies have been identified of which the most recog-

nised are Exploratory, Explanatory, Descriptive and Critical

instance (cause and effect). There can be single or multi-

modal Case study designs and applications to address the

research topic.

Designing a Case study. First the researcher should consider

the different sub-categories and identify a theoretical per-

spective before he begins to design the study. A research

design is basically a blueprint for getting from the beginning

to the end of the study. It is a string of logic that ultimately

links the data to be collected and the conclusions to be drawn

to the initial questions of the study.

During the problem statement it is important not to confuse

symptoms with problems, make premature evaluations, ac-

cept information at face value and apply old stereo types to

new problems. The statement should also include any as-

sumptions to be made in the analyses.

In Case studies data are collected from mainly six sources,

namely, documents, archival records, interviews, direct ob-

servation, participant observation and artifacts. It is advisa-

ble to use creative problem solving during data analysis and

before coming to a conclusion and recommendation.

PAGE 2 THE CATALYST NEWSLETTER

Meet Prof Ola Busari Ola Busari, former Professor of Hy-drology and Water Resources, is cur-rently Executive Manager for Knowledge Management and Strate-gic programmes at the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority, a state owned enterprise in South Africa, mandated to finance and develop bulk water infrastructure. Previously, Ola was Divisional Executive at the

Development Bank of Southern Africa, heading up the provision of specialised advisory services across all eco-nomic and social sectors. Before joining the Bank, Busari served as Director with the National Department of Water Affairs in South Africa. His publications profile includes

over 150 papers and commissioned reports. A licensed civil engineer and an alumnus of The Henley MBA Pro-gramme, University of Chicago Advanced Environmental Isotopes Program, and Cambridge University Business and Environment Programme for Senior Executives, Ola holds a doctoral degree in the optimization of water use.

For any contributions or ideas on the

newsletter, please contact Marthie de Kock

marthie@davinci.ac.za or Storm

Thomas storm@davinci.ac.za

Publishing

Publishing of articles and other contributions have improved

during 2014. To advance article publishing amongst stu-

dents, it has become compulsory in 2013 for PhD students

to submit a publishable article with their thesis, preferably

written with their supervisors. Even Master students have

started publishing with their supervisors. More than twenty

contributions were received, of which 16 have been either

published, or are publishable.

Contact Marthie de Kock at marthie@davinci.ac.za for more

information on the publication of a scholarly article.

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Supervisor workshops

Every supervisor needs to stay informed of the latest devel-

opments in research. As Da Vinci is a Mode 2 tertiary insti-

tution with its own requirements and developments, it is

necessary for supervisors to attend at least one information

workshop per year. Next Supervisor workshops:

27 February 2015

and

18 August 2015

Next Curiosita

Tuesday 24 February 2015 15:00 for 15:30—18:00

The Da Vinci Hotel & Suites – Sandton

No. 2 Maude Street, Corner 5th Street