The Methodological Consistency of Master’s of Education Dissertations at Eduardo Mondlane University (2013 - 2018)

This study examined the methodological consistency of Master of Educationdissertations defended at Eduardo Mondlane University (EMU) from 2013 to2018 using the typology of educational research proposed by Postlethwaite(2005), Norman et al. (2002), and Creswell (2012). The qualitative, comparativestudy employed a grounded theory design. Data were gathered from apurposive sample of 33 dissertations, available on the university’s OpenInstitutional Repository. Coding and anonymous analysis were performedof the dissertations’ title, research methodology, and findings. The findingsreveal that a large number of these dissertations are not methodologicallyconsistent and thus do not lay the foundation for further research and otherinterventions for school improvement. They thus point to the need to improve the quality of supervision and research in postgraduate studies in Education at EMU.Key words: EMU, Master’s dissertations, educational research, methodologicalconsistency, supervision

Percepções de alunos da Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (Moçambique) sobre o querer ser professor de MatemáticaStudent’s perception of Eduardo Mondlane University (Mozambique) about the willing to be a mathematics teacher

Neste artigo, apresentamos uma investigação acerca das percepções de alunos que cursam Licenciatura em Matemática na Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, em Moçambique, sobre o querer ser professor de Matemática. A metodologia insere-se na abordagem qualitativa e o instrumento de produção das informações foi um questionário composto de questões dissertativas. O corpus da pesquisa foi examinado pelo método da Análise Textual Discursiva, o qual permitiu evidenciar: afinidade com a Matemática do ensino secundário como fator que impulsionou o gosto pela disciplina; e desejo em aprender e em ensinar como forma de compartilhar conhecimento e contribuir com o ensino da Matemática. In this article we present an investigation about the perception of the students that study in the Bachelor of Mathematics at the Eduardo Mondlane University, in Mozambique, about the willing to be a Mathematics teacher. The methodology is part of the qualitative approach and the instrument of the production of the information was a questionnaire composed by essay questions. The corpus of the research was examined by the Discourse Textual Analysis method, which is allowed showing affinity with the mathematics from the high school as a factor that boosted the pleasure of the subject mentioned above and about the desire to learn and teach as a way to share knowledge and contribute with the mathematics formation.

HCI4D Guidelines for Interactive Content

Fraunhofer AICOS, a research and development institute, and University of Porto made a joint venture with Mandela Metropolitan University and Eduardo Mondlane University in order to establish a set of guidelines based on an extensive research and experimental fieldwork to answer more efficiently to a user-centered design approach and focus on different users and different usage contexts. Those guidelines and this chapter provide recommendations to cope with cultural diversity, illiteracy, oral-based cultures, ergonomic factors, digital interface design, and social and environmental constraints, helping to understand problems and define strategic design actions in order to develop more user-centered solutions, focus on users' needs and expectations regarding their cultural, environmental, and technical contexts.

The Mozambican Experience in Institutionalizing Agrarian Research

This work addresses the historical process of institutionalization of agrarian research in Mozambique as well as the main challenges that it faces. The study was based on secondary data that address agrarian research from its genesis to the present. The results indicate that in the period prior to Mozambique’s independence in 1975, the best agrarian research infrastructures were concentrated in the South of the country, the region with the lowest agricultural potential compared to the Centre and the North. With the independence, the Mozambican Agrarian Research Institute (IIAM), the largest national agrarian research institution, expanded the experimental stations to the Centre and North. However, due to the war that hit the country between 1976 and 1992, agrarian research was not very effective in this period. After the end of the civil war, IIAM and some institutions of higher education, especially Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM), developed several technologies to increase agricultural productivity. Currently, the challenges of agrarian research are enormous, specially the need to: increase the quantity and quality of researchers, study the impact of climate change on agriculture, increase funding for research by government and other national partners, study the causes of the discontinuation of the use of improved agricultural technologies as well as the inclusion of farmers as priority subjects in agrarian research. Improving the linkage between research and rural extension is crucial for the generation and diffusion of appropriate agricultural technologies to the reality of Mozambican farmers.

Development of A Study Module on and Pedagogical Approaches to Industrial Environmental Engineering and Sustainability in Mozambique

Addressing the sustainability challenges in the forest sector in Mozambique require capacity building for higher education and training of new skilled expert and future decision-makers. Our approach was to developed a study module on and pedagogical approaches to industrial environmental engineering and sustainability. The idea was to developed a joint module that would eventually become a part of both PhD and MSc programmes in the Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM) in Mozambique. The basis of our development work encompassed the local priorities as identified by the UEM staff, UEM competencies in forestry engineering and the experience of the Aalto University in higher education in the fields of environmental engineering, sustainability and forest products technology. From the beginning, public authorities and industry/company representatives were involved in the development process to advance the created benefits in terms of sustainable development in Mozambique. The result of the joined work by these two higher education institutions was a study module that has been teached and completed by a class of MSc students as a part of the official UEM curricula.

Main Features and Challenges of Implementing Internal Quality Assurance Within African Higher Education Institutions: The Case of Eduardo Mondlane University

Founded in 1962, Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM), Mozambique’s largest and most prestigious university, established an Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) system for the first time in 2013. Based on UEM’s case, this paper examines the features and challenges faced when implementing an IQA system within African higher education institutions. Literature on higher education quality assurance has widely examined the features of, and challenges faced by national QA systems, or by a QA system established across several higher education institutions (HEIs). However, this literature has rarely targeted single HEIs, particularly (African) HEIs that are establishing, for the first time, their IQA systems. Besides, even when IQA at a single HEI is targeted, this is often done by outsiders. Based on reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action, this paper addresses the perspectives of both insiders and outsiders. The authors analyse a system that they have been involved in establishing. The paper’s findings enable to conclude that the main challenges of implementing an IQA system in an African HEI are associated with linking QA to decision-making and to a funding strategy; training human resources and allocating funds for the system to operate and to be sustainable; enabling the system to be assimilated by the university community; and defining measurable and objective quality standards to enable unbiased performance classification. Fondée en 1962, l’Université Eduardo Mondlane (UEM), la plus grande et la plus prestigieuse université du Mozambique, a créé pour la première fois en 2013 un système interne d’assurance qualité (IAQ). A partir de l’étude du cas de l’UEM, cet article examine les caractéristiques et les défis qui attendent les institutions d’enseignement supérieur africaines qui désirent implémenter un IAQ. La littérature sur l’assurance qualité de l’enseignement supérieur a largement examiné les caractéristiques des systèmes nationaux d’AQ (ou de systèmes communs à plusieurs institutions), et les défis auxquels ils sont confrontés. Elle s ‘est cependant rarement concentrée sur des cas uniques d’institutions, notamment des institutions (africaines) qui ont créé pour la première fois leur propre IAQ. Par ailleurs, même quand elle s’attarde sur une institution en particulier, l’analyse est souvent effectuée par des personnes étrangères à l’institution. Fondé sur la réflexion dans l’action et la réflexion sur l’action, cet article présente les perspectives de personnes internes et étrangères à l’établissement. Il permet de conclure que les principaux défis à affronter lors de l’établissement d’un IAQ sont dus à la difficulté de lier l’AQ à la prise de décision et à une stratégie de financement ; à la formation des ressources humaines et l’allocation des fonds nécessaires pour que le système fonctionne et perdure ; à l’assimilation du système par la communauté universitaire ; et à la définition de standards de qualité mesurables et objectifs pour permettre une classification de la performance impartiale.