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The Influence of Societal Context on Textbook Design in South Africa

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  • G.J. Erwin
  • C.N. Blewett

Abstract

Changes in South African politics and society since the election of Nelson Mandela as President of South Africa in the first democratic election in April, 1994, have brought about changes in the background of student audiences. This has stimulated a review of the areas of governance, syllabus, curriculum, teaching methods and research in educational institutions. In this paper we describe the first-year textbook which we created to match these changes with an Information Systems textbook which meets South African needs, rather than echoes the technology and methods of developed countries. We discuss the "product-driven" and "problem-driven" arrangements of current textbooks, problems with non-South African textbooks in the South African context, resistance by course instructors to change and some of the features of a local Information Systems course. The paper includes a summary of a survey of Information Systems students using the textbook. We conclude with recommendations on teaching methods, textbook design and support material which are appropriate to a developing country such as South Africa.

Suggested Citation

  • G.J. Erwin & C.N. Blewett, 1999. "The Influence of Societal Context on Textbook Design in South Africa," Journal of Global Information Technology Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(3), pages 41-56, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ugitxx:v:2:y:1999:i:3:p:41-56
    DOI: 10.1080/1097198X.1999.10856258
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