Research Articles (Scholarship of Teaching & Learning)
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Item Bringing together knowledge and capabilities: a case study of engineering graduates(Springer Verlag, 2016) Case, Jennifer M.; Marshall, DeliaIn contemporary times there is a renewed focus on the purposes of university education in science or engineering, especially inemerging economycontexts like South Africa where the massification of higher education is in its early stages. The contributions by Muller (High Educ 70(3):409–416, 2015) and Walker (High Educ 70(3):417–425,2015) both recognise the crucial importance of expanding epistemological access for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, but their visions offer different emphases on howto proceed.Muller (2015) argues for the centring of disciplinary knowledge, while forWalker (2015) it is the concerns of society that should be central. In this article we argue that both of these are partial answers.We draw on a longitudinal study with ten South African engineering graduates, who were interviewed both in their third year and then approximately a decade later. Our analysis shows how the engagement with disciplinary knowledge is at the heart of the shaping of ‘graduateness’. Thus we argue for a coming together of the two perspectives in this issue towards a nuanced perspective on graduateness that recognises the significance of disciplinary knowledge but that also holds a space for the development of student agency in higher education.Item Relationship between student preparedness, learning experiences and agency: Perspectives from a South African university(Health and Medical Publishing Group, 2016) Roman, Nicolette V.; Titus, Simone; Dison, AronaOne of the more discernible needs that challenges universities is addressing the level of preparedness of students entering the higher education environment. Students expect to participate in active learning, while at the same time adopting a certain level of agency to successfully pass through higher education. To determine the relationship between student preparedness, learning experiences and agency of students in the Faculty of Community and Health Sciences (FCHS), University of the Western Cape (UWC), Cape Town, South Africa. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 266 (N=578) convenience sampled 3rd-year students in the FCHS. Data were collected with an instrument constructed from items of evaluation from the departments in the FCHS and other validated instruments. Findings suggest that 3rd-year students perceive themselves as moderately prepared on enrolling at UWC (mean (SD) 13.74 (1.86)); current learning experiences are favourably indicated (94.04 (15.32)). On average, students perceive themselves to be agents of their own learning (51.56 (8.79)). Furthermore, a significantly positive relationship was found between learning experiences and agency. This study broadens our understanding of the Vygotskian perspective of the zone of proximal development, where students bring their own knowledge, interact with lecturers who scaffold their learning, and then become agents in their own learning.