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South African institutions top THE Africa rankings pilot
Times Higher Education creates a top 15 table for Africa’s academies ahead of the inaugural THE Africa Universities Summit on 30-31 July
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Browsing by Subject "Academic development"
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Item Being and becoming a university teacher(Taylor & Francis, 2016) McMillan, Wendy; Gordon, NatalieThis study examined how one academic framed the enablements and constraints to her project of being and becoming an academic. Complexity facilitated reflection in that it provided a visual representation of data, which was used to generate a concept map, which represented as equal all the component parts of her landscape. Five spaces with emancipatory potential to assist the academic in her professional development emerged, namely: communities of practice, academic freedom, position statements, development opportunities and a supportive environment. Rather than suggesting any generalisability in the findings, the authors argue that the significance of this study is theoretical and methodological. Complexity theory has the potential to help academic development practitioners understand the landscapes in which their academics operate, and guide appropriate development opportunities.Item Editorial: The ethics of care and academic development(South African Journal of Higher Education, 2018) Bozalek, Vivienne; Winberg, ChristineHigher education institutions have commonly understood ethics and care as separate functions, rather than as an integrated practice, and have tended to delegate these responsibilities to research ethics committees, professional bodies or Human Resource departments as custodians of institutional codes of conduct. The ethics of care (Gilligan 1982; Noddings 1984; Tronto 1993; 2010; 2013) provides an alternative normative framework to such principal ethics or codes of conduct. The current higher education context, both in South Africa, and internationally is in a state of turmoil, having to face many challenges in terms of access, available funding, casualisation of labour, demands to decolonise the curriculum, amongst others. This special issue considers some of these effects of colonisation and neoliberalism on the academy from a political ethics of care perspective.Item Learning to teach STEM disciplines in higher education: a critical review of the literature(Taylor & Francis, 2018) Winberg, Christine; Adendorff, Hanelie; Bozalek, Vivienne; Conana, Honjiswa; Pallitt, Nicola; Wolff, Karin; Olsson, Thomas; Roxa, TorgnyEnrolments in STEM disciplines at universities are increasing globally, attributed to the greater life opportunities open to students as a result of a STEM education. But while institutional access to STEM programmes is widening, the retention and success of STEM undergraduate students remains a challenge. Pedagogies that support student success are well known; what we know less about is how university teachers acquire pedagogical competence. This is the focus of this critical review of the literature that offers a theorised critique of educational development in STEM contexts. We studied the research literature with a view to uncovering the principles that inform professional development in STEM disciplines and fields. The key finding of this critical review is how little focus there is on the STEM disciplines. The majority of studies reviewed did not address the key issue of what makes the STEM disciplines difficult to learn and challenging to teach.Item Mind the gap: Science and engineering education at the secondary–tertiary interface(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2013) Case, Jenni; Marshall, Delia; Grayson, DianeIn the South African higher education sector, there is increasing concern about the poor retention and throughput rates of undergraduate students. There is also concern that the participation rates in higher education, relative to population demographics, remain extremely racially skewed. With the quality of schooling unlikely to change dramatically in the short term, universities need to look for ways to improve student success, particularly in science and engineering, where graduates are needed for a range of key roles in society. Here we review the research presented at a forum held by the Academy of Science of South Africa in 2010, which sought to bring together the latest expert thinking in this area. The major focus of academic development to date has been the establishment of extended degree programmes. However, it is clear that this model has limited capacity to deal with what is, in fact, a much broader problem. We summarise existing interventions aimed at reducing the ‘gap’ between secondary and tertiary education, and describe key innovations in mainstream programmes that are possible at the levels of pedagogy, curriculum and institutional environment, some of which are also becoming established internationally in science and engineering. Driving such initiatives will demand visionary university leadership in order to effect the integrated and holistic change that is needed.Item Students� navigation of the uncharted territories of academic writing(Taylor & Francis, 2013) Bharuthram, Sharita; McKenna, SiouxMany students enter tertiary education unfamiliar with the �norms and conventions� of their disciplines. Research into academic literacies has shown that in order to succeed in their studies, students are expected to conform to these norms and conventions, which are often unrecognized or seen as �common sense� by lecturers. Students have to develop their own �map� of their programme�s expectations in order to make sense of the seemingly mysterious practices they are expected to take on. This study, undertaken at a University of Technology in South Africa, details students� perceptions of their writing difficulties and their attempts to navigate their way through various writing tasks. The findings reveal that students experience a range of difficulties and that the students often feel unsupported in their travails with academic writing.Item "We are not in the least bit used to these ways of studying": Developing academic competence in all students(American Association of Dental Schools, 2005) McMillan, WendyThis article is located in the field of academic development in oral health science education. Specifically, it examines the academic difficulties experienced by oral hygiene students in their transition from high school to university. A qualitative approach was employed to elicit student and lecturer perceptions. Drawing on empirical evidence from a case study of a cohort of first-year oral hygiene students at a dental faculty in South Africa, the article contributes to an understanding of how first-year university students might be better prepared for the challenges of reading and writing in higher education. The voices of lecturers and students are used to highlight the nature of the difficulties that students experience in the transition from high school to university. The suggestions that students made regarding how the transition might be eased are also examined. The final section draws on these suggestions and presents a working model for an academic development module for first-year oral health students.Item Writing in and for the academy: collaborative writing development with students and lecturers at the UWC Writing Centre(SUN Media, 2011) Clarence, SherranWriting and reading critically are core academic practices that many South African tertiary students struggle with throughout undergraduate study. This is partly due to a lack of competency in English as a first language, and partly due to a lack of preparation at primary and secondary school level. Critical reading and writing practices need to be developed simultaneously, and contextually. The Writing Centre at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) is currently exploring ways to make itself a more relevant and focused part of the University’s teaching and learning interventions and strategies, and to make it more responsive to the multiple reading, writing and language needs of students. Influenced theoretically and practically by New Literacy Studies and Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) approaches, the Writing Centre is working to position itself as part of a teaching and learning environment that develops and supports both student writers and disciplinary lecturers. We aim to do this by foregrounding, theorising, researching and building a culture of writing intensive teaching that imagines and uses writing as a tool for learning, thinking and evaluation, as well as for assessment. In order to become a significant part of teaching and learning in higher education more generally, Writing Centres will need to work increasingly with lecturers to address the writing and reading needs of students in a supportive, critical and collaborative space that better serves the needs of both parties.