Research Articles (Scholarship of Teaching & Learning)

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An investigation into the use of emerging technologies to transform teaching and learning across differently positioned higher education institutions in south africa2
(University of the Western Cape, 2011) Bozalek, Vivienne
This paper reports on a project which was initiated in 2011 and which aims to learn more about emerging technologies in higher education in South Africa and their potential impact on enhancing learning in an inequitable educational landscape. This newly developed research project includes a team of researchers across eight differently placed South African HEIs and one international NGO (see footnote 1 for researchers in the team and their institutional affiliations). The paper elaborates on emerging technologies, the South African context, provides an overview of the rationale for the project and describes the research design for the project
Haunted Walks of District Six: Propositions for Counter-Surveying
(SAGE, 2022-02) Motala, Siddique; Bozalek, Vivienne
This article traces a pedagogical trajectory in South African higher education that started in engineering education and leads to walking-as-research. Situated on District Six, a well-known site of apartheid forced removals, a cartographic and diffractive methodology is utilized to trace the development of this pedagogy, as well as walks that have emerged out of mapping the site by means of geographic information system (GIS). We develop propositions related to a practice we call counter-surveying, and we trace two walks of District Six with people who are connected to the site. Recognizing the hauntological power of walking, we walk into the past and diffractively read the walks together with South African history, geomatics education, and posthumanist theory. Premised on relational ontologies, we attend to the ghosts of District Six and explore different ways of interrogating issues of land and education, while opening up a space for Otherness.
An evidence-based approach to learning and teaching during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic
(José Frantz, 2021) Pather, Subethra; Brown, Vanessa; Lawack, Vivienne
On 5 March 2020, South Africa’s Health Minister confirmed that the first case of Covid-19 had been detected in the country and on 15 March the President announced a national state of disaster, followed by various measures including the closure of schools on 18 March. On 17 March 2020, the Minister of Higher Education announced that universities would close until 15 April 2020 for early recess. At this time the Minister also instructed higher education institutions to begin preparations for online teaching and learning that “may need to be put in place to support the academic programme at a later stage”. Following his announcement, most universities announced their intention to switch to Emergency Remote Teaching and Learning (ERTL) on 16 April 2020
The South African dental schools’ educational environment: Final year students’ perceptions at four dental schools
(JCDR Publishing, 2018) Bhayat, Ahmed; Barrie, Robert; Motloba, Pagollang; Yengopal, Veerasamy
Introduction: The Educational Environment (EE) can play a major role in the success and progress of students and their studies. The EE includes the infrastructure, clinical activities, the atmosphere created by staff and students and the clinical supervision of students both at the dental hospital and at outreach sites. Aim: To determine and compare the final year dental students’ perceptions of their EE at the four dental schools in South Africa (SA). Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional analytical study including all final year dental students registered in 2017 at the four dental schools in SA was undertaken. The Dundee Ready Educational and Environment Measure (DREEM) was used and this consisted of 50 items separated into five categories. All data was anonymous and information was kept strictly confidential. T-tests and ANOVA were used to compare demographics, item, domain and total scores of respondents between the dental schools. Descriptive statistics were used to report on the frequencies and percentages for categorical variables. Results: Out of total 210 final year students, 141 (67%) agreed to participate. The mean age was 23.9 years (±2.4) and 72% were female. The mean overall score was 124.5 and the mean scores for the domains were 30.3 for learning, 26.2 for the perception of lecturers, 23.4 for academic self-perception, 27.9 for the perception of the atmosphere and 16.2 for social self-perception; all of these indicated that the EEs were more positive than negative. A total of seven (14%) items had a mean score of less than 50%. All institutions except one, had a mean total score above 100 out of a total of 200 (50%). Items which scored the highest included the content being relevant to dentistry and the friendships that were formed. Items with the lowest scores included lecturers being authoritarian, over-emphasis of factual learning and being too tired. Conclusion: South African dental students perceived their EE to be positive. Older students and males were more satisfied compared to their counterparts. The content of the dental curriculum seemed to be appropriate and relevant but should be constantly re-evaluated to identify areas that need to be improved.
Evaluation of assessment skills using essay rubrics in student self-grading at first year level in higher education: a case study
(South African Association for Language Teaching, 2018) Bharuthram, Sharita
This paper reports on a study in which students self-graded an assessment task with the aid of an assessment rubric. On comparing student selfgrades with those of the tutor it was found that majority (72.6%) of the students failed to demonstrate good self-assessment skills with student grades ranging from 25 less than the tutor grade to an overestimation of 36 above the tutor grade. Consistent with other research studies the results further show that weaker students graded themselves higher than the better performing students. However, there was a tendency for male students to grade themselves higher than female students. Analysis of the qualitative data reveals that students� feelings about self-grading may play a role in the grades they assign themselves. The author therefore recommends that affective factors need to considered and addressed prior to the self-grading task. Furthermore, it is evident that rubrics alone may not necessarily improve selfgrading and that internalisation of the rubric criteria and standards, as well as practice is crucial. Finally, in order to produce graduates who are able to appraise their performance, selfassessment should be embedded early in the students degree programme and be sustained throughout the degree.
Dental clinical teachers' perceptions of their teaching role
(South African Dental Association, 2018) Maart, Ronel; Gordon, Natalie
Introduction: Clinicians often occupy a clinical teaching role without being adequately prepared for or orientated to the associated demands. Aim: Explore perceptions of clinical teachers at the Faculty of Dentistry (UWC). Method: A cross-sectional research design was used. Full and part-time clinical teachers (n=66) employed in 2014 were included. Data was gathered using a questionnaire administered via the online Survey Monkey® system. Results: The response rate was 47% (n=31). The top five qualities of a clinical teacher were -understanding students, patience, subject knowledge, passion/commitment and communication. The top five competencies were: clinical skills and experience, subject knowledge, good communication, good teacher, role modal. All respondents selected "availability throughout a clinical session, punctuality at a clinical session and identifying gaps in procedural aspects in the patient care" as important roles of a good clinical teacher. Differences in perceptions of clinical roles were seen between full and part-time clinical teachers. Conclusion: Clinical teachers' perceptions of their teaching role was to a great extent In line with bast practice as Indicated In the literature. Faculty teaching and learning Initiatives should highlight the clinical teacher role, harness the unique perspectives of full and part-time clinical teachers and address barriers that may hinder this process
�We don't really see a problem in music because that s**t makes you want to dance�: Reflections on possibilities and challenges of teaching gender through hip-hop
(Taylor and Francis, 2018) Hussen, Tigist Shewarega; Ngabaza, Sisa
Hip-hop culture has been criticised as sexist and misogynist. It is also condemned for being exploitative of black women�s identity and for perpetuating gendered and sexualised assumptions about female musicians. This perspective explores pedagogical possibilities and challenges of using popular culture, such as hip-hop music performances, in a gender studies course. We critically reflect on our experiences of working with second-year students exploring gender performances in music. We encouraged students to analyse music of their own choice within the hip-hop genre, interrogating gender performances beyond simplistic good/bad or right/wrong body and sexual conduct. Data collected in online chat rooms on the teaching and learning platforms show students� enthusiasm in engaging with hip-hop as subject matter. However, in their analysis quite often students struggled to move away from the dominant narrative of hip-hop as sexist and misogynist, their critique focusing on the exaggerated femininity and hypersexuality of female hip-hop artists. Students struggled to critically explore other counter-narratives and counter-representations of the performances. We reflect on the possibilities and challenges of using hip-hop as subject matter in feminist pedagogy.
Incubating a slow pedagogy in professional academic development: An ethics of care perspective
(South African Journal of Higher Education, 2018) Collett, Karen; van den Berg, Carolien; Verster, B; Bozalek, Vivienne
The current neoliberal impetus in higher education has effects on all aspects of academic life, including professional academic development. These effects include increasing workloads and more casualisation of academic work, particularly teaching and a greater emphasis on quantification of scholarly outputs. The Slow movement provides an alternative way for valuing academic life (Berg and Seeber 2016; Bozalek 2017; Hartman and Darab 2012; Martell 2014; Ulmer 2017), as does the ethics of care, which has been used as a normative framework to evaluate and re-imagine academic development from a different perspective than that of neoliberalism (Bozalek et al. 2014; Tronto 2010). To date, however, there has been little engagement with how Slow pedagogy (Berg and Seeber 2016) might be put into conversation with an ethics of care to re/configure professional academic development. Our paper addresses this gap by diffractively reading the political ethics of care (Tronto 1993; 2013) through the concept of a Slow pedagogy in order to reimagine creative provocations for academic development. Experiences of a group of participants, who attended inter-institutional academic development courses in Cape Town, are drawn upon to illustrate the superpositions of these diffractive readings. The intra-actions in face-to-face and online meetings and artefacts are analysed to see what was helpful for the development and flourishing of the small group of participants using the new insights gained through the diffractive readings. Findings show how a professional development course, informed by elements of care ethics and Slow pedagogy, enhance the sustainability of professional learning communities.
Reflecting on the process of teaching reflection in higher education
(Taylor and Francis, 2018) Bharuthram, Sharita
Higher education plays an important role in nurturing life-long learning and critical citizenry. One way to foster these is through developing a reflective practice. Given the importance of reflection, this article discusses the process of teaching reflection in my course, and students� responses to these lessons, with a focus on their understanding of what it means to reflect and on its benefits and challenges. The findings reveal that, while most students are able to adequately articulate what reflection is, they are not able to translate this understanding into practice, and reflection is not viewed as a learning strategy. Students find reflecting on personal issues easier than reflecting on discipline-related ones, and language proficiency could play a role. A reflective practice can be inculcated in students and can lead to the development of criticality; however, the methods used to facilitate this process are crucial. While some of the above findings may be attributed to shortcomings in the course, the article concludes that, for greater effectiveness and for reflection to be viewed as an important practice in developing criticality, as well as a life-long learning practice, the teaching of reflection should be embedded in meaningful and productive ways throughout the curricula.
Development of students’ academic literacies viewed through a political ethics of care lens
(South African Journal of Higher Education, 2018) Dison, Arona
This article explores insights which the political ethics of care (Tronto 1993; 2013) offers to academic literacies development of students. Research on ethics of care has been conducted in contexts ranging from micro to macro levels. However there has been no research on academic literacies development using this lens. In this article, data on academic literacy development within a health sciences faculty at a South African university is re-analysed through an ethics of care lens. Curriculum and programme alignment, departmental relationships and ethos and institutional approach to academic literacies development are considered through this lens. While the initial research project focused on student acquisition of dominant academic literacies, this article explores the insights that care ethics can bring to a “transformative” approach to academic literacies (Lillis and Scott 2007) and argues that care ethics can make a contribution to the decolonisation of education.
A collaborative auto-ethnographic exploration of socially just practices by new academics in two South African higher education institutions
(South African Journal of Higher Education, 2018) Collett, Karen; Von der Heyden, B; Pott, R; Stander, J
Challenges experienced in the higher education context require new academics to engage with issues of social justice in their pedagogical practices. This article focuses on such challenges and how these are met by the authors, who are new academics from two higher education institutions in South Africa. Using a collaborative auto-ethnographic approach to analyse and interpret practices from different disciplines and higher education institutions, critical insights into “response-able pedagogies” are highlighted. “Response-able pedagogies” may be described as those which foreground attentiveness, responsibility, curiosity and capability, are used as a lens to examine the pedagogical practices of the authors, as new academics. This lens is useful in that it illuminates ethical dimensions of how a socially just pedagogy might be enacted in disparate South African higher education contexts. Issues of language, academic literacies, resources, employability, cultural diversity, large classes, and student abilities are reflected upon in relation to new academics’ engagement with socially just pedagogies. The article is intended to be a useful resource specifically, but not exclusively for, new academics entering the field of higher education in South Africa.
Exploring participatory parity in higher education: experiences of social work students
(Department of Social Work, Stellenbosch University, 2018) Dykes, Glynnis
This study uses the principle of participatory parity (PP) espoused by Fraser (2008, 2009) for exploring social work students’ experiences of enabling and constraining factors in advancing their engagement with and involvement in a specific university. This study therefore explores factors related to this phenomenon using Fraser’s framework. Eight participants volunteered to form part of this qualitative study using three methods of participatory learning action (PLA) data collection, namely, the river of life, community maps and focus group discussions. Findings explore whether the economic, cultural and political dimensions of PP limit or facilitate student engagement and involvement.
Gender equality is a human problem’ Teaching men and masculinities in a South African undergraduate classroom’
(SUN press, 2018) Clowes, Lindsay
What is transformation in contemporary South African higher education? How can it be facilitated through research and pedagogic practices? These questions are addressed in this edited collection by established academics and emerging research students from nine South African universities. The chapters give us access to students’ worlds; how they construct, experience and navigate their complex spheres, on and off campus. By engaging with students as knowledge producers, we transform popular ways of thinking about race, gender, class, sexuality, disability and age as singular and natural markers of difference and diversity. Rather than taking diversity as fixed and rooted in nature, we explore how diversity is imagined and lived in particular contexts on and off campus.
Flipped out in the blended classroom, the good, the bad and the ugly: When academics become students
(Sabinet, 2018) van den Berg, Carolien; Verster, B; Collett, Karen S.
This article explores the well-being of three academics from different higher education institutions and disciplines, as they engage in professional academic development (PAD) courses using technology. A collaborative autoethnographic approach is applied to reflect on our professional development experience. The higher education landscape is shifting to a cloud-based ICT infrastructure, opening up multiple educational opportunities in teaching and learning. Lecturers in higher education institutions (HEIs) are required to use a range of new technological tools and applications and engage in new learning methodologies. This is modelled in professional academic development courses, which integrate technology and digital tools into the teaching and learning process. Participant perspectives on PAD within a blended learning environment are examined through the lenses of an ethic of care and authentic learning to uncover social justice pedagogy. Using a diffractive approach in a collaborative autoethnographic study, the possibilities, tensions and contradictions of using technology to enhance pedagogy are explored. Findings point to the importance of an Ethic of Care and authentic learning, in order to enhance a social justice pedagogy in PAD.
Enriching the information systems curriculum to enable digital innovation capacity
(Sabinet, 2018) van den Berg, Carolien
The diffusion of technology is opening up numerous opportunities to transform business and society through digital innovations are emerging as a result of the diffusion of technology. Information Systems (IS) education needs to prepare students to apply technology to improve the effectiveness of business, the environment and society. Their ability to utilise digital innovations will be at the crux of the transition to a digital world because they are instructed in both Information Technology (IT) and business. They should therefore have the ability to identify the value of advances in technology to meet an unmet organisational or societal need. Graduates in IS need to play a leading role as the innovators of the future and the teaching and learning environment needs to prepare them for this uncertain, complex and ambiguous world. Drawing on findings from a PhD study, this article explores complexities of our higher education environment, coupled with the explosion of digital technologies and, at the centre, the students and their well-being. The intention is to explore the skills required to enhance the capability of IS students to participate in, and ultimately orchestrate, digital transformation in business and society. A design-based research (DBR) approach was applied in a mixed-methods design via three iterations during 2016 and 2017. The study produced scientific outputs resulting in eight design principles to capacitate students for the future world of work.
Critical interdisciplinary dialogues: Towards a pedagogy of well-being in stem disciplines and fields
(South African Journal of Higher Education, 2018) Bozalek, Vivienne; Winberg, Christine; Conana, Honjiswa; Wright, J; Wolff, K; Pallit, N; Adendorff, H
Students enrolled in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) globally and in South Africa are generally not in a state of well-being. International and South African research studies show that undergraduate STEM programmes pose significant challenges to students and that many STEM programmes are marked by high attrition rates and poor student success. There is growing recognition that STEM educators need to teach the “whole student” instead of focussing only on STEM knowledge and skills. In order to teach in a holistic way, university educators themselves need to understand and achieve their own well-being. The article argues that a pedagogy of well-being and its associated concepts of competence, self-efficacy, community and inter-relatedness are key to academic staff and student well-being in the STEM disciplines. The focus of this article is an inter-institution study on enhancing STEM educators’ capacity towards a pedagogy of well-being through teaching portfolio development in diverse institutional contexts. The research question guiding is the study is: How might academic development practitioners and STEM university educators successfully collaborate for the benefit of student well-being and success? Data for this study was obtained from “critical dialogues” between academic development practitioners and STEM university teachers, as well as an external evaluation of the project. The data comprise video-recordings of the critical dialogues and survey responses. The findings of the study indicate that there are barriers as well as productive spaces for interdisciplinary work towards well-being in STEM teaching and learning. The findings have implications for how STEM academics might engage in professional learning towards pedagogical competence, and offer suggestions for the ways in which academic developers might respectfully “transgress” into STEM disciplinary domains in support of a pedagogy of well-being in the STEM disciplines and fields.
"Operating at the limit of what was possible": A case study of facilitator experiences in an open online course
(James Nicholas Publishers, 2018) Rowe, Michael
The experiences of course facilitators in connectivist-type MOOCs are poorly reported. Yet there is evidence that the values and beliefs of facilitators have an important impact on the learning experiences of participants, and that reducing their interactions with students may also reduce the effectiveness of the course. This study aimed to determine the experiences of the facilitators of an open online course in order to develop a deeper understanding of how those experiences may have influenced the course outcomes. Three facilitators recorded their reflective discussion following the completion of a successful open online course among undergraduate physiotherapy students and a cohort of qualified physiotherapists from around the world. Facilitators in this course aimed to increase the number of meaningful interactions between all participants, finding that this led to significant challenges in developing and maintaining learner relationships. There were a variety of pressures that exerted an influence on their involvement. Course design influenced the number, type and quality of interactions, which came at a high cost in facilitator time and energy. However, they also led to rewarding learning experiences for both facilitators and participants.
The mismatch between first-year students’ expectations and experience alongside university access and success: A South African university case study
(African Sun Media, 2018) Pather, Subethra; Dorasamy, Nirmala
The widening of access into higher education institutions in South Africa has rapidly transformed the student population to become more diverse. Students vary in age, race, culture, backgrounds, educational experiences, academic potential and university expectations. Widening university access with the commensurate need for success requires intervention mechanisms to ensure university management addresses student challenges, especially at first-year undergraduate level. Access and success cannot be achieved without understanding students’ university expectations and experiences, as these are critical factors that are integrated with retention and success. This paper examines the gap between students’ expectation and experience and argues that the intensity of such a gap can negatively impact the goal of achieving access and success amongst students from diverse backgrounds. The study utilised a pre- and post-survey to collect quantitative data from 95 first-year teacher education students at a university of technology in South Africa. The results indicate that there is a significant gap between students’ expectations and their actual university experience with regard to the following indicators: social engagement, academic engagement and seeking academic support. It is posited that such a mismatch between students’ university expectations and experience can result in students feeling disconnected to the institution, which could lead to academic failure and high drop-out rates. This study recommends that an intentionally planned first-year experience programme is required to entrench a more inclusive and sustainable first-year experience for ‘all students’ which could close the gap between students’ expectation and experience and access and success.
Sociocultural paradoxes and issues in e-learning use in higher education Africa
(Routledge, 2018) Njenga, James Kariuki
Sociocultural issues are major contributing factors in mass acceptance and effective use of technology. These issues are often perceived to contradict the benefits the technology brings about. E-learning use in higher education in Africa, as a technology, faces some sociocultural barriers that contradict its promise and benefits. This paper identifies five social cultural paradoxes, namely globalisation, cultural identity, westernisation, authenticity and foreign ideologies, with the aim of creating awareness of, and eliciting the interventions required to improve the acceptance and use of e-learning. The paper presents the differing and contradictory views of technology advocates and technology sceptics on the use of e-learning in higher in Africa.
Information behaviour of Nigerian undergraduates in the world of Web 2.0
(Sabinet, 2018) Krubu, Dorcas Ejemeh; Zinn, Sandy
This study investigated the information behaviour of Nigerian undergraduates in the world of Web 2.0 at the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Nigeria. The study is drawn from a doctoral thesis that used a mixed methods approach. The population and sample of the study was a total of 803 undergraduate students. Three research questions which focused on the information needs, information resources and infrastructure, and barriers to information seeking were answered using a questionnaire. The study revealed that students need information both for academic purposes and in their everyday life experiences. The data provide support for the convenience school of thought. It seems that time constraints and the inconvenience of traditional sources might be critical factors in the choices that students make in their information seeking. The barriers which students experience are both physical and intellectual. The physical barriers relate to technical issues such as the system freezing, server down time, access speed, and erratic power supply. The intellectual barriers concern their inability to choose appropriate subject headings, keywords, formulating search strategies, and choosing appropriate databases.

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