Research Publications - CIECT

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Advances made by the University of the Western Cape in the support of remote online teaching and learning for student success and access
(University of the Free State, 2023) Dankers, Paul; Stoltenkamp, Juliet
During the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing advances were made by higher education institutions (HEIs) to support remote online teaching and learning for student success and access, which are increasing areas of research. The major objective of this paper is to address the shift to remote teaching and learning practices that Covid precipitated in higher education. We report on literature that captures the ongoing shift to remote teaching and learning practices. The response of the University of the Western Cape (UWC) to the crisis of the pandemic will be highlighted. Various themes related to the pedagogical value of emergency remote teaching (ERT), online learning, and continual post-pandemic support are discussed. We examine how challenges presented new opportunities for curriculum innovation and transformation at the UWC. The focus is the importance of a continual professional academic support structure and post-covid awareness campaigns in order to sustain fully online and hybrid teaching and learning approaches. Recommendations highlight that departments across faculties need to focus on training and support with regard to the attainment and effective application of eSkills and eTools; and that there is a need to intensify this, especially as part of the broader curriculum transformation agenda. More research that focuses on ongoing advances in the support of remote online teaching and learning for student success and access during a pandemic is necessary.
Leadership in education: The impact of leadership on the successful implementation and support of remote teaching, learning and assessment
(2023) Stoltenkamp, Juliet; Dankers, Paul
The stimulus of collective leadership across all faculties is pertinent to the successful implementation and assessment of sustainable remote teaching and learning support. This study identified the role leadership had at a Higher Education Institution (HEI) in South Africa. Of particular interest was the collective leadership shown at all levels across academic faculties, departments, and professional support teams to ensure that remote teaching and learning were sustainable. A mixed-method research approach was used, in which qualitative and quantitative methods were applied. Leaders agreed that the influence of leadership affected the implementation and support of remote teaching and learning for students both negatively and positively. The findings of the study agreed with other research conducted in this field.
A teleological interpretation of Bonhoeffer’s concept of “A World Come of Age”
(Wiley, 2023) Dankers, Paul; Willerton, Christian
This paper explores Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s concept of “the nonreligious interpretation of biblical terms in a world come of age,” best known from his Letters and Papers from Prison (LPP). As a case study of its possibilities, we will survey South African thinkers who have explored the concept in rapidly changing contexts. Our leading question is whether academic theology can develop a teleological narrative for a nation that has “come of age.” When a nation or culture becomes so secular that it “outgrows” a traditional use of biblical terms, can those terms be reinterpreted to provide a teleological narrative for the nation? Bonhoeffer can be a resource for academic theologians to address issues in public theology, especially the suffering and oppression of communities still in pain despite a democratic system.
The innerworkings of digital storytelling
(International Journal of Online Pedagogy and Course Design (IJOPCD), 2023) Daniels, Andre Davids; Venter, Isabella Margarethe
Traditionally, storytelling was used for entertainment and the transfer of know-how. The advent of digital media gave rise to new possibilities for telling stories. When the context is, for example, to relay information about how to protect a person from COVID-19, it is referred to as serious storytelling. The main objective of this research was to establish what skills and attributes would be required for someone to autonomously “tell” a serious digital story in a resource constrained environment. A systematic literature review of peer reviewed articles resulted in a knowledge bank of articles. Atlas Ti was used to qualitatively analyse these articles. Even though a resource constrained environment may be a limiting factor for telling a digital story, this research has found that emotional support, digital inclusion, as well as assisting individuals with their devices, can pave the way to autonomous digital storytelling.
Comparison of Support Interventions During a Blended Course for Educators from Urban and Rural Settings
(2015) Stoltenkamp, Juliet; Kabaka, Martha
This research focused on the design and delivery of a blended Professional Development (PD) Program for in-service teacher-educators from both urban and rural settings. The overall purpose of the PD Program was to enhance the educators’ Information Communication Technologies (ICT) skills, with emphasis on eTools for supporting teaching-and-learning methodologies. Two groups of teacher-educators undertook the course. A strong facilitation and support approach was maintained throughout the PD Program to encourage self-directed learning. A case study approach was adopted to explore the experiences in the overall implementation and impact of the program. This article reflects on the findings regarding program design and structure; access to resources; impact time management; design of a support structure for the monitoring and evaluation of the program; and educators as self-directed learners using eTools to enhance teaching-and-learning methodologies.
The Facilitation and Support of a Blended e-Learning Course for Science Educators in a Rural Setting, South Africa
(Asian Online Journal Publishing Group, 2013) Stoltenkamp, Juliet; Kabaka, Martha; Braaf, Norina
This paper presents the findings of both qualitative and quantitative case study research of the implementation of a blended eLearning course for Science educators in the Eastern Cape, Mthatha. The Centre for Innovative Educational and Communication Technologies (CIECT) at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) designed and developed a course, namely: “Designing an Instructional Event”, registered with the South African Quality Authority (SAQA) at a National Qualification Framework (NQF), Level 6. This course was offered in collaboration with the Education Faculty, for the Bachelor of Education (Honours) (BEd Hons) Programme; specifically Science Education. The researchers highlight the importance of the provision of extensive facilitation and support by the CIECT team, in order to motivate the educators (full-time working professionals) to become self-directed learners. In this case, the educators were expected to complete activities; and design an online environment to enhance their Science instruction. Considerable challenges were faced by the facilitators and educators due to limited infrastructure; and a lack of commitment by some participants to commit to the completion of tasks.
Designing online learning environments in higher education: Building capacity of lecturers to design and facilitate blended e-pedagogy for mature students
(University of the Western Cape, 2022) Stoltenkamp, Juliet; Dankers, Paul
Amidst the spread of COVID-19, higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa were compelled to offer academic programmes through online learning by utilising digital information and communication technologies (ICT) that were specifically designed to deliver content to mature students who used technology in their learning. This chapter focuses on the effective design of blended-learning environments and building the capacity of lecturers to design and facilitate interactive, blended e-pedagogy for mature students. We use the adapted ADDIE model to illustrate how lecturers can design and facilitate blended e-pedagogy for mature students. In fact, the COVID-19 crisis catapulted blended e-pedagogy to centre stage in higher education and created the need for: e-pedagogy training; the refining of e-tools; collaborative e-tools; and online assessment e-tools.
Towards a socially just continuous professional development model for teachers as adult learners
(2022) Dasoo, Nazreen; van der Merwe-Muller, Lorna
In 2020, the world experienced an unprecedented pandemic with devastating, lasting effects. For South Africa, it revealed stark inequalities in society and in schools. One such disparity was that between the digitally advantaged and digitally disadvantaged in the workplace. South African teachers, like their global counterparts, lamented about their readiness to teach online and in blended classrooms. This prompted our investigation into how teachers as adult learners experience continuous professional teacher development(CPTD) in times of crisis. An exploratory case study, with a purposeful sample of 26 teachers at an independent primary school in Johannesburg, was undertaken. We discovered that teachers struggled with emotional stress and pressure in their efforts to acquire digital skills and competencies within a limited time frame. Hence, appropriate CPTD to support teachers, especially in a time of crisis, is crucial. We present an innovative model for CPTD, which has the potential to meet the needs of post-pandemic teaching and learning as well as provide for socially just CPTD opportunities.
Funding as a crisis for mature women students: Agency, barriers and widening participation
(University of the Western Cape, 2022) Aploon-Zokufa, Kaylianne
Drawing on a research investigation into the learning pathways of mature women, this chapter highlights funding as a crisis. Mature women students face barriers to access, participation and success in higher education. Understanding these barriers is crucial for widening institutional access. The analysis in this study indicates that a lack of personal finance and difficulties in accessing institutional funding are among the significant barriers these women experience. In addition, the findings show that some women overcame their funding crisis and successfully gained entry into higher education, while others remain excluded. Motivation to overcome poverty is primary to the agency that women demonstrate in their efforts to devise strategies to access funding for their higher education studies.
Higher education funding crisis and access: Student protests, UWC#FMF, and social movements
(University of the Western Cape, 2022) Mdepa, Anele
Inadequate government funding for higher education, a higher education institutional funding crisis, and students’ individual financial crises provoked students in 2015 and 2016 to mobilise themselves to protest against fee increases. Propelled by the #FeesMustFall movement which emerged in 2015, student activists demanded free access to higher education and succeeded in securing increased National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funding and a ‘no fee increase’ for 2015 and 2016. The rise of fallist movements such as the #FeesMustFall movement signified new forms of social movements, new ways of mobilisation, and new forms of social movement learning. This chapter focuses on the UWC#FMF movement which emerged at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) to protest against the proposed 2015 fee increase prompted by the funding crisis in higher education.
Community education and the crisis of biodiversity loss: Reflections from the hall of mirrors of past projects
(University of the Western Cape, 2022) Land, Sandra; Phadima, Lehlohonolo Joe; Memela, Bhekathina
South Africa is one of the most biologically diverse countries on our planet, and many South Africans depend on our biodiversity for their livelihoods. However, we face a rising biodiversity crisis, with many of our ecosystems destroyed, damaged or increasingly threatened by human activities. Effective community education is needed to limit further degradation of natural ecosystems that provide us with clean air and water, food and fuel, medicinal plants, and health-giving environments. In the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province, 80% of ecosystems needing protection for their survival are within communal or privately owned land. Past top-down engagement approaches to conservation efforts targeting rural communities failed to turn many communities towards desirable conservation practices, and, instead, tended to alienate and divide people in rural communities. This chapter discusses key understandings and dynamics in community education initiatives aimed at reversing the biodiversity crisis, and bringing long-term, sustainable, biodiversity conservation solutions that truly benefit ecosystems and people in rural KZN and beyond.
Gender-based violence in adult education: The experiences of rural learners and adult educators
(University of the Western Cape, 2022) Mncube, Vusumzi; Mutongoza, Bonginkosi Hardy; Olawale, Babawande Emmanuel
Gender constitutes an integral part of both individual and collective uniqueness, and it is distressing that gender-based violence (GBV) remains persistent in education. Gendered violence is a scourge globally, more particularly for educational institutions – which are often imagined to be peaceable and immune to acts of aggression. Around the world, instances of GBV continue to surface at an alarming rate, and South Africa is no exception. The prevalence of violence based on gender continues to threaten the drive towards inclusive education, as contemplated in various policies. Despite South Africa transitioning from apartheid in 1994, it is disturbing that challenges remain in terms of access to education. Although adult learning was implemented as a strategic initiative in the quest for inclusive education in this country, worryingly, GBV continues to pose a threat to the effectiveness of such programmes in rural communities. This chapter seeks, through the lived experiences of adult learners and adult educators in rural areas, to unearth the dynamics of GBV as it relates to adult learning. To investigate their experiences, data was collected using interviews. The findings of the study revealed that GBV remains prevalent as a result of power dynamics, attitudes and socialisation, and social learning, among other factors. As the findings indicate, while it is challenging for traditional South African societies to address GBV, there is a need for all educational stakeholders to spread awareness and advance equality where GBV is most common.
Access and barriers to post-school education and success for disadvantaged black adults in South Africa: Rethinking equity and social justice
(University of the Western Cape, 2022) Groener, Zelda
Widespread national higher education student protests against proposed fee increases and demands for free higher education in South Africa that arose towards the end of 2015 drew international attention to disadvantaged students’ socio-economic conditions and the barriers that deter access to higher education. Adults’ experiences of socio-economic barriers to accessing post-school education are similar. Drawing on theoretical frameworks and secondary data, I conceptualise a distributive justice perspective on access for disadvantaged black adults premised on the relationships between interrelated equality rights and socio-economic rights, principles of social and economic justice, and redistributive policies.
The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the community education and training college system in KwaZulu-Natal
(University of the Western Cape, 2022) Mthethwa, Bhekefini Sibusiso Vincent; Land, Sandra
This chapter gives an account of how adult learners and educators in the Community Education and Training College system in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN CETC) have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated lockdown, and considers implications of their experiences for the future of the system. The current COVID-19 pandemic is contextualised against the history of previous pandemics, some of which had devastating effects on society. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the CETC system is described, including the denial of access to learning venues and initial difficulties in procurement of protective equipment and products required for the re-entry of learners and educators. The keen sense of injustice felt by some learners and their responses to this injustice are noted, as is the exposure of shortcomings in the system, and the associated transformational learning opportunities for adult learners, adult educators and the managers of the system.
Socio-economic crisis, social security, distributive justice, and vulnerable adults’ access to post-school education and training in South Africa
(University of the Western Cape, 2022) Groener, Zelda
Emerging international theoretical perspectives illuminate new understandings about adults’ access to post-school education and training (PSET) in contexts of crisis. As the crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds in South Africa, it draws attention to the socio-economic hardships confronting vulnerable black adults. Anticipated deepening poverty and unemployment will intensify as material barriers to PSET. How does the COVID-19 crisis invite us to rethink distributive justice in terms of social security in a context of crisis? How do the COVID-19 crisis, the socio-economic crisis and the government’s emergency social security measures inform our thinking about vulnerable adults’ future prospects for a sustainable life and, as potential adult learners, access to PSET? Conceptualising access to PSET in the context of the COVID-19 crisis, the pre-Covid-19 impending socio-economic crisis, and the government’s realisation of socioeconomic rights to new forms of social security generates new theoretical insights about the possibilities that an ‘above and beyond the minimum threshold’ of social insurance for vulnerable adults could improve access to PSET.
Lessons learnt: support interventions during a blended course for teacher-educators from urban and rural settings
(Scientific research, 2014) Stoltenkemp, Juliet; Kabaka, Martha; Braaf, Norina
This comparative case study research focused on the design and delivery of a blended Programme for professional working teacher-educators from both urban and rural settings. The overall purpose of the Programme was to enhance the educators’ Information Communication Technologies (ICT) skills, with emphasis on eTools for supporting teaching-and-learning methodologies. Two groups of teacher-educators undertook the course as part of their Professional Development (PD). For the educators situated in the rural setting, the course was integrated into their Bachelor of Education (Honours) Degree Programme. A strong facilitation and support approach was maintained throughout the Programme to encourage self-directed learning. A case study approach was adopted to explore the experiences in the overall implementation and impact of the Programme. The research reflects on the findings which include: Programme design and structure; critical face-to-face interaction; access to resources impact time management; design a support structure for the monitoring and evaluation of the Programme; educators as self-directed learners; eTools enhance teaching-and-learning methodologies; and personal barriers which hinder Programme commitment.
The design, development & implementation of an In-house SRS to enhance the teaching & learning experience: Case-study of the University of the Western Cape
(University of the Western Cape, 2016) Smith, Duncan; van de Heyde, Valentino
The Centre for Innovative Education & Communication Technologies at UWC has designed a Student Response System (SRS), which will enable students to respond electronically to questions posed by the lecturer during a class or for homework. The development of this SRS, utilising students’ mobile devices, will increase accessibility and enhance the teaching & learning experience. As SRS is web based, the majority of mobile devices are compatible. Quizzes are cached to the device so students may respond when no internet connectivity is present, & the answers are synchronised when Wi-Fi is available. In addition, student profiling takes place on a student's device itself. This allows targeted quizzes & tutorials to be sent to students, customised to the needs of the student. Furthermore, the SRS will be integrated into the institutional LMS. Two groups from Science Faculty have been selected for study to explore the efficacy of the SRS, aligned to learning theories & national HE imperatives.
Classification learning of latent bruise damage to apples using shortwave infrared hyperspectral imaging
(MDPI, 2021) Nturambirwe, Jean Frederic Isingizwe; Perold, Willem Jacobus; Opara, Umezuruike Linus
Bruise damage is a very commonly occurring defect in apple fruit which facilitates disease occurrence and spread, leads to fruit deterioration and can greatly contribute to postharvest loss. The detection of bruises at their earliest stage of development can be advantageous for screening purposes. An experiment to induce soft bruises in Golden Delicious apples was conducted by applying impact energy at different levels, which allowed to investigate the detectability of bruises at their latent stage. The existence of bruises that were rather invisible to the naked eye and to a digital camera was proven by reconstruction of hyperspectral images of bruised apples, based on effective wavelengths and data dimensionality reduced hyperspectrograms. Machine learning classifiers, namely ensemble subspace discriminant (ESD), k-nearest neighbors (KNN), support vector machine (SVM) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) were used to build models for detecting bruises at their latent stage, to study the influence of time after bruise occurrence on detection performance and to model quantitative aspects of bruises (severity), spanning from latent to visible bruises. Over all classifiers, detection models had a higher performance than quantitative ones. Given its highest speed in prediction and high classification performance, SVM was rated most recommendable for detection tasks. However, ESD models had the highest classification accuracy in quantitative (>85%) models and were found to be relatively better suited for such a multiple category classification problem than the rest.
The third-space professional: A reflective case study on maintaining relationships within a complex higher education institution
(Routledger, 2017) Stoltenkamp, Juliet; van de Heyde, Valentino; Siebrits, André
This paper showcases the work of Third Space professionals in a complex Higher Education (HE) setting, and specifically its impact on the building of trust relationships and innovative approaches. It makes use of a case study methodological approach, reflecting on the experiences of various stakeholders within pilot phases. The findings reveal challenges related to maintaining trust relationships, which can be threatened by technicist approaches. The reflective case study explores an innovative live-streaming project and the related pedagogical approaches by Instructional Design experts, as Third Space professionals, who have carved out a critical space within a HE setting. This investigation, and its related lessons, highlights learning-and-teaching aspects, training and support, reconciliation of trust relationships, can be applied to Third Space professionals in other HE institutions.
An exploration of the alignment of learning theories with eTools at the University of the Western Cape (UWC)
(2017)
The impact of emerging technologies on authentic learning in higher education remains a core concern in the South African context. Learning Management Systems (LMSs) must include emerging technologies to support innovative teaching and learning practices, given their importance in expanding student access to learning materials, and the facilitation of student development. At the University of the Western Cape (UWC), the Centre for Innovative Education and Communication Technologies (CIECT) has championed the adoption of innovative eLearning practices for over 10 years. This study explores the infusion of learning theories aligned to eTools in service of national higher education imperatives. The authors discuss the value of learning theories in the eLearning field, and deliberate on the development of the main learning theories. The study also discusses the application of learning theories in online environments, and this issue is explored by way of six cases, providing examples of how various learning theories can be aligned to eTools. These were gathered from CIECT’s marketing blog, which constitutes a research repository of practitioner experiences and reflections of the institutional LMS and innovative teaching and learning practices. The aim is to explore and emphasize the importance of grounding emerging eTools use in theory and pedagogy to promote student development, as well as the application of learning theories, specifically when designing learning environments to support traditional teaching and learning practices. The qualitative study is primarily exploratory and descriptive. It also includes a brief discussion of the results of a student questionnaire (179 respondents from across faculties and departments) exploring how and why students use eTools at UWC. This exploration of broader student eTools use will help create the foundation for a followup study to explore the use of learning theories in promoting more focused eTools adoption.

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