Student support to enhance student living and learning at a South African University

Quantitative measures show that the higher education system in South Africa remains inefficient and this reality poses significant challenges to all universities. The Faculty of Humanities at the Tshwane University of Technology has added a Student Support Programme to the existing institutional student support structures. In this article, the author reflects on the experiences of student supporters who were appointe in 2014 and 2015 for the enhancement of students' living and learnining to improve success in the Faculty of Huanities. The findings indicated that this programme has indeed improved the academic performance and personal circumstances of hundreds of students. The under-preparedness of students entering South African higher education institutions was highlighted as a major obstacle in academic performances. The majority of students who are supported by this programme experience intense personal and social challenges that are by and large brought about by and as the result of severe financial needs. The student supprters were adamant in their departing statement that much more had to be done over and beyond the general and existing approach and support structures at the Tshwane University of Technology to support these students.Keywords: Student support; Student living; Student learning; Social challenges

A CUSTOMISED FRAMEWORK FOR EFFECTIVE PODCAST INTEGRATION IN A SOUTH AFRICAN HIGHER EDUCATION ENVIRONMENT

Progressio South African Journal for Open and Distance Learning Practice ◽

10.25159/0256-8853/729 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

pp. 14-32

Author(s):

Shane Pachagadu ◽

Liezel Nel

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Conceptual Framework ◽

South African ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Teaching And Learning Environment ◽

Education Environment ◽

University Of Technology ◽

South African Higher Education ◽

Effective Integration

Numerous studies have explored the potential of podcast integration in teaching and learning environments. This paper first presents and organises perspectives from literature in a conceptual framework for the effective integration of podcasting in higher education. An empirical study is then discussed in which the guidelines presented in the framework were evaluated for applicability in a selected course at a South African University of Technology. Since the results of the study revealed a number of aspects not accounted for in the conceptual framework, the framework was customised to make it more applicable for the particular higher education environment. The customised framework identifies four principles and a series of related guidelines for the effective integration of podcasts in a South African higher education teaching and learning environment. This framework can become a valuable resource for effective podcast integration in similar environments.

Decolonising the South African Higher Education System

Psychosocial Pathways Towards Reinventing the South African University ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-49036-2_2 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 49-72

Author(s):

Sabrina Liccardo

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

South African ◽

Education System ◽

The South ◽

Higher Education System ◽

The Inclusion and Support of Students With Disabilities in the South African Higher Education System

10.4018/978-1-6684-3542-7.ch069 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 1295-1310

Author(s):

Sithabile Ntombela ◽

Vimbi Petrus Mahlangu

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Students With Disabilities ◽

South African ◽

Education System ◽

Social Model ◽

The South ◽

Social Model Of Disability ◽

Higher Education System ◽

The intention of this chapter is to contribute to the scholarship of diversity, equity, and inclusivity in contemporary higher education. Its purpose is to develop an understanding of pedagogical issues concerning the inclusion and support of students with disabilities in the South African higher education system through literature review. The chapter will contribute to debate on policy imperatives and how these have informed practice, the social model of disability and its role in shaping educational provision, access and support constraints as products of intersectionality of disability and disablement, and possible ways to re-culture higher education for support.

The Development and Establishment of Technology in South Africa

Industry and Higher Education ◽

10.1177/095042229801200103 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 17-26

Author(s):

N.P. du Preez ◽

P. van Eldik ◽

M. Möhr ◽

H.H. van der Watt

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Importance Rating ◽

Higher Education System ◽

Diffusion Of Technology ◽

High Level ◽

In a two-part analysis (Part 2 follows on pp 27–31), the authors discuss the key results of a South African project conducted during 1996 which focused on the factors relating to the development and establishment of technology in a country. The study investigated through a detailed questionnaire survey and a literature survey the various factors that promote the development and establishment of technology by comparing their perceived importance with the actual role they currently play in South Africa. This paper, Part 1, concentrates on the role of higher education. The importance of academic institutions in supplying high-level human resources was rated very highly (90.47%) but the role it is currently playing in reality was rated at 52.8%. Closely connected with this, the availability of high-level skilled technological people was given an importance of 89% while the current reality was rated at only 43%. This clearly shows that the South African higher education system is performing poorly in addressing these vital needs. The availability of entrepreneurs with innovative and creative skills to participate in the development and diffusion of technology was given an importance rating of 84.3% against a current situation of 42.2%, again indicating South Africa's weak performance. The results of the survey and the consequent recommendations are important to all developing countries with newly industrial economies.

Reflections on the South African Higher Education Leadership and Management (HELM) First Virtual Summit, 9‑11 December 2020: Leadership for a Sustainable and Resilient Higher Education System in an Age of Complexity and Change

Journal of Student Affairs in Africa ◽

10.24085/jsaa.v9i1.1442 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 235-238

Author(s):

Bernadette J. Johnson

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

South African ◽

Education System ◽

Education Leadership ◽

Higher Education Leadership ◽

The South ◽

Leadership And Management ◽

Higher Education System ◽

Experiences of black women teacher educators in the South African higher education system: initiating debate

South African Journal of Higher Education ◽

10.20853/28-6-436 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 28 (6) ◽

Author(s):

Mandivavarira Maodzwa-Taruvinga ◽

Joseph Jinja Divala

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Black Women ◽

South African ◽

Education System ◽

Teacher Educators ◽

The South ◽

Higher Education System ◽

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity in Contemporary Higher Education - Advances in Higher Education and Professional Development ◽

The Inclusion and Support of Students With Disabilities in the South African Higher Education System

10.4018/978-1-5225-5724-1.ch012 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 195-210

Author(s):

Sithabile Ntombela ◽

Vimbi Petrus Mahlangu

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Students With Disabilities ◽

South African ◽

Education System ◽

Social Model ◽

The South ◽

Social Model Of Disability ◽

Higher Education System ◽

An investigation into Dental Technology lecturers' discourses of academic identity formation within the emergence of Universities of Technology in South Africa

10.51415/10321/2571 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Thobani Linton Gumbi

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

South Africa ◽

Identity Formation ◽

South African ◽

Academic Identity ◽

Higher Education System ◽

University Of Technology ◽

Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽

South African Higher Education ◽

Dental Technology

Post-apartheid restructuring of the South African Higher Education system has brought about significant changes. Institutions of Higher Learning have implemented minor and major changes in their objectives, delivery of knowledge, functions, accreditations and overall outcomes (Du Pre 2006, Reddy 2006, Department of Education 1997). One of the more significant transitions within South Africa’s Higher Education landscape has been the conversion of technikons into universities of technology (UoTs) (Powell & McKenna 2006). This thesis investigates the discourses of academics within a university of technology, exploring their responses to and constructions of institutional shifts. The study has an ontological focus in that it is interested in the ‘being’ of Dental Technology academics. It is interested in the discursive constructions not only of themselves as academics, but also of their work in this changed institutional context. By conducting interviews with the Dental Technology academics lecturing in universities of technology in South Africa, it was the intention to explore these academics’ discourses on institutional shifts. Adopting discourse analysis as the primary method of data analysis enabled the exploration of how academics constructed the notion of academic identity, how they discursively constructed students and knowledge, as well as other core issues related to their work.