Teaching & Learning Transformation

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Teaching and Learning Practices and Assessments

In partnership with The Transformation Managers Forum (TMF) of Universities South Africa (USAF) Higher Education Resources Services (HERS-SA)

Theme Moving towards online learning requires teaching and Learning and Assessment practices to be more inclusive than ever before.

It is important that all students have a fair chance to complete their studies.

Key issue How prepared are these modalities in universities to cater for the needs for our students?

7 AUGUST 2020 Rapporteur: Mark Paterson

Foreword by Prof Driekie Hay-Swemmer Executive Director: Office of the Vice Chancellor In South Africa, classroom pedagogy and online teaching and learning take place in a society that has been classified as one of the most unequal in the world. Rightfully it can be argued that South Africans entered the lockdown period in unequal economic conditions and is still experiencing it as such. Therefore, the transformation webinar on “Teaching and learning practices and assessments” co-hosted by the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) as part of a series of webinars convened by the Transformation Managers Forum (TMF) of Universities South Africa (USAf), could not take place at a better time. Triggered by COVID19, the webinar opened critical discussions on the future of higher education teaching and learning and equality.

The pandemic draw once again attention to the inequalities in the provision of access to quality education provision not only in South Africa but also worldwide. It seems as if a new kind of epistemological access (maybe to be coined as technological access) is developing, raising one big question, namely how will institutions of higher learning ensure that no student will be left behind in a time when universities have to migrate from face-to-face engagements to on line learning, posing unknown challenges to both students and teaching staff.

The webinar tried to elucidate what it means Prof Driekie Hay-Swemmer when universities put in place pedagogical tools Executive Director in the Office such as online teaching and learning until there of the Vice-Chancellor, CPUT is “a return to normal”. Some universities started following a multi modal blended approach and some others, such as CPUT, a carousel model. What became soon clear was that COVID19 became a time of deep reflection on current practices as well as one of innovation. One can only hope that universities’ new normal will continue to benefit the new forms of virtual pedagogies which emerged and are still emerging. We saw greater appreciation for teaching in an extremely divided world e.g. rural and urban; men and women; dominant and under-class culture; students with upmarket computers and students who do not even have food to eat.

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Just as much as students face challenges, so does staff. Whereas face-to-face interactions enable both to determine each other’s emotions, online teaching and learning limits this.

In our ‘new normal” world of teaching and learning, lecturers have to be much more aware to their tone of speech, how communication is taking place, how knowledge is transmitted and accepted and, ultimately contribute to the quality of students’ learning experiences.

Greater understanding of students’ social environments and their immediate physical surroundings are equally critical.

Teaching and Learning Practices and Assessments

The pandemic drew attention once again to the inequalities in the provision of access to quality education provision, not only in South Africa, but also worldwide

On the positive side, this was indeed a time when lecturers start experimenting with more flexible forms of assessment, e.g. portfolios, online role play, Video and PowerPoint presentations as forms of online evaluations, taking the place of handwritten work as tools for assessment.

More formative assessments also took place. Needless to say - the new normal for teaching and learning will indeed require a recommitment to values such as integrity, honesty and trust.

As we grapple with the “new normal” for teaching and learning in universities, the need to promote transformative and personalised learning will increase. So will be the need to respond to change while listening to students’ voices – especially to the voices of students with disabilities and those who are vulnerable. Clearly the new normal will require significant digital capital. Hopefully the new world of teaching and learning will be one where everybody has equal rights to access quality learning and teaching.

This webinar is hopefully one of many webinars and discussion opportunities to come where we will create and recreate the new normal for teaching and learning, while ensuring that no student will be left behind. This is possible if all stakeholders take hands and focus on the most critical priorities.

A great word of thanks for those who organised this webinar – your efforts are well noticed and appreciated.

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ACRONYMS CIET

Centre for Innovative Educational Technology

CPUT

Cape Peninsula University of Technology

DHET

Department of Higher Education

HERS-SA

Higher Education Resources Services

ICT

Information and Communications Technology

LMS

Learning Management System

NSFAS

National Student Financial Aid Scheme

SADC

Southern African Development Community

TDP

Teaching Development Programme

TMF

Transformation Manager’s Forum

USAf

Universities South Africa

UWC

University of the Western Cape

CONTENTS 1 Introduction

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2 Reshaping the academic project

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3 Teaching and learning practices and assessments: Implementation

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4 Ubuntu: Philosophical underpinnings of the multi-modal approach in response to COVID-19 at CPUT

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5 Respondent

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6 Recommendations

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Teaching and Learning Practices and Assessments

1 Introduction 1 A transformation webinar on “ Teaching and learning practices and assessments” was co-hosted by the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) as the second in a three-part series of webinars convened by the Transformation Managers Forum (TMF) of Universities South Africa (USAf) to analyze how national Covid-19 lockdowns have affected different student groups and impacted transformation struggles; and how universities have responded to ensure that no one is left behind as they shift to online learning and adjust the academic calendar.

The webinar was attended by CPUT management, lecturers and students as well as representatives of the 26 universities, representatives from the DHET and representatives from USAf. The national Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) encouraged universities to conduct a survey on access to education during the Covid-19 lockdowns, in particular to learn more about the challenges faced by marginalized students and the impacts of the lockdowns in relation to the struggles of different student groups. Accordingly, the TMF, which endeavours to be a key advisory, advocacy and capacity-building forum to achieve transformation objectives at the 26 public universities in the national higher education sector, launched a webinar series to foster transformation praxis in relation to these issues.

As the universities moved towards online learning, both in response to the Covid-19 lockdowns and more generally, it was acknowledged that teaching and learning, and assessment practices should foster increasing inclusiveness, enabling all students to have a fair chance to complete their studies. In this context, the webinar on “Transformative teaching and learning practices as well as assessments”cohosted by CPUT and USAf considered the extent to which CPUT developed and implemented appropriate modalities to cater for the needs for students in response to the pandemic and the government measures to combat it.

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This section is based on introductory comments made by George Mvalo, Chairperson, Transformation Managers Forum (TMF), Universities South Africa (USAf), and Brightness Mangolothi, Director, Higher Education Resource ServicesSouth Africa (HERS-SA), as the convenor and moderator respectively at the webinar on “Teaching and learning practices and assessments” hosted by the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) and USAf on 7 August 2020.

The virtual meeting sought to pay particular attention to: the new modalities for teaching and learning which were developed under lockdown; the new modalities for online exams and other forms of assessment; the implementation of an asynchronous, “Carousel” model for learning and the adjustments that were made to the academic calendar; as well as the particular challenges faced by international students, disabled students, and at-risk students in need of particular material and mentalhealth support.

As the universities moved towards online learning, both in response to the Covid-19 lockdowns and more generally, it was acknowledged that teaching and learning, and assessment practices should foster increasing inclusiveness, enabling all students to have a fair chance to complete their studies

Issues discussed by the meeting included: • The institutional challenges encountered in producing a new, • Asynchronous model for teaching and learning; • The difficulties of implementing a model for equitable education in an inequitable socio-economic context; the particular impacts of the staggered approach to teaching and learning on various groups of students; and the innovative forms of assessment that have been developed in response to the new, Covid-19 conditions.

The webinar further considered how the move to place students at the centre of educational efforts may produce a larger project, based on the philosophy of Ubuntu, to foster greater pedagogic competence for transformative learning and epistemic justice.

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Teaching and Learning Practices and Assessments

2 Reshaping the academic project 2 CPUT’s teaching and learning practices, in conjunction with other functions within the university, were reshaped after the Covid-19 outbreak in South Africa. The nature of the pandemic and the uncertainty and stress that it generated produced a state of flux, as well as considerable fear. Even as responses to it were implemented by CPUT in line with the need to provide security, they had to be adapted as new challenges arose. The norms underpinning the planning efforts, which were often shaped by local, national and global imperatives, proved uncertain and quite unpredictable. So, for example, the academic calendar morphed a number of times.

Prof Rishidaw Balkaran DVC: Teaching and Learning

Accordingly, the university’s response demanded resilience, flexibility and understanding from all stakeholders, including academics, students and students’ families. The approach which pledged that no student be left behind also fostered a spirit of cooperation among units and departments within the university predicated on empathy for the difficulties facing students and their families, as well as staff, and a spirit of Ubuntu or togetherness in the face of hardship. The lessons learned and ideas generated will likely continue to shape the university’s academic project post-Covid-19.

In order to manage the academic project as effectively as possible and ensure that continuous communication was established and maintained with students, CPUT adopted a staggered approach under which groups of students were taught either together at the same time or asynchronously. In order to implement this approach, the university deployed a number of different online and offline methodologies.

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This section is based on a presentation and comments made by Professor Rishidaw Balkaran, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning, CPUT, as a panellist at the webinar on “Teaching and learning practices and assessments” hosted by CPUT and USAf on 7 August 2020.

Material support for online teaching and learning, and assessments was provided in the form of cellphone data packages and the distribution of laptops to students in need, although the provision of computers was necessarily staggered due to delays in the procurement of such equipment pledged by the government under the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).

The staggered approach was shaped using a carousel model which determined when certain groups of students would study on campus and off campus and the particular form of teaching and learning strategy to be employed at each stage.

The various faculties based their engagements with students on this model, which established four different kinds of activities to be undertaken at different times: online assessments; face-to-face teaching; using pre-prepared materials; and blended, e-learning strategies which were deployed off campus. Each teacher/lecturer was tasked with detailing exactly what they were supposed to provide under each of the four aspects of the multi-modal model.

Under the staggered approach, some sections of the syllabus were implemented online and some in person; and different groups of students embarked on their programme of learning from different starting points.

So, for example, those who had yet to receive laptops enabling online or blended learning were engaged initially through other Figure 1: The Carousel model in principle media and kinds of activity, such as tutorials. Similarly, those who had not received pre-prepared printed or electronic materials were taught in other ways – and only once they had received their study packs, were they engaged by their lecturers accordingly.

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In general, the university’s use of resources and infrastructure was The university’s managed to enable implementation response demanded of teaching and learning using the carousel model. In order to oversee resilience, flexibility the reshaping of the academic project, and understanding a business continuity management from all stakeholders, (BCM) structure was established.

Directed by a central organising including academics, body, new management structures students and and committees were implemented students’ families across the institution, including in relation to teaching and learning, and met weekly to plan ahead and ensure that their forward-planning efforts kept pace with the latest developments. Staff development was undertaken, including through the provision of psychological services as appropriate; and the required infrastructure was readied to prepare for the adoption of the multi-modal teaching and learning approach.

Operationally, a number of actions had to be taken on campus to produce a safe environment for the return of one third of the student cohort, as mandated under the national government’s level-3 lockdown regulations. Everyone had to be screened; and steps were taken to ensure physical distancing in the classrooms and in lecture theatres.

A committee was established to promote continuous adherence to the rules to prevent the spread of the virus. Efforts were also made to ensure that the numbers of returning students did not exceed the 33% threshold, which was a particular concern given the spread of campuses and residences at CPUT. No single site was allowed to permit the return of more than one third of its usual student complement.

The priorities for who should return followed the government’s gazette: graduating students were first in line, particularly those who required access to laboratories and equipment. Post-graduate students with specialist equipment needs; medical students undertaking clinical training; and students facing extreme difficulties at home were also prioritised.

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In terms of off-campus provision, innovative procurement and technical-support processes were initiated to maintain the teaching and learning programme at a distance, including through the provision of virtual training. In this regard, 27,000 of 34,000 students at CPUT had been surveyed by the end of July on their communications equipment and software capacities and needs. It was found that 60% were in possession of communications devices; and that levels of expertise in the use of Blackboard, which is CPUT’s Learning Management System (LMS), varied widely. Ongoing tutorials were established to help students use the platform effectively. A large operation to print, compile and distribute study materials was also undertaken, delivering a wide range of packages with the right content to the students at home.

Figure 2: Zone Carousel method

In order to take account of the difficulties in conducting assessments and the delays in the academic calendar caused by the pandemic, a programme of weighted assessments and a new adjusted calendar were created. This entailed continuous discussion on how best to accommodate students, including those who may have failed an exam, test or assessment through no fault of their own; and on the issue of how to weight assessments in relation to the different modes of teaching and learning adopted by the university under Covid-19.

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3 Teaching and learning practices and assessments: Implementation 3 CPUT is operating in one of the most unequal countries in the world – South Africa – and one of the most unequal cities in that country – Cape Town. Nevertheless, it has made great efforts to produce equity – to give all its students a fair chance of success while meeting the requisite standards of academic quality – during a pandemic which has exposed and highlighted many of the impediments to opportunity within this fundamentally unequal environment. These efforts have been shaped by the adoption of a student-centred approach, involving student ownership and collaboration wherever possible.

In producing new kinds of student-centred Prof Penelope Engel-Hills teaching and learning practices under Acting Dean: Faculty of Health & Covid-19, a key first step was to identify the Wellness Sciences different kinds of knowledge being shared – and thus the potential modalities for sharing such knowledge.4 So, for example, knowable and known forms of knowledge which are used to populate particular academic subject areas may be relatively easily communicated online. However, solving different kinds of academic puzzles, which may require students to seek and identify patterns of ideas and behaviour, are less easily taught remotely – and may necessitate greater student engagement, in person with teachers and lecturers on campus, or in experimental settings and on field trips. Similarly, experiential, workplace learning which is a mainstay of CPUT’s educational programme as a university of technology offering career-based training, cannot be so easily replaced under lockdown by other teaching modalities.

In implementing new teaching and learning practices, it was also crucial to identify actual student access to online and remote modalities. So, faculties conducted 3

This section is based on a presentation and comments made by Professor Penelope Engel-Hills, Dean of Health and Wellness Sciences, CPUT, as a panellist at the webinar on “Teaching and learning practices and assessments” hosted

by CPUT and USAf on 7 August 2020.

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See Kurtz, C.F. and Snowden, D.J., 2003. “The new dynamics of strategy; sense-making in a complex and complicated world”. IBM systems journal 42(3): 462-483.

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surveys, including in relation to ownership of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) devices; access to online data; and the students’ familiarity with the various applications that may be used to distribute learning materials. It was found that 40% of students owned a laptop and 65% owned a smartphone or tablet. In relation to the kind and capacity of internet connections, 70% used prepaid mobile data and 15% WiFi. However, 45% reported that they had either no data or less than 1GB of available data. It was found that students were quite competent in using learning management systems, although the majority (45%) preferred to receive materials via WhatsApp, with only 35% preferring to use CPUT’s dedicated LMS, Blackboard, and 15% preferring email communications.

In response to equipment and data challenges identified by the survey, 2,500 laptops were distributed; three-monthly data packages were issued; and more than 20,000 print packs were sent out to about half of the student population, with USBs being prepared for more complex material for students without internet access. While Blackboard continued to be used as CPUT’s LMS, faculties also adopted WhatsApp for sending materials, including whole textbooks, and convening discussion groups.

When students were allowed to return to campus, the number and kind of teaching and learning modalities could suddenly expand. Knowledge was communicated through lectures, practical demonstrations and virtual simulations in laboratories. There was also some online learning on campus. The forms for communicating knowledge – whether as teaching materials generated by the academic staff or as assessments submitted by students – included blogs, videos, YouTube presentations, and online and PowerPoint slides, as well as learning journals and hard copies.

A particular challenge was to find alternatives to the kinds of education provided by workplace and clinical placements, which were no longer possible under Covid-19 restrictions. Industry case studies and industry-based assignments were produced in the absence of the possibility of actual experience. In the Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences, students engaged in the Covid-19 screenings of staff and students returning to the campus, thus gaining some actual experience. Many practical exercises were held virtually.

Post-graduate students were divided into first-time entering and returning students.

The emphasis for the first-time students was placed on proposal development, academic writing and addressing ethical concerns in order to produce proposals that would pass ethics review and win approval. For returning students, the focus was placed on conducting literature reviews, analysing data and writing up findings, as well as on honing writing skills to produce text for publication.

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Certain groups of students faced specific challenges. For example, a number of students who were unable to return to residences were particularly disadvantaged by being unable to tap into what the residences offer, for example, in relation to food, shelter and security. Some international students, such as those from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region who were unable to return to South Africa, were faced with no choice but to communicate entirely remotely although in many cases without the appropriate equipment or connectivity. Given the discriminatory impacts of the lockdown on their educational opportunities, it has been suggested that CPUT lobby on their behalf for re-entry permits.

In line with guidelines provided by the university’s disability unit, faculties sought to provide appropriate learning platforms, pedagogical support and devices for students with hearing, visual and physical disabilities, who account for at least 8% of the cohort at CPUT. Efforts were also made to address the mental health of students. A 24-hour online counselling was implemented, which, while not heavily utilised, offered important support.

Open communication by staff at all levels to motivate students was encouraged.

Staff were trained to offer support remotely. A significant additional number of tutors and training officers and student retention officers were employed.

Coordination through peers and class representatives was undertaken in cases of difficulty contacting students.

Significant adjustments were made in the timing of assessments and how they were conducted. Many assessments were conducted asynchronously and, in many cases, the deadlines for submission of materials for assessment were extended, although in a structured way. Adjustment periods were introduced to enable the academic and assessment schedules to be realigned in a continuously shifting environment. Although final examinations were still required and scheduled in many faculties and departments, continuous assessment, which could take the form of an increasing number of small, frequent assessments, was promoted – even, in some cases, displacing the need for final exams.

Conversely, in some cases, assessments across topic and subject areas were integrated and their number was reduced – giving rise to a model that may usefully be applied in future. In general, the new schedules for, and forms of, assessment allowed students to opt in and out asynchronously. Additional teaching support was offered in relation to results – that is, students who were identified as being at risk under the new teaching, learning and assessment regimen were helping accordingly.

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Faculties sought to produce innovative, flexible forms of assessment. For example, individual students or groups who preferred to come to campus to write their assessments were accommodated. In many cases, the types of assessment changed.

For example, there was a move from tests to portfolios which could cross many content areas and subjects – and thus integrate more learning areas. Similarly, there were shifts from worksheets and tests A number of students who to assignment-based assessments and were unable to return to reflective reports and journals. Video residences were particularly and PowerPoint presentations and disadvantaged by being unable online evaluations increasingly took the place of handwritten work as tools for to tap into what the residences assessment. In addition, by necessity, offer, for example, in relation to an increasing number of clinical and food, shelter and security. other practical assessments were implemented under simulated or virtual conditions.

Although some students with disabilities, for example, those with learning disabilities, were challenged by the new regimen of online assessments that was introduced, others welcomed the greater flexibility in terms of additional time, assistance devices, coaching and mentoring and scribes which were provided as part of the service. In general, a number of students indicated that they may stay online for their assessments, which were proving easier to complete than traditional, handwritten ones.

Strict quality-control measures were implemented in producing the new assessments.

All the changes, including those on weighting the various forms of assessment, were vetted by university’s quality management department and approved by the senate.

To ensure the integrity of online assessments, the number of students logging in was tightly controlled and monitored via the university’s electronic learning management system – so enabling invigilators to identify instances of copying. The integrity of assessments was also enhanced by adapting them to ask questions with complex answers that required the students to draw on their own individual experiences.

Overall, the focus of the adjusted schedule for assessments, teaching and learning was on final-year and other graduating students; and the academic calendar was adjusted accordingly. It was anticipated that CPUT will spend several years helping the other students to catch up. The 2021 year will start in February and March, as pipeline students return and the new cohort arrives in March. Exam results will be published in February; and graduation will take place in April.

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4 Ubuntu: Philosophical underpinnings of the multi-modal approach in response to COVID-19 at CPUT 5 The form of justice underpinning CPUT’s practices is informed by the African philosophy of Ubuntu, in line with South Africa’s Constitution of 1996, which states that the principle of transformation should inform all practices to make sure they are just.

All philosophies are embedded in the systems of meaning of their host cultures, and Ubuntu, as an African philosophy grounded in the culture (isintu) of Bantu-speaking people (abantu), is no different. Ubuntu is about praxis.

It is a practical philosophy, not one of abstract reflection. It is fundamentally concerned with implementing justice and interrogating present practices accordingly.

Siyabulela Sabata Acting HOD: Curriculum Development: Fundani Centre for Higher Education Development

The concept of justice promoted by Ubuntu informed the multimodal approach adopted

by CPUT for teaching and learning under lockdown. While the university’s Centre for Innovative Educational Technology (CIET) promoted forms of communication to address the issue of distance between the institution and the students under lockdown, the Fundani Centre for Higher Education Development interrogated the extent to which the teaching and learning practices which leveraged the new communications technologies either enabled or constrained access to knowledge. The partnership between Fundani and CIET capacitated both academics and students.

In this regard, the concern was raised that the way in which pedagogic inequalities were identified in the drive to save the academic year was quite limited, relating only to impediments to the dissemination of information rather than to larger issues of the kinds of knowledge that may be reproduced. It was feared that the information and communications technologies being used could become tools for

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This section is based on a presentation and comments made by Siyabulela Sabata, acting head of department, Curriculum Development, Fundani Centre for Higher Education Development, CPUT, as a panellist at the webinar on “Teaching and learning practices and assessments” hosted by CPUT and USAf on 7 August 2020.

perpetuating educational inequality and epistemic violence. It was advised that the issue of knowledge, which is a socially constructed concept shaped by dominant actors, needed to be addressed more comprehensively and that the focus should be on removing the constraints to the larger academic project so that there was justice and learning at the end of the day.

As a philosophy, Ubuntu holds out the ideal of an eudaimonic state of being, in which people are free and can choose the kinds of fruitful, virtuous life they wish to lead.

Achievement of this state, however, entails interrogating the socially constructed nature of the current reality, which has been shaped by history – engaging in a form of interpretation that identifies the impediments to the achievement of a just world and thus enables their removal.

In the context of such a critique, the challenges posed by Covid-19 revealed glaring inequalities among people from different racial groups, telling the story of a society the structure of which has not been sufficiently interrogated and in which injustice has persisted. Under this analysis, CPUT’s multimodal approach, which has by necessity interrogated the social realities experienced by its students, may be viewed as the beginning of broader, collective efforts to acknowledge the kinds of challenges facing society and the higher education system in South Africa on the path to reforming both.

In this regard, the spirit and process of forging the new multimodal approach at UCT produced some significant benefits. A participatory, democratic ethos was adopted in which students were involved through surveys and units from across the university collaborated in a spirit of solidarity to reform pedagogic process and contribute to a fairer academic project. Weekly and bi-weekly meetings were held at which the students’ circumstances – their backgrounds, mental health concerns, the threat of gender-based violence – were the central concern.

In addition, students were capacitated to help each other through a mentorship programme and the recruitment of additional retention officers, highlighting the value of the forms of socialisation brought to the university by black students, who have historically been quite marginalised within the institution. For example, a number of firstyear students who felt alienated at CPUT were brought into the fold. The efforts to forge a new kind of institutional belonging produced significant benefits in enabling students to engage in accessing knowledge and producing new ways of knowing without fear.

As an institutional goal, CPUT aims to foster in its students a sense of being at the centre of technological innovation in Africa. In order to produce such a cadre

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of graduates – a cohort capable of leading this innovation and proudly defending African interests on the international stage – the university needs to conduct a comprehensive interrogation of its present practices and open itself to new forms of pedagogic engagement, in the spirit of Ubuntu. Such a goal entails forging a genuinely democratic academic project capable of producing fully rounded graduates who can be proud of their alma mater and what it represents. So, rather than adopting the slogan “no student left behind”, the institution should advocate that “no constraint is left uninterrupted in relation to student learning at CPUT”.

In this regard, a dominant, neo-liberal discourse of efficiency, under which the focus in higher education is to maximise student throughput rates, must be countered by placing the academic emphasis instead on promoting social justice, true democracy and freedom, and human flourishing. The debates at CPUT that have led to a realignment of practices, purposes and structures to produce a student-centred multimodal approach may spark such a move beyond Covid-19, fostering genuine epistemic justice and the decolonisation of knowledge production. At the same time, it should be acknowledged that a number of old, conservative pedagogic practices persist at the university.

Among CPUT’s responses to lockdown, the potential and importance of a number of learning and teaching practices have been highlighted. For example, workintegrated learning offers an opportunity for students to engage in thinking beyond the present in what British sociologist Basil Bernstein termed the “discursive gap”6 between what is already known and what has yet to be identified. Students who can successfully engage in this way may become future thought-leaders. Accordingly, Fundani is looking to coordinate with the Co-operative Education Unit at CPUT to reflect on how the promotion of work-integrated learning may be deployed to engage with the politics of education and curriculum issues more effectively.

In addition, efforts are being made to build on the excellent teaching culture at CPUT to produce more transformational forms of pedagogy, including through the institution’s Teaching Development Programme (TDP), as well as the Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education in Teaching and Learning that it has launched in collaboration with Stellenbosch University and the University of the Western Cape (UWC).

Meanwhile, the language of tuition and its use remain an outstanding concern at the university. The question has been how to deploy language, which is central to the production and expression of knowledge and culture, to facilitate epistemic justice, enabling students to draw on the systems of meaning in their own cultures and their indigenous knowledge so that they can participate as equals in the academic project.

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Bernstein, B., 2000. Pedagogy, Symbolic Control and Identity. London: Rowman & Littlefield.

5 Respondent 7 The ethics of implementing a carousel model for teaching and learning without disadvantaging students in an unequal environment was a key concern for CPUT. The importance of responding to change while listening to the students’ voices was stressed. So, for example, the students’ preference for WhatsApp as a medium was accommodated. In general, the institution developed interesting way of reaching out to students which nurtured them emotionally; protected them physically; and helped to build their resilience.

Prof Christine Winberg Ministerial Transformation Oversight Committee, South African Research Chair (Work & Learning)

However, ensuring equity of provision at a time when inequalities were being felt hard, particularly among the most vulnerable groups, including students with disabilities, proved a major task. For example, a number of students with disabilities and their carers encountered challenges in moving from assistive technologies to a teaching model requiring significant digital capital. Many other vulnerable students also found themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide, as well as experiencing additional material barriers to learning, including food insecurity which CPUT sought to address by providing food parcels.

Women students faced further challenges trying to learn in a climate of violence; and CPUT made efforts to support them in trying to break the cycles of violence affecting them. Clearly, the university’s efforts to support student’s self-actualisation through education had to be complemented by a focus on also ensuring their safety and meeting their basic physiological needs. It is difficult for students to learn if such needs are not satisfied. The efforts to ensure equity also encountered the structural challenge of servicing the university’s international students who were far away and

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This section is based on a presentation and comments made by Professor Chris Winberg, Director, National Research Foundation (NRF) South African Research Chair in Work-Integrated Learning, CPUT, and a member of the Ministerial Transformation Oversight Committee, as a respondent, at the webinar on “Teaching and learning practices and assessments” hosted by CPUT and USAf on 7 August 2020.

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disconnected from their teaching and learning community, as well as often facing other hardships at home.

In relation to the teaching and learning modalities adopted in response to the pandemic, it should be acknowledged that although most students would rather have learnt in real time, enjoying the community and support of a group, they were left little choice but to adapt to asynchronous forms of learning, receiving their lectures on a stick as opposed to participating more directly. However, the asynchronous model also offered flexibility and an opportunity for self-pacing. In addition, the carousel multimodal and blended model demonstrated that there are new ways of making learning available. In this regard, one of the lessons to be learned from the pandemic may be the importance of trying to find ways of balancing actual presentations and the remote provision of data; individual and group learning; and online and face-to-face learning modalities.

A further lesson learned concerns the need to look more closely at the transformational and decolonising potential of online learning and the other modalities promoted by the carousel model. This entails moving the point of focus from the efficiency of the carousel to an emphasis on promoting human flourishing and pedagogies of wellbeing which have the potential for transformation. As CPUT’s efforts to produce equity of educational opportunity in an inequitable society have shown, the university’s students may be in the same storm but they are not necessarily in the same boat.

CPUT developed and implemented a strategy of placing students at the centre, which is not always the approach adopted, although it should be. In this regard, the university showed a high level of care as an organisation as it sought to offer its students opportunities to learn in a lot of new, different ways. In the process, the concept of social and digital inclusion itself evolved – moving from the deficit approach of no student being left behind to one that may seek to promote human flourishing more generally and the establishment of pedagogies of wellbeing.

The university’s efforts required great institutional agility and flexibility, as well as significant commitment from the academics, the mediators of learning, who bore

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much of the burden of implementing the carousel model. Teachers realised the need to shift gears to encompass an educational vision that went beyond the curriculum and completing the academic year and placed the focus on the whole student. They started to see and hear more about who their students really are, taking some of the steps that are required to build pedagogic competence for transformative learning and epistemic justice.

Transformation of the higher education sector is a systemic task, not just Transformation of the a job for one university or for the teachers alone, who need the support higher education sector is and affirmation of their institution in a systemic task, not just such work. In this regard, individual a job for one university stakeholders at CPUT may feel powerless in relation to addressing or for the teachers alone, the flaws in curricula; changing who need the support knowledge-building practices; and and affirmation of their making special arrangements in the context of limited financial and digital institution in such work. resources. However, the grand task of transformation may be accomplished one step at a time. Post-pandemic, the mission requires not going back to the old ways, including ineffective, conservative ways of teaching, and continuing to care more for each other. A lot of the groundwork has been laid, but there are many conversations and much reflection that will need to take place to consider how best to continue the work of transforming vocational, professional, career-based education.

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TRANSFORMATION SERIES

Teaching and Learning Practices and Assessments

6 Recommendations There were a number of recommendations from the participants which included, (but not limited to the following): • To explore the role that student-centered approaches can play to deepen learning and preparing and prepare young people to meet the demands of society and engage the opportunities of the 21st century; • To promote transformative learning and assessment strategies that promote learning as a social activity and pay particular attention to the importance of customizing education to respond to each student’s needs and interests, making use of new tools for doing so; • To respond to changes while listening to the students’ voices and pay special attention to students with disabilities and challenges in moving from assistive technologies to a teaching that model requiring significant digital capital; • To note and pay particular attention to vulnerable students that found themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide, as well as experiencing additional material barriers to learning; • To take cognizance of the socio-economic backgrounds of different students who might experience difficulties in accessing teaching and learning due to many issues such as food insecurity and address by providing food and sanitary dignity supplies; • To incorporate programme for women and gender diverse students(LGBTIQIA+) that might be subjected toclimate of violence including Gender Based Violence, bullying and ensure that there is mechanism in place to provide support; • To put in place mechanism to support the structural challenges faced by international students who were far away and disconnected from their teaching and learning community, as well as often facing other hardships at home during emergencies; • To provide safe and inclusive teaching and learning environment for all students; • To ensure a central holistic integrated support mechanism to deal with vulnerable students as indicated above so that there is no competition or duplication in rendering students support services; and • To embrace critical and distinct elements of student-centered approaches to learning, and challenges of the current teaching, learning and assessment that: embraces the student’s experience and learning theory as the starting point of education; harnesses the full range of learning experiences at all times of the day, week, and year; and expands and reshapes the role of the lecturer the current social justice issues faced by students.

2020

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