Concerns are increasing about the pedagogies employed by technical vocational education and training (TVET) colleges, particularly regarding the teaching of mathematics, exacerbated by the perception that TVET colleges are inferior to other types of educational institutions. Regardless of TVET colleges’ need to produce skilled workers, the concerns increasingly impede accessibility and students’ preparedness with sufficient workplace skills. While there has been a call to address several of the aforementioned concerns, one that has thus far attracted limited attention despite its importance is the pedagogical practices TVET colleges employ, particularly in mathematics. Guided by social constructivism, the study upon which this article is based explored the pedagogical practices employed by current TVET college lecturers in the mathematics classroom and the limited number of students enrolled in mathematics-based disciplines in TVET. Through a purposive sampling technique, ten (10) mathematics lecturers from a single TVET college in Gauteng were selected to participate in the study. The thematic analysis of the data revealed that these lecturers relied heavily on traditional approaches to teaching ‒ the banking zone was the only approach used extensively ‒ and only allowed for students’ passive involvement with the use of resources limited to whiteboards and textbooks. The routine approach of reviewing homework followed by classwork was dominant and there was a lack of real-life examples. A key recommendation that emerged from the study was further training in various pedagogies and the use of resources in teaching, particularly in mathematics lessons and re-training in advanced pedagogical practices.
{"title":"Current pedagogical practices employed by Technical Vocational Education and Training college's mathematics lecturers","authors":"S. Vimbelo, A. Bayaga","doi":"10.20853/37-4-5292","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/37-4-5292","url":null,"abstract":"Concerns are increasing about the pedagogies employed by technical vocational education and training (TVET) colleges, particularly regarding the teaching of mathematics, exacerbated by the perception that TVET colleges are inferior to other types of educational institutions. Regardless of TVET colleges’ need to produce skilled workers, the concerns increasingly impede accessibility and students’ preparedness with sufficient workplace skills. While there has been a call to address several of the aforementioned concerns, one that has thus far attracted limited attention despite its importance is the pedagogical practices TVET colleges employ, particularly in mathematics. Guided by social constructivism, the study upon which this article is based explored the pedagogical practices employed by current TVET college lecturers in the mathematics classroom and the limited number of students enrolled in mathematics-based disciplines in TVET. Through a purposive sampling technique, ten (10) mathematics lecturers from a single TVET college in Gauteng were selected to participate in the study. The thematic analysis of the data revealed that these lecturers relied heavily on traditional approaches to teaching ‒ the banking zone was the only approach used extensively ‒ and only allowed for students’ passive involvement with the use of resources limited to whiteboards and textbooks. The routine approach of reviewing homework followed by classwork was dominant and there was a lack of real-life examples. A key recommendation that emerged from the study was further training in various pedagogies and the use of resources in teaching, particularly in mathematics lessons and re-training in advanced pedagogical practices.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":"192 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135496072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This response article is an attempt to theorise together and become ethically in touch with posthumanism and the posthuman text/s and author/s in the article, “A posthumanist re-reading of teacher agency in times of curriculum reform” written by Wedsha Appadoo-Ramsamy. The ability to respond (response-ability) through theorising entails a radical openness to think otherwise, and for thinking thinking otherwise. Such thinking matters and thinking along the concepts we use and the limits of expressibility when thinking otherwise, matters a great deal. The becoming of Wedsha Appadoo-Ramsamy’s article revealed some insights into the ticklish nature of (posthuman, philosophical) concepts and the difficulty and limitations of expression in frontier debates. This article will, firstly, respond to the production and workings of posthuman concepts, and secondly, comment on the limits of expressibility when writing about frontier debates such as those concerning posthumanism and related feminist materialism/s.
{"title":"Response article: Concepts and in/express-ability in posthuman scholarship: A shared response-ability","authors":"P Du Preez","doi":"10.20853/37-5-6146","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/37-5-6146","url":null,"abstract":"This response article is an attempt to theorise together and become ethically in touch with posthumanism and the posthuman text/s and author/s in the article, “A posthumanist re-reading of teacher agency in times of curriculum reform” written by Wedsha Appadoo-Ramsamy. The ability to respond (response-ability) through theorising entails a radical openness to think otherwise, and for thinking thinking otherwise. Such thinking matters and thinking along the concepts we use and the limits of expressibility when thinking otherwise, matters a great deal. The becoming of Wedsha Appadoo-Ramsamy’s article revealed some insights into the ticklish nature of (posthuman, philosophical) concepts and the difficulty and limitations of expression in frontier debates. This article will, firstly, respond to the production and workings of posthuman concepts, and secondly, comment on the limits of expressibility when writing about frontier debates such as those concerning posthumanism and related feminist materialism/s.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135612136","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Chartered accountancy education offered by universities in South Africa has traditionally been characterised by passive face-to-face (F2F) learning approaches. Literature, however, has pointed out that active learning can enhance student learning, engagement, and motivation. Moreover, employing active online learning could facilitate the development of digital and critical thinking competencies in accounting students, the importance of which is increasingly emphasised. In response to this, a more traditional and passive F2F lecture week (as part of a postgraduate course on research in accounting) was redesigned during the COVID-19 pandemic to be presented fully online, based on the active learning principles found in Laurillard’s Six Ways of Learning. A questionnaire was administered to investigate the perceptions of both students and lecturers as to whether the redesign led to improved learning and competency development, and to increased engagement and motivation. Although some students were resistant to the change in learning approach from passive to active, respondents felt that the active learning tasks led to increased engagement and enhanced learning by students. Student resistance should be managed in future redesign processes to minimise the effect thereof on learning outcomes, possibly through change management principles such as purposeful communication regarding the benefits and requirements of active learning. Respondents reported that the online learning environment provided students with increased flexibility, but that this flexibility had to be managed through self-regulation or monitoring by lecturers. Online learning also led to feelings of disconnect (between lecturers and students, within the student group and in relation to the content). Such disconnect could be alleviated by applying a blended learning approach in future, using the advantages of both the F2F and the online environment. The results of this study are important to lecturers seeking to design courses that engage and motivate students, enhance learning, and allow the development of the competencies required of the accountants of the future.
{"title":"Active learning in an online postgraduate research module: Perceptions of accounting students and lecturers","authors":"G. Steenkamp, O. van Schalkwyk","doi":"10.20853/37-2-4872","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/37-2-4872","url":null,"abstract":"Chartered accountancy education offered by universities in South Africa has traditionally been characterised by passive face-to-face (F2F) learning approaches. Literature, however, has pointed out that active learning can enhance student learning, engagement, and motivation. Moreover, employing active online learning could facilitate the development of digital and critical thinking competencies in accounting students, the importance of which is increasingly emphasised. In response to this, a more traditional and passive F2F lecture week (as part of a postgraduate course on research in accounting) was redesigned during the COVID-19 pandemic to be presented fully online, based on the active learning principles found in Laurillard’s Six Ways of Learning. A questionnaire was administered to investigate the perceptions of both students and lecturers as to whether the redesign led to improved learning and competency development, and to increased engagement and motivation. Although some students were resistant to the change in learning approach from passive to active, respondents felt that the active learning tasks led to increased engagement and enhanced learning by students. Student resistance should be managed in future redesign processes to minimise the effect thereof on learning outcomes, possibly through change management principles such as purposeful communication regarding the benefits and requirements of active learning. Respondents reported that the online learning environment provided students with increased flexibility, but that this flexibility had to be managed through self-regulation or monitoring by lecturers. Online learning also led to feelings of disconnect (between lecturers and students, within the student group and in relation to the content). Such disconnect could be alleviated by applying a blended learning approach in future, using the advantages of both the F2F and the online environment. The results of this study are important to lecturers seeking to design courses that engage and motivate students, enhance learning, and allow the development of the competencies required of the accountants of the future.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":"70 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67715436","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In many developing countries, at least in Africa, many colleges and universities continue to deliver undergraduate level education in the in-person, face-to-face, mode. Many of these institutions are slow in adopting and embracing the online learning mode. This study investigated levels of interest among prospective and enrolled undergraduates for the full-online or blended learning mode. The study also assessed the factors that stimulated the interest of these groups for the preferred delivery mode. Based on a sample of 414 prospective and enrolled undergraduates from private and public colleges and universities in the context of Botswana, and using a survey design that involved questionnaires, and regression analysis, the study found that majority (56%, n=414) of the sample was interested in and preferred some form of online or blended learning, compared to the face-to-face learning mode. The proportion of individuals with keen interest in the blended learning mode, at undergraduate level, is surprisingly high. The motivational drivers for the student choice are linked to greater flexibility and convenience, and perceived better opportunity for interactions with professors and classmates (OR=10.9; 95% CI: 5.4 – 22.1). The COVID-19 outbreak and the requirements for social distancing may have also accounted for the level of interest reported. The findings have major significance for curriculum design and development, instructional design in higher education, education technology infrastructure development, and long-term enrolment planning.
{"title":"Levels of interest among prospective and enrolled undergraduate students in learning through online and blended modes","authors":"B. Brown, A. Mbewe, N. Forcheh","doi":"10.20853/37-3-4848","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/37-3-4848","url":null,"abstract":"In many developing countries, at least in Africa, many colleges and universities continue to deliver undergraduate level education in the in-person, face-to-face, mode. Many of these institutions are slow in adopting and embracing the online learning mode. This study investigated levels of interest among prospective and enrolled undergraduates for the full-online or blended learning mode. The study also assessed the factors that stimulated the interest of these groups for the preferred delivery mode. Based on a sample of 414 prospective and enrolled undergraduates from private and public colleges and universities in the context of Botswana, and using a survey design that involved questionnaires, and regression analysis, the study found that majority (56%, n=414) of the sample was interested in and preferred some form of online or blended learning, compared to the face-to-face learning mode. The proportion of individuals with keen interest in the blended learning mode, at undergraduate level, is surprisingly high. The motivational drivers for the student choice are linked to greater flexibility and convenience, and perceived better opportunity for interactions with professors and classmates (OR=10.9; 95% CI: 5.4 – 22.1). The COVID-19 outbreak and the requirements for social distancing may have also accounted for the level of interest reported. The findings have major significance for curriculum design and development, instructional design in higher education, education technology infrastructure development, and long-term enrolment planning.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67715926","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
As part of contributing to the decolonisation debate to reclaim and re-purpose the universities as public good institutions, drawing from Freire’s notion of praxis we argue that there is a need to move from theorisation of concepts or what we refer to as discourses to praxis, and academics must drive the decolonisation project. Unlike students, academics have immense power to influence choices of pedagogical approaches, processes of curriculum design, and knowledge production. Academics enjoy academic freedom. This implies that they have the freedom to teach and conduct research without external control in their area of expertise, which gives them special protection within the classroom and the parameters of their field of expert knowledge. Thus, we argue that the freedom that academics enjoy puts them in a good position to be drivers of the project of decolonising higher education. As key role players on processes of teaching and learning as well as knowledge production in higher education, they have some degree of power that they are better positioned to drive the decolonial project. They can use their roles as teachers and researchers to advance the decolonisation agenda.
{"title":"Moving from discourse to Praxis: Situating academics at the centre of decolonisation struggle","authors":"A. Sibiya, M. Ndaba","doi":"10.20853/37-3-4851","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/37-3-4851","url":null,"abstract":"As part of contributing to the decolonisation debate to reclaim and re-purpose the universities as public good institutions, drawing from Freire’s notion of praxis we argue that there is a need to move from theorisation of concepts or what we refer to as discourses to praxis, and academics must drive the decolonisation project. Unlike students, academics have immense power to influence choices of pedagogical approaches, processes of curriculum design, and knowledge production. Academics enjoy academic freedom. This implies that they have the freedom to teach and conduct research without external control in their area of expertise, which gives them special protection within the classroom and the parameters of their field of expert knowledge. Thus, we argue that the freedom that academics enjoy puts them in a good position to be drivers of the project of decolonising higher education. As key role players on processes of teaching and learning as well as knowledge production in higher education, they have some degree of power that they are better positioned to drive the decolonial project. They can use their roles as teachers and researchers to advance the decolonisation agenda.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67716010","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Times are indeed changing as South African universities continues to struggle under the growing pressures and ethical demands for transformation and decolonisation. Underpinning these pressures and demands is the taken for granted assumption that all is not well in the South African academy, and that urgent structural and deep rooted changes are necessary. In this article, I foreground the emergent decolonial calls for transformation in the South African higher education. I rely on Le Grange (2019) and Hlatshwayo and Shawa (2020)’s notion of ubuntu currere to not only formulate theoretical and empirical critiques at the South African higher education system, but I also begin to offer some first thoughts on the solutions that could be enacted. I focus in particular on the (decolonial) purposes of a university as offering us a very useful space to reflect on and theorise the potential for decoloniality and transformative practices in the academy. I end the article with some conclusion and recommendations on the future of the academy in South Africa, and the projected nature of the struggles for transformation and decolonisation in the sector.
{"title":"Decolonising the South African university: First thoughts","authors":"M. Hlatshwayo","doi":"10.20853/37-3-4854","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/37-3-4854","url":null,"abstract":"Times are indeed changing as South African universities continues to struggle under the growing pressures and ethical demands for transformation and decolonisation. Underpinning these pressures and demands is the taken for granted assumption that all is not well in the South African academy, and that urgent structural and deep rooted changes are necessary. In this article, I foreground the emergent decolonial calls for transformation in the South African higher education. I rely on Le Grange (2019) and Hlatshwayo and Shawa (2020)’s notion of ubuntu currere to not only formulate theoretical and empirical critiques at the South African higher education system, but I also begin to offer some first thoughts on the solutions that could be enacted. I focus in particular on the (decolonial) purposes of a university as offering us a very useful space to reflect on and theorise the potential for decoloniality and transformative practices in the academy. I end the article with some conclusion and recommendations on the future of the academy in South Africa, and the projected nature of the struggles for transformation and decolonisation in the sector.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67716321","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Higher education institutions are not properly prepared to meet the expectations of employers regarding the work readiness of human resource development (HRD) graduates from universities. Employers seek to recruit graduates who have pertinent employability competencies. The factors that were determined should contribute considerably to meeting this need. The study was commenced to identify the factors relating to employability competencies for South African human resource development graduates. The sample of the survey comprised 134 professionals from the South African Board of People’s Practice (SABPP) in the nine (9) provinces of South Africa. A factor analysis was employed to identify the issues relating to the employability competencies of HRD graduates. Correlation analysis and regression analysis were used to establish the relationships between identified factors. The results confirmed that there were strong relationships between the factors of the current and the expected competencies concerning the employability of South African HRD graduates. The findings served to formulate specific recommendations on employers’ expectations regarding the employability competencies of HRD graduates. The intention of the study was to improve graduates’ competencies in the world of work.
{"title":"Employability competencies of South African Human Resource Development graduates","authors":"C. Chweu, C. Schultz, C. Jordaan","doi":"10.20853/37-4-5071","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/37-4-5071","url":null,"abstract":"Higher education institutions are not properly prepared to meet the expectations of employers regarding the work readiness of human resource development (HRD) graduates from universities. Employers seek to recruit graduates who have pertinent employability competencies. The factors that were determined should contribute considerably to meeting this need. The study was commenced to identify the factors relating to employability competencies for South African human resource development graduates. The sample of the survey comprised 134 professionals from the South African Board of People’s Practice (SABPP) in the nine (9) provinces of South Africa. A factor analysis was employed to identify the issues relating to the employability competencies of HRD graduates. Correlation analysis and regression analysis were used to establish the relationships between identified factors. The results confirmed that there were strong relationships between the factors of the current and the expected competencies concerning the employability of South African HRD graduates. The findings served to formulate specific recommendations on employers’ expectations regarding the employability competencies of HRD graduates. The intention of the study was to improve graduates’ competencies in the world of work.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67716492","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Teacher agency in times of curriculum reform has often been researched and studied from a humanist perspective that focuses on human experiences and narratives. While this way of conducting research has contributed to a better understanding of curriculum design and implementation, it is nevertheless important to move away from a human-centred approach and to consider intra-actions between teachers and their material conditions as they inhabit multiple macro-policy and micro-institutional spaces across temporal dimensions. In this article, emphasis is laid on teacher agency as a hybrid collective between teachers and others (policy documents, formal and informal infrastructures, technology, textbooks). Teacher agency is consequently re-thought as a fluid process of entangled and diffracted possibilities that is not predetermined, but as a result of intra-actions, it is one that is always in “becoming”.
{"title":"A posthumanist re-reading of teacher agency in times of curriculum reform","authors":"W Appadoo-Ramsamy","doi":"10.20853/37-5-6114","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/37-5-6114","url":null,"abstract":"Teacher agency in times of curriculum reform has often been researched and studied from a humanist perspective that focuses on human experiences and narratives. While this way of conducting research has contributed to a better understanding of curriculum design and implementation, it is nevertheless important to move away from a human-centred approach and to consider intra-actions between teachers and their material conditions as they inhabit multiple macro-policy and micro-institutional spaces across temporal dimensions. In this article, emphasis is laid on teacher agency as a hybrid collective between teachers and others (policy documents, formal and informal infrastructures, technology, textbooks). Teacher agency is consequently re-thought as a fluid process of entangled and diffracted possibilities that is not predetermined, but as a result of intra-actions, it is one that is always in “becoming”.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":"27 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135612134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Book Review: Samuel Fongwa, Thierry Luescher, Ntimi Mtawa and Jesmael Mataga (eds.) 2015 Universities, Society and Development: African Perspectives of University Community Engagement in Secondary Cities: Stellenbosch: Sun Press.
{"title":"Anchoring Universities","authors":"S.M Badat","doi":"10.20853/37-5-5824","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/37-5-5824","url":null,"abstract":"Book Review: Samuel Fongwa, Thierry Luescher, Ntimi Mtawa and Jesmael Mataga (eds.) 2015 Universities, Society and Development: African Perspectives of University Community Engagement in Secondary Cities: Stellenbosch: Sun Press.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":"87 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135704609","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This descriptive case study explores the support that supervisors in the College of Education (CEDU) at the University of South Africa (UNISA) give to Ethiopian doctoral students. It is important to inquire into supervisors’ views about the support that they give to students as part of their supervision especially in the open distance and e-learning (ODeL) higher education context. Twelve supervisors who are or have supervised Ethiopian doctoral students were selected by convenience sampling and interviewed individually to gather their views about the support they give (or have given) to their students. Supervisors’ views were augmented by other key stakeholders’ views to deepen the understanding of support. The findings reveal that supervisors, though faced with unique challenges, made efforts to support students emotionally, academically, and by being the extended hand of UNISA when students could not access certain services or resources. Doctoral students who are faced with contextual challenges can succeed if they are given proper support which is motivated by mutual respect between the supervisor and student. The study can also benefit supervisors in African universities to reflect on the support that they give to their students, especially in the situations that are posed by the students’ circumstances.
{"title":"Postgraduate supervision support in Open Distance and E-learning: Supervisors’ and key stakeholders’ views","authors":"M.T Gumbo, V. Gasa","doi":"10.20853/37-4-5318","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/37-4-5318","url":null,"abstract":"This descriptive case study explores the support that supervisors in the College of Education (CEDU) at the University of South Africa (UNISA) give to Ethiopian doctoral students. It is important to inquire into supervisors’ views about the support that they give to students as part of their supervision especially in the open distance and e-learning (ODeL) higher education context. Twelve supervisors who are or have supervised Ethiopian doctoral students were selected by convenience sampling and interviewed individually to gather their views about the support they give (or have given) to their students. Supervisors’ views were augmented by other key stakeholders’ views to deepen the understanding of support. The findings reveal that supervisors, though faced with unique challenges, made efforts to support students emotionally, academically, and by being the extended hand of UNISA when students could not access certain services or resources. Doctoral students who are faced with contextual challenges can succeed if they are given proper support which is motivated by mutual respect between the supervisor and student. The study can also benefit supervisors in African universities to reflect on the support that they give to their students, especially in the situations that are posed by the students’ circumstances.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135440268","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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