The theme for Day 2 of Academic Week 2022 is 'Assessment for Student Success and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning'.
Time: 09h00 - 15h20
Platform: Zoom
REGISTER HERE
The programme coordinators will be Prof Rajendran Govender (Dean: Faculty of Education) annd Prof Salochana Hassan (Director: Directorate of Learning, Teaching & Student Success)
Part 1
ACADEMIC WEEK 2022 DAY 2 DETAILS
Date: Tuesday, 30 August 2022Time: 09h00 - 15h20
Platform: Zoom
REGISTER HERE
The programme coordinators will be Prof Rajendran Govender (Dean: Faculty of Education) annd Prof Salochana Hassan (Director: Directorate of Learning, Teaching & Student Success)
ACADEMIC WEEK DAY 2 PROGRAMME
Part 1: Assessment in the Context of Flexible Learning Provisioning for Student Success
| TIME | TITLE | PRESENTER |
| 09h00 - 09h05 | Welcome Message | DVC: Academic – Prof Vivienne Lawack |
Part 1
| TIME | TITLE | PRESENTER(S) | ABSTRACT |
| 09h05 - 09h35 | The importance of assessment literacy and the potential of self-directed multimodal assessment | Anita Lubbe | Within an ever-changing, fast-paced world, the notion of self-directed learning has become increasingly important. To be a successful learner in the 21st century, possessing self-directed learning skills is vital for learning, unlearning, and relearning. In hindsight, the recent pandemic has fast-tracked much-needed change relating to teaching, learning, and assessment within Higher Education. How we conceptualise teaching, learning, and assessment will probably never be the same. Since online teaching, learning, and assessment can potentially facilitate increased access to Higher Education, this reconceptualisation is appreciated. The increased integration of technology has brought about the multimodality of teaching and learning. Yet, assessment practices remain largely monomodal and text-based. The question, therefore, is what do reconceptualised, multimodal assessment practices look like, and how can they be successfully implemented to promote student learning and self-directed learning? Now more than ever, there is a dire need for a paradigm shift concerning assessment, especially its purpose and power. Assessment’s potential to positively influence students’ learning, is hindered by low levels of assessment literacy. Understanding the fundamental concepts and procedures of assessment will likely influence educational decisions. Hence, the development of educators’ assessment literacy will contribute to successfully using assessment to enhance student learning. This presentation will highlight assessment’s centrality to the learning process and discuss the potential of assessment literacy and self-directed multimodal assessment for effective learning. |
| 09h35 - 09h55 | Do assessment loads affect student success? An investigation at an Economics Department at the undergraduate level | Presenter - Prof Derek Yu (Department of Economics) Dr Christie Swanepoel (Department of Economics) Dr Danica Sims (EMS Learning and Teaching Specialist) Prof Fiona Anciano (Department of Political Studies) |
Assessment load, in terms of over-assessment (along with under-assessment), has been a blurred concept that is difficult to define qualitatively and measure quantitatively. To address this gap in research, we developed a multidimensional assessment index (MAI), with eight indicators, to measure over-assessment. We applied these indicators to a case study of 12 undergraduate Economics modules at a university in South Africa. Correlation analysis was also conducted between the MAI and pass rate of these modules. |
| 09h55 - 10h20 | A deeper look into UWC Assessment Policy (2021) | Dr Samuel Lundie (Teaching and Learning Specialist - Faculty of Dentistry) |
Over the last two decades, so-called command-and-control regulations have dominated assessment policies and practices in Higher Education. But Higher Education has reached a critical juncture. In the last decade of the 20th century, we are facing a host of new and diverse assessment challenges that have not been solved over the last few decades. A key aspect of the transformation process remains the development of alternative assessment policies. The UWC leads the way in the development of a Principles-Based Assessment Policy. This Assessment Policy is a significant shift towards reliance on broadly stated principles rather than more detailed rules. This presentation will briefly set out what Principles-Based Regulation means. It will examine the distinction between different types of rules, and illustrate the trade-offs that are inevitably involved in decisions on which rules to use in an attempt to govern or change behaviour. It will then focus on the acclaimed advantages of assessment principles, and look at evidence on how rule type assessment affects behaviour. The presentation then proceeds to examine the risks and challenges of Principles-Based Regulation, again drawing on practical experience of their use, before commencing in the fourth part to focus on the more challenging question of what the ‘critical success factors’ are for Principles Based Regulation to deliver on all that is promised for it. |
| 10h20-10h40 | “Enhancing student formative feedback on assessment tasks using the affordances of TurnItin.” | Dr Karen Collett | I draw on my current practice and related research into the use of TurnItin to enhance processes of formative feedback to students on their academic writing. Theory and related research into student feedback and particularly the value of formative feedback and feedforward will be elaborated on. I will highlight some of my own successes and challenges in strengthening processes of formative feedback and the uptake of formative feedback by students. |
| 10h40 - 11h00 | Electronic posters as assessment vehicle for online learning | Prof Josef de Beer | This presentation will focus on the affordances of online learning events that are based on problem-based and cooperative learning principles, and how e-posters (electronic posters) could be an effective way of assessing learning outcomes. This presentation will be based on empirical findings of a virtual student excursion of the North-West University in 2021. The virtual online excursion (over two days) was a synchronous event, and students engaged in an ill-structured problem (various issues related to teaching and learning in a dysfunctional school) in cooperative learning groups, hosted on a Zoom platform. The assessment was done through e-posters, where students had to provide solutions to the problems facing the particular school. In the presentation, the advantages of e-posters as assessment strategy will be discussed, amongst others, how it could enhance self-directed learning, and address affective outcomes. The presentation will also address the elements which should underpin such cooperative learning. |
| 11h00 - 11h20 | Reflecting on Assessment in a Post Pandemic Flipped/Inverted Classroom | Ian Schroeder | Many Educators have explored the flipped/inverted classroom prior to the pandemic but often remained rooted in traditional assessment practices. The pandemic forced all Educators to intimately attempt new ways of teaching, as well as importantly, creative and rigorous ways of assessing. "Post pandemic" how do we explore these transitions and their remnants as we return to face to face teaching? In this session I will use the SAMR Model to explore my own assessment transitions in a post pandemic Flipped/Inverted Classroom. |
| 11h20 - 11h40 | How lecturers' think about assessment: a qualitatively different range of understandings | Dr Danica Sims | As a faculty developer seeking to enhance assessment for learning practices, this cannot take place without first understanding how lecturers think about assessment. To this end, four conceptions of assessment, along with their descriptive dimensions, are described: passive operator, awakening enquirer, active owner and scholarly assessor. Additional associated factors, as potential targets for faculty development interventions, are shared. |
| 11h40-12h00 | The Role of Seminars as one of the lecturing methodologies | Thembinkosi Maphosa Maxine Norman Prof Richard Shambare (School of Business and Finance) Prof Zivanayi Nyandoro (School of Business and Finance) Prof Abdullah Bayat (School of Business and Finance) |
Pre-COVID-19 knowledge transfer was mostly the banking approach the top-down process of lecturer to the student. Students were seen as passive recipients of the information. They were not positioned as active as researchers on the topic y. ICT based tools allow for alternative pedagogical approaches to knowledge transfer. Thus, transfer tools like iKamva, Google Meets, Zoom etc. can be used to encourage student participation. This is reflected in the modules MAN709, MRR712, ELG813 and ELG814, which were introduced effective student engagement and the ICT virtual space was positioned as knowledge hubs. Rubrics and other tools of feedback were used during the seminars. International academics are invited as critics during the seminar, and both positive and negative criticism was welcome. Above all, the objective of the seminar was to improve the student and lecture delivery. Lecturer and student feedback indicated that student engagement had increased and knowledge was co-created. |
Part 2: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
| TIME | TITLE | PRESENTER(S) | ABSTRACT |
| 12h00 - 12h20 | First Year Health Science students’ perceptions about the use of Virtual and Augmented Reality to learn anatomy and physiology | Prof Simone Titus (Teaching and Learning Specialist - Interprofessional Education Unit) | Introduction: The future of higher education is characterized by a combination of technologies which merges the physical, digital, and biological spheres, which offer potential to improve the quality of life across the globe. Thus, in health professions education, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) is regarded as a promising vehicle to facilitate students’ active participation and engaged learning in core modules such as anatomy and physiology. Aim/Objective The aim of this paper was to explore first year students’ perceptions about the use of virtual and augmented reality to learn anatomy and physiology Methods: Quantitative data was collected from 321 (N=321) first year health science students using a cross sectional survey. Participants were sampled from Nursing, Dietetics, Physiotherapy, Sport Science, Social Work and Occupational Therapy departments. Results / Findings: This study found that the majority of participants had not tried AR or VR before in any capacity (77,8%) and even less had used it for educational purpose (17,1%). Despite 80% of students having never used AR/VR for anatomy and physiology, 84% thought that it was a useful way to teach the subjects. Conclusion: If used correctly, students perceive that AR/VR has the potential to improve learning experiences in learning and teaching. |
| 12h20-12h40 | The Faculty of Dentistry bridges the divide between research and teaching | Dr Samuel Lundie ((Teaching and Learning Specialist - Faculty of Dentistry) | There are many reasons to develop closer links between research and teaching. To do this, the Faculty of Dentistry needs to move beyond higher education rhetoric that fractures the engagement of teaching with research. In the faculty we focus on the development of what is necessary to bring these two core academic activities closer together. This presentation will also focus on the progress made on the 'engaged research-led teaching' model introduced during the 2021 UWC Research week. The 'engaged research-led teaching' model involves the organisation of activities which involve the 'triple stack' of research, teaching and external engagement. |
| 12h40 - 13h00 | An overview of the experiences of new participants to the TPOLT Course | Dr Mervyn Coetzee (Academic planning specialist - Academic Planning Unit) | The Towards Professionalization of Learning and Teaching (TPOLT) course is facilitated by learning and teaching (L&T) specialists representing each of the University faculties. The course, which is generally for new academics and/or academics new to UWC, aims to better prepare lecturers for L&T and to improve their capacity as professional educators. The course comprises 2-hour long, weekly sessions all of which were conducted online. In addition to the weekly sessions, participants with the support of their respective L&T Specialists, are required to develop and submit a portfolio of evidence that encapsulates their L&T experiences. The 2022 cohort represent lecturers from all faculties except the Law Faculty. A survey was conducted after the first term (or semester if I receive the latest results in time) to elicit feedback from the course participants regarding their experiences with the course: modules, the presentations, the preferred mode of L&T, etc. Generally, most survey participants expressed that they found the course to be advantageous to their L&T and in the development of their respective portfolios. |
| 13h00 - 13h20 | Post pandemic resuming or reforming – why is change so d*mn hard! | Moira Bladergroen | The rapid spread of the Corona virus shaked the very foundation of our work and everyday lives. The sudden non-negotiable change to a fully online model exposed the fragmented adoption of high-quality educational technologies. Staff and students experienced heightened feelings of anxiety, isolation and uncertainty. Everything around us changed, and so did everything inside us. Higher Education Institutions strongly belief that they are ready to make major post-pandemic leaps. As they grapple with the challenges of infrastructure and connectivity, external forces pushed the development of a culture in which that change can continue to thrive. Still, creating a culture of change does not come naturally to most human beings. Post pandemic success stories speak of good change management. But managing any form of change comes with resistance. Understanding the reasons behind resistence, and to work past it will positively contribute to one of the elements that will lead towards new success stories in the post-pandemic Higher Education Institutions. This presentation will highlight three models that will assist in understanding resistence to change, and what leadership can do to address and work past the resistence towards an agile and highly competitive UWC, faculty or department. |
| 13h20 - 13h40 | Implementing effective digital and online learning transitions for Masters in Nanoscience students during COVID-19 | Dr Rekha Rambharose | Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic period the context of higher education has been influenced by multiple variables, creating paramount uncertainty, fear, stress, discomfort and anxiety for both scholars and educators. This has resulted in the increased use of ethics of care (Feldman, 2020) and ubuntu pedagogies which has become a major discourse in student learning and online learning practices especially during the pandemic period. This research aimed at evaluating if these pedagogies are key concepts to engage with and implement in the present time and to establish its effectiveness in engaging active digital learning, providing student support and promoting student success for the Masters in Nanoscience programme. A qualitative research approach using interviews and surveys was adopted to analyse the lived-in experiences of students and lecturers in this programme. Students in this study participated in intervention and support workshops to transition into online learning, followed by structured synchronous and asynchronous lectures and support. This research has demonstrated the need for ongoing support, academic development, awareness of care and ubuntu pedagogies, training and coping strategies for the University community to be able to easily adapt and transition across multiple modes of teaching and learning during the unpredictable pandemic and post-pandemic period. The study concludes by seeking to answer the crucial question of what have we learnt from this experience and how will it impact the future of higher education in relation to digital and blended learning approaches. |
| 13h40 - 14h00 | Developing a contextual individualized shared understanding of clinical reasoning 14h00 | Dr Danelle Hess (Department of Physiotherapy) | Clinical reasoning has many definitions which could result in it being poorly understood. Existing models of clinical reasoning propose it to be a linear process. Literature suggests it to be more subjective and that variou1s factors influence its development. Stakeholders may benefit from contextualising the con1cept for their setting. The study aimed to explore what clinical reasoning meant to physiotherapy students, experts, lecturers and clinical educators. A qualitative descriptive design using in-depth interviews was employed. Data was analysed using thematic analysis. Clinical reasoning was described as a cognitive ability and process to solve a clinical problem requiring a foundation to inform decision-making which is influenced by clinician and patient. Internal and external factors that assisted them in their clinical reasoning development were also highlighted. Health professions educators could conduct self-analysis, assess current definitions of clinical reasoning and address factors unique to their context when defining clinical reasoning for themselves. |
| 14h00 - 14h20 | Exploring new ways of improving interaction and increasing participation in the virtual classroom | Karin Groenewald (Department of Foreign Languages) | The rapid shift to online and hybrid modes of teaching in the last couple of years initially posed many challenges for students and lecturers alike. In the teaching of a foreign language like German, this especially meant a decrease in regular and authentic interaction. Although some challenges certainly remain, the shift to online and asynchronous teaching has also brought about opportunities for new ways of teaching and collaborating. In an attempt to increase interaction outside of the classroom and mitigate some of the time constraints on synchronous teaching, students in the German section have been participating in semester projects, structured on online platforms such as iKamva or Google Classroom. Most recently, the online environment has enabled us to take part in a project in collaboration with four other German sections at South African universities. The project includes five modules, which has allowed the lecturers to support each other and work more effectively, as we have had many of the same challenges in our courses. For the students, engaging in semester projects has encouraged them to interact with students from their own and other universities. In a time where students seem to be increasingly isolated, this type of social interaction in and outside of the classroom has become a valuable part of their learning. In this presentation, I give a brief overview of the scope of the engagement and some of the strategies we used to enhance student participation and involvement online. Biography: Karin Groenewald has been a lecturer in the German section of the Department of Foreign Languages at UWC since 2019. Her main research focuses are second and foreign language acquisition, teaching and learning practices and materials in foreign language education, and the decolonisation of the curriculum. |
| 14h20-14h40 | An analysis of the teaching and learning of Related Rates in Calculus using Semantics in Legitimation Code Theory among first year main stream mathematics students at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) | Allen Taylor (Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics) | The teaching and learning of mathematics have always been a challenge from school level right through to university level, not only in South Africa, but internationally. There are no definitive answers as to why students fail mathematics or struggle to understand or master the concepts of mathematics. The aim of this project is not to find a solution as to why students fail mathematics, but to look at how mathematics is taught in the department of Mathematics at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) but to attempt a different approach that has not been tested in published literature regarding mathematics education. This project attempts to use one aspect of a theoretical framework called Legitimate Code theory (LCT) and analyze how students learn and understand a section in first year mathematics called “Related Rates”. It will illustrate the use of the semantic code of Legitimation Code Theory in the teaching of Related Rates, in particular it will define and use the concepts of ‘semantic gravity’ and ‘semantic density’. This project will also describe how LCT are using the analytic method of semantic waves to trace changes in semantic codes over time. |
| 14h40 - 15h00 | For slow teaching: Courageous and compassionate pedagogy in times of change | Bradley Rink (Department of Geography, Environmental Studies & Tourism) | This presentation provides an overview of my project under the TAU Fellowship Programme. As the title suggests, the project focuses on slow teaching – a nascent movement forwarded by scholars seeking to imbue their teaching with attentiveness, deliberation, thoughtfulness, and open-ended inquiry that is student-centred. In the context of growing class sizes due increased access to higher education, resource constraints, and ruptures to the ‘old’ ways of teaching (including #FeesMustFall and the COVID-19 lockdown), there is pressure to quicken the pace of teaching which inevitably leaves some students behind. Times of change and the resulting teaching environments favour expediency and efficiency over reflexivity and relationships. In this project I seek to explore the application of slow teaching practices within an introductory human geography course at the undergraduate level in a module with approximately 400 students. he project intends to use a reflexive method drawing on lecturer and student reflections to explore slow teaching and learning in GES111 Introduction to Human Geography at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). The result of these reflective practices will be the creation of guiding principles for slow teaching. |
| 15h00 - 15h20 | Online education and learning management system usage in a South African university during COVID-19 | Dr Danica Sims | The COVID-19 pandemic forced the rapid move of Higher Education from face-to-face to online formats worldwide; initially referred to as emergency remote teaching. As we adjust to the realities of this “new normal” of online and blended education, we sought to explore how educators had transitioned to online spaces at an historically-Black and disadvantaged university in South Africa; how educators were using the Sakai learning management system was unknown. We were interested in the instructional design and educational-soundness of their online pedagogical practices. To this end, 48 online undergraduate course sites were mapped from nine departments and programmes. Sakai LMS tool was skewed towards administrative, evaluative and management functions over pedagogy: communication (83%),evaluation (83%), content (71%), monitoring (67%), collaboration (52%). Most courses included varied types of learning activities; yet was dominated by traditional and passive approaches, and less inter/active approaches: acquisition (89%), practice (71%), production (64%), discussion (35%), collaboration (31%), investigation (8%). The results from this study will guide future staff development initiatives to improve online educational practice. |
