Education Innovation

Teaching and Learning at the University of Pretoria

The culture of excellent teaching is firmly entrenched at UP across all fields of study.

Important information for academics:

How to enrol modules for student feedback:
- Guideline for Lecturers
- Guidelines for Administrators
Study Guide Templates (2024)
SoTL Grants 2024: Application closing date 15 January 2024
Important 2024 Teaching & Learning dates
Professional Development 2024 Booklet
Generative AI for Teaching and Learning Guidelines
- Lecturer's Guide
- Student's Guide (Short) & Student's Guide (Complete)
New clickUP ULTRA Help Site
TEACH The UP Way
Video: TEACH The UP Way (4 minutes)
Continuity plans in the case of a crisis necessitating the suspension of contact classes:
- Teaching continuity plans for lecturers
- Learning continuity plans for students

Other information for academics:

Teaching and Learning related support from other departments (not EI):

IT Department T&L support services:
- Audio Visual Lecture Venue support services
- Emergency Audio Visual Assistance in lecture venues (immediate)
LinkedIn Learning
Library Services
UP printers: Copying, printing, binding, etc.
Scheduling Office:
Disability Unit
Invigilators’ office (Hatfield): Call 816512, Centenary building

Teaching and learning at the University of Pretoria

UP introduced a flipped-learning methodology that requires students to prepare thoroughly for class, complete pre-class assessments and engage in class.

Study guide templates (2024)

Due to various necessary content additions, the UP study guides became very bulky and unfocused lately. In future, each department will also create its own Departmental Guidelines. This document will contain guidelines pertaining to policies, procedures, rules, regulations, support services, etc. These could be contextualised by each department where relevant. This generic “Departmental Guidelines” document should be uploaded on all clickUP modules/websites. The module study guides focus on module-specific information only and refer to the Departmental Guidelines by means of a link, without repeating all the details.

Study guide templates NEW: Departmental Guidelines for students
Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences Faculty of Education Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology Faculty of Health Sciences Faculty of Humanities Faculty of Law Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences Faculty of Theology and Religion Faculty of Veterinary Science

Study guide templates

NEW: Departmental Guidelines for students

Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences
Faculty of Education
Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Humanities
Faculty of Law
Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences
Faculty of Theology and Religion
Faculty of Veterinary Science

Support for academic staff & Self-help guides

The clickUP help site and Blackboard help site contain many resources on how to use all the above-mentioned tools. You may also contact the e-support office, but the response time might be slower during this period due to the high volume of requests.

Academic staff who are new to online instruction or clickUP (Blackboard Learn), can consult the quick start guide.
The clickUP lecturer help site provides comprehensive guidelines on the use of the system.
Students can go to the clickUP self-help website if they do not know how to use the UP Portal, student emails, clickUP tools or Turnitin.
Students can download the Self-help Manual if they do not know how to use the UP Portal, student emails, clickUP tools or Turnitin.

There is also a team of dedicated Instructional Designers (IDs) and Educational Consultants (ECs) that will support you. Educational consultants can advise you on learning design, didactically sound hybrid teaching and learning, alternative assessment, curriculum, and open educational resources (OER). Your Faculty's Instructional Designers (IDs) will assist you should you need any help with eLearning, clickUP, Online assessment (QuestUP, clickUP, Turnitin, Respondus), and in-video assessment.

Head of Education Consultancy: Dr Rejoice Nsibande

Head of Instructional Designers: Detken Scheepers

	Educational Consultants	Instructional Designers
EMS	Dr Heather Goode	Kingsley Sebake
Education	Dr Marius Pienaar	Jacky Maroga
EBIT	Gail Barry	Alastair Smart
Humanities	Marena Lotriet	Gaby Pretorius
LAW	Dr Alfred Hlabane	Dennis Kriel
NAS	Dr Nonkanyiso Vokwana	Mpho Thukane
Theology	Dr Marius Pienaar	Ciska Snyman
HEALTH	Anneri Meintjes	Dr Hannelie Untiedt Dr Nomathemba Ngcobo Gretchen Jacobs
VET	Dr El-Marie Mostert	Velly Nkosi
Mamelodi	Faith Mathibedi	Ciska Snyman

UP Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) grants

The aims and scope of The Scholarship of Learning and Teaching (SoTL) at UP are:

To advance scholarly teaching at an institutional level.
To provide opportunities for UP staff to implement innovation in teaching and learning.
To contribute to knowledge development and dissemination in disciplinary teaching and learning.
To advance reflective practice.
To share good teaching practices.

In 2024, you can apply for two types of SoTL grants. The first is the SoTL research grant, which is similar to the SoTL grants that were awarded in previous years. The purpose of the SoTL research grant is knowledge production and publication output. The second is the SoTL innovative project grant. A creative project grant aims to design and implement research-informed teaching practices.

How do you apply for SoTL funding?

Read the Procedure for the application for a one-year SoTL grant.
Complete the SoTL application form here by 15 January 2024.

Suggested topics for 2024 SoTL projects are:

Teaching and learning in a hybrid/hyflex environment
AI and learner analytics to support teaching and learning
Educational technology to facilitate learning
Innovative assessment to support student success
Fostering student engagement in hybrid and online teaching
Instilling life-long learning skills through expeditionary/ self-directed learning
Effective teaching and learning in large class teaching
Transdisciplinary teaching and learning in higher education
Curriculum renewal and transformation (including alignment with graduate attributes)

Reminder for the 2023 SoTL grants: Please complete the report before 1 December 2023.