Teaching and Learning Roadmap

The Teaching & Learning Roadmap concept was developed for the purpose of mapping student needs and requirements - not only academic but support needs as well, in order to empower them in a holistic manner and to ensure that they are equipped and enabled to not only cope with their studies, but excel as well through the awareness and utilisation of services which are available to them.

The development of the draft Roadmap involved internal brainstorming, collaboration with different stakeholders and representatives from different departments and units, consultation with students and requesting their input and suggestions and, most significantly, searching for and making use of information already available on the different University web pages in order to make this information visible and accessible to students. This process ensured that work was not unnecessarily duplicated, which would have been a waste of valuable time. It also ensured that we could involve as many stakeholders as possible where relevant and necessary.

The draft was first visualised as a mind map, and then adapted to turn it into a process diagram. After the processes and stages were identified, different software and platforms were investigated and tested in order to determine if they could achieve the desired end-result and allow for an immersive and interactive design in order to make it as visually appealing as it is informative. Eventually, a number of software applications were used to design and develop a working prototype. These applications included Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Keynote, and PowerPoint, to name a few. The use of these applications was meant to ensure a variety of multimedia presence on the Roadmap to complement the text. Vector images were used, professional photographs provided by the Department of University Relations, as well as the Department of Library Services marketing office. The most prominent image is the one displayed on the home screen, which was first a photograph of the Law Library, and then later updated to a photograph of the Education Library. The home screen image will be changed every month to ensure that all UP Libraries are included.

The Roadmap is structured in a way that outlines the students’ academic journey from when they first apply for admission to the University of Pretoria up until they graduate. The stages between the aforementioned events include students going through the University’s Orientation, students preparing to attend lectures, students actually attending lectures, the period of tests, assignments, and other assessments, the examination period, as well as what comes after examinations depending on the student’s performance and results. Throughout these various stages, the students are made aware of what to expect at that particular stage, what their responsibilities are and what tasks they have to complete. The students are then informed of the Library’s role in supporting them to meet these responsibilities and complete the related tasks through the provision of services, resources, facilities, and more. The students are finally informed of what other support services and units are available at the University to address other student needs such as student health, academic support, stress management, financing issues, and mental health awareness, to name a few.

The Roadmap is currently conveniently and neatly accessible through a prominent banner on the Library website. Simply clicking the banner immerses users in the interactive experience. Users are also able to view and explore the Roadmap on mobile phones by simply scanning the QR code on the banner. The Roadmap is also available through the Digital Scholarship website, as well as on the AIM first year module on ClickUP. Going forward, we hope to make the Roadmap more visible and accessible on more platforms in order to increase awareness and visibility.