Teaching and Learning at the University of Pretoria

The culture of excellent teaching is firmly entrenched at UP across all fields of study. The general guidelines for undergraduate teaching are as follows:

• TEACH The UP Way
• Student success at UP: Initiative, roles and responsibilities
• Video: TEACH The UP Way (4 minutes)

Other important information for academics:

• clickUP modules: Prepare for the new semester
• Study Guide Templates (2023)
• Important 2023 Teaching & Learning dates
• Student Feedback on Teaching
• Workshops & Training
• Community Engagement 
• clickUP Help Site
• clickUP Support for Academic Staff & Self-help guides
• Guidelines for prescribed books/material 
• Flexible Futures Conference
• UP Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) grants
• Open educational resources (OER) and OER grants
• Faculty Student Advisors (FSAs)
• Tutoring Guidelines
• Instructions: Broadcast  live  class using Bb Collaborate & AVER 340+ Camera
• Upload videos to YouTube & Add in-video quiz interactions (H5P)
• Online Assessment

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:
  • Lectures, tests, examinations
  • Ad hoc bookings, e.g. sick tests
  • Timetables
• 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

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.

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.

UP Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) grants 2023

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) grants are part of the University of Pretoria's University Capacity Development Grant (UCDG) provided by the Department of Higher Education and Training. SoTL grants promote institutional research to improve teaching and student learning and success. Applications by individuals and teams will be considered on merit. We have several one-year grants (of a maximum of R20 000) available for 2023. The project should be completed between February 2023 and November 2023. The deadline for applications for a 2023 SoTL grant is 1 December 2022. View the SoTL application procedure here.

The suggested topics are:

• Teaching excellence
• 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 2022 SoTL grants: Please complete the report before 1 December 2022. 

Open educational resources (OER) and OER grants

One of the most essential and basic requirements for student success is ensuring all students have access to essential course materials. It is therefore vital to promote the use of free material. Download the UP Open educational resources (OER) guidelines. We want to invite all UP lecturers to apply for the Open Educational Resources (OER) Grants. We have thirty grants available for UP lecturers, each worth a maximum of R10 000. To apply, lecturers are required to access the necessary information here: https://tinyurl.com/ydhkdo7v. Contact Dr Marius Pienaar or Dr Sanet Haupt.