Lecturer presents at the CLTD Teaching and Learning Conference 2022

Posted on September 26, 2022

Ms Anneke Nel, a lecturer in Publishing Studies, presented at the CLTD Teaching and Learning Conference, hosted by the University of Witwatersrand on 19 September 2022.

The aim of the conference is to look at higher education beyond the pandemic, giving opportunity for speakers from higher education institution across South Africa to present their re-imagining practices, and open room for dialogue and reflection on the purpose of higher education.

Ms Nel presented along Ms Laetitia Cassells, Head of Division of Publishing Studies at the University of Witwatersrand, with a paper titled: Intrinsic motivation as an element of Africanised curriculum design in outcomes-based critical skills education. Their abstract reads as follows:

In the changing higher education landscape HEI’s are especially called on to show relevance and value in terms of offering opportunities for learning. Students have increasing options available for qualifications online, while higher education impact rankings prioritise real-world significance for HEI. This presentation will discuss the development of curricula for problem-based learning in postgraduate courses, planned to be implemented in a fully hybrid program at Wits in 2023. The paper presents problem-based learning as an outcome of larger institutional and international needs by aligning the curriculum of the Publishing programs in South Africa with the UN Strategic Development Goals and institutional policies that describe community engagement and research focus.

The resulting curricula will be presented, incorporating PBL in constellation 5 and 9 by relating to the creation and assessment of an artefact intended for transformation and social reform locally. In collaboration with holders of a UNICEF grant for digital storytelling publishing students were able to relevant, contextual, skills and knowledge. As future publishers, students are rarely exposed to the market and audience for books beyond traditional retail, which is exclusionary to most potential South African readers based on class and race, also serving to highlight sustainable development goals in the publishing industry. The planned learning encounters facilitate the gradual exposure of students to the community of practice for their field to assess skills acquisition in the South African context and aims to develop intrinsic motivation in students based on the beliefs associated with ethical practice for social reform. African decolonial pedagogy is focused on a body of knowledge that is committed to change in the specific South African context. This presentation argues that projects rooted in community-based learning functions to further contextualise and decolonise the curriculum.

- Author Anneke Nel

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