There is widespread concern that students are increasingly becoming passive consumers of education who primarily attend university to obtain the credentials they need for the labour market. To interrogate this view, a longitudinal qualitative study examined what 47 students in three countries wanted to get out of studying for their degree (their…

Engaging student leaders in knowledge creation in support of their own leadership development is an important strategy in the scholarship of integration which seeks to promote research-based, student-engaged professional practices. This article describes a strategy for engaging student leaders in support of such development, drawing on the…

Technology is key to making education systems more resilient to disruptions. In the South African higher education sector, technology will continue to play a much larger role than the years preceding the COVID-19 pandemic. Technology, however, cannot replace the value gained through social contact and concerns about relational disengagement in…

Academic Development Programmes (ADPs) are a distinct category of South African Higher Education that aims to provide alternative access to students who meet the minimum entry requirements for university but not necessarily for the particular academic programme of their choice. Although these programmes have existed for over 30 years, limited…

The need for problem-solving and creative thinking skills to be taught well in business studies classrooms can never be overemphasised due to the complexity of the problems and challenges faced by businesses in the 21st-century business environment. Teachers are, therefore, required to adopt pedagogies that would enable learners to acquire…

Intercultural competence (IC) development has been highlighted in academia as an essential educational outcome for all constituents. Over the last few decades, extensive research has been conducted regarding both the components of IC and how it is developed. Yet research is scant on the experiences of international graduate students regarding…

This study investigated the association between psychological stamina (grit, mindset and hardiness) and thinking style preferences among South African university students. Data were collected from 369 first-year university students using measures of grit, mindset, hardiness and thinking style preferences. The results indicated that different…

The South African Association of Senior Student Affairs Professionals (SAASSAP) hosted a three-day conference on "Ramping up engaged scholarship, gender equity, and enhancing leadership in student affairs practice" at Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha), from 2 to 4 December 2021. The meeting, which was attended by…

Early STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education plays a pivotal role in shaping children's science and visual literacy skills. However, in South Africa, there are notable challenges such as delayed initiation of science education and inadequate emphasis on visual literacy. This study aims to investigate the influence of…

The aim of this study is to evaluate the extent to which open, and distance education universities are fulfilling their stated purpose as higher education institutions in SubSaharan countries. The starting point of understanding the purpose of an institutions is to analyse the content of mission statements and the context in which the universities…

In diverse university contexts, students need to constantly navigate and negotiate their social identities. Students bring their unique embedded histories and cultures to the university context and position and reposition themselves to experience a sense of belonging. These experiences contribute to student self-formation and sense of being. This…

Inclusion of learners with mild hearing impairments in mainstream classes contributes to their language, social and academic development. These learners require adequate support from the teachers to succeed in the classroom. However, such an endeavour requires that teachers are appropriately prepared and supported. With this study we investigated…

Peer-assisted learning (PAL) encompasses the active acquisition of knowledge and skills among students in similar social settings where teaching one another enables reciprocal learning. Same-year/ level PAL (SPAL) is applied in theoretical and clinical teaching across medical disciplines worldwide and is regarded as a teaching and learning…

Higher Education Institutions in South Africa continue to experience considerable dropout rates of students during the first year, especially those from previously marginalised population groups. The aim of this research was to evaluate how the use of life coaching interventions providing first year students with psychosocial support, influenced…

We teach English literature in South Africa, to third- or fourth-language English speakers. Increasingly dissatisfied with the effectiveness of our pedagogy under conditions of massification, we seek to agitate propositions about our students' reading and what these propositions means for our pedagogy. Drawing on narrative theory we analyse our…