Fundani takes the lead at RITAL Conference

The Fundani Centre for Higher Education Development (CHED) recently hosted the annual Research Innovation in Teaching and Learning Conference (RITAL) to discuss and debate teaching, learning, curriculum and assessment issues related to higher education.

The one-day conference funded by the University Capacity Development Grant (UCDG), was themed: Beyond the Pandemic: Rethinking and Revitalising our Pedagogical Practices in Higher Education Institutions was held on the Granger Bay Campus.

The RITAL conference brought together academics across the disciplines who are interested in discussing teaching, learning, curriculum and pedagogical practices beyond the COVID-19 pandemic at CPUT.

The Research Coordinator at Fundani, Dr Najwa Norodien-Fataar, who chaired the conference, said their aim was to enable academics to rethink and revitalise their roles as lecturers beyond the pandemic. Academics who were recipients of the Research Innovation Fund in Teaching and Learning (RIFTAL) also presented their research findings to the CPUT academic community. Approximately 60 academics attended the conference and participated in debates on various teaching, learning, curriculum and assessment matters. The conference attracted academics from the Faculty of Applied Sciences, the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment and the Faculty of Education.

"A key concern for all academics is to use technology meaningfully by placing pedagogy at the centre of student learning. Several presentations focused on pedagogy as central to productive learning at universities. A crucial aspect of pedagogy is to ensure that students engage with knowledge in a dialogical manner between lecturers and students and between students and students," Norodien-Fataar observed.

The Director of the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching at the Durban University of Technology, Prof Mncedisi Maphalala, delivered a keynote address which was titled: Re-imagining Higher Education online learning environments Post Covid-19 and beyond: A self-directed learning Perspective.

Teaching Excellence Award winner Dr Sweta Patnaik, from the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, also provided a presentation and focused on how she consistently sought feedback from students regarding their understanding of the subjects she teaches. Patnaik emphasised that she always looked for innovative ways to ensure students learn effectively.

"A crucial message of the conference was to emphasise pedagogy as central to student learning. Several presentations focused on the relationship between pedagogy and technology-enhanced learning and how to ensure access to knowledge through our mixed, blended, and contact delivery modes," Norodien-Fataar observed.

One of the presenters, Prof Jessy van Wyk, Head of the Department: Food Science and Technology, said the conference was "an enormous success, in my opinion". "What really impressed me was the amount as well as the scope of the work done by so many staff at CPUT around delivering quality and student-centred Learning, Teaching and Assessment (LTA) to our students. The scope covers a healthy mix of one, research based on tried-and-tested methods (e.g., the Socratic method) as well as new theories and methods (with a particular focus on the digital space) and two, implementing those methodologies in the classroom and laboratories and evaluating the impact towards continuous improvement."

In her presentation, Van Wyk stated that her department was able to develop new curricula aimed at producing graduates that are job-ready, practitioners capable of complex practice such as enhanced graduate employability. "Successfully developing and delivering these curricula are facilitated by the depth of experience in the department, as well as input from our wide network of partnerships, with industry, local and international universities."

Click the RITAL blog link for more information: https://blogs.cput.ac.za/rital/

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