2015 Teaching Awards Final

28 Pages·2015·0.2 MB·English

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National Excellence in
Teaching Awards
HELTASA Conference
North-West University
17 - 20 November 2015
A joint project of the Council on Higher Education and the Higher Education Learning and Teaching
Association of Southern Africa
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CONTENTS
02 Foreword
Diane Grayson, Director: Institutional Audits, CHE
04 Introduction
Amanda Hlengwa, Chairperson: HELTASA
06 Winners
Carolyn McGibbon, Gwamaka Mwalemba & Elsje Scott
(Teaching Team), Tania Hanekom, Marianne McKay, Andri
Prozesky and Michael Savage
16 Commendations
Ansie Fouché, Njabulo Gumede, Delawir Kahn,
Aneshkumar Maharaj, Lara Ragpot and
James Swart
24 Evaluation Panel
Sioux McKenna, Amanda Hlengwa, Diane Grayson,
Amani Saidi, Kwena Masha, Jean Farmer, Masebala
Tjabane, Rubby Dhunpath, Francois Strydom, Lindsay
Clowes and Roshnee Sunder
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FOREWORD
Diane Grayson
Director: Institutional Audits, CHE
In September I had the privilege of visiting 10 Scottish universities,
together with the Deputy Vice-Chancellors Academic and Teaching and
Learning from 14 South African universities. The Scottish universities
were diverse - they ranged in age from 4 to 602 years old, and in focus
from research intensive to vocational. But they had some things in
common. They all place great value on the quality of their students‘
experience. And that means that the quality of university teaching is
very important to them. In Scotland it is not acceptable to be a good
researcher but a poor teacher. On the contrary, it is the norm for new
lecturers to be expected to apply for fellowship of the UK Higher
Education Academy (https://www.heacademy.ac.uk), which manages
the UK Professional Standards Framework, and promotions to more
senior academic positions are increasingly requiring higher levels of
achievement on the framework.
The CHE’s Quality Enhancement rewards structures at many of our
Project (QEP) was initiated in 2014 to universities. For example, many
improve student success in higher promotions criteria weight research
education. We know that many factors performance much more heavily than
influence the success of our students; teaching performance, particularly at
the quality of university teaching is the senior levels. Several institutions
one of them. In South Africa we have indicated that they did not know how
a long way to go in ensuring that all to rigorously assess teaching quality.
lecturers are skilled in university The CHE therefore undertook a
teaching. To get there we have to national capacity-building activity as
overcome a number of obstacles. In part of the QEP to address this
the Content Analysis of the Baseline problem. In June two 2-day workshops
Submissions for Phase 1 of the Quality were held on Assessment and
Enhancement Project (CHE, 2015), one Recognition of University Teaching,
of the obstacles identified is the led by Dr Thomas Olsson from Lund
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University in Sweden. Dr Olsson has In addition, as part of the QEP a small
worked for many years at both his task team of DVCs is looking at
institution and nationally to develop structural issues that can be addressed
and require what the Swedish call nationally to promote good university
“pedagogical competence” among teaching.
academics. Pedagogical competence
Fortunately, South Africa has a number
has four components: teaching
of academics who excel at university
practice, observation of teaching and
teaching, despite the obstacles. Each
student learning, theoretical
year, I am awestruck at the level of
knowledge of teaching and student
commitment to students, ingenuity,
learning and planning to improve
imagination and effectiveness of the
pedagogical practice (Olsson and
applicants for teaching awards.
Roxå, 2013). Deans and directors of
Heartfelt congratulations to the
teaching and learning from all
winners. You are heroes.
universities were invited to the
workshops.
Hopefully, the 132 people
who attended the
workshops, together with the
HELTASA SIG on professional
development, provide a
critical mass of people for a
national conversation on
requiring, assessing and
rewarding university
teaching.
References:
CHE (2015). Content Analysis of the Baseline Submissions for Phase 1 of the Quality
Enhancement Project. Pretoria: CHE.
Olsson, T. and Roxå, T. (2013). Assessing and rewarding excellent academic teachers for
the benefit of an organization. European Journal of Higher Education, 3:1, 40-61.
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INTRODUCTION
Amanda Hlengwa
Chairperson: HELTASA
This is the seventh year in which HELTASA is delighted to partner with
the Council on Higher Education in offering the National Teaching
Excellence Awards for 2015. These awards are an important national
initiative not least because they contribute to conferring the same
prestige on teaching in an academic career as has traditionally been
conferred on research.
We are all accustomed to hearing of celebrated contributes to academics
colleagues who have won medals or being able to draw on a very different
awards for their scholarly work as set of ideas in order to construct their
researchers. We have also heard how own academic identities. This opens
promotions committees traditionally up a wider range of possibilities in an
have only looked to research in making academic career and makes that career
decisions about progression up the accessible to a more diverse group of
academic ladder. Historically, teaching individuals than ever before. It is no
has been a ‘Cinderella’ activity in longer necessary to be a high-flying
comparison to research yet now an researcher to reach the top of the
increasing number of universities have academic ladder. Now, increasingly
introduced criteria for teaching into high-flying teachers can reach the same
their promotions procedures and ranks. As they do this, they begin to
prestigious awards - national and often occupy leadership positions in which
institutional - are available to those they can speak about the importance
who excel in this area of academic of teaching and influence others to
endeavour. pay the same attention to this aspect
of their academic work as they have
The recognition that accrues as a result
done.
of teaching awards, not only to
individuals and institutions but to the In a country such as South Africa,
practice of teaching itself, contributes quality teaching can mean the
to the ‘cultural register’ of academic difference between a student passing
life. The idea that teaching can be or failing, getting a degree and finding
scholarly, that it is to be rewarded and highly paid work or continuing in the
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cycle of poverty which has dogged contexts whilst, at the same
their family for generations. Changing
time, creating in students the
the way we value teaching in our
belief that they can reach the
universities has potentially life-
changing implications and the National expectations their academic
Teaching Excellence Awards need to teachers have of them is
be seen in this context.
critical. All of the Award
winners this year have
The 2015 National Teaching
demonstrated to a
Excellence Award winners
committee of peers judging
come from a wide range of
the awards that they can do
disciplinary backgrounds and
this - and much more
institutional contexts.
besides.
Common to them all is the
ability to create environments
As HELTASA President, I salute the
in which their students can winners of the 2015 Awards and
flourish as learners regardless congratulate them on their
achievements. Even more importantly,
of what or where they are
along with many others, I look to them
learning. Given the very
to provide the leadership and direction
different levels of resourcing in teaching and learning our country
in this country and the so badly needs.
diverse nature of institutions
and programmes, the ability
to respond to challenging
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WINNERS: Teaching Team
Carolyn McGibbon, Gwamaka Mwalenmba
& Elsje Scott
A unique teaching team has
evolved at the University of Cape
Town in response to the global
challenge of sustainability. Over
the past five years the team has
integrated carbon footprinting
into the curriculum of computer
science students who are studying
project management. This unique
project also enhances a range of
graduate attributes.
Professor Elsje Scott published in her PhD study, in 2012.
Theorist, lecturer, researcher Her teaching philosophy revolves
around a passion and a powerful
Elsje Scott is an associate professor at
relationship with students in a dynamic
the Department of Information
environment. She was nominated for
Systems at UCT and has 30 years’
a Distinguished Teacher Award at UCT
experience in teaching programming
as well as the IBM John W Backus
and systems development project
Faculty award. Elsje holds a PhD in
related courses at tertiary institutions.
Information Systems and an MSc in
Her strengths as a citizen of the UCT
Applied Mathematics (cum laude). She
community are in teaching, specifically
is the coordinator of the IS Education
the practice of capstone courses,
and Educational Technology research
comprising the integrated and
theme of CITANDA and her research
interactive environments of project
records include 14 journal articles, 27
management, systems development,
publications in conference proceedings
technology and people. This research
and two book chapters (all peer-
led pedagogy resulted in the
reviewed).
development of a theory of coherent
practice for capstone courses as
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Gwamaka Mwalemba Carolyn McGibbon
Course convenor, researcher Green IS lecturer, researcher
Gwamaka is a lecturer in the Carolyn is a doctoral candidate at the
Department of Information Systems University of Cape Town and in the
at UCT where he has been working for final stages of her PhD. Her research
almost three years. He holds a Master interests relate to Green Information
of Commerce in Information Systems, Systems, with a particular focus on
Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) in Higher Education. She holds a
Information Systems as well as Bachelor of Science degree from the
Bachelor of Science in Information University of KwaZulu-Natal, a Higher
Technology (with double major in Diploma in Higher Education (cum
Computer Science and Information laude) from the Cape Peninsula
Systems) from UCT. He is interested in University of Technology and Master
the application and evolution of of Business Administration degree from
database systems, business the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She
intelligence and enterprise systems has 20 years’ experience in industry.
technologies. He is expanding his Awards include Old Mutual Gold
interests to the social sciences - Medal for outstanding achievement
exploring the role of education in on the MBA programme and top
engaging the needs of contemporary student of the year in third year MBA
society. He is currently pursuing his class. She has authored one book
PhD with a focus on contextualizing chapter and eight peer-reviewed
curriculum, teaching approaches and papers and is a member of the UCT
materials in the computing discipline Environmental Management Working
across Africa. He has presented and Group.
published in local as well as
international conferences.
Gwamaka is a key member of the
Enterprise Systems Education for Africa
(ESEFA) project team run in partnership
with ten other flagship universities from
sub-Saharan African countries, which
aims to create, adopt and share
context-relevant teaching materials for
Enterprise Systems.
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WINNER
Tania Hanekom
Professor Tania Hanekom graduated in 1993 as an electronic engineer
and subsequently completed a masters’ degree and a PhD in Engineering
in 1996 and 2001 respectively, all at the University of Pretoria. She
joined UP’s Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer
Engineering in 1999. She is an NRF-rated researcher and is registered
as a professional engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa.
Her research is in the field of biomedical engineering and is focused
on computational modelling of the electrode-neural interface in cochlear
implants. Specific emphasis is placed on the development of user-
specific models with the objective to translate these models to clinical
tools that may facilitate model-based customization of the implant. Prof
Hanekom has published more than 20 articles in accredited journals,
made more than 25 national and international conference contributions
and delivered a number of invited lectures.
The National Teaching award was, Prof Hanekom believes that there is no
however, predominantly made for her reason why engineering education in
work in undergraduate teaching that South Africa cannot be equivalent to
focuses on training students in the basic or better than that provided by the
skills required to succeed in the recognised top engineering universities
embedded design industry. Since the in the world. While some of the
explosion in the digital device market challenges universities face are global,
during the past few decades, it has South African institutions have to deal
become essential to equip more with a number of unique challenges.
engineering graduates with embedded Top international engineering
design skills. Her teaching aims to universities skim off the cream from the
address this need while simultaneously global student population, while local
empowering students to excel in the universities must adopt a more inclusive
embedded design industry. approach that caters for a diverse
student population, which is vitally
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