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14 December 2023 | Story Dr Jared McDonald | Photo Supplied
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference
From the left: Dr Eleanor Bernard, Assistant Director in the Centre for Teaching and Learning on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus; Dr Jared McDonald, Chief of Staff in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor and Principal; and Prof Pearl Sithole, Campus Vice-Principal: Academic and Research on the Qwaqwa Campus.

From 21 to 23 November, more than 160 delegates gathered at the Golden Gate Highlands National Park in the Eastern Free State for the fourth biennial conference on Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) in the South, dubbed SOTL 4 the South.

This year’s iteration was proudly hosted by the University of the Free State (UFS) and organised by Dr Jared McDonald, Chief of Staff in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor and Principal; Dr Eleanor Bernard, Assistant Director in the Centre for Teaching and Learning on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus; and Prof Zach Simpson, Editor-in-Chief of the SOTL in the South journal. Established and emerging scholars, as well as postgraduate students working in the field of teaching and learning from across disciplines in Southern Africa, came together to share ideas, debate perspectives, and learn from experiences related to the conference theme: Teaching and Learning for Sustainable Futures.

The programme included presentations on a wide variety of topics, such as the challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence in higher education, academic literacy, student success, teaching and learning for sustainable development, curriculum design, and digital futures. The programme also included two keynote presentations by leading scholars in education for sustainability, Prof Heila Lotz-Sisitka, Distinguished Professor and SARChI Research Chair in Global Change and Social Learning Systems in the Environmental Learning Research Centre at Rhodes University, and Prof Kasturi Behari-Leak, Associate Professor of Higher Education Studies and Dean of the University of Cape Town’s Centre for Higher Education Development.

The organisers were delighted with the quality of the scholarship that was shared. “This conference has been 18 months in the making, and we are grateful to all the delegates for embracing, and engaging with, the conference’s theme. We are also appreciative to all the reviewers on the Scientific Review Committee who were generous with their time, reflections, and critiques in assisting us to deliver a compelling, impactful programme,” said Dr McDonald. Dr Bernard added that “the conference would not have been possible without the generous support of the University of the Free State’s Executive Management and Centre for Teaching and Learning, as well as the senior management of the Qwaqwa Campus, who have supported the conference from the time it was just an idea”.

Prof Zach Simpson expressed his gratitude to the UFS for its support and assistance. “The last in-person conference of SOTL in the South was in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. It was wonderful to see so many scholars come together in a beautiful location to engage with a compelling and topical conference theme.” Selected papers have been invited to contribute to a special issue of SOTL in the South, edited by the organisers and due for publication in mid-2024.

SOTL is an informal ‘body’ that is not affiliated with any particular parent organisation or institution. Its aim is to advance scholarship in teaching and learning across the Global South – conceived of not just in geographic terms – but as concerned with questions of power, access, inequity, and marginalisation, even where these might be present in the Global ‘North’. Moreover, it aims to give voice to novice SOTL practitioners and to serve as a platform for academics, particularly novice academics, to contribute their scholarly work.

News Archive

More than 500 to graduate this summer
2015-11-30

A total of 544 graduates will walk across the stage to collect their hard-earned qualifications at this year’s Summer Graduation on the Bloemfontein Campus.

A total of 106 Master’s Degrees and 39 Doctorates will be conferred by all seven faculties of the University of the Free State (UFS). About 231 pre-graduates are expected from the Faculty of Health Sciences. The School of Open Learning will proudly award 122 Diplomas and 46 Certificates.

Prof Busisiwe Rosemary Bhengu, Chairperson of the South African Nursing Council, will be the guest speaker for the day.

About the guest speaker

Prof Bhengu holds a PhD in Nursing, and is an Honorary Associate Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). From 2008, Bhengu has headed the UKZN School of Nursing.  She has supervised and co-supervised several PhD and Master’s students.

In addition to teaching Critical Care Nursing at both local and international levels, Bhengu was responsible for the development of the Nurse Specialist syllabus at the university. Her contributions to the field reach as far as the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Tanzania, Eritrea, Rwanda, and Seychelles, where she pioneered course development and implementation for critical care nursing in the curriculum for Nurse Anaesthetics in Rwanda.

Other leadership positions held by Prof Bhengu include directing the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre in the UKZN School of Nursing between 2008 and 2011; representing the Afro-Region at the Executive Committee of the Global Network; chairing the Professional Conduct Committee; and the Laws, Practice and Standards Committee. She has published many papers internationally.

A musical prelude

The Sonnedou residence Kleinser group will deliver a few musical items for the graduates, friends, and family.

Details of event

Date:
Thursday 10 December 2015
Time:  08:00am and 14:30pm
Place: Callie Human Centre, Bloemfontein Campus

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