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11 July 2023 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
iKudu Coil Chevon Slammbee
Chevon Slambee says the COIL approach connects students and educators from different cultural backgrounds through online platforms, allowing participants to engage in cross-cultural learning and collaboration.

Internationalisation of the curriculum has been mandatory for institutions of higher education since 2020, according to the National Policy Framework for the Internationalisation of Higher Education in South Africa.

The iKudu project, an Erasmus+Capacity-Building in Higher Education (CBHE) co-funded project, which aims, among others, for universities to include internationalisation and decolonisation dimensions to transform their curricula, recently published the document: Considerations for enabling guidelines, strategies, and policies for internationalised curriculum renewal for universities with a focus on the diverse South African contexts. 

The University of the Free State (UFS) Office for International Affairs (OIA) played a key role in the publication of this document.

In his editorial of the document, Dr Cornelius Hagenmeier, Director of the OIA, states that in the spirit of the iKudu values – which include Ubuntu, trust, and equality – the project stakeholders have developed a document that will serve as a repository of ideas from which all consortium member universities can intelligently borrow when developing their institutional guidelines, strategies, and policies for curriculum renewal, Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), or other forms of virtual exchange.

He says they are publishing this document to make the ideas available to the broader higher education community, in the hope that they will contribute to further debate on internationalised curriculum renewal processes.

The iKudu project is one of the few major EU-funded capacity-building projects coordinated by a South African university.

UFS coordinates iKudu

According to Chevon Slambee, iKudu Project Manager in the UFS OIA, the consideration document serves as a guiding document for all universities, but specifically focuses on South African universities, taking into account the unique and diverse contexts of South Africa’s higher education landscape and how these contexts influence the curriculum renewal processes.

Slambee explains that the COIL approach connects students and educators from different cultural backgrounds through online platforms, allowing participants to engage in cross-cultural learning and collaboration within the existing curriculum. 

Through joint projects, shared courses, and virtual exchanges, it aims to foster intercultural competence, global awareness, and mutual understanding among students. Moreover, the initiative creates inclusive opportunities for all students who take part in COIL, as the inequalities due to financial resources are factored out. “It expands the classroom beyond classroom borders, and grants students the opportunity to engage in a digital international world,” says Slambee. 

The five participating South African universities – the UFS, Durban University of Technology, University of Limpopo, University of Venda, and the Central University of Technology – together with the five European universities – the University of Siena (Italy), Coventry University (England), The Hague University of Applied Sciences (The Netherlands), Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (The Netherlands), and the University of Antwerp (Belgium) – have implemented 51 of their target of 55 COIL programmes, with almost 10 months remaining in the project. “For us, this is a milestone in the iKudu journey,” says Slambee. 

Sharing COIL experiences

One of the UFS lecturers who completed a COIL project is Prof Mariette Reyneke, Associate Professor in the UFS Department of Public Law.

Prof Reyneke recently completed her second COIL experience, this time with Prof Alessandra Viviani from the University of Siena. She says one of the best aspects of this initiative is giving our students the opportunity to broaden their horizons by exposing them to peers from a different country and culture. “Moreover, one also gets to expose students from developed countries to the realities and challenges of a developing country,” she adds.

“Through this initiative, we also get the chance to teach South African students that they have valuable contributions to offer the world. In some instances, our legal solutions to problems are fascinating and enriching for international students. Our theory and implementation of human rights are also sometimes more liberal than what students from Europe experience in their own countries,” says Prof Reyneke, who believes that COIL fosters an innovative and enriching experience for students, while also enhancing academic networks.

“It was very satisfying for me to realise that the students not only enjoyed the experience, but also found it beneficial for their personal growth,” she remarks.

Moving forward, Slambee says the OIA is working closely with the Centre for Teaching and Learning and is in the process of establishing a COIL/virtual engagement hub for the university. Furthermore, the Curriculum Internationalisation Project (CIP) has been approved and is being piloted in specific departments and faculties. For more information about the CIP, contact Prof Lynette Jacobs, Slambee, or Nooreen Adam from the OIA.

News Archive

The launch of a unique conservation project
2011-06-06

 

Our Department of Animal, Wildlife and Grassland Sciences launched a very special pilot project at Woodland Hills Wildlife Estate in Bloemfontein on Friday 03 June 2011, which aims to eventually aid in the conservation and study of one of Africa’s most graceful animals.

The project aims to provide the scientific basis needed for making future decisions in the best interests of the giraffe in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in the Northern Cape and involves collaring and monitoring the behaviour and movement of these animals via GPS.

Based on the public interest in the giraffe and the increased impact of the growing giraffe population on the vegetation in the area, SANParks has been considering the translocation of a number of Kgalagadi giraffe. Due to limited information regarding their adaptation success and potential impact on their new environment, thorough planning and subsequent monitoring of the species is required.

Mr Francois Deacon from our university decided to undertake a PhD study to address the existing challenges. This will be the first study of its kind, undertaken on giraffe.

He says he decided on this project because of his love for animals and conservation. “There are nine sub-species of giraffe and seven of these are already endangered. I want to involve people and make them aware of the plight of the animals and the need for conservation,” he said.

The project kicked off on Friday morning, with a group of students and curious nature-lovers tracking a herd of giraffe at Woodland Hills. The challenge laid in identifying one of the animals which could easily be collared with a GPS device, tranquilising it, and applying the device, without harming the animal.

After a young bull was identified, it was up to Dr Floris Coetzee, a veterinarian, to get close enough to the animal to tranquilise it, and to the group of students to catch it and hold it down. All this was done perfectly and the animal was fitted with its new collars. The collars were designed and made by Mr Martin Haupt, who gained extensive experience in the design of similar collars for other research studies.

Mr Deacon will spend the following two weeks personally monitoring the animal constantly, to ensure that the collars do not cause any discomfort or injury and to determine whether it should be removed or adapted.

It has taken Mr Deacon over a year to plan the collaring process and the associated study. He says the main challenges in the project are financial, since it will cost approximately R500 000 to run over five years.

Thus far he has been supported by Mr Pieter Malan of Woodland Hills, Mr Cas Kempff of Cas Kempff Consulting Engineers and Prof. Frans Swanepoel of the UFS’ Directorate of Research Development, all of whom have been benefactors of the project.
Information gathered from the pilot project will provide the data to assess how to best fit the collar onto the giraffe to ensure that the animal is comfortable and that the collar will last in the wild.  Scientific data will be generated and processed for use by the Woodland Hills Wildlife Estate management.

Should the pilot project be successful, between four and eight giraffe in the Kgalagadi will be tracked using the satellite GPS collars. The GPS collars will enable the constant recording of the location of individual giraffe for up to 2 years. This will allow control and monitoring of the animals in real-time.

The main benefits of the project include, amongst others, improved decision-making, informing tourism development, education and community involvement, improved sustainability and improved cross-border collaboration between South Africa and Botswana.

Anyone who wishes to get involved with the project or get more information, should contact Me. Sonja Buhrmann at sbuhrmann@vodamail.co.za or 0827735768.
 

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