At the end of 2010 the Durban University of Technology initiated a Curriculum Renewal Project, central to which is the aspiration to become a student centred university through the transformation of teaching and learning and the promotion of quality enhancement. However, the current realities for curriculum development and quality assurance at the…

The South African Technology Network (SATN) would like to thank the Editor of the "South African Journal of Higher Education" (SAJHE) for the opportunity to publish papers read at the 4th Annual SATN Conference that was hosted by Central University of Technology and held in Bloemfontein in November 2011. The journal makes it possible for…

While South African higher education has, in many respects, achieved remarkable achievements since 1994, a series of serious problems continue to beset the system, and a low internal (high attrition rate) and external (alignment with the employment market) efficiency. There also exist the problems of large scale youth unemployment and the policy…

This paper is not a direct response to any particular contribution in the debate on the race-based affirmative action policy at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Rather, while I try to understand the essential line of argumentation of each of the UCT authors, my article points to the importance of equity and access as crucial factors in higher…

The article examined the perceptions of educators regarding their concerns and fears about the current state of education in South Africa. The target population for the study comprised of all the educators enrolled for the B.Ed. (Hons.) programme in Educational Management at the Central University of Technology, Free State in 2008. This group of…

Changing times in teacher education has been a long mantra and many changes have been occurring globally in this sector of higher education. In South Africa teacher education change has been linked to changes in the broader education processes and includes policy changes and the development of regulatory frameworks which all impacted on practice…

Being appointed or promoted to the position of "professor" resonates with notions of a relatively high academic standing in the realms of higher education. Or does it? This article poses the question: Is it not true that some South African universities suffer from professorial status inflation on the basis that professorial positions…

This article will first provide a theoretical overview of the problems that learners experience in distance education. It will also deal with some of the implications for course design. Problems associated with study through a distance education institution include loneliness, time management, examination skills and the format of the study…

In this article I highlight the challenges facing a law lecturer in a multicultural society in transformation where the student is being prepared to serve society in different occupational fields as a professional person. I indicate that the law itself cannot effect change. For this we need properly trained lawyers. For an effective transformation…

Examines the influence of a number of factors on quality assurance in the South African university system, including a new national system for standardizing training, national quality assurance initiatives, a new proposed role for universities, the shift from a monocultural to a multicultural educational environment, trend toward mass higher…

The science program at the University of Witwatersrand (South Africa) has entered into a resource-sharing agreement with a community college, which uses university materials and methods but provides its own staffing. To date, university students have outperformed community college students in all course components, suggesting a need for staff…

Discusses what benchmarking is and reflects on the importance and development of benchmarking in universities on a national and international level. Offers examples of transnational benchmarking activities, including the International Benchmarking Club, in which South African higher education institutions participate. (EV)