The challenge of translating equity of access into equity of outcome with students from a differentially resourced secondary education system which may have advantaged or disadvantaged them in demonstrating their academic ability in the conventional matriculation/national senior certificate (NSC) examinations necessitated that Universities…

This article submits that the calibre, attitude and mindset of lecturers/teachers in institutions of Higher Education need drastic improvement and change if academic excellence is to be attainable and sustained in the 21st century. This article builds on the observations by Makondo (2010, 263-276) that most university teaching staff members are…

Transformation of higher education in South Africa has resulted in an ongoing need to reflect critically on the relevance and responsiveness of higher education curricula. This article describes two inter-related aspects of curriculum mapping, namely the mapping process and the mapping tool. Based on a case study of a career-oriented business…

Widening access to higher education has meant an increasing need for flexibility in instruction and course design to accommodate students who utilize a wide range of learning style preferences. The purpose of this study was to identify the preferred learning styles of students and to plan instruction and course design accordingly. In addition, a…

The purpose of this article is to report on a formative evaluation research study of a university-school partnership for mathematics and science education within a community engagement and social justice perspective in higher education in order to inform redesign and replicability. The partnership involved the school-based systemic intervention…

This article focuses on available opportunities and challenges which institutions of higher education in sub-Saharan Africa face in producing and distributing knowledge. Institutions of higher education are also expected to produce knowledge workers for the knowledge economy. Knowledge production falls into Mode 1, in which problems are set and…

This study reports on the initial experiences of first entering students at the University of Limpopo registered for 2010 Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.). I argue the initial experiences of first entering students at universities have implications for how they cope with studies and could lead to some dropping out. I place my argument within the…

This article charts a research project on higher education and poverty reduction chronologically, mapping the process of thinking through and generating an Index of public-good professional education based on literatures; empirical data from actors-lecturers, students, alumni, professional bodies and NGOs; and participatory dialogue. Amartya Sen's…

A successful transition from school to university is crucial to academic success--especially in the first academic year. Various studies have, however, shown that students are increasingly underprepared for higher education studies. Not only is the school-university gap increased by the school system that produces inadequately prepared learners…

The need to improve the success rate of students in South African universities is widely regarded as a national priority. Measuring this success is, however, more difficult. Although the NPHE sets some benchmarks for system performance, there is currently no indicator set for longitudinal student performance. This article reports on a study done…

The increased use of new teaching and learning technologies in higher education environments makes it possible for academic staff to meet the challenge of having to teach students who are diverse in terms of academic, social and language backgrounds. This study reports how the incorporation of podcasts to supplement visual histology learning…

Whilst the government, higher education authorities and institutions, academics, academic development practitioners, researchers etc. recognize that there is an increasing number and diversity of students accessing higher education, do the stake-holders really know who these students are before even thinking of enhancing their learning and…

An invitational teaching ecosystem comprises an environment of 5 Ps: people, places, policies, programmes and processes. Invitational education is promoted amongst students and educators. This article reports on an empirical study conducted at a higher education institution that is offering programmes at multiple sites of delivery to determine the…

Debates about access and success are currently vigorous in higher education. There is much greater equity in terms of access but success in higher education continues to be racially patterned and far too few students graduate. This article argues for a more selective approach to access that is driven more deliberately by the need for increased…

This article aims to provide insight into the experiences of Chinese international students in some South African tertiary institutions. The study investigates their successes and failures in endeavouring to learn English and the culture shock and "learning shock" they endure when registering to study in an African country with an…