More than 140 students have enrolled in the Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University (SU)'s three new BEd honours programmes.

The new Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications required all teacher education programmes to be recurriculated and the Faculty utilised this opportunity to rethink and redesign its honours programmes.

The Faculty launched three new BEd honours programmes – in Educational Support, Language Education, and Education Development and Democracy – in January 2017.

Prof Magda Fourie-Malherbe, coordinator of the honours recurriculation process, described it as a "historic occasion", as all the new programmes are presented through a blended-learning approach.

The blended-learning mode includes face-to-face contact sessions on campus, telematics broadcasts to existing satellite sites as well as electronic learning through SUNLearn (the learning management system of Stellenbosch University). SUNLearn makes it possible for students to participate in online discussion groups with fellow students and lecturers, access a variety of material like podcasts and videos, participate in e-assessment, submit assignments electronically, etc.

Telematics broadcasts take place on Friday afternoons between 16:00 and 20:00 and students can either travel to their closest learning centre – there are centres in all provinces as well as in Namibia – or tune in from home to follow the live stream. They also have the option to order a DVD of the broadcast.

Students will attend two weeks of contact sessions during school holidays. This means that people from anywhere in South Africa, whether they've just graduated or are already employed in the education system, can register for these programmes.

"We are very excited about our new mode of offering these programmes. We hope that this mode of learning and teaching will enable students who live far from Stellenbosch to easily access the programmes and that we are demonstrating an innovative approach to learning and teaching," said Prof Maureen Robinson, Dean of the Faculty.

A total of 143 students registered for the three honours programmes

"We received more applications than we expected and we are very pleased with the interest in our new programmes," said Prof Fourie-Malherbe.

"The interest shown in these programmes indicates that they are attractive options for students who want to study full-time as well as students who are already employed. It also indicates a need for opportunities through which students can consolidate and deepen their expertise in education."

The blended-learning approach brings both opportunities and challenges.

"This approach includes less face-to-face interaction and will require students to work much more independently. Although there is less contact time, the activities on SUNLearn will afford them the opportunity to interact with one another through chats, discussion forums and other online activities. This is made possible by the innovative use of cutting edge technologies."

The new honours programmes also include a research component of 25%, which will give students the opportunity to become involved in research projects and develop their research skills, preparing them for higher research degrees.

Prof Robinson encouraged students to start formulating possible research questions immediately.

"Our aim is to create a community of inquirers, able to read, explore, share ideas and develop new insights. We hope that you will help us achieve this aim," she added.

The Faculty plans to implement the BEd Hons (Foundation Phase Education) in 2018 and is also developing a new honours programme in Curriculum Inquiry.

Students can enter for their programme of choice either full-time (duration 1 year) or part-time (duration 2 years).

For general enquiries, contact Melissa van der Vyver at melissavdv@sun.ac.za or 021 808 2122.