​The Division for Learning and Teaching Enhancement (DLTE) hosts a quarterly Teaching and Learning seminar to promote the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at SU. The SU Teaching Fellows and national Teaching Advancement at Universities (TAU) Fellows share their research and innovations in and experience of teaching and learning, followed by discussion and questions.   

The next seminar will take place on 8 September 2022, 13:00-14:00, on MS Teams. Prof. Faadiel Essop (Division of Medical Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences ), TAU Fellow, will be speaking on “Introducing broader humanities and arts concepts into the biomedical science curriculum". 

Prof. Essop's TAU (Teaching Advancement at Universities) fellowship project focused on the notion that scientists/engineers often view their discipline as 'neutral' and therefore devoid of any socio-political and historical contexts. This 'scientific elitism' can therefore seemingly absolve scientists from such contexts, e.g. past injustices committed during apartheid as well as contemporary pressing issues like equity redress and decolonization. With the Covid-19 pandemic, scientists have been increasingly thrust into the public domain, often required to respond to outlandish claims/conspiracies and to defend the scientific enterprise itself. However, such responses require deep and critical insights into the nature of the scientific process (e.g. weaknesses, strengths, philosophies, and socio-cultural-political contexts) and its ideal to arrive at coherent truths. There is thus a gap in the training of scientists to be better equipped to operate in the ''post-truth'' world. 

The aim of the TAU fellowship was to develop a new Honours module in Medical Physiology and to assess its uptake by students and its potential impact. Here the idea is to establish a suitable pedagogical framework for the introduction of broader humanities and arts concepts into the biomedical science curriculum. This should aid the creation of a transformative teaching and learning experience, leading to well-rounded graduates (with strengthened graduate attributes) who are better equipped and trained to handle (and lead) some of the contemporary, societal challenges we face.

Enquiries and bookings:  Lucy Lucks at llucks@sun.ac.za or (021) 808 3717