Centre for Teaching and Learning
Welcome to Stellenbosch University
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​Au​xin Resou​​rces 2023



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2017 

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2016  

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2015 

 3 October 2023​​​​

  • “…but what is my mark…?”: developing pre-service teachers’ critical reflection practices
  •   Dr Chrischar Rock​​

Recommended reading:​

  • Smith, J. et al (2023), “Secondary preservice teachers’ critical reflecting practices: examining perceptions of confidence using a two-part reflection. School University Partnerships Journal.
  • Hunskaar, T.S. and Gudmundsdottir, G.B. (2023), "Tool-based mentoring conversations in teacher education: new structures, opportunities and the role of adaptive expertise". International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education​

In their four-year journey of studying to become a teacher, pre-service teachers engage in a range of assessment processes and tasks across their modules of study to determine their progress in meeting module or programme outcomes. School-based practicum forms an integral part of that process with the intended purpose of developing pre-service teachers' understanding of assessment as learning and assessment for learning. To what extent are self-reflection practices encouraged so that pre-service teachers are able to develop their self-criticality? It will be argued that “although self-reflection is inward-focused, it is a habit practiced and developed interpersonally within meaningful relationships guided by intentional questions and a quest toward purposeful ends" (Costa & Garmston, 2016; Wetzel et al., 2017). With a focus on the school-based practicum, the presenter will share the impact of a reflective, and guided development conversation tool piloted with pre-service teachers and their school-based mentors. In doing so, emphasis will be placed on the role which this tool has and can play in the adaptive expertise (Hunskaar & Gudmundsdottir, 2023) of both pre-service teachers and their mentor teachers. Furthermore, the dialogue will be centered on the role and impact of guided development conversations as sustainable assessment to help pre-service teachers in their life-learning journeys of becoming a teacher. 

isiXhosa:
Kuhambo lwabo lweminyaka emine lokufundela ukuba ngutitshala, ootitshala abangekasebenzi bazibandakanya nothotho lweenkqubo zovavanyo nemisebenzi kwiimodyuli zezifundo zabo jikelele ukuze kumiselwe inkqubela phambili yabo ekufezekiseni iziphumo zemodyuli okanye zenkqubo. Umsebenzi osekelwe esikolweni uyinxalenye ebalulekileyo yaloo nkqubo ngenjongo yokuphuhlisa ukuqonda kootitshala abangekasebenzi uvavanyo njengokufunda novavanyo olulungiselelwe ukufunda. Funda kaba​​nzi a​pha...​​​


 22 August 2023​​​​

  • Tools for understanding teaching
  •   Dr Hanelie Adendorff​​

Recommended reading:​

  • Winberg, C., McKenna, S., & Wilmot, K. (2020). ‘Nothing so practical as good theory’: Legitimation Code Theory in higher education. In Building knowledge in higher education (pp. 1-15). Routledge. DOI:10.4324/9781003028215-1  

Have you ever delivered a fantastic learning experience, and still your students gape at you blankly? You are not alone. It happens to the best of lecturers. How can one make sense of why students are not making sense? In this Auxin, Dr Hanelie Adendorff will discuss legitimation code theory (LCT) as an analytical framework which gives academics entry into the discourse of scholarly teaching, learning and assessment.​​


 25 July 2023​​​​

  • Modelling students’ minds – what cognitive science can teach us about teaching
  •   Dr Philip Southey​​

Recommended reading:​

“My students have finally grasped the concept!" What exactly has happened in the minds of your students? The first part of this talk will explore different cognitive models of “understanding" and how these align with different approaches to teaching, learning and assessment. In particular, I will examine the notions of “concept" and “context", “answer making" and “sensemaking", as well as the notion of “embodiment". The second part of the talk will consider the cognitive science of affective issues such as fear and uncertainty and how these might manifest in a classroom environment. For example, when asking a question of a single student in a large class, one might threaten their sense of status amongst their peers, leading to a fear response and depleted cognitive capacity to attend to the question. Given these two broad cognitive frameworks of “understanding" and “emotion", I hope to facilitate a discussion regarding how these models might relate to colleagues' experiences of best teaching practices.​​

isiXhosa:
“Abafundi bam ekugqibeleni bayayivisisa le ngcamango!” Yintoni eyona yona yenzeke ezingqondweni zabafundi bakho? Isigaba sokuqala sale ntetho siza kuphonononga iintlobo ngeentlobo zeemodeli “zokuqonda” neendlela ngeendlela ezo modeli ezingqamana ngazo neendlela zokufundisa, zokufunda nokuvavanya. Ikakhulu, ndiza kugocagoca le nto, “ingcamango, umxholo, ulwenziwo lweempendulo nolwenziwo lwengqiqo” ndawonye naleyo kuthiwa “lufaniso”.  ​Funda kaba​​nzi a​pha...​​​


 23 May 2023​​​​

  • AI² x Auxin: AI-enabled learning
  •   Dr Albert Strever, Dalene Joubert​​

Recommended reading:​

 

As AI continues to transform our world, higher education (HE) faces the challenge of redefining its purpose and equipping students with the skills necessary for an AI-enabled future. In this second AI² x Auxin session, we explore the possibilities of incorporating AI into our learning practices.

Drawing on the perspectives of scholars such as Aoun (2017) and McKenna (2023), we consider which essential literacies and skills students need to acquire to be “robot-proof” and in service to society. With Dai, Lui & Lim’s (2023) description of ChatGPT as an ‘enabler’ in the HE environment, we propose it as a tool that can facilitate students’ self regulated learning and enhance the learning process. We follow an open yet cautious approach to the incorporation of AI in our learning context, emphasising the need to critically engage with and evaluate AI-enabled tools.

Dr Albert Strever from the Department of AgriEconomics will demonstrate how he utilises ChatGPT for learning in his undergraduate modules. The webinar will conclude with a Q&A session, please come prepared with your questions.​

isiXhosa:
Nanjengoko iAl iqhubekeka nokuzisa iinguqu kwimekobume yethu, imfundo ephakamileyo (HE) ijamelene nomngeni wokuyijonga ngokutsha injongo yayo nokuxhobisa abafundi ngezakhono ezifunekayo ukulungiselela ikamva elixhotyiswe ngeAl. Kule seshoni yesibini yeAI² x Auxin, siphengulula izinto ezinako ukwenzeka ekufakeni iAl kwimisebenzi yethu yokufunda..  ​Funda kaba​​nzi apha...​​​


 12 April 2023​​​​

  • Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education: ChatGPT and its implications for teaching, learning and assessment
  •   Ms Magriet de Villiers; Ms Dalene Joubert; Dr Philip Southey and Dr Hanelie Andendorff​​

Recommended reading:​

 

We have witnessed significant advancements in AI tools over the past few weeks, including notable innovations from industry staples such as Google and Microsoft, with new AI functions soon to be incorporated into the Google Suite and Microsoft workspace. These new developments will have a profound impact on how we work, learn and live, raising important questions about the implications for HE teaching, learning, and assessment. 

In this session, we will delve deeper into the impact of AI on education. Our discussion will include:

  • A brief exploration of the history of AI and its current state of development
  • An examination of AI technologies that are currently in use, and how they have transformed the way we live, work, and interact with one another
  • A specific focus on ChatGPT, including a demonstration of its current capabilities and how we can leverage it in the SU TLA context.​
isiXhosa:
Siye sabona inkqubela phambili ebalulekileyo kwizixhobo zeAI kwiiveki ezimbalwa ezidlulileyo, kubandakanya ukungeniswa kwezinto ezintsha ezibalulekileyo ezivela kwiziseko zoshishino njengoGoogle kunye noMayikhrosofti, nokusebenza okutsha kweAI kungekudala eza kufakwa kuGoogle Suite kunye noMayikhrosofti wekhspeyisi.  ​Funda kaba​nzi apha...​​​


 28 March 2023​​​​

  • Criticality and social justice
  •   Emeritus Professor Chrissie Boughey​​

Recommended reading:​

 
For many years now, student performance data published by the CHE in the form of the VitalStats series of cohort analyses have shown the same persistent pattern: regardless of the subjects they are studying, the qualifications for which they are enrolled and the university at which they are registered, black South Africans fare less well than their white peers in our universities. ‘Common sense’ claims that it is the quality of schooling that causes this simply do not make sense for a host of reasons. Rather, reasons to account for the learning experiences of black students in our universities have to be found, inter alia, in the ‘mismatch’ between forms of knowledge, and the practices which emerge from them, privileged inside and outside the university.

The presentation makes a case for every academic teacher to think differently about the work they do if graduates are to be able to make a contribution to the social and economic development of our country.  

isiXhosa:
Iminyaka emininzi ngoku, idatha yokuqhuba kwabafundi epapashwa ngabeCHE ngohlobo lothotho lweVitalStats lohlalutyo lwamaqela ibonakalise iphatheni efanayo engaguquguqukiyo: ngokungakhathaliseki kwizifundo abazifundayo, izidanga ababhalisele ukuzifundela neyunivesithi ababhalise kuyo, abemi boMzantsi Afrika abantsundu baqhuba ngendlela engaphantsi kwaleyo yoontangandini babo abamhlophe kwiiyunivesithi zethu. ​Funda kaba​nzi apha...​​​


 21 February 2023​​​​

  • The #dosomething campaign; how Conservation Ecology is fertile ground for a pedagogy of hope.
  •   Dr Rhoda Malgas​​

Recommended reading:​

  • Boler, M. (2013) Teaching for hope: the ethics of shattering world views. In, Bozalek, V., Libowitz, B., Corolissen, R. and Boler, M. (Eds) Discerning Critical Hope in Educational Practices. Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9780203431115-2

  • Le Grange, L. (2011). A pedagogy of hope after Paulo Freire. South African Journal of Higher Education25(1), 183-189.

  • Stirling, A., & Burgman, M. A. (2021). Strengthening conservation science as a crisis discipline by addressing challenges of precaution, privilege, and individualism. Conservation Biology35(6), 1738-1746.
 
Urgent issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation rightfully and necessarily foreground the curriculum in Conservation Ecology, earning it the title of a “crisis” discipline. Inadvertently, students are consistently and frequently confronted with negative news about the state of our environment. Furthermore, facts about the problems do little to inspire hope that the very degrees they are pursuing will make any appreciable difference to global challenges in the Anthropocene. The #dosomething campaign disrupts the notion that “there is nothing we can do”. Students are tasked with addressing a pressing conservation issue they are passionate about, in their own personal capacity. Semester lecture themes and assessments are integrated with individual campaigns selected at the start of the semester through a series of learning activities. Iterative execution over five years has resulted in a teaching and learning process that has had three unexpected gains: a) students are able to connect global change at large time-scales to their own lived experiences, essentially enabling them to see themselves in the system; b) students get to know one another’s lived experiences, crossing social (racial and economic) barriers to see the perspectives of classmates they don’t otherwise socialize with, and c) while self-monitoring change over time, students learn that their individual actions can bring about change, and creative responses.

The title’s evocation of Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of Hope is not inconsequential. In conclusion I reflect on the metaphysics of an approach to teaching and learning that inspires hope, and encourages agency. 

isiXhosa:
Imiba engxamisekileyo enje ngotshintsho kwimozulu, ilahleko yeentlobo ngeentlobo yezinto eziphilayo kunye nokuthotywa komhlaba ngokufanelekileyo nangokuyimfuneko ukuze kuhlahlwe indlela yekharityhulam kuLondolozo lweNdalo, ivuzwe ngewonga lokuba sisifundo “esiyintlekele". Ngempazamo, abafundi basoloko bejongene rhoqo neendaba ezimbi malunga nemeko yendawo esingqongileyo. Ngaphezu koko, iinyani malunga neengxaki  azenzi nto ekukhuthazeni ithemba lokuba izidanga ezi bazifundelayo, ziya kwenza umahluko oncomekayo kwimingeni yehlabathi kwi-Anthropecene. ​Funda kaba​nzi apha...​​​


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