A critical review of the educational philosophies underpinning Science and Engineering foundation programmes

Exploring the value of Bourdieu's framework in the context of institutional change

“…This has meant a proliferation of programmes -more than 200 at present -at institutions of higher learning across the country. While a critical review of the teaching and learning philosophies underpinning extended curriculum programmes (Kloot, Case, and Marshall 2007) points to the need for further critical examination of the actual educational value of this latest crop of foundation programmes, it is the shifting social structure of South African higher education and the place of these initiatives within it that is of interest in this article. As Badat (in this issue) notes, the dynamics of higher education should be considered in the light of the structural and conjunctural conditions of wider society, a particularly salient point for foundation programmes because of the significant involvement of industry initially as well as the attitude of the political complex towards higher education, especially since the democratic transition in the early 1990s.…”

The South African engineering education model with a European perspective: history, analogies, transformations and challenges

“…Although there are some parallels with the educational development projects that arose in the 1960s in the UK, the USA and Australasia (Clegg 2009), academic development in South Africa focused more on curriculum development and specifically targeted black students. The initial form that this support took was stand-alone bridging programmes but this approach was discarded in favour of a holistic curriculum approach that aimed at extending existing qualifications by a year in order to build in appropriate 'foundational' material (Kloot, Case and Marshall 2008).…”

“…As mentioned above, a number of these programmes were established in the 1980s at the previously white English-medium universities. Although it has taken some time, favourable educational policy and earmarked government funding have allowed extended programmes to be introduced into just about every engineering department in the country since the mid-2000s (Kloot, Case and Marshall 2008). This has culminated in a recent proposal by the Council on Higher Education (CHE) for the structural transformation of the entire higher education landscape based on the notion of extending all higher education curricula by one year (CHE 2013).…”

Engagement Levels in a Graphic Design Clicker Class: Students’ Perceptions around Attention, Participation and Peer Learning

“…Extending teaching time allows lecturers to use more active learning interventions in their teaching, such as project-based learning, group work, or practical investigations (Garraway, 2009). Although the intention of the ECP is to increase throughput and access, a common problem is that students pass the programme with the benefit of assistance and often struggle on entering the mainstream where there is less support (Kloot, Case, & Marshall, 2008).…”