‘I was not to forget that my reader comes from another world’: An Academic Literacies perspective on shuttling between the workplace and the academy

Abstract

In response to pressure to participate in the 'knowledge economy', universities are offering a wide range of different masters programmes oriented to the professions. Universities are opening their doors without fully understanding what these programmes entail, and with little attention to the literacy challenges that students face together with supervisors and academic literacy teachers. This article contributes to our understanding of the mixed forms of academic discourse produced by postgraduates in professional masters' programmes by focusing on students registered for the MTech in Policing at a large ODL (Open Distance Learning) university at the point where they are writing research proposals. I trace how students use recontextualisation strategies, such as mimicry and transformation, to signal how they engage with research literacies, as they shuttle between the workplace and academic contexts. The implications for supervisors and literacy educators about the nature of social practices in an ODL context acknowledge and embrace hybridity as an emerging feature of the research literacy practices, rather than as a problem to be erased, based on a proposed hybrid PWU (Profession Workplace University) model.

Undergraduate Research Projects Supervision at the University of Namibia’s Rundu Campus: Supervisors’ Stances

“…Following Ndlangamandla's (2017) views that the supervisor is involved in the research project to develop techniques to help students cope better with their research projects. This means that students should be able to read, assess, and apply the literature to their research project.…”

“…(2012) explain that undergraduate research forms an integral part of students' academic progress as it represents an important component of obtaining the degree. Ndlangamandla (2017) asserts that the majority of universities face a staffing shortage of academics capable of supervising research projects, the majority of which are at the bachelor's degree level. As a result, supervisors face numerous challenges throughout the undergraduate supervision process and in providing accurate feedback to supervisees.…”