work-integrated learning & research unit (wilru)

Prof James g arraway garrawayj@cput.ac.za

Fundani heads up WILRU, led by Prof James Garraway. The work of the unit flows from the complexities of students’ crossing boundaries between two quite different sites of learning, and the need to reconcile more scientific knowledge with work-based knowledge and practices. This work was exemplified in the Council for Higher Education (CHE) policy publication Higher Education Monitor 12: Work-Integrated learning – Good Practice Guide. http://www.che.ac.za/sites/default/files/ publications/Higher_Education_Monitor_12.pdf

As research into the professional/vocational curriculum increasingly involves cognisance of practice-based learning, either at work or at the university, curriculum research now falls under the overall ambit of WILRU.

Though based in Fundani, WILRU is a crossfaculty research unit consisting of researchers with common interests in the various faculties.

Research Output

Conference papers

Barnes V, Gachago D & Ivala EN

Digital storytelling and authentic learning: A case study in industrial design, Authentic Learning Colloquium, Cape Town, 22 March 2013

There are currently four lines of research, all of which stem from strong theoretical bases. The first is that of learning through practice, whether at work or in community projects, as seen through the lens of activity theory. Secondly, researchers are examining knowledge claims in the vocational curriculum using Legitimation Code Theory, for example what counts as legitimate knowledge in workplace assessments.

The third line involves investigating the field of innovation. Here the interest is that innovation involves many twists, turns and dead ends and is furthermore strongly linked to the society, including ethical issues, in which the innovation must be carried out. The question then becomes how to learn to “do” innovation journeys, and do them better, or at least, avoid unnecessary mishaps. This is the starting point for the innovation-journey project. It aims to collect stories about innovation journeys that have been followed, or are being followed, by CPUT academic staff, and distil lessons out of the stories, building on the growing scholarly and managerial literature on the real-world complexity of innovation. The notion of innovation journey is a metaphor, reminding us of the nonlinearity of innovation processes. It can be used to recognise patterns in the journey and recurring pitfalls. The most recent issue of our journal Paradigms consists of a volume of such journeys, an approach which will be further explored through 2015/16.

Lastly, there is the issue of lecturer development as professional educators in the higher education sector, which is being carried out as part of both NRF and international research projects. The research focus of structure, culture and agency through more socio-material approaches is also explored.

Engel-Hills P, Rip A & Winberg C

Ethics “upfront”: Generating an organizational framework for a new university of technology

2014 IEEE International Symposium on Ethics in Engineering, Science, and Technology, Ethics’2014, Chicago, IL, 23-24 May 2014

Garraway J

Fictive scripting in professional qualifications, 2nd International Professional Practice, Education and Learning Conference, Stirling, Scotland, 25-27 June 2014

Garraway J & Morkel J

Learning in practice through a CHAT transformatory lens, International Consortium for Educational Development, Stockholm, Sweden, 16-18 June 2014

Hassan L

Pedagogical practices and philosophies that promote surveillance in higher education, 7th Annual South African Technology Network Conference, Durban, 14-16 October 2014

Hassan S

Lecturers’ role in tutor development from an activity theory perspective, Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia Conference, Hong Kong, 7-10 July 2014

Norodien-Fataar N

The educational engagement practices of disadvantaged students at a South African university, HELTASA Conference, Bloemfontein, 18-21 November 2014

Ralarala MK, Angu PE & Lin D

Studying at CPUT: Language challenges experienced by international students, Education Association of South Africa Conference, Clarens, 12-15 January 2014

Ralarala MK & Kaschula RH

Silencing the voiceless: The plight of sign language speakers in South African courtrooms, 18th African Languages Association of Southern Africa Conference, Mthatha, 30 June-2 July 2014

Winberg C

“Extreme teaching”: Educational development in difficult contexts, International Consortium for Educational Development (ICED), Stockholm, Sweden, 16-18 June 2014

Conference proceedings

Basitere M & Ivala EN

Addressing the mathematical knowledge gap between high school and first year university Chemical Engineering Mathematics course: The role of Facebook

Yanez T, Rodriguez O & Griffiths P (eds): 9th International Conference on e-Learning (ICEL-2014), Valparaiso, Chille, 26-27 June 2014

Reading, UK: Academic Conferences and Publishing International, 2014, pp 22-31, ISBN 978-1-909507-88-3

Chigona A, Condy J, Ivala EN & Gachago D Digital storytelling in a pre-service teachers’ classroom: A community of practice

McBride R & Searson M (eds): Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference, Chesapeake, VA, 25 March 2013

Chesapeake, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), 2013, pp 1491-1498, ISBN 978-1-939797-02-5

Ivala EN

An empirical survey on the adoption of e-learning in corporate South Africa: Service providers’ perspective

Yanez T, Rodriguez O & Griffiths P (eds): 9th International Conference on e-Learning (ICEL2014), Valparaiso, Chille, 26-27 June 2014

Reading, UK: Academic Conferences and Publishing International, 2014, pp 86-94, ISBN 978-1-909507-88-3

Siyepu W & Mtonjeni T

Geometrical concepts in real-life context: A case of South African traffic road signs

Lebitso M & Maclean A (eds): 20th Annual National Congress of the Association for Mathematics

Education of South Africa: Demystifying Mathematics, Volume 1, Kimberley, 7-11 July 2014

Johannesburg: AMESA, 2014, pp 213-222, ISBN 978-0-620-61475-7

Siyepu W, Ralarala MK & Nkosi ZT

An exploration of errors in the learning of factorisation: A case study of Grade 9 teachers

Wolhuter C (ed): SAERA 2014 Conference

Proceedings, Researching Education: Future Directions, Durban, 13-15 August 2014

Cape Town: Oxford University Press Southern Africa, 2014, pp 101-120, ISBN 978-0-19-040066-8

j ournal articles (DHET subsidised)

De Graaff FH

The interpretation of a knowledge claim in the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and the impact of this on RPL practice

Studies in Continuing Education, 36(1):1-14, 2014

Gachago D, Condy JL, Ivala EN & Chigona A

“All stories bring hope because stories bring awareness”: Students’ perceptions of digital storytelling for social justice education

South African Journal of Education, 34(4):1-12, 2014

Gachago D, Ivala EN, Barnes VE, FelixMinnaar JV, Morkel J & Vajat N

Towards the development of digital storytelling practices for use in resource-poor environments, across disciplines and with students from diverse backgrounds

South African Journal of Higher Education, 28(3):961-982, 2014

Garraway JW, Hugo CV & De Waal B

Futures studies and scenarios of degrees in universities of technology

Progressio, 36(1):19-33, 2014

Garraway JW & Morkel J

Learning at sites of practice

Progressio, 36(2):22-37, 2014

Hassan S & Wium WE

Quality lies in the eyes of the beholder: A mismatch between student evaluation and peer observation of teaching

Africa Education Review, 11(4):491-511, 2014

Ralarala MK

Transpreters’ translations of complaints’ narratives as evidence: Whose version goes to court?

Translator, 20(3):377-395, 2014

Scholtz DL

Curriculum revision: Challenges in responding to change

Progressio, 35(3):132-152, 2013

Siyepu W & Ralarala MK

Making sense of mathematical discourse: Implications for success in the learning of differentiation in a university classroom

Alternation: Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of the Arts and Humanities in Southern Africa, 12:326-357, 2014

j ournal articles (not DHET subsidised)

Gachago D, Cronje F, Ivala EN, Condy J & Chigona A

Using digital counterstories as multimodal pedagogy among South African pre-service student educators to produce stories of resistance

Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 12(1): 29-42, 2014

Hassan SL

Lecturers’ role in tutor development from an activity theory perspective

Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(15):391-399, 2014

Hassan SL

The problem-based learning gaze: A foucautian perspective

Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(10):443-450, 2014

Ivala EN, Gachago D, Condy J & Chigona A

Digital storytelling and reflection in higher education: A case of pre-service student teachers and their lecturers at a university of technology

Journal of Education and Training Studies, 2(1):217-227, 2014

Technical reports

Ralarala MK

Language Implementation Plan: 2012-2016 and Beyond, Fundani (CHED), CPUT, 2014

Ralarala MK & Angu PE

The language challenges experienced by international students at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Report on research project endorsed by the CPUT Senate Language Committee and Language Working Group, Fundani (CHED), 2014

Winberg C

Project 9 Final Report to the South African Technology Network: Funding workplace learning at universities of technology, 9 June 2014

Ms Melanie Marais

The services of the HIV/Aids unit include:

• Awareness campaign

• Peer Education programme

• Wellness mobile services

• Workplace programmes

• Care and support

• Curriculum integration of HIV & Aids, STI & TB

• Internship and volunteer programme

• Community outreach programmes

• Research