Harnessing student talent in pursuit of both (student) success and educational excellence
- Faculty of Arts & Design
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
This month's Learning and Teaching Conversation, hosted by the Faculty of Arts and Design, Tshwane University of Technology, explored the critical re-examination of what student success and educational excellence entail in an era marked by rapid change and rising expectations. The online conversation on Monday, 18 August was led by Prof Matete Madiba, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Student Development & Support, University of the Western Cape, and facilitated by Dr Laetitia Orlandi, Assistant Dean: Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Arts and Design.
Highlighting existing tensions, institutional pressure points and potential fault lines that challenge traditional models of learning and development, Prof Madiba interrogated what it entails to pursue these twin goals in tandem. Key questions she asked in this respect included: Can an institution move beyond fragmented solutions and embrace a whole-university, whole-student ethos that bridges pedagogy, community and policy? What are the strategic levers and game changing practices that could bring the desired shifts? Against the backdrop of digital transformation and AI's expanding role, how can emerging technologies support – and not overshadow – the human-centred mission of higher education? What kind of a university will be required to drive excellence powered by its (talented) students, not in spite of them?
The talk started with Prof Madiba emphasising why improving our success rates is important as she highlighted the importance of avoiding various forms of wastage, including valuable talent and resources. “What is our data saying about our student success and institutional success?” Prof Madiba asked.
“We must remove barriers and create enablers by looking at our institutional/faculty enrolment, retention, progression, completion, graduation, employability rates – the big rates,” she argued.
Furthermore, she added that “the South African higher education system is haunted by the access and success paradox. Well-designed student development and support services can provide much-needed relief and must be incorporated into our academic plans, not as an add-on or support service.”
“Students need to understand how the institution operates/thinks and use their initiative and individual responsibility – student agency – to enable them to gain entry into the rules of the trade in academic practice and the practice of searching for and working with knowledge. Lecturers need to forge partnerships across the institution, to be able to develop the talent in their classrooms.”
“When access and success are conceptualised as epistemic access and success, it is not only a case for student success, but also a matter of institutional success,” she added.
The event highlighted educational excellence through fostering teaching innovation and excellence inside and outside the classroom and offering personalised student support through learner-centred design practice.
Another question posed was “How well can we name and frame the problems students face and how well can we frame the interventions and solutions we design and implement to respond to the problems?”
“An intentional, collective and integrated effort aligned with social justice goals must form part of all student learning facets, starting with their first-year experience,” said Prof Madiba.
“Persistent challenges like Gender-Based Violence, non-funding and mental health impact ‘rates.’ The impact of Digital Transformation and AI require academics to be steps ahead in understanding this ever-changing landscape. Also important is how we apply AI as academics to address some of our challenges.”
“One thing is clear: We will not succeed if we go solo and work in silos in the classroom. To guarantee success, we will have to adopt an integrated and holistic development approach for our students. All the role-players need to make a deliberate, concerted and collective effort to achieve student success,” Prof Madiba concluded.
· Prof Madiba is also an Associate Professor, Faculty of Education (Business and Science Education Cluster). Her research and development interests are in higher education transformation and innovation, including policy, curriculum development, student success, holistic student development, co-curricular design, student leadership development and the use of technology in higher education.
She has led innovative projects on curriculum mapping and analytics, student online elections and e-voting as well as the development and implementation of a mental health bot.
Previously, she served as chair of Higher Education Learning and Teaching of Southern Africa (HELTASA). She recently received a leadership award from the South African Association of Senior Student Affairs Professionals (SAASSAP) in recognition of her contribution and leadership.
She currently serves as a guest editor for the Journal of Student Affairs in Africa (JSAA) and previously as guest editor for the South African Journal of Higher Education (SAJHE). She is also a research mentor and supervisor.
