Current Research Projects

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  1. A postcolonial critique of curriculum change in South African higher education

Research team

Everard Weber, Shireen Motala, Venise Joubert (research coordinator)

Output: Had access to all three research sites and conducted at least 30 interviews. Completed chapters 1 and 2 of the book.

  1. University life in an era of disruption, of Covid 19: Perception of readiness and attitudes of South African students

Research team

Shireen Motala, Juliet Perumal, Richard Devey, Yu Ke, Zahraa McDonald (research coordinator) Sindi Msimango in collaboration with Emmanuel Ojo (Wits University) and Anthony Onwuegbuzie (University of Oxford)

Output: A questionnaire was administered to academic staff in 2021 and students at UJ in 2022. 113 academic staff responded and 175 students. Data from the academic staff survey have been processed. Data from the student survey still need to be processed. Two journal articles are in progress. One Masters student and one doctoral student submitted their theses at the end of October 2022.

  1. Overview of throughput and retention towards understanding epistemic access and success

Research Team

Shireen Motala, Zahraa McDonald (research coordinator)  Ahmed Essop, Logan Govender, Sibonokuhle Ndlovu, Sindi Msimango, Richard Devey

Output: The report has been submitted to the CHE. Chapter reviewing statistics for report to CHE, journal article, book chapter have been produced.

  1. Epistemic disruptions in reconstituting higher education pedagogy in South Africa: The student and management perspective

Research team

Shireen Motala, Yusuf Sayed (SARChI ITE – CPUT), Otilia Chiramba (research coordinator), Zahraa McDonald, Marcina Singh-de Waal (CPUT)

Outputs: three panel presentations: two for SAERA and one for CIES; individual paper presentation for the VW conference hosted by AMCHES. Presenting the second abstract for CIES in February 2023. Published one special issue article and one book chapter; two articles are still under review.

  1. The political economy of Higher Education Student funding and the pursuit of equity in post-apartheid South Africa

Research team

Mukovhe Masutha (research coordinator), Prof Shireen Motala, Dr Gerald Ouma Wangenge (University of Pretoria) University of London (tbc), Prof Rajani Naidoo (University of Bath), Prof Joel Samoff (Stanford University)

Outputs: Three seminar series; two in South Africa and one in India with the fourth set to take place in India in January 2023. Monograph by PDRFs in progress and Special Issue Political and Economic Weekly, India.

  1. Postgraduate Teaching and Learning: Doctoral Education and the Pedagogy of Supervision

Research team

Moyra Keane, Gert van der Westhuizen, Marissa Rollnick, Tebogo Mofokeng, Vongai Mpofu, Liz Brenner

Output: three journal articles; one doctoral student submitted in October 2022

a) Postgraduate Teaching and Learning: Postgraduate Size and Shape Report

Output: Report is expected by January 2023.

b) Postgraduate T&L research: Gender

Output: Research team has been constituted, broader research team meeting has taken place, draft proposal and literature review are complete, further reviews are ongoing and ethics clearance has been submitted. A two-day workshop took place on 24 and 25t October 2022.

c) Postgraduate T&L research: IKS

Output: Meetings have been convened with the teams in Australia, China and South Africa. The South African team has completed a literature review on indigenous knowledge policy in Australian and South African higher education policy.

d) Voices of Elders project

Output: Conversation with Baba Mandaza took place earlier in 2022. A seminar titled Voices of Elders was held on 9 November 2022. Conversations with Mrs Siwani, Baba Mandaza and Chief Nyashanu are currently being transcribed.

e) Studies on pedagogies

Output: A considerable amount of writing has been done with some outputs published, some accepted. Chair colleagues are knowledge actors in this area.

  1. Project on supervision

Research Team

Shireen Motala, Stephanie Burton (UP) Moyra Keane, Gina Wisker (University of Bath)Gert van de Westhuizen, Michael Samuel (UKZN) Chrissie Boughey (RU),Sioux McKenna (RU), Janet Carton (University College Dublin, Ireland), Sindi Msimango (Research coordinator), Felix Maringe ( Wits University) , Michael Samuel ( UKZN), Amasa Ndorephi ( Sol Plaatjie) .

  1. Modelling best practice interventions of postgraduate teaching and learning in Southern Africa (under discussion)

Research team

Shireen Motala, Gert van de Westhuizen, Everard Weber, Kirti Menon, Stephanie Burton (UP)

Kasturi Beharie Leak (UCT- tbc), Juliet Perumal

  1. Indigenous Knowledge Systems and doctoral education

Research Team

Team Leader: Prof Catherine Manatunga, University of Sunshine Coast, Australia (includes other Australian and New Zealand and Chinese partners). Multi country project. Funded by the Australian Research Council SA Partner: Profs Shireen Motala UJ; Gert van der Westhuizen; Moyra Keane, Sindi Msimango