| UNITS
CLTD
has the following units that perfom specific functions:
1. Career
Development Unit [CDU]
The CDU does the following:
- Designs and coordinates the orientation
programme of all new students;
- provides academic counselling to
all students;
- provides training for and manages
the Mentorship Programmes;
- coordinates the Peer
Assisted Learning (PAL) programme as a skills-based retention
programme;
- mediates, where appropriate, with
academic and administrative departments to resolve student academic
problems;
- provides psychometric assessment;
- coordinates the graduate placement
programme;
- provides life skills for the world
of work and coordinates the recruitment and employment of students.
PEER
ASSISTED LEARNING [PAL]
PAL is offered in historically difficult subjects. An annual analysis
of exam results ensures that PAL is offered in subjects with a low-pass
rate history.
PAL leaders [PALLs] are senior students who act as models of how to
be successful in the subject. They attend class along with the new
students and hold regular PAL sessions in which they help students
not only to master the material, but also to learn how to learn. Students
thus develop good study habits and become independent in their learning.
2.
Extended Studies Academy (ESA)
The objectives of this unit are to:
-
Coordinate and assist faculties in developing profiles of WSU learners
for placement purposes;
-
champion the design, development and implementation of all placement
tests including alternative admission;
-
co-ordinate, in partnership with university faculties, an institutional
strategy for all DOE-funded Access/Foundation/Extended programmes;
-
coordinate and develop skills-based retention programmes such as
Academic Literacy courses, Computer and Information Literacy, Life
Skills, Writing and Reading Centres and
-
design and develop a tracking and monitoring system.
Reading and
Writing Centres
The Centre will provide students from all faculties and at all levels
with space where they can access academic support towards improving
the writing and reading skills necessary for success in their disciplines.
The services of the centre are free and students come on a voluntary
basis or are referred by lecturers. The Writing Centre does not edit
or proof read students’ writing but focuses on assisting students
in developing writing skills through a skills-based approach. Students
can receive one-on-one or small group consultation at any stage of
the writing process.
Academic Literacy
The CLTD Language Proficiency Unit provides first courses in academic
language to extended program first year students at Walter Sisulu
University. The guiding philosophy is an ideological, constructivist
approach which recognizes the multiple literacies that exist among
students and across campuses and disciplines. As such it entails a
core skills-based course syllabus which is embedded within teaching
materials developed specifically for each discipline. This core syllabus
is supported within an enriched language learning environment provided
largely by the Reading & Writing Centres. It is complementary
to existing academic language support offerings and forms a collaborative
partnership amongst the various stake holders as identified by the
English Proficiency Task Team. Authority for the course lies within
the academic departments with academic reporting lines within faculties.
Such a structure is supported by the CLTD and includes elements of
e-learning as well as making use of the universities SATAP testing
program as a tool for program development. The oversight for sustained
course development lies with a multidisciplinary group of stakeholders
inclusive of representatives from CLTD working in conjunction with
disciplinary experts from within the faculties. One additional feature
of the program is research into multilingual course delivery methods.
English Proficiency
The framework of academic
writing and literacy support offered at WSU is that of an enriched
language learning environment. What this means in practice is that
academic literacy practitioners, Reading & Writing Centre staff
and faculties work together to create a literacy environment which
allows students to access focused opportunities for literacy learning
both within their core study areas and in a wider holistic literacy
environment. Classroom teaching, e-learning, independent reading,
and Reading & Writing Centre academic writing support as well
as information literacy are combined to create such an environment.
In practice students
from participating faculties attend academic literacy lectures that
provide core elements of language usage which are then practiced
by students through subject centred learning materials. These materials
take the form of general English language proficiency manuals and
subject specific work books. In addition they attend e-learning
language labs which focus on reading and comprehension skills utilizing
the L-100 language software. They are also issued with dictionaries
(Oxford Advanced learners) and are required to read two graded readers,
one per semester. A book report is written for each. Furthermore,
students will be assisted by the reading and Writing centres with
workshops related to specific reading and writing requirements and
individual support measures.
Life Skills
Life Skills offers a holistic approach
to education. Besides assisting students in adjusting to life in higher
education, the course also aims at advancing students’ career needs,
as well as enhancing their personal lives. Life Skills focuses on
topics that encourage self-reliance and achievement in various dimensions
of health and wellness. The learning objectives of the course are
as follows:
-
stimulating academic
development by encouraging active involvement in the learning
process;
-
developing intellectual
wellbeing through creative and critical thinking;
-
encouraging personal
development
Modules covered in Life
Skills include:
-
Academic Skills
-
Goal Setting
-
Relationships
-
Sexuality and
HIV/AIDS
-
Life Management
The course is currently
offered to all students in extended programmes. In view of mainstreaming
Life Skills into departmental learning programmes, two lecturers per
academic department, per site, will be trained in 2010 to offer the
course. By means of this decentralization, all first-year students
will be able to receive Life Skills education. The Extended Studies
Academy will further provide training, mentoring and support.
Placement and
Retention
The Placement and Retention section has two main functions:
The aim of this
assessment is to determine whether the prospective student is
ready to enter mainstream courses or whether the extended curriculum
programme would be more beneficial. Test scores from the Standardised
Assessment Tests for Access and Placement (SATAP) are subsequently
used by the departments in conjunction with matric results to
place students accordingly.
STANDARDIZED
ASSESSMENT TESTING FOR ACCESS AND PLACEMENT (SATAP)
Context
At WSU standardized assessment testing for access and placement
(SATAP) is conducted in English, Science and Mathematics. The tests
have been developed by a number of academics across the spectrum
of tertiary providers. Because SATAPs are standardized, they are
indicators of learning responsiveness (general knowledge, cognitive
skills and aptitude). Test items are regularly reviewed to ensure
reliability, validity and predictive power.
Uses of SATAPs
SATAPs serve three primary purposes:
- Placement
SATAPs can be used to determine whether a student should enroll
for a mainstream or an extended programme.
- Supplement
to matric results
SATAPs can be used in conjunction with matric results to ascertain
whether a prospective student has an aptitude not reflected by matric
symbols of C or below.
- Diagnosis
The tests serve to identify weaknesses, which can then be addressed
by adapting curricula to specific needs.
The Tracking
and Monitoring
This sub-section first identifies low pass-rate subjects. It further
seeks to know whether a subject is a “historically difficult subject”
by providing a three-year history in order to provide correct intervention.
This allows one to track improvement, decline and variable performance.
It further tracks and monitors students’ academic performance throughout
the year by collecting, processing, interpreting and monitoring all
academic data in order to provide pro-active academic support contributing
towards academic success and improved pass rates.
Computer Literacy
Computer Literacy is a course which is aligned with the Extended Studies
Academy's (ESA) strategy, vision and objectives. As part of that strategy,
Computer Literacy's main goal is to provide instructional offerings
that strengthen the retention and throughput rate. Its main objective
is to:
1. Equip students with the necessary computer operating skills for
the job market.
2. Initiate a strategy for offering Computer Literacy to all 1st
year level students.
COURSE INFORMATION
The course is a broad introduction to the use of computers as tools
for creativity, communications and organizing information. In addition
to learning the technical fundamentals of computer use, we hope to:
build your research skills, make appropriate ethical choices about
the use of computers, use technology effectively to improve your skills
and share knowledge.
The content of the course is based on the International Computer Driving
Licence (ICDL) curriculum. After completion of this course, students
will not receive international accreditation, but will receive credits
as part of their National Diploma course. The course is continuous
evaluation and is offered to both Mainstream and Extended Programmes
across all delivery sites. The duration of the course is dependent
on the stream. (i.e Mainstream=semester, Extended Programme= 1 Year)
The course will also be available online (e-learning) as part of CLTD's
Nuffic Project.
The course outline consists of 6 core modules:
1. Basic Concepts of Information Technology
2. File Management (Windows XP)
3. Word Processing (Microsoft Word 2003)
4. Spreadsheets (Microsoft Excel 2003)
5. Presentations (Microsoft Powerpoint 2003)
6. Information and Communication (Microsoft Outlook and Internet
Explorer)
3. Education
Technology and Innovation Unit [ETIU]
The objectives of this unit are to:
- Champion e-learning as both a teaching
and a learning management system;
- promote academic expertise in the
integration of learning and teaching;
- coordinate curriculum innovation in
digital learning;
- manage the institution’s Learning
and Teaching Technology Centres and
- provide advice on learning materials
development, both printed and online.
4. Further
Education and Training Unit [FETU]
The objectives of this Unit are to:
- Bridge the gap between
the HE sector and its feeder system through partnership with regional
FET Colleges and Schools;
- increase the enrolments
of Mathematics, Science, Engineering and Technology (MSET) and Accountancy
students from the regional FET Colleges and schools and
- coordinate developmental
partnerships in other strategic areas between WSU.
5. Continuous
Professional Development Unit [CPDU]
The CPDU does the following:
- Champions the professionalisation of
academic staff, including promoting the scholarship for learning and
teaching development;
- promotes the acquisition of teaching
skills which contribute to academic excellence in learning and teaching;
- provides specialized expertise in
programme design, assessment and learning materials development;
- assists faculties in Recognition of
Prior Learning (RPL) candidate advice and support;
- provides specialized expertise and
functions in designing and managing relevant and accredited academic
programmes;
- assists academic staff to attain a
teaching qualification, for example a Post Graduate Diploma in Higher
Education and Transformation (PGDHET).
- Champion academic staff development
for higher degrees (Masters and Doctorates).
|
