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International Conference
on Learning and Teaching 2024
Sharing Best Practices:
Enhancing the Teaching Capacities of University Teachers
08 - 10 October 2024
University of the Western Cape
Cape Town, South Africa
Call for Submissions
The UWC Directorate of Learning, Teaching and Student Success (DLTSS) invites you to participate in our first International Conference on Learning and Teaching (L&T). This will be a space in which we encourage authentic, brave, critical and disruptive intellectual engagement. Participants are encouraged to submit proposals exploring the Conference key focus areas.
KEY FOCUS GROUP
The Conference will critically explore various areas of L&T. Key focus areas and related questions include but are not limited to:
Learning and Teaching Philosophies, Approaches and Practices
- Which and whose philosophies matter?
- How can theories inform practice more effectively?
- What are the ways in which the quality of L&T practices can be enhanced?
- Which innovations (best practices) in L&T are currently trending?
- What is the role of egalitarianism in L&T?
Research
- How can the research capacities of post-graduate students be enhanced?
- How can the research capacities of new academics be enhanced?
- How is the digital revolution impacting research methods, approaches and strategies?
- What is the role of research mentorship in L&T?
Post-graduate Supervision Training Programmes (PSTP)
- How can universities improve the supervision capacities of its academics?
- What are the benchmarks for post-graduate supervision?
- What are the essential curriculum components that a PSTP should contain?
- Should a PSTP be formalised for accreditation; if so, why and how?
Curriculum Transformation (CT): Africanization, Renewal and Decolonization
- What does CT mean in your current L&T contexts?
- Which curricula (or related components) should be transformed, why and how?
- What are the challenges and opportunities in CT?
- What is the role of multilingualism in CT?
Continuous Professional Development
- What does “Professional Development” entail, why is it important and who should spearhead the process?
- How can professional development impact/guarantee staff retention?
- What is the value of incorporating the help of tutors, graduate learning assistants and other academic support in professional development?
Assessment
- What is the current state of affairs regarding assessment strategies in general? (#challenges and opportunities for change; #innovative/disruptive assessment approaches)
- What are the ways in which to make assessments more practically relevant, applicable and current? (#assessment review; #assessment overall)
- How can the integrity of online assessments be better secured?
The Role of Contemporary and Future-based Technologies in Learning and Teaching
- How is Artificial Intelligence (AI) applied in your L&T space? What are its benefits and challenges?
- What are the challenges involved in learning and using new L&T digital technologies from both staff and students’ perspective? (#digital divide)
- What are the roles of big data analytics in current L&T?
- What is the role of flipped classrooms in current L&T?
- What is the role and effectiveness of gamification in L&T?
Student Support
- What does “incorporating student voice” mean? (#think assessment, curriculum development, digital literacies, etc.)
- What does “student success and retention” mean, and how are these best achieved?
- What are the challenges facing students in the post-Covid 19 period?
- Who are our students, how can we get to know them better and why does it matter?
- What is the role of affect in addressing the barriers to effective L&T?
- How can the tutorial experience be enhanced for students and tutors?
- What happened to mentorship programmes in L&T?
- How can student-teacher connections be reinforced?
- What happens to students after graduating, and what is the university’s role in employment access and continued career development?
Inclusivity and Diversity
- What is the status of university students and staff who are differently-abled?
- Who should spearhead the plight of the LGBTQIA2S+university staff and students towards greater inclusivity, equality and recognition? (#egalitarian policy review)
- Who is pleading on behalf of the “newly disadvantaged groups”? (# “coloured”/Indian/white males in academia; #B-BBEE policy review and overall; #too soon?)
Critical Roundtables: Engaging, Disruptive and Transformative Q&A!
- Should universities require a formal teaching qualification from its academics who teach or intend to teach, and why?
- What are your views on “PUBLISH or PERISH!?
- How can we best address the “SILO SYNDROME” in L&T spaces?
- How can we best address the “IMPOSTER SYNDROME” in L&T spaces?
- Which L&T platforms are more effective now that Covid-19 has passed?
- What does “Curriculum Transformation” ACTUALLY mean?
Proposal submissions should include up to three key questions for further engagement raised by your proposal. Please share your ideas, thoughts and research studies in any of the formats below:
Workshop
45 - 60 minutes
Oral Presentation
15 - 20 minutes
Poster Presentation
10 - 15 minutes
Artistic Demonstration
15 minutes
Critical Dialogue
45 - 60 minutes
Submitting
your Proposal
Please include the following when submitting your proposal:
- Title
- Focus Area/s
- Format: Workshop, oral presentation, poster presentation, artistic demonstration, critical dialogue or other (please explain in this regard)
- Proposal (maximum of 300 words + 3 questions for engagement)
- Maximum 5 keywords or phrases
Due Date for submission of proposals
Friday, 6 September 2024
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