talks@stellenboschuni

The ninth episode of the Talking Transformative Assessment podcast with Elzette Le Roux and Hanelie Adendorff, who interview Dr Rhoda Malgas, a lecturer now at Nelson Mandela University in Conservation and Sustainability Science. This conversation unpacks the importance of decoloniality, and why it matters.

The eighth episode of the Talking Tranformative Assessment podcast with Dalene Joubert and Hanelie Adendorff interviews Professor Geo Quinot, from the Public Law Department in the Faculty of Law at Stellenbosch University. This conversation opens an important space around assessment, with Prof Quinot sharing what he has developed around collaborative learning with permanent learning groups. He shares on the experience of refining his assessment practice and stresses the importance of cultivating relations within the learning environment. Quinot brings outcomes and competences for graduates to the fore by unpacking the role of understanding within a knowledge community. The question of the impact of AI on teaching, learning and assessment is begged and highlights the need for being open to shift within teaching, learning and assessment as developments are made.

In the seventh episode of Talking Transformative Assessment, hosts Dalene Joubert and Hanelie Adendorff interviews Taryn Bernard, from the Arts and Social Sciences Faculty at Stellenbosch University, discussing her work on theoretical understandings of 'space' and bringing the student perspective into the conversation. Taryn takes us on a deep dive into stories shared with her about students' journeys to campus. She bring students' perspectives to the fore by placing them behind the lens and taking ownership of their narratives. This conversation unpacks various aspects of students' ways of being in and beyond their university experiences.

“In the final episode of our 50th-anniversary podcast series ‘50things’, Nicola Bergsteedt and  Dr Doris Viljoen, Director reflect over the past the present and the future of the Institute and the lessons learnt from the last 9 episodes.

In the 9th episode of our 50th-anniversary podcast series ‘50things’, Doris Viljoen, Director at the IFR, speaks to Dr Jay Gary, Professional Futurist and Associate Professor of Strategic Leadership at Oral Roberts University, about the field of Futures Studies and being a professional futurist.

In the sixth episode of the Talking Transformative Assessment podcast hosts Dalene Joubert and Hanelie Adendorff interview Jodie Lemphane, from the Division of Clinical Anatomy in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at Stellenbosch University. The conversation touches on the application of Generative Artifical Intelligence within within Clinical Anatomy, particularly around bias, knowledge sources and the affordances of a tool like a chatbot. Jodie shares on her experiences with students as they navigate the ethical use of Generative Artificial Intelligence within their teaching, learning, and assessment journey.

The fifth episode of the Talking Transformative Assessment podcast with Dalene Joubert and Hanelie Adendorff interviews Dr Chrischar Rock, a lecturer in the Curriculum Studies department in the Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University. The conversation touches on reflection as integral part of the student experience, as it aids in the formation of identity, and instills lifelong learning within a growth mindset. Rock touches on agency and connection to practise as a way of bringing theory to life. Tune into the conversation on transformative assessment in practise.

In the fourth episode of the Talking Transformative Assessment podcast hosts Dalene Joubert and Hanelie Adendorff interview Faika Haroun, a lecturer and coordinator from the Stellenbosch University Language Centre. Faika shares on importance of interculural communication, unpacking how a disruptive approach to language appropriation links to the development of critical thinking. The conversation touches on ethnocentricism, putting theory into practice, incorporating Artifical Intelligence into teaching and learning; as well as other facets of academic literacy.

In the 8th episode of our 50th-anniversary podcast series ‘50things’, Doris Viljoen, Director at the IFR, speaks to Tanja Hichert, Foresight practitioner and Co-Chair of UNESCO Chair in Complex Systems and Transformative African Futures.

In the 7th episode of our 50th-anniversary podcast series ‘50things’, Doris Viljoen, current Director at the IFR, speaks to Prof Luke van der Laan, Professor (Leadership and Foresight), University of Southern Queensland, Australia and IFR governing body member.

In the 6th episode of our 50th-anniversary podcast series ‘50things’, Doris Viljoen, current Director at the IFR, speaks to Zanne Horrell, Academic Designer at Milpark Education and Director at Teach the Future SA.

In the third episode of Talking Transformative Assessment, hosts Dalene Joubert and Hanelie Adendorff interviews Sharon Malan, the Extended Curriculum Programme leader at Stellenbosch University’s EMS Faculty. Sharon shares her journey of integrating artificial intelligence into the first years’ curriculum – a journey that started with initial scepticism and has since lead to a radical rethink of the assessments in her module. We unpack how Sharon's adaptive approach, focusing on evaluative judgment and critical thinking, helps her students navigate generative AI's complexities while maintaining the productive struggle in learning as well as academic integrity. Tune in to learn about the challenges and triumphs of fostering AI literacy in the classroom and the importance of preserving grappling in the learning process.

This is episode two of the second series of Talking Transformative Assessment, the podcast that explores innovative assessment practices at Stellenbosch University. Hosts Dalene Joubert and Hanelie Adendorff sit down with Hamman Schoonwinkel, a lecturer at the School of Accountancy, to discuss his innovative use of generative AI in teaching and assessment. Discover how Hamman integrates ChatGPT into his curriculum to teach computational thinking skills to his first-year students, making complex problem-solving and programming accessible and assessments applicable to the real world. Join us as we consider the practicalities and possibilities of AI in the classroom, and how these advances are enhancing the educational experience at Stellenbosch University.

In this first episode of Talking Transformative Assessment, co-hosts Hanelie Adendorff and Dalene Joubert welcome dr. Melody Neaves from the Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering Department at Stellenbosch University. Melody shares her innovative approach to co-opting ChatGPT in her second year Material Science module to enhance students' evaluative judgment. She discusses how integrating generative AI in their projects, where students have to create appropriate exam questions and critically evaluate generative AI’s response to these questions, helps students develop critical thinking and foster self-directed learning skills, despite the challenges of prompt engineering. This insightful conversation showcases a way of dealing with the impact of generative AI tools on HE teaching-learning-assessment in STEM subjects.

“In the 5th episode of our 50th-anniversary podcast series ‘50things’, Doris Viljoen, current Director at the IFR, speaks to Ivana Milojević, Director and Instructor at MetafutureSchool, about her work in the Futures of Feminism and her latest monograph  “The Hesitant Feminist’s Guide to the Future”

In the 4th  episode of our 50th-anniversary podcast series ‘50things’, Doris Viljoen, current Director at the IFR, speaks to Alison McKie, MPhil Futures Studies student about her article about Dark Tourism for which she received a special nomination in the Association for Professional Futurists annual student awards.

In the 3rd  episode of our 50th-anniversary podcast series ‘50things’, Doris Viljoen, current Director at the IFR, speaks to Sohail Inayatullah, UNESCO Chair in Futures Studies at the Sejahtera Centre for Sustainability and Humanity and Professor, Tamkang University, Department of Education and Futures Design

In the 2nd episode of our 50th-anniversary podcast series ‘50things’, Doris Viljoen, current Director at the IFR, is in conversation with Prof Philip Spies, one of the founding Directors of the IFR. In this episode, Prof Spies shares more about the successes as well as the challenges of the early years and how futures thinking and futures research came to be at Stellenbosch University.

"Welcome to '50things,' a podcast series brought to you by the Institute for Future's Research (IFR) at Stellenbosch Business School as we celebrate our 50th anniversary. In each episode, we dive deep into the milestones, innovations, and people that have shaped our journey and the world around us. In this episode, Doris Viljoen, current Director at the IFR, in conversation with Prof Andre Roux, former Director of the IFR and current head of Teaching and learning at the Stellenbosch Business School, shares pivotal moments and ideas that define our institute. Enjoy!”

Marius Swart, from the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch at Stellenbosch University, shares insights on the "creative response" assignment as assessment method he developed, lessons learned from that and how students responded thereto.

On the 12th of November we celebrate Africa Universities’ Day which is hosted by the Association of African Universities (AAU) to create awareness on the importance of higher education , promote dialogue on how to improve higher education and to celebrate the success stories of higher education in Africa. To celebrate and contribute to this years’ theme, ‘AI in African Higher Education’, the Centre for Collaboration in Africa (CCA) at Stellenbosch University International (SUI), sat down with SU’s Dr Jan Petrus Bosman director of the Centre for Learning Technologies (http://www.sun.ac.za/clt) , to discuss the potentials, opportunities and risks of AI in African HE.

Dr. Elmien Sinclair, an educational psychologist and Head of the Unit for Academic Counselling and Development at the Centre for Student Counselling and Development at Stellenbosch University, shares some insights on the student experience of academic needs and challenges, also relating to assessment, and how to support students in navigating these challenges. 

Charmaine van der Merwe, an academic advisor at the Centre for Teaching and Learning at Stellenbosch University, shares some ideas, thoughts and research on assessment culture and how it relates to transformative assessment.

Allison Mlitwa, a quality advisor at the Centre for Academic Planning and Quality Assurance at Stellenbosch University, shares her perspectives on the impact of quality evaluation, development and enhancement and how this can impact the main functions of the university, being teaching (including assessment), research and social impact. 

Elzette le Roux used to work as an academic advisor (online learning) at the Centre for Learning Technologies at Stellenbosch University. She shares some perspectives on what "transformative assessment" means and how this approach to assessment could transform student learning.

Delicia Davids, an educator in the Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University focuses on technology enhanced learning and how to integrate that in student learning. She shares her innovative ideas, thoughts and experiences on transformative assessment and how game-based assessment, like a virtual "escape room", supports students in assessing their learning.

Magriet de Villiers, an advisor at the Centre for Learning Technologies at Stellenbosch University, shares her view on academic integrity and the impact this "AI" has on assessment and artificial intelligence, the other "AI" in the room.

Prof. Hermann Swart, from the Department of Psychology at Stellenbosch University, shares his experience on adapting invigilated assessments to uninvigilated online multiple choice questions prior to and during COVID-19 and his lessons learned during this experience.

Is ChatGPT and AI the end of assessment as we know it? During this podcast Dr. Jan Petrus Bosman, director at the Centre for Learning Technologies at Stellenbosch University, shares his insights and perspectives on the impact of artificial intelligence, including generative AI like ChatGPT, on assessment and our responses thereto. 

Prof. Karin Jacobs, from the faculty of Science at Stellenbosch University, shares alternative ways she viewed and engaged with assessing her students' learning. Karin also shares the challenges she experienced to change her perspective on assessment and how that influenced her approach to incorporate fun in assessing student learning.

The Gender, Work and Organization (GWO) conference will be hosted for the first time on African shores at Stellenbosch University from 28 to 30 June 2023. The GWO journal was the first to provide an arena dedicated to the debate and analysis of gender relations, the organization of gender, and the gendering of organizations. In this podcast, Prof. Anita Bosch from Stellenbosch Business School and the Academic Organiser of the conference speaks to Prof. Alison Pullen, Professor of Gender, Work, and Organization at Macquarie University and co-editor of the journal, about the upcoming conference.

The “IT” series is designed to help you navigate complex, volatile and uncertain business environments with the Innovation and Insights required to foster Transformation. In this podcast Dr Njeri Mwagiru speaks to Jane Robertson, about the importance of reflective practice.

The “IT” series is designed to help you navigate complex, volatile and uncertain business environments with the Innovation and Insights required to foster Transformation. In this podcast Doris Viljoen, Director of the Institute for Futures Research, at the Stellenbosch Business School, speaks about how to spot a trend vs a fad and how this can help in making decisions.

Founded in 1988, World AIDS Day was the first-ever international day for global health. Since then, every year, on the 1st of December, people around the globe unite to observe World Aids Day. The Africa Centre for HIV/Aids Management at Stellenbosch University opened in 2003 to help address challenges in the fight against HIV and Aids through academic programmes. These programmes specifically look at managing HIV and Aids in the workplace. Dr Munya Saruchera, Interim Director and Senior Lecturer at the Centre tells us more.

The “IT” series is designed to help you navigate complex, volatile and uncertain business environments with the Innovation and Insights required to foster Transformation. In this podcast Dr Njeri Mwagiru, Senior Futurist at the Institute for Futures Research, at the Stellenbosch Business School, speaks to Dr Jako Volschenk, Head of the MBA at Stellenbosch Business School and faculty member at the Stellenbosch Business School Executive Development, on how organizations’ can best align and pivot their business stragtegy in the context of complexity, uncertainty and rapid change.

Maties Sport has embarked on providing diverse opinions on topics affecting our South African sporting environment, in this podcast we touch on the media landscape. In conversation is Dr Nana Adom-Aboagye (Acting Head: Centre for Sport Leadership at Maties Sport) and Ms Kimara Singh (Media and Communications Manager at Maties Sport), engage with us by getting in touch on our social media pages on Facebook/Twitter and Instagram @MatiesSport. Maties Sport strives towards thought leadership and action, which includes engaging on topics that people want to hear and talk about.

Maties Sport has embarked on providing diverse opinions on topics affecting our South African sporting landscape, this week we touch on true inclusion in sport and the media landscape. Our inaugural podcast has Dr Nana Adom-Aboagye (Acting Head: Centre for Sport Leadership at Maties Sport) and Ms Kimara Singh (Media and Communications Manager at Maties Sport) will be discussing these pertinent topics.

Climate change: the sound of young African voices Loud and clear. That is the sound of young African voices in the global debate on climate change. We talk today to four postgraduate students who have been selected to participate in a youth climate leadership training project launched by the Global Alliance of Universities of Climate (GAUC). Stellenbosch University is the only university representing Africa in this alliance. They are Yenziwe Mbuyisa, Nosipho Gqaleni, Kay Murray and Olivia Jones, all postgraduate students in the Department of Botany and Zoology Klimaatsverandering: die klank van jong Afrika-stemme Helder en duidelik. Dit is die klank van jong Afrika-stemme in die globale debat oor klimaatsverandering. Ons gesels vandag met vier nagraadse studente wat gekies is om deel te neem aan ’n klimaatsleierskapsprogram wat op die jeug gefokus is, aangebied deur die Global Alliansie van Universiteite vir Klimaat (GAUC). Die Universiteit Stellenbosch is die enigste Universiteit in die alliansie wat Afrika verteenwoordig. Hulle is Yenziwe Mbuyisa, Nosipho Gqaleni, Kay Murray en Olivia Jones, almal nagraadse studente in die Departement Plant- en Dierkunde.

August is Women’s Month in South Africa and on the 9th we celebrate Women’s Day. In this podcast, Dr Mamello Nchake from the Department of Economics talks about some of the challenges that women in agriculture and agribusiness (women agri-preneurs) face and possible ways to help them overcome these barriers.

Carine Marks and Arina du Plessis at the Tygerberg Poison Information Centre serve a range of communities across South Africa and the continent as there are only 7 Poison Information Centres (PICs) currently in all of Africa. To grow the availability of trained poison information specialists, they are driving signups for the Hybrid Learning Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Toxicology. The poison info centre is key to save lives through their cross disciplinary knowledge of medicine and pharmacology, and local contexts, also considering drug fads and typical household chemicals which often impact young children. More information: https://hybridlearning.sun.ac.za/pgdiptox/ & http://www.sun.ac.za/english/faculty/healthsciences/Clinical%20Pharmacology/Poison%20Information%20Centre/Pages/About-us.aspx

The “IT” series is designed to help you navigate complex, volatile and uncertain business environments with the Innovation and Insights required to foster Transformation. In this podcast Doris Viljoen, Director of the Institute for Futures Research, at Stellenbosch Business School, shares some insights on how one can move from sensing to sense-making to change making.

The “IT” series is designed to help you navigate complex, volatile and uncertain business environments with the Innovation and Insights required to foster Transformation. In this podcast Doris Viljoen, Director of the Institute for Futures Research, at the Stellenbosch Business School, speaks to Thys Pretorius, Learning Process Facilitator at Stellenbosch Business School Executive Development, about seeing a problem on a continuum from simple to complex and thereby knowing which actions to take in addressing the specific problem.

For many young South Africans, it’s probably hard to get excited about the annual Youth Day (16 June) celebrations when they can’t even get a decent job. In this podcast, Prof Dieter von Fintel from the Department of Economics addresses the high unemployment rate among the youth and also offers some suggestions to help young people find work.

The “IT” series is designed to help you navigate complex, volatile and uncertain business environments with the innovation and insights required to foster transformation. In this podcast Doris Viljoen, Director of the Institute for Futures Research, at the Stellenbosch Business School, will share the guide to playing the FLIP-IT game​, that she designed. FLIP-IT is a game that unlocks innovative ideas, and asks participants to imagine next ways to do business from fresh perspectives.

The potential economic impact of the polyphagous shot hole borer in South Africa amounts to a whopping R275 billion over the next ten years, if nothing is done to stem the tide. The shot hole borer was first detected in South Africa in 2012 and has since spread to eight of South Africa’s nine provinces, making it the largest current outbreak of this invasive pest globally. In this podcast, ecologists and an economist from Stellenbosch University explain why the impact of the polyphagous shot hole borer is not only an ecological, but also an economic problem. Speakers: Prof Francois Roets, Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Faculty of AgriSciences Prof Brian van Wilgen, Center for Invasion Biology, Faculty of Science Prof Martin de Wet, School for Public leadership, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences

South Africans have been living with loadshedding for years now and there doesn’t seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel. In this podcast, Prof Sampson Mamphweli, Director of the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies, talks about our continuing electricity woes and how renewable energy could help us resolve this crisis.

World Hypertention Day is observed every year on 17 May and aims to communicate to the public the importance of hypertension and to provide information on prevention, detection and treatment. Dr Lynne Julie, a general practitioner at the Stellenbosch University Campus Health Service talks about this condition.

On Wednesday 27 April South Africans celebrate Freedom Day. In this podcast, Prof Reggie Nel, Dean of the Faculty of Theology, talks about whether the concept of freedom still has meaning for us today and what a future vision of a free South Africa should look like.

World TB day is commemorated every year on 24 March to raise public awareness and understanding about Tuberculosis. Although TB is a curable disease, many survivors of TB will continue to suffer from Post-TB Lung Disease. Professor Brian Allwood, Associate Professor in the Division of Pulmonology at the Stellenbosch University Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences tells us more about Post-TB Lung Disease.

International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on 8 March. In this podcast, Dr Efua Prah from the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology talks about why we need to change the conversations about women’s reproductive health which is still considered a taboo subject in some societies.