In 2023, the University of Cape Town (UCT) continued to enhance and strengthen teaching and learning following the disruptive COVID-19 years. In July 2023 Emerita Professor Linda Ronnie was appointed acting DVC: Teaching and Learning after the end of Professor Harsha Kathard’s term as Acting DVC: Teaching and Learning.

Enhancements to UCT’s teaching and learning ecosystem continued with the rollout of Amathuba, UCT’s new learning management system. This new platform brings with it additional functionality and integrates course evaluation tools that allow students’ feedback and experiences to contribute to future course design and offerings.

Building on lessons learnt during the COVID-19 period, a draft Digital and Online Education policy was developed and is currently under consideration for adoption. This policy acknowledges and enables blended learning course designs in increasingly complex and rich teaching environments. We are also finalising a new assessment policy that takes into account assessment practices that situate assessment as both an educational and social practice and which promotes innovation and inclusivity in assessment to help students succeed. It was thus prescient that the theme of the UCT 2023 Teaching and Learning conference was “Assessment Entangled”. The conference attracted a wide range of papers, panels and workshops from staff and students from across UCT, shaping the conversation around the many facets of assessment including inclusive and socially just assessment strategies, the implications of AI, and how assessment practices intersect with and will inform the University of the Future project.

The global awareness and wide availability of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT created new opportunities, as well as concerns, for universities. The Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching, in the Centre for Higher Education Development, released guidelines for staff and students for teaching, learning and research to better understand the affordances of AI tools in relation to academic integrity, prevailing hegemonic discourses based on Global North datasets, and assessment re-designs. As leaders in higher education, we aim to assist our students in using the tools of AI critically and with discernment.

Faculty-wide curriculum change projects also gained momentum in 2023. These are faculty projects that seek to decolonise, transform and renew undergraduate curricula at UCT. UCT’s commitment to curriculum renewal and embracing critical pedagogies is evident in the citations for the 2023 Distinguished Teacher Awards, awarded to Associate Professor Pippin Anderson – Environmental and Geographical Sciences (EGS); Dr Marcin Nejthardt – Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine (AAE), and Associate Professor Tasleem Ras – Family, Community and Emergency Care (FCE).

The final graduation ceremonies for 2023 were held on 14 and 15 December. They brought the total number of graduates for the year to more than 7 000, including more than 220 PhD graduates. Graduation ceremonies reaffirm the success of the academic project and the key university functions of teaching and learning, alongside research. They also provide a wonderful platform for celebrating the hard work of students, their teachers and mentors.

Sincerely,

Emerita Professor Linda Ronnie
Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor
Teaching & Learning