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Papers by Langutani Masehela

South African journal of higher education, 2015

In this article I argue that, for the enhancement of teaching and learning to have its intended p... more In this article I argue that, for the enhancement of teaching and learning to have its intended positive impact, a 'close-up' look or contextualised understanding of the way academics work with conceptions of quality and the policies and procedures that are intended to promote them is necessary. The article proposes that research located in Bhaskar's critical realism and Archer's social realism provides a means of producing these understandings. This kind of research is important because, in spite of the introduction of quality assurance into South African higher education, the system continues to be plagued by poor performance reflected not only in low success and graduation rates with high attrition rates, but also in the poor quality of graduates. As such, this has led the body responsible for quality assurance, the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) to embark on the next cycle of its work, which focuses specifically on teaching and learning.

An exploration into the conditions enabling and constraining the implementation of quality assura... more An exploration into the conditions enabling and constraining the implementation of quality assurance in higher education: The case of a small comprehensive university in South Africa A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of

South African Journal of Higher Education, 2018

In the tumultuous time we find ourselves, debates about pedagogy have taken centre stage once aga... more In the tumultuous time we find ourselves, debates about pedagogy have taken centre stage once again. Concerns raised by the student protests of 2015 and 2016 have highlighted the urgent need to rethink traditional teaching, learning and assessment practices, as well as the development of decolonised and transformative curricula. Traditional notions of academic and professional development are now being tested and contested, insofar as they are able to respond to student challenges in appropriate, responsive, legitimate and relevant ways. As a professional organisation dedicated to supporting learning and teaching, the executive team of HELTASA responded to the challenge in this article by engaging with perspectives on the purpose, role and conceptualisation of academic development in the current decolonial moment in the South African Higher Education landscape. Critical processes that enable academics to engage, share thoughts and debate epistemological, pedagogical and methodological options to support students and academics are much needed. And the context and spirit in which these debates occur may be as important as the debates themselves. Behari-Leak, Vorster, Chitanand, Ganas, Limitations and opportunities of academic development Padayachee, Merckel and Masehela 402 At its annual conference, the executive team facilitated a critical dialogue with conference delegates on the limitations and opportunities of AD in our current context. Given the diverse teaching and learning contexts and institutional differentiation in the sector, this article explores individual and collective theorised observations, reflections and experiences of the seven facilitators who led the CD. These reflections were analysed and discussed against the backdrop of AD as well as the affordances of CD as a participatory learning and engagement methodology. The findings showed that there is dire need to re-imagine, not only AD's role but alternative forms of critical engagement in the sector.

Postgraduate Study in South Africa- Surviving and Succeeding, 2016

Journal of Student Affairs in Africa, 2017

The University of Venda introduced an academic mentoring programme in 2012. The introduction of t... more The University of Venda introduced an academic mentoring programme in 2012. The introduction of the programme was in response to the results of a national study that was conducted by Scott, Yeld and Hendry (2007). The study was replicated at institutional level and it yielded similar results that indicated that at least 30% of undergraduate students drop out at the end of their first year. Using Margaret Archer's morphogenetic framework, this paper seeks to assess the impact of the programme on students' performance. The key question asked in this study is: 'What impact has the mentoring programme made on the academic performance of students in the Department of Communication and Applied Language Studies?' This department formed part of this study because the module lecturer was among the first few who exercised her agency by consciously volunteering to join the programme with the hope that it would improve pass rate. The pass rate improved from 80% to 92% the first time the programme was implemented and it has been high ever since, while the students in that department have continued to embrace the programme. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were adopted for this study. Qualitative data consisted of an open-ended questionnaire which was used to collect data from forty-five mentees. Interviews were also conducted with ten mentees, three student mentors, the Media Studies (MST 1541) lecturer and the educational development practitioner (EDP). From the forty-five questionnaire respondents, only ten mentees were also interviewed to confirm responses that were given in questionnaires before the researcher had reached saturation point. Quantitative data were collected through a comparison of module results for 2012 and 2013. The MST 1541 classes in 2012 and 2013 were taught by the same lecturer, who confirmed minimal changes in terms of content and teaching methods which could have influenced the improved pass rate in 2013. The study concludes that the mentoring programme contributed to improving student success. However, the study only focused on one causal mechanism, namely mentoring. It is therefore recommended that a broader study be conducted to evaluate the impact of additional causal mechanisms. Furthermore, the researchers recommend improved monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to curb the inconsistencies and irregularities reported by the mentors, mentees, lecturer and educational development practitioner.

The Anthropologist, 2014

Issues of student throughput and graduation rates are issues of concern in many South African uni... more Issues of student throughput and graduation rates are issues of concern in many South African universities. Numerous intervention programmes are put in place to assist students to progress well with their studies and curb failure and subsequent drop out from degree programmes. Student mentoring is one such intervention. The purpose of this study was to establish trained mentors' reflections of their contact with mentees in a pilot student mentoring programme in a South African University. The study adopted a wholly qualitative approach in which a purposefully selected sample of 42 mentors participated in the study. Data were collected through document analysis of mentors' weekly reports and postings to a Facebook page were read and analysed. Data were analysed through content analysis of emerging themes. The study found that although the mentors were positive about the establishment of a student support programme, they were concerned about schedules, communication between themselves and the Teaching and Learning Unit and between mentors and mentees. The level of commitment by mentees and the impact that the programme had on assessment were found questionable. In conclusion mentors agree that this programme is important in this context but more still needs to be attended to, to improve the system. The paper provides a list of recommendations that the university needs to take into account to provide a more effective student support programme.