Learning from past mistakes pays off
Many parents are heartbroken and completely baffled by their unruly child, they have no clue why the child they raised well is making such awful and destructive decisions. This could have been how Mzukisi Ngxongxela’s parents felt when he dropped out of university twice.
PhD students need to be resilient
Constantly remind yourself to be solid and to never give up. The more you tumble, the tougher you become for getting up. Never give up no matter what. Make a promise to your goals as if you were making a promise to somebody you care about.
New gowns for graduation series
After 14 years the Cape Peninsula University of Technology is retiring their academic gowns and will be unveiling its new African-inspired procession attire during the Summer Graduation series which is underway.
Superb lecturers honoured
Outstanding teachers who go beyond the call of duty were honoured during the Teaching Excellence Awards at Marriott Hotel Crystal Towers.
Curriculum Officers recognised with certificates
The Fundani Centre for Higher Education Development awarded certificates to Curriculum Officers who participated in one of the three short courses offered in 2019 by the Centre’s Curriculum Development Unit in collaboration with the Centre for Innovative Education Technology (CIET) to support design teams in the development of new curricula.
Top Work-Integrated Learning Students commended
Faculty of Applied Sciences students who are participating in a Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) programme were urged to be hands-on during their industry training.
Teaching philosophy earns academic national recognition
A Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education, who fuses technology into his teaching, has earned himself a National Excellence in Teaching Awards Commendation from the Council on Higher Education/Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association of Southern Africa (CHE/HELTASA).
After bagging a CPUT Institutional Teaching Excellence Award earlier this year, Dr Zayd Waghid, entered the national awards and walked away with a commendation for his contribution to teaching and learning in the country’s higher education.
“The CHE/HELTASA Committee commends you for a portfolio demonstrating a rich and diverse teaching approach and a clearly articulated philosophy,” reads a letter from the Awards Committee. “We invite you to join us at the HELTASA Conference on 27-29 November 2019 in Grahamstown.”
Waghid says the commendation is a validation of his teaching excellence at national level and that his achievement shows that CPUT is serious about teaching.
“My teaching excellence stems from developing myself academically and having strong relations with my students,” says the former teacher at South Peninsula High.
Having grown up in a family of academics, he asserts his ambition to become a professor one day. His father Yusef is a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy of Education at Stellenbosch University, while his brother, Dr Faiq Waghid, is an academic at CPUT’s Centre for Innovative Educational Technology.
Despite the commendation, Waghid says he feels the need to grow himself academically as well as further strengthen his student relations and collaborations with international universities.
He observed that when teaching their learners, his students’ teaching methods are similar to his as they also make use of technology in their classes.
Waghid, who joined CPUT four years ago, developed a teaching philosophy and innovative pedagogies which included the use of gamification, film and online group blogs.
His philosophy helps disadvantaged students who enter CPUT to transition into higher education through the use of technology.
