Cape Peninsula University of Technology

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.

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.

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.

Department of Chemical Engineering Lecturer Dr Moses Basitere was floating on cloud nine after being inaugurated as one of ten new members of the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS).

The Wholesale and Retail Sector Education and Training Authority (W&RSeta) has awarded more than R10 million in bursaries to hundreds of deserving students in the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences.

CPUT-based Centre for Enterprise Research Partnership and Innovation in Africa (CERPIA) aims to train and certify women with the SAP digital business system and skills.