Browsing by Author "Fourie-Malherbe, Magda"

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    Negotiating co-ownership of learning in higher education : an underexplored practice for adult learning
    (Taylor & Francis, 2019) Owusu-Agyeman, Yaw; Fourie-Malherbe, Magda
    Adults who enrol in higher education institutions (HEIs) often have contributions that could serve in enhancing the planning and implementation of their programmes. Importantly, while terms such as active learner engagement and knowledge co-creation dominate adult learning discussions, there are unanswered questions pertaining to how adult learners negotiate co-ownership of their learning. The current empirical study explores the relevant factors that could enhance adult learners’ involvement in negotiating co-ownership of learning in a higher education setting. A mixed method of gathering and analysing data from adult learners (n = 200) was followed. While structural equation modelling (SEM) served as the quantitative data analysis method, codes, categories and themes developed from the focus group discussions and interviews were used to analyse the qualitative data. The study revealed that negotiating co-ownership of learning among adult learners in HEIs is influenced by the level of engagement and adult learners’ acquisition of relevant core knowledge and skills. The authors discuss the implications of the results by reflecting on the pluses of negotiating co-ownership of learning at the institutional and classroom levels while also showing how the lack of these provisions could hinder effective learning among adult learners.
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    Promoting social change amongst students in higher education : a reflection on the Listen, Live and Learn senior student housing initiative at Stellenbosch University
    (African Minds, 2017) Dunn-Coetzee, Munita; Fourie-Malherbe, Magda
    Twenty-two years after apartheid South African higher education is still struggling with challenges around access, success and transformation. Stellenbosch University (SU), as a historically white university, is striving to become significantly better and different in terms of relevance and active role-playing. SU wants to prepare students to become South African citizens who bring about and enable positive change in society. The Listen, Live and Learn (LLL) initiative at SU is a senior student housing programme with the aim of providing experiential opportunities for students to make contact with ‘the other’. By being in closer, more regular contact with ‘the other’, students’ stereotypes, biases and discriminatory attitudes should start changing for the better. This article focuses on the evaluation of one of the proposed outcomes of the LLL programme – increased levels of interaction among students in a LLL house lead to reduced stereotyping and diminished bias. A quantitative investigation by means of an electronic survey was conducted. The second phase of the research was of a qualitative nature and consisted of focus group interviews. The conclusion can be made that LLL participants are a self-selecting group and that students who tend to apply for the LLL programme probably already have low levels of prejudice, bias and stereotyping. For the programme to effect social change, it needs to be considerably expanded in order to include more students who may not necessarily share the ‘open-mindedness’ of this cohort.
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    The rationale, challenges and benefits of joint degrees as a new form of doctoral education
    (SUN MeDIA, 2016) Fourie-Malherbe, Magda; Botha, Jan; Stevens, Dorothy
    INTRODUCTION: The phenomenon of international joint doctoral degrees where two (or more) higher education institutions across national borders assume joint responsibility for the offering, examination and award of a doctoral qualification, is a relatively recent trend in higher education worldwide. Little research has been done on this form of doctoral education, and virtually none in South Africa where universities started exploring the offering of joint degrees about 10 years ago. For the purpose of this chapter we examined this new form of doctoral education at Stellenbosch University in South Africa – a medium-sized research-intensive university with approximately 35% postgraduate students. Our investigation was guided by the following research question: What is the rationale for engaging in joint doctorates and what are the challenges and benefits associated with this new form of doctoral education as experienced at Stellenbosch University?
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    (Re)Considering postgraduate education and supervision in the knowledge society
    (SUN MeDIA, 2016) Fourie-Malherbe, Magda; Aitchison, Claire; Bitzer, Eli; Albertyn, Ruth
    INTRODUCTION: The title of this publication, Postgraduate supervision: Future foci for the knowledge society, locates higher education – and more specifically, postgraduate education and supervision – explicitly within discourses on the knowledge society. The aim of this volume is to employ this concept of the knowledge society and its corollary, the knowledge economy, as a heuristic for (re)considering the forms and purposes of postgraduate education and supervision in relation to contemporary realities and future possibilities. Thus the edition will be of interest to a wide range of postgraduate education stakeholders: national and institutional policy makers will value the broad range of up-to-date comparative case studies, while those at the coal-face – supervisors, support staff and students – will appreciate the many and varied renditions of postgraduate experiences at various ‘local’ sites. Key international and local authors combine in this edition to create a unique mix of global and local voices – some already well known, plus newer commentators. The chapters have been selected to provide a rich and nuanced balance of country and personal perspectives and experiences that explore and theorise contemporary concerns within the sector.
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    Residence heads as intentional role‑players in promoting student success
    (African Minds, 2019) Groenewald, Johan; Fourie-Malherbe, Magda
    Research evidence suggests that approaches to promote student success in higher education are becoming more holistic and integrated in nature. This implies that not only classrooms and laboratories, but also residences, as informal out-of-class learning environments, can potentially contribute significantly to promoting student success. The research question we sought to answer is: what is the preferred role and skill sets of residence heads that will enable them to promote student success? In order to answer this question, the study proposes a student success framework with five levels, and the role of the future residence head is explicated in terms of this framework. The findings of the study are significant as they suggest a practical skill set, underpinned by sound theory, for residence heads to contribute to student success.
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    Students as partners in the promotion of civic engagement in Higher Education
    (Routledge, 2021) Owusu-Agyeman, Yaw; Fourie-Malherbe, Magda
    The development of the knowledge and skills of students can only be complete when the tenets of civic engagement are inculcated in them to respond to the needs of society. However, due to the weakening role of higher education institutions to develop a university ethos that stimulate civic interest and participation among students, it has become necessary to examine the aspects that enhance civic engagement. Using social-cognitive and transformative learning theories, we examined six major aspects namely, civic knowledge, civic skills, civic culture, cultural diversity, social responsibility and, students as partners to reveal the sets of relationships and antecedents that enhance civic participation among students. We relied on a mixed method approach for gathering and analysing data from students in an HEI setting in Ghana (n=261). Results revealed that cultural diversity experience, social responsibility, and students as partners represent important aspects for stimulating civic participation among students in HEIs.