Recent high dropout and low graduation rates in the South African higher education institutions as well as government funding cuts and the economic uncertainty due to COVID-19 pandemic have heightened the urgency for the higher education sector to improve its productivity. However, empirical evidence on the productivity growth of the sector…

Doctoral education in South Africa is at crossroads between the transformation agenda of higher education and the production of knowledge, whereas policy imperatives to produce more doctorates may come at the expense of quality. This article examines how universities assure the quality of doctoral education in Education at the point of access, its…

The COVID-19 pandemic imposed a quick change to online teaching and learning, emphasising the importance of the community of inquiry (CoI) framework in reimagining the quality of higher education in an online setting. In the study reported on here I focused on how lecturers adopted the CoI to enhance the quality of online learning and teaching of…

Purpose: This study aims to help scholars comprehend the major research themes on sustainable development goals (SDGs) in higher education which researchers from various fields have explored and to propose several potential future research directions of the least researched SDG in higher education to support scholars in making up the gap in the…

In higher education, international research collaboration functions as a visible mechanism of cooperation and competition, serving as a proxy for quality and academic excellence. Open universities use revolutionary education models but are not often associated with quality or academic excellence. To investigate the impact of international research…

Purpose: Higher education institutions (HEIs) play a key role in facilitating increases in socio-economic growth and economic development. Sustainable development goal 4 (SDG 4): quality education is dedicated to ensuring inclusive and equitable access to quality education and lifelong learning opportunities. This study aims to gain leadership…

University education is envisaged to contribute to and enhance sustainable development in society. Hence there is a desire for quality and effectiveness in the tertiary education system for which huge amounts of money are budgeted annually. However, the quality and effectiveness of rural university education with regard to aiding sustainable…

The aim of this study is to evaluate the extent to which open, and distance education universities are fulfilling their stated purpose as higher education institutions in SubSaharan countries. The starting point of understanding the purpose of an institutions is to analyse the content of mission statements and the context in which the universities…

This paper presents the findings from a study on the dynamic and nuanced relationship between strategy theory and strategy practice in a South African context. Grounded in a strategy-as-practice perspective and based on an abductive analysis of sixteen semi-structured interviews, the empirical findings deepen our conceptual understanding of how…

This study explored the pedagogical dimension of the new NSFAS book allowance funding model focusing on the availability of prescribed textbooks, the perceived impact on teaching and learning, and student's academic achievement. The study applied the human activity system approach (HAS) and the activity systems model within this approach as its…

Over the past few years, we have witnessed immense advancements of technology which challenge conventional teaching methodologies. This paper analyses an open and distance learning university from two culturally distinct continents --Africa and Asia-- through an international staff exchange program that was attended over a two-week period. This…

Recently, the University of South Africa widened access to academic facilities and services at one of its study centres. Although this is laudable and demonstrates a commitment by the university towards its students, it raises these three concerns (1) What is the occupancy rate of the facilities? (2) To what extent are these improved facilities…

In the shift to Emergency Remote Teaching and Learning (ERT&L) during the COVID-19 pandemic, remote assessment and feedback became a major source of discontent and challenge for students and staff. This paper is a reflection and analysis of assessment practices during ERT&L, and our theorisation of the possibilities for shifts towards…

Peer-assisted learning (PAL) has numerous benefits in medical curricula. In the extended curriculum programme (ECP) at a university in South Africa, remedial interventions, such as same year/level PAL, were implemented to improve academic success. This article focuses on the measures to ensure the quality of PAL as an intervention for the academic…

Drawing on over fifty years of on-the-ground experience, Fred M. Hayward's "Transforming Higher Education in Asia and Africa" analyzes change processes in higher education in eight Asian and African countries. The twelve cases range from the push to upgrade and transform higher education in Afghanistan in the midst of a war, to the…