Many reviewers of applications for ethical approval of research at universities struggle to understand what is considered ethical conduct in community-based research (CBR). Their difficulty in understanding CBR and the ethics embedded within it is, in part, due to the exclusion of CBR from researchers' mandatory research ethics training. After…

The COVID-19 pandemic set higher education institutions on an unprecedented path requiring of them to identify alternative strategies and implement various initiatives to sustain their academic projects. With the widespread devastation of the pandemic, the purpose of universities within their communities were again in the spotlight. A sensibility…

Community engagement (CE) has been identified as an important pillar alongside teaching and research in higher education. Despite this it has emerged slowly within the South African landscape due to a lack of understanding regarding engagement. Drawing on in-depth interviews, this study sought to explore how academics (N=14), at a University of…

Purpose: The purpose of this empirical research paper is to investigate the self-perceived role of the community partner of a higher education service-learning and community engagement module. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative approach was followed by distributing a questionnaire to the community partners of a community engagement module…

While prior scholarship has theorised on how to incorporate decolonisation in curriculum and pedagogy, there is limited empirical work on how students experience this initiative. With a goal to provide a more diverse and inclusive educational experience, this paper explores ten undergraduate students' perceptions of their learning in a revised…

Utilising a social constructivist lens, this study explores how students from rural areas constitute and negotiate their identities in the context of an urban South African university. Much of the research on rurality in South Africa has focused on rural areas as places, and not on the people occupying them. This qualitative study employed a…

The article discusses the question of the co-construction of knowledge between the university and its communities in the pursuance of community engagement, which is one of the key mandates of universities in South Africa. It reflects on the limitations of most academic approaches to the concept and practices associated with the scholarship of…

Service-learning has, arguably, gained significant currency as a pedagogical and engagement mechanism within the broader discourse of universities and their role in community development. However, less emphasis has been placed on the human development dimensions of service--learning for community members, with the focus largely being on students'…

Purpose: This study aims to explore the contribution of Enactus sustainability initiatives to youth empowerment and community development, thus analysing how South African higher education institutions can increase student involvement in Enactus projects across all faculties. Design/methodology/approach: Using a systematic literature review…

The pursuit of decolonial scholarship in academia can be impacted by the pressure to attain international recognition as a requirement for academic promotion. Academic promotion for scholars is often linked to publishing in "high-impact journals," which frequently lack African representation. This paper critically examines the…

The purpose of the study is to explore the advantages of study groups for first-year engineering students in a challenged Global South context. The research aims to explore how the support and resources provided by the peer-led study groups can help students cope with the stressors and challenges that are often associated with the transition to…

Academic development is a mammoth undertaking that requires collective effort from all stakeholders, extending beyond academic developers alone. As early career academics, we explore our experiences of academic development within our community of practice. Through a collaborative self-study, we reveal how our community of practice has bolstered…

This case study uses an equity-focused research lens to accomplish two tasks using data from two North Carolina community colleges. First, it situates community college virtual exchange programming within a pre-existing program typology to explore the extent to which community college virtual exchange is included in current conversations in…

Research conducted on online learning during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, clearly showed that a sense of community plays an integral part in creating a conducive learning environment. This has consequently influenced current perspectives on teaching practice and learning climate. From an African perspective, this is noteworthy as it…

Following the gradual post-COVID-19 return of international student flows, it is important to examine how higher education institutions and international students are reacting to their new environment and how they relate to each other. Central to this relationship is the concept of "belonging"; what it means for international students,…