This article reports on the introduction of a simple, portable, low-cost, and hands-on spectral tool for first-year chemistry students to use inside the laboratory and its spontaneous dissemination outside of the laboratory. The Mini Spec is a refinement of the Schwabacher minispectroscope in terms of simplicity and language load on the students.…

Cognitive injustice, which nourishes and sustains current political, social and economic injustice, has been at the centre of the knowledge production enterprise since the colonisers embarked on their project of dispossession and plunder. In order to achieve global justice, the quest for epistemic justice needs to be brought to the centre of…

Are social science, cross-border research projects, where recruitment and data collection are carried out remotely (e.g. through social media and online platforms), required to follow similar ethical and data-sharing procedures as 'on-the-ground' studies that use traditional means of recruitment and participant engagement? This article reflects on…

This paper reflects on the teaching of science fiction texts to first-year engineering students at the University of the Witwatersrand as part of a Critical Thinking course that uses literature as a vehicle through which to develop competence in critical literacy and communication. This course aims to equip engineering students, as future…

Discipline-specific knowledge and associated technical skills as well as generic skills have represented distinct and separate aspects of chemical sciences in university studies (linear training). In addition to technical skills gained through laboratory training, employers now require a soft skill set such as strengths in analytical thinking,…

In the context of an evolving digitally-oriented library and/or information science (LIS) discipline and framed by Andrew Abbott's Chaos of Disciplines theory, this article presents an epistemological overview of evolving competency requirements for a global digital information environment and the implications of this for future LIS education. In…

It is common for researchers in Indigenous Knowledge (IK) in science education research to draw on aspects of the scientific paradigm from their science training. The consequent research seeks to be objective. This paradigm is not necessarily appropriate for IK research. While there have been calls for IK-aligned methodologies (Chilisa 2012; Keane…

Various international perspectives from selected regions where substantial work is being done on green and sustainable chemistry education emphasize a systems thinking framework. Common to most of the perspectives is the inclusion of more global paradigms involving economic, environmental, political, and social aspects as fundamental issues in the…

Given the emphasis on community engagement in higher education, academic departments need to become more involved in the community. This paper discusses a number of outreach activities undertaken by the chemistry department at Rhodes University, South Africa. The activities range from service learning to community engagement with teachers and…

The recent article by Nieuwoudt, Dickie, Coetsee, Engelbrecht and Terblanche (2019) entitled "Age- and education-related effects on cognitive functioning in Colored South African women" published in the journal Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, attracted considerable negative attention, leading to its official withdrawal from…

This paper presents an update on some of the activities that have taken place since a World Bank report; "Guidelines for Education and Training in Environmental Information Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: Some Key Issues" was published and provides details on the current situation. It shows how organizations such as the African…

Reduced costs and greater time efficiency are often quoted among the main benefits of microscale chemistry. Do these benefits outweigh some of the limitations and difficulties faced in terms of students needing to develop new manipulation skills, and teachers requiring training in terms of implementation and management? This article describes a…

Initial teacher education programmes such as the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in South Africa are undergoing significant changes with the introduction of a new policy regime. This paper briefly outlines the policy changes advanced for teacher education programmes in South Africa. It examines productive pedagogies as a conceptual…

Employers require software engineers to work in teams when developing software systems. It is therefore important for graduates to have experienced teamwork before they enter the job market. We describe an experiential learning exercise that we designed to teach the software engineering process in conjunction with teamwork skills. The underlying…

Maybe it's the peculiar way they walk or their cute little suits, but students of all ages are drawn to penguins. To meet younger students' curiosity, the authors adapted a middle-school level, penguin-themed curriculum unit called Save the Penguins (Schnittka, Bell, and Richards 2010) for third-grade students. The students loved learning about…