Given a peculiar sociocultural pressure for knowledge to reap immediate socioeconomic benefits in Africa, philosophy courses have gained a very low valuation by African students. They misperceive the courses not to be relevant to their future careers, leading to a lack of engagement with the courses. Focusing on South Africa, this paper proffers…

This paper investigates how students perceive their participation in Statistics class activities. Effective pedagogical practices depend on knowing how students interact with data-related tasks. To gauge the self-reported levels of engagement, interest, and perceived relevance of Statistics activities, the study polls students in grade 12. To…

Technology is key to making education systems more resilient to disruptions. In the South African higher education sector, technology will continue to play a much larger role than the years preceding the COVID-19 pandemic. Technology, however, cannot replace the value gained through social contact and concerns about relational disengagement in…

Initial teacher education should mould well-rounded teachers proficient in scientific investigations, and advocate sustainability amid global ecosystems' degradation. The research sought to explore pre-service science teachers' views concerning scientific investigations and sustainable development goals, and synergy between skills and different…

Student success and the perceptions of success are growing areas of research. At the University of the Western Cape the impact that using a learning management system in blended learning approaches had on student success and perceptions of success was unknown. The research investigated perceptions of lecturers and students of the Arts Faculty…

The COVID-19 pandemic forced universities worldwide to move their teaching online within an unprecedentedly short timeframe. Whilst the move online learning has increased the reach of tertiary educational delivery it has also raised significant issues of equity, accessibility and student engagement. This includes concerns around access to…

This study sought to research first-year South African university students' attitudes towards interactive school learning and then to determine their perspectives and reflective experiences regarding interactive learning. Data was gathered during the first week of their first university lectures. The sample was 129 freshmen. The study adopted a…

Traditionally, academics in higher education relied on lectures, seminars, and textbooks for face-to-face instruction. However, technology integration in education has transformed the landscape, enhancing engagement, active learning, and personalised instruction, prompting academics to rethink their teaching methods. Anchored in social…

The outbreak of COVID-19 and the consequent lockdown took the world by surprise, forcing the trimming of the school curriculum and institutions of higher learning to urgently adopt online platforms to continue teaching and learning. This article is a case study that explores the use of a social media platform, WhatsApp, to improve peer learning…

Does historic school engagement buffer the threats of disrupted schooling -- such as those associated with the widespread COVID-19-related school closures -- to school engagement equally for female and male high school students? This article responds to that pressing question. To do so, it reports a study that was conducted in 2018 and 2020 with…

This study reports how ethics of care principles were foregrounded in a first-year English module offered at an open distance e-learning (ODeL) university in South Africa to enhance online student engagement. Current research indicates that online student engagement predicts student success; however, there is a paucity of how ethics of care…

Isolation, lack of connection and/or belonging, difficulty maintaining engagement and motivation for learning are common complaints for students separated from teaching and support staff in distance education. Using a mixed-methods approach, this article utilises dimensions of student engagement: cognitive, emotional and social behaviour to argue…

This paper examines the transformative potential of integrating transdisciplinarity and systems thinking into educational practices, anchored in a participatory initiative by the Montpellier Advanced Knowledge Institute on Transitions (MAK'IT). The study centres on engaging master's and doctoral students in co-creating educational proposals,…

This study focuses on the admission criteria of a bachelor of accountancy (BAcc) degree program as one of many factors influencing students' success in graduating in the regulated time frames. The present study used constructivist learning and student engagement theories as connected lenses to explore the effect of admission criteria on…

Students including health sciences at universities that appear to subscribe to neoliberal logic are at risk for social injustices and inequalities, anxiety, depression, academic demands and unethical activities. There has been little discussion about students' self-care and well-being in and beyond the neoliberal universities. This article…