Verryking in Onderrig, Leer en Assessering

Please visit the CTL website for TLA-related policies. 

You can also find policies on the SU website.

You can visit the CTL website. 

The APQ website provides a collection of HE frameworks.

The CTL has an extensive resource that can assist. 

You can also contact the CTL advisor in your faculty for assistance. To find out who the CTL advisor for your faculty is, click here.

You are welcome to visit the CTL website for more information. 

Teaching fellowships. 

SU teaching awards. 

You can also contact Dr Karin Cattell-Holden ([email protected]) for more information.​

You can contact your CTL advisor as each faculty has its own internal process. The guidelines for applications are available on the CTL website. 

SU teaching awards. 

To find out who the CTL advisor for your faculty is, click here.

You can also contact Dr Karin Cattell-Holden ([email protected]) for more information.​

The Fund for Innovation and Research into Learning and Teaching (Finlo) was established in 2005 to encourage a culture of innovation and reflection in learning, teaching and assessment at the University. The fund provides an opportunity for lecturers to innovate, to evaluate effective practices and processes, and to investigate learning and teaching problems, solutions and trends. It also provides a mechanism for the dissemination of results designed to improve the quality of learning, teaching and assessment .Any lecturer, team of lecturers or centre responsible for learning, teaching and assessment may apply for an award. For more information or to apply, visit the Finlo website. 

You can also contact [email protected] for assistance.

PREDAC is the SU short course for the Professional Educational Development of Academics in their teaching role. The PRONTAK/PREDAC short course is annually presented for newly appointed academics at SU. During this course, participants will, together with other newly appointed lecturers from different faculties, be given the opportunity to reflect on their views, knowledge and assumptions about teaching, learning and assessment within the context of current thoughts on university teaching. Practical and innovative approaches towards teaching and assessment tasks will be addressed throughout the course. National and institutional frameworks that direct higher education in South Africa and at SU will be covered as well. For more information, click here.

The Assessment Short Course is presented during the first and second semester of each year. 

The design of the course is closely aligned with the revised Assessment Policy (2022), supporting assessment that promotes student learning. The course is registered as an official SU short course (Competence) and follows a blended approach, combining fully online, asynchronous, self-study activities (on SUNOnline) and F2F contact sessions. Completion of the short course will require that participants spend about 50 hours on these activities.

For more information, please contact [email protected] or click here.

According to theSU Language Policy (2022:7), all learning material should be available in Englishat least, except when the module is about the language itself. If at all possible, consider making your notes and slides available in Afrikaans as well, in support of the multilingual mindset that the University would like to cultivate among students and staff. If there is a pedagogical need, include isiXhosa in your offering as well – there is language implementation funding available for translation into Afrikaans and isiXhosa. Moreover, faculties submit language plans each year. The language plan of your faculty will determine the languages in which you should conduct your lecture.

Yes, and funding is provided: The University has allocated language implementation funding to each faculty that can be used for the translation and editing of learning material. When you approach the Language Centre to translate your learning material, you will be given a quote that you can then use to request funding for language implementation. Your faculty manager should be able to help with this.

Faculties submit language plans each year. The language plan of your faculty will determine whether you need an interpreter in your classroom. If your module qualifies for interpreting according to your faculty's language implementation plan, your module will automatically be included in the interpreting timetable and you will receive an email from Juanli Theron or Christine Joubert before the beginning of the semester. 

Interpreting services are also available for modules in which it is not strictly necessary according to your faculty's language implementation plan. If you have recognised a pedagogical need for interpreting or want to create a multilingual classroom experience, contact Juanli Theron or Christine Joubert to be included in the interpreting timetable. Priority will be given to modules that qualify according to the faculty's language implementation plan. 

For more information, visit our Language Centre Interpreting Service page here.

Constructive alignment refers to aligning the outcomes, learning opportunities and assessments in your module. More formally,

“Constructive alignment is a design for teaching in which what it is intended students should learn and how they should express their learning is clearly stated before teaching takes place. Teaching is then designed to engage students in learning activities that optimise their chances of achieving those outcomes, and assessment tasks are designed to enable clear judgments as to how well those outcomes have been attained" (Biggs, 2014:5-6). 

For more information, click here.

For an existing module: Please contact your faculty administrator with the eight-digit module code to confirm how the module was registered on the SIS. 

For a new module: The NQF level would depend on (1) the qualification type (i.e.bachelor's degree, honours degree, etc.); and (2) the academic year in which the module is offered. In a bachelor's degree, the first-year modules are offered either on an NQF Level 5 (foundational knowledge) or NQF Level 6, the second-year modules on an NQF Level 6 and the third-year modules on an NQF Level 7.  

For more information, see the APQ website.

You are welcome to visit the student feedback website or contact [email protected]. 

Student feedback on the lecturing of newly appointed lecturers is only required in the second year after appointment. Feedback may be obtained during the first year following appointment with a view to using it during a follow-up consultation with CTL advisers to discuss the results and possible support. If requested by a new lecturer, this feedback is handled confidentially between the staff member and the relevant CTL staff member, provided that a second feedback opportunity occurs during the year, of which the results are sent to the line function managers as per the normal procedure.

An e-registration form must be completed by the lecturer or administrative officer within a department as formal request to the Student Feedback Office to activate the questionnaire.

Students will receive a notification e-mail via the Student Feedback system with the link to the questionnaire and can complete the forms electronically over a set period.

Upon closing of a student feedback questionnaire, a report is generated with aggregates for each question and open-ended comments from students are included in the report. The report is sent out to the lecturer and her/his line management function. The faculty dean also receives a copy of the report. It is advised that the results are used to inform and enhance teaching, learning and assessment at SU. However, there is no policy that clearly stipulates what should be done with the results. Each faculty/department has its own way of using and implementing the student feedback results. 

Student feedback can have different purposes for different users. For example, do you need the data to include in a teaching portfolio, do you experience some kind of challenge in your teaching, do you plan to change the curriculum, were there significant changes in the module/programme or perhaps in the cohort of students, and so on? 

Some of the main purposes of student feedback at SU are as follows:

• Empowering lecturers to improve their teaching.
• Contributing to the professional learning of lecturers.
• Being part of the teaching and learning process.
• Enhancing students' experience of learning and teaching.
• Ensuring the effectiveness of course design and delivery.
• Helping students to reflect upon their experiences and provide constructive inputs to the teaching and learning process.
• Identifying good practice.
• Contributing to monitoring and reviewing of quality and standards. 

At SU, we encourage that student feedback should firstly aim to empower lecturers to improve their own teaching. Only thereafter should student feedback be used for any other purpose, and then with great circumspection.

Yes, it is. The student feedback system is set up in such a way that only the students and student feedback staff have access to the questionnaires. Students complete the questionnaires anonymously, and lecturers do not have access to the system or any of the questionnaires.

The feedback reports that are generated after a questionnaire has closed are also treated with the utmost confidentiality. Only the specific lecturer for whom the feedback was activated has access to his/her report. A copy of the report is also sent to the head of department and faculty dean. 

Please consult the Policy on Plagiarism (in support of academic integrity) as well as your faculty-specific guidelines.  

How to prevent students from cheating online.​ 

You are welcome to contact the CTL advisor in your faculty to discuss any possible classroom research that you consider. Apart from their support, Finlo provides an opportunity for lecturers to innovate, to evaluate effective practices and processes, and to investigate learning and teaching problems, solutions and trends. It also provides a mechanism for the dissemination of results designed to improve the quality of learning, teaching and assessment .Any lecturer, team of lecturers or centre responsible for learning, teaching and assessment may apply for an award. 

You can find out who the CTL advisor in your faculty is here.

More information on Finlo is available here.

ATTRIBUTION: Image courtesy of Stellenbosch University