February

• 1 February: Teaching and Learning
• 1 February: Business FMM
• 2 February: Graduation Planning
• 2 February: Continuing Education
• 3 February: Executive Management
• 4 February: Tender Board
• 4 February: Senate Research
• 4 February: CPUTRF Admin and Ben
• 4 February: CPUTRF Fin, Inv and Audit
• 4 February: Library Committee
• 5 February: Secretariat
• 5 February: Advancement, Marketing and Communication Forum
• 5 February: NACI
• 5 February: Applied Sciences FMM
• 8 February: Deans
• 9 February: Cooperative Education and Service Learning
• 10 February: Executive Management
• 10 February: Informatics and Design FMM
• 10 February: Engineering FMM
• 11 February: ICT
• 11 February: Institutional Ethics Review Board
• 12 February: Health and Wellness FMM
• 12 February: Applied Sciences FMM
• 12 February: Council Membership Committee
• 15 February: Student Admin Committee
• 15 February: Academic Planning
• 15 February: Business FMM
• 16 February: Exco of Senate
• 17 February: Executive Management
• 17 February: Informatics and Design Academic Board
• 18 February: Data Quality
• 18 February: Quality Assurance
• 19 February: Council Advancement, Marketing and Communication
• 19 February: Human Resources
• 20 February: Applied Sciences FMM
• 22 February: Deans
• 23 February: SSC
• 23 February: Special Exco of Senate
• 24 February: Executive Management
• 24 February: Informatics and Design FMM
• 24 February: Engineering FMM
• 24 February: Applied Sciences Faculty Board
• 25 February: CPUTR BoT
• 25 February: HDC
• 25 February: ICT Operational Workgroup
• 26 February: Health and Wellness Sciences FMM
• 26 February: Language Policy
• 26 February: Applied Sciences FMM

March

• 1 March: Business FMM
• 1 March: Physical Planning
• 1 March: Finance
• 2 March: Data Quality
• 2 March: Hotel School Management Board
• 3 March: Executive Management
• 4 March: Secretariat
• 4 March: Institutional Forum
• 5 March: Applied Sciences FMM
• 5 March: Budget Review Committee
• 8 March: Deans
• 8 March: Audit Committee
• 8 March: Exco of Council
• 9 March: SATN Board meeting
• 9 March: HDC
• 10 March: Executive Management
• 10 March: Informatics and Design FMM
• 10 March: Engineering FMM
• 11 March: Institutional Strategic Planning
• 12 March: Health and Wellness Sciences FMM
• 12 March: Applied Sciences FMM
• 12 March: Council Membership Committee
• 15 March: Business FMM
• 15 March: Senate
• 15 March: CPUTRF AGM
• 16 March: Tender Board
• 17 March: Executive Management
• 18 March: Student Admin Committee
• 18 March: CPUTRF AGM
• 19 March: JUTT/EM
• 19 March: Applied Sciences FMM
• 23 March: Transformation Forum
• 23 March: CTC
• 23 March: Exco of Senate
• 24 March: Graduation Planning
• 24 March: Executive Management
• 24 March: Business Faculty Board
• 24 March: Informatics and Design FMM
• 24 March: Engineering FMM
• 24 March: ICT Operational Workgroup
• 24 March: Health and Wellness Faculty Board
• 24 March: Applied Sciences FMM
• 24 March: Council

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

At CPUT lecturers are finding creative ways to infuse innovation in teaching and learning.

Associate Prof Lynne McMaster recently devised an innovative class project that would ensure Biotechnology students gain relevant knowledge of several complex processes, taught earlier this year in the molecular biology class.

The brief was to construct biological molecular DNA process models, which could be used as teaching aids. Students had to make use of materials that cost less than R100.

And the result – several innovative models, which not only showed students' understanding of the curriculum but their flair for art.

Several groups used wire art, while others made use of building blocks, rope, clay, cardboard and bottle-tops.

INNOVATIVE: A Biotechnology student shows-off his creative model that represents a DNA process

Student Mhlangebese Golela used his wire art skills to build a model that illustrated a transcription process.

“I grew up in Umtata and used to make wire cars. When we sat down to work out the structure, we thought of using different colour beads to represent the different processes,” he says.

Mhlangebese says the task was a challenge, but helped the class grasp the various science processes.

His classmate Gayaatoeniesah Terblanche and her group used colourful bottle tops and building blocks to represent HIV processes in the human body.

McMaster says she is impressed with the students and their innovative models.

McMaster says the models are of such a high standard that they will be used is future classes as teaching aids.

By Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Teaching and Learning enjoyed centre stage recently when the university, for the first time, honoured recipients of in-house as well as external teaching awards at one event.

Normally only the winners of the Institutional Teaching and Learning Excellence Awards would be lauded in this way, but this year the honour was extended to faculty awardees, Teaching Advancement at University (TAU) fellows and the CPUT winner of a 2017 National Excellence in Teaching and Learning Award. The awardees were given the opportunity to give a short presentation on their teaching philosophy and practice, after which they took questions from the audience.

This year’s institutional winners are Drs Muhammad Nakhooda (Applied Sciences) and Mark Marais (Health and Wellness Sciences). Siddique Motala from the Department of Civil Engineering and Surveying received the national teaching award from Council of Higher Education (CHE) and the Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association of South Africa (Heltasa). Nakhooda together with Drs Hanlie Dippenaar (Education) and Xena Cupido (Fundani CHED) are TAU fellows, while Dr Ayesha Toyer was recognised by the Faculty of Informatics and Design for her teaching skill.

According to Prof Anthony Staak, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning, good teachers are often not given the recognition they deserve. “There is a lot more we can do, but it’s heartening to see that the Department of Higher Education and Training are supporting teaching endeavours through, amongst others, staff development. Occasions like these, where teaching excellence is celebrated, also make a contribution,” says Staak, who together with Fundani CHED hosted the event.

Assoc Prof James Garraway from Fundani CHED expressed the hope that an event like this would hosted again next year and that it would eventually become a fixture on the university’s events calendar.

Written by Abigail Calata

Strengthening ties with European partners was the discussion point when CPUT recently hosted a German state minister on its Bellville campus.

Theresia Bauer, Minister for Science, Research and the Arts in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, brought with her representatives from 24 German institutions of higher learning.

“We are looking to intensify our ties with Africa through stronger partnerships with African institutions like [CPUT],” said Bauer, adding that Baden-Württemberg is proud of its status in Germany as the home of innovation.

Prof Anthony Staak, DVC: Teaching and Learning, thanked the state minister for “highlighting opportunities and expressing a willingness to collaborate”.

“Currently many partnerships [with German institutions] concentrate on student and staff exchange programmes, but there is an increasing tendency worldwide towards the development of professional master’s degrees. We can really benefit from the experience of our German partners in this regard,” Staak explained.

CPUT staff made short, but informative presentations to the German visitors. Among them was Prof René Pellissier, Director: Research Technology Innovations & Strategic Initiatives & Partnerships. In sketching an outline of CPUT, she mentioned that internationalisation was increasingly coming into focus at the university, and that in this regard “collaboration with European institutions was very important”.

CPUT was the last of the Western Cape-based tertiary institutions visited by the German delegation. Their next stop is Namibia before they head back to Germany.

Written by Abigail Calata