Attitudes of engineering staff and students to academic development classes at Tshwane University of Technology

[摘要] This report investigates the attitudes of the Engineering students and staff to academicdevelopment classes at the Tshwane University of Technology on the Soshanguvecampus. This university services students from less privileged communities. Specifically,it is interested in why students feel the need for Academic Development to continuebeyond the first year of study. This investigation will be done by means of in-depthinterviews with staff and students in the Engineering Faculty and focus group interviewswith 1st and 2nd year Engineering students who have completed the academicdevelopment programme.The responses of the Engineering lecturers are compared to those of the AcademicDevelopment Practitioners, and the 1st year Engineering students’ responses arecompared to those of the 2nd years. Data analysis is carried out using thematic contentanalysis in order to reflect on the particular ways in which the participants construct theirunderstanding of the academic development classes at the Tshwane University ofTechnology. The results of the interviews with lecturers, Academic DevelopmentPractitioners, and 1st and 2nd year Engineering students indicate that there are problemsregarding the structure, curriculum and non-accreditation of academic development at theTshwane University of Technology.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand