Browsing by Author "Wolff, Karin"

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    Curriculum reform in South Africa: more time for what?
    (2016) Shay, Suellen; Wolff, Karin; Clarence-Fincham, Jennifer
    In 2013 the Council on Higher Education (CHE) released a proposal for the reform of South Africa’s undergraduate degree arguing that all current 3-year degrees and diplomas, as well as 4-year Bachelor’s degrees be extended by one year with an additional 120 credits. This paper argues that the structure proposed provides the conditions for a different kind of curriculum that enables epistemic access and development. The paper firstly offers a set of theoretical tools for conceptualising this enabling curriculum structure. Secondly, drawing on the CHE exemplars, the paper makes explicit the general curriculum reform principles that underpin the enabling structure. Finally, the paper describes how these reform principles translate into qualification-specific curriculum models which enable epistemic access and development. This research is an important contribution to the next phase of curriculum reform in South Africa, what we refer to as a ‘new generation’ of extended curricula.
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    Integrating multidisciplinary engineering knowledge
    (Taylor & Francis, 2012) Wolff, Karin; Luckett, Kathy
    In order to design two distinct engineering qualification levels for an existing University of Technology programme, empirical evidence based on the current diploma is necessary to illuminate the nature of and the relationship between the contextual and conceptual elements underpinning a multidisciplinary engineering curriculum. The increasing focus on contextual application could result in decreasing opportunities to develop the conceptual disciplinary grasp required for a dynamic, emerging region at the forefront of technological innovation. Using the theoretical tools of Bernstein and Maton to analyse final year student practice, the research addresses the question of how multidisciplinary knowledge is integrated by students, and what this reveals about the nature of such knowledge. The paper presents a conceptualisation of multidisciplinary knowledge integration practices as a dynamic process along two axes simultaneously, shifting between different forms and levels of conceptual and contextual knowledge.
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    Integrating multidisciplinary engineering knowledge in a final year technical university diploma programme : an analysis of student praxis
    (2011) Wolff, Karin; Luckett, Kathy
    In order to determine two distinct engineering qualification levels for an existing University of Technology (UoT) programme, empirical evidence based on the current diploma is necessary to inform decisions as to qualification-appropriate curriculum design. This evidence needs to shed light on the nature of and the relationship between the contextual and conceptual elements underpinning a multidisciplinary engineering curriculum.