Liezel Frick

Conceptualizing and encouraging critical creativity in doctoral education

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical framework for conceptualizing critical and creative thinking within doctoral study and to illuminate the connecting and diverging points between the two phenomena in a way that clarifies their developmental relationships.Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual framework is founded in a synthesized understanding of both new and established theories on critical and creative thinking, and worked out through a reconstruction and expanded re‐conceptualization of the Four C Model of Creativity.Findings – The results show that responsible scholars are moved by both critical and creative thinking, which is conceptualized as critical creativity. The authors introduce the ECC‐model which illustrates how different Expressions of Critical Creativity (CC) is manifested in scholarship: Experiential CC (in cognition), Experimental CC (in action), Enunciated CC (in speech), and Eulogized CC (in recognition). Whereas Experiential, Experimental and Enunci...

Integrating assessment and Recognition of Prior Learning in South African higher education: a university case study

The article reports on the integration of assessment and recognition of prior learning (ARPL) at postgraduate level in one South African university. An analysis of interviews with administrators, lecturers and students who have been involved in the ARPL process provides insight into the implementation practices that accompany the formal introduction of ARPL into the institution. The factors necessary to support ARPL policy implementation, the scope of assessment procedures and the facilitation of ARPL in a learner-centred manner are discussed as focal areas for quality assurance in ARPL integration.

Exploring the educational needs of adult learners: A study of three universities in Ghana:

Adult learners have unique educational needs that require attention from Higher Education Institutions, facilitators and industry. While several theories and policies have been developed to address the bourgeoning educational challenges confronting adult learners in Higher Education Institutions, not much has been achieved in the wake of growing knowledge and skills demands of employers. Using a mixed method approach, a survey (n = 200) and focus group discussions (n = 27) were conducted among adult learners who were also professionals studying engineering programmes in three diverse universities in Ghana. Additionally, interviews were conducted with representatives from industry and from the three engineering departments in the three universities. The study revealed that while the development of separate programmes for adult learners in Higher Education Institutions is not plausible in meeting the educational needs of adult learners, a different pedagogy could be used in addressing the unique knowledge and skills needs of adult learners. We present the implications of our study in relation to theory, practice and further research.

Death of the PhD: when industry partners determine doctoral outcomes

I wanted to develop my own research questions and develop my own focus. I wanted the academic freedom to develop my own research agenda. In Industry you typically answer narrow questions – more a case of immediate application, commercially viable research. In the university you have the possibility of playing with purpose.... The university provides the space for that. (SARU3, in Frick, McKenna, Albertyn, Brodin, & Claesso, 2016)

Conceptualising risk in doctoral education: Navigating boundary tensions

CITATION: Frick, L., Albertyn, R. & Bitzer, E. 2014. Conceptualising Risk in Doctoral Education: Navigating Boundary Tensions, in E. Bitzer (eds.). et al. Pushing Boundaries in Postgraduate Supervision. Stellenbosch: SUN PRESS. 53-66. doi:10.18820/9781920689162/05.

Pushing Boundaries in Postgraduate Supervision

Background and context In keeping with global trends, there is a national imperative in the terrain of higher education in South Africa to increase the percentage of university students studying at the postgraduate level (RSA DHET 2012). With this comes mounting pressure to increase the throughput rates of postgraduate students in the country’s universities for economic, social and political reasons, and critically in order to maintain and further what has become known as the ‘knowledge project’. However, as a result of the inequities of the apartheid era, the higher education arena is faced with a complex and diverse student population (Quinn 2012) and ever-increasing student numbers (Snowball & Sayigh 2007) as it attempts to grapple with issues of epistemological access, redress and quality. To date, there is evidence to suggest that our higher education system is failing the majority of students, at both the undergraduate and the postgraduate levels (Letseka & Maile 2008; Scott, Yeld & Hendry 2007). Higher education in South Africa, therefore, must be understood to speak to both the ‘knowledge project’ and the issue of social justice, as without a sustained emphasis on the latter, the country will have failed in its mandate to engage in equal and equitable transformation of the higher education system.IntroductIon: AcAdemIc mobIlIty While the concept of the wandering scholar is not new, the speed and frequency of academic mobility have rapidly gained momentum in the 21st century (Kim 2009). Linked to the notion of the ‘borderless’ university (Cunningham et al. 1998; Hearn 2011; Watanabe 2011), scholars today expect to study and work in more than one country, to present their research at international conferences, and to collaborate with colleagues from all around the world. The result is a multicultural academic workforce in many universities for whom boundaries between national cultures are increasingly being erased and where all members require high levels of intercultural competence.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) of lecturers in the natural sciences: Enhancing the quality of learning

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is often seen as a miracle cure to ensure competence, accountability, professionalism and lifelong learning in professions. However, critics warn that unless the quality of the learning that takes place in CPD can be ensured, it will not live up to expectations. This article focuses on six principles that can serve to enhance the quality of learning in CPD of lecturers in the natural sciences. It presents CPD as a viable option to promote professional excellence. A study amongst lecturers in the natural sciences at the University of Stellenbosch is used to underscore the principles presented in this article.

Next Gen PhD: a guide to career paths in science

The employability of PhD graduates is increasingly an area of concern for students, supervisors, university administrators and government policy makers (Cuthbert & Molla, 2015; Golovushkina &Milligan, 2012; Jackson &Michelson, 2015; Lean, 2012; Li, 2013; O’Carroll, Purser, Wislocka, Lucey, & McGuinness, 2012; Platow, 2012). Literature on the topic suggests that doctoral candidates – particularly in the sciences – are increasingly faced with a shrinking academic job market (specifically in terms of tenured or permanent positions). As such, the socalled alternative employment options for PhD graduates (outside of academe) are becoming the norm; provided these graduates can transfer both their generic and specialised research skills to a wider knowledge production community. Becoming a scientist demands being socialized into, becoming part of and collaborating within a knowledge production community (Hamui & Canales, 2014). Being a scientist usually demands high-level training in the form of a PhD and active engagement in the knowledge production process (for example, through publication in both scientific and non-scientific media, and making innovation practical through the registration of patents). Thus, the last phases of the PhD and the early career years thereafter determine whether or not graduates do become practising scientists or not (Basely, 2003; Delamont, Atkinson, & Parry, 2005; Laudel & Gläser, 2008), regardless of who their employers are. And though the PhD often forms an essential component of this process, Sinche asserts:

Research dissemination and PhD thesis format at a South African university: The impact of policy on practice

ABSTRACT The dissemination of doctoral research is a crucial ethical, financial and status issue for universities worldwide. The publication based thesis (PBT) may encourage dissemination, but is still in definitional flux at many institutions, particularly in South Africa, especially regarding how many articles are required and the publication status of these articles. We analysed and compared the formats and publication rates of 1128 of the 1141 doctoral theses published at a South African research intensive university over a 7 year period (2008–2014). We present a theoretical frame that considers publication as independent of format. Unpublished monographs account for 41.22% and published PBT for 26.86% of the sample. Monographs where material has been published and PBT with no publications, account for 20.39% and 11.52% of the sample respectively. The article argues that these unique findings are a result of institutional policy directives aimed at addressing the specific social environment of the country.

The post-literacy perceptions of newly literate adult learners at a rural community learning centre

Literature suggests that post-literacy (PL) is a seriously under-researched field in most African countries including South Africa. Various authors emphasise the importance of PL to prevent relapsing into illiteracy, the applicability of PL in enhancing everyday private and occupational life, as well as the potential contribution of PL to poverty reduction, social, economic and political development and in sustaining communities. However, PL is often not viewed as a government priority. Consequently a gap exists between what PL programmes offer, and what the newly literate adults may need. The aim of this study was to identify the PL perceptions of newly literate adults in a PL programme at a Community Learning Centre in the Western Cape of South Africa. A small scale study collected qualitative data through ten semi-structured interviews. The results indicate that a learner-centred PL programme may be required which focuses mainly on non-formal and vocational programmes for developing individual literacy and sustaining the community and its economic development.