Photo: Front row from left: Rhode Rosita Coordinator: Career Development, Prof. Ntsoaki Malebo, Senior Director: Centre for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, Ms Mphumela Selina, Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator. Back row from left: Mr Thabang Mkhize, Coordinator: Writing Centre, Dr Xolani Khohliso Deputy Director: Curriculum and Academic Staff Development, Dr Henri Jacobs, Director: Work Integrated Learning and Industry Liaison, Prof. Victor Kordes, Technical Assistance Missions Expert: KTH-Sweden, Dr Zenzile Khetsha, Acting Assistant Dean: Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences.

The CUT Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT) hosted a workshop on developing a Competence-Based Assessment and Evaluation tool to standardise the approaches used to assess and evaluate all faculties' institutional graduate attributes competencies.

CUT is among the institutions that successfully developed Competency Based Learning (CBL) strategies through the Higher Education Reform Experts South Africa (HERESA) Project. As an opportunity to introduce these strategies, the institution was fully funded through the Technical Assistance Missions (TAMs) Programme funded by Technological Higher Education Network South Africa (THENSA). Prof. Victor Kordes, TAM’s expert from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, was invited to technically assist the institution with the finalisation of the CUT-Competency Based Teaching and Learning (CBTL) strategy, developing an implementation plan to share the strategy institutionally and developing tools to measure the impact and a risk mitigating strategy.

Assistant Dean: Teaching and Learning and faculty representatives participated in the workshop to learn about Competency Based Teaching and Learning, in which the acquired knowledge will be shared with different levels within faculties through engaging programmes that will encourage the adoption of the strategies. Furthermore, champions were identified in respective departments to execute the strategies in line with the current Learner-Centred Teaching and Learning and Outcome Based Education System by providing an assessment and evaluation tool to assess competence aligned to the graduate attributes.

In his presentation, Dr Zenzile Khetsha said the workshop will benefit the Teaching and Learning division, primarily focusing on the four faculties within the institution. He further stated that the strategy supports CUT's vision and strategic objective of developing holistic entrepreneurial, work-ready graduates and addresses social justice within Teaching and Learning. “The use of Competency Based Learning in line with the prescribed Learner-Centred Teaching and Learning as well as Outcome Based Education System will address social justice by assessing and evaluating the competencies meaningfully aligned to the graduate attributes.”