Page 40 - DUT Excellence S2 Dec21

MAGUBANE’S BOOK EXPLORES LOVEIN THE ERA OF MAGUBANE’S BOOK EXPLORES LOVEIN THE ERA OF to be also conscious of the environment and resource utilisation so so that they can help reduce the the the carbon footprint and so so in in their problem solving approaches they are expected to take sustainability aspects into account Dr Vahed then introduced DUT’s Prof Keo Motaung Director: Technology Transfer and Innovation who gave insight into creating student enterprises from undergraduate research She outlined on the meaning of of student student enterprises ways of of promoting student student enterprises She delved into her case study with undergraduate students from the the Faculty of Applied Sciences the the outcomes impacts and measuring successes Prof Motaung explained that her case study with undergraduate students in in in the faculty of Applied sciences resulted in in in establishing start-ups from the the work the the students had done Out of eight only five had managed to register their companies and continue with incubation She said that these five start-up companies were awarded seed funding and incubated incubated are being incubated incubated through innobiz DUT Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation The next speakers Dr Dr Khethiwe Dongwe (DUT) Dr Dr Bongiwe Zulu (UKZN) looked at at teaching a a a a a a research module to undergraduate students amid the COVID-19 lockdown Giving a a a a a a a a a talk on a a a a a a a a a systematic review-a useful alternative to data collection in in undergraduate research during a a a a a a pandemic was DUT’s Prof Shalini Singh She explained that this year only 17 students registered for the the postgraduate studies in their programme She conveyed some challenges that DUT students experienced which were that some of of them are very afraid of of research and they think
that that it’s this big mountain that that they have to climb Going forward Prof Singh developed a a a a booklet and outlined aspects of a a a a a a a dissertation and explained different examples particularly regarding research design and methodology covering each aspect of what makes up a a a a dissertation Another interesting topic presentation was on on the the area of group work in in in problem problem problem based learning: A problem problem problem within a a a problem? by DUT’s Prof Poovendhree Reddy After the formal presentations a a a a a panel discussion on on on cultivating student-faculty relationships in undergraduate research followed which was moderated by by Prof Rubby Dhunpath from the University of of KwaZulu-Natal During the panel session Prof Jonathan Jansen emphasised that undergraduate teaching needs to refocus and be repurposed to to to orient students into research Prof Helen Walkington shared improved understandings on the salient practices of undergraduate mentoring which is part of DUTs Learning and Teaching Strategy document and and the Research and and Innovation Blueprint Dr Jenny Shanahan provided insights into the framework of a a a a a a a a backward curriculum design to scaffold undergraduate research and teaching throughout the curriculum Giving the vote of thanks was DUT’s Dr Linda Linganiso Research Director: Research and Postgraduate Support who thanked all speakers for their innovative perspectives in in this critical focus area- encouraging undergraduate research as as well as as the the organisers of the the webinar Waheeda Peters
38 DURBAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY