Assessment Criteria
Criteria 6: The integration of engagement into the core academic
functions
As per the NMMU engagement conceptual framework and typology document (click here), the types of engagement
activities in this project is primarily an outreach programme to under serviced communities. It includes partnerships in
socio-economic projects with the DoE and the private sector and has contributed to public debate and conferences.
Also, as noted earlier, the engagement activities of this project are integrated with teaching and learning and with
research. The activities are work-integrated and based (see earlier) include continuous professional development
(CPD) in the form of Short Learning Programmes (SLPs) and customised non-formal programmes. The fruits of the
research and scholarship aspects of the programme are evident from the papers published and the degrees that have
been earned. Research studies have included action research which has been both participatory and collaborative,
and empirical studies which have produced findings which contribute to current national and international debates on
a number of big-idea aspects of education, for example language and learning, arguing and reasoning, and the
generative use of IT in disadvantaged schools.