College of Business and Economics | Annual Report 2021 6 FITNESS FOR PURPOSE The CBE 2021 Annual Report reflects a counterdisruptive strategy built on the strengths of its School of Accounting, the School of Consumer Intelligence and Information Systems, the School of Economics, the School of Management, the School of Public Management, Governance and Public Policy, the School of Tourism and Hospitality and an agile academic governance force directed by the deanery. The CBE community progresses by using technology to educate more people than ever before in business and economics. We impact by generating knowledge, adding value to learning, and teaching how to be better informed, healthier, safer, how to behave better, connect, and learn faster. In so doing, we ensure that the ‘black box’ accelerated by COVID-19 serves as an enabler in the emerging new world of work. The past year saw the CBE extending its global scholarly network and concentrating investments into Greenfield projects to expand the economy and create more jobs for unemployed South Africans, of which a staggering 60% are unemployed youths. We integrate the 4IR into our teaching, learning, and research agenda to equip our graduates with a working knowledge of the future of manufacturing, geopolitics, economic trade wars, and the ability to navigate systems for growth spots that can assist with growing national wealth. In the following, while taking a closer look at how the College staff rose to the challenges faced during 2021, we also focus on how these challenges provided opportunities for rethinking traditional approaches to our purpose of generating knowledge and educating our students for the post-COVID world. TEACHING AND LEARNING Academics in the College have faced crucial challenges since 2019 with the sudden shift to online learning but have risen to the occasion. Indeed, the sudden requirement to move to online learning, while creating considerable uncertainty and stress, also focused our efforts to ensure that students completed the 2021 academic year. Several modules had, in previous years, already introduced blended learning, and staff who were not yet familiar with online learning were aided by the various institutional support structures such as CAT, ICS, ADS, the UJ Library and the Academic Planning Division. The staff made primary use of Blackboard but also drew on other common platforms such as Zoom, MS Teams, WhatsApp, and Google Classroom. In a significant boost for future accountants, the UJ CBE School of Accounting became the first tertiary education institution in South Africa to adopt Xero Learn. Says Prof Amanda Dempsey, Senior Director: SOA, “We’re proud to be the first South African University to introduce Xero to our teaching syllabus. Our vision is to educate a generation of accountants that embraces the fourth industrial revolution. The partnership is a first for education in the accounting industry and will give our graduates the necessary tools to be well skilled, agile, and ahead of the game”. The move to online learning required some adjustments in terms of pedagogies. Properly developed online learning typically caters to student-centred learning and pedagogies, such as collaborative learning, constructivism, and inquirybased learning. Hence, there was a broad shift from using Blackboard simply as a communication and repository system to active engagement with students in the learning process. Most staff adopted asynchronous modes of presentation, in video recordings, audio recordings, and written materials uploaded to Blackboard. This more student-centred approach will allow students to accommodate better their engagement with learning materials within their very full-time schedules. A particular challenge was faced by those programmes that included a work-integrated education component as a requirement for graduation. This challenge was addressed creatively by using online games, simulation components, etc., in collaboration with professional accreditation agencies, which allowed all modules in the relevant departments to be completed. The CBE, in partnership with other faculties, played an instrumental role in rewriting the UJ Policy on Work-Integrated Education, ably led by Prof Roelien Brink. The College has a strong tradition of supporting students to achieve optimally. Our concerns about student access to online learning were addressed at an institutional level by providing data and, where necessary, devices on loan. A further challenge was to ensure that the extensive tutoring programme could continue online and remain effective. The past year marked an increase of 25% in the number of senior tutors, tutors, and mentors appointed to enhance online support. WhatsApp became the preferred means for tutors to engage with their tutoring groups or individual students.
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