Talloires Network Africa Faculty Support Grant awarded to UP
Talloires Network Africa Faculty Support Grant awarded to UP scholar
Dr Martina Jordaan, from the Department of Informatics at the University of Pretoria (UP), was one of the winners of a Talloires Network Africa Faculty Support Grant at the end of 2015. The programme awards support grants of US $10 000 each to ten individuals working in community-engaged teaching, research and scholarship at universities in Africa.
Students enrolled for the module will undertake a number of projects in partnership with the Community Centre this year, of which the main projects include computer training for community members and designing and updating the Centre’s website. The support grant has made possible the addition of a number of new projects, including the installation of an irrigation system for the vegetable gardens at the Centre. Updates on the project will be posted on the Talloires Network online community of practice at TNConnects.net.
The JCP Community-based Project module was introduced by the Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology in 2005 as a compulsory module for all undergraduate students. The module offers students an opportunity to learn through experience and requires them to accomplish a number of tasks that meet genuine human needs. The module has won numerous awards since its inception, including a Marketing Advancement and Communication in Education (MACE) Excellence Award in the category: Integrated campaigns/projects, and in the subcategory: Social responsibility – Citizenship Development in 2014; and the University of Pretoria: Community Engagement Award in 2015. In 2014, one of the JCP student groups was also a finalist in the American Society for Engineering Education Community Engagement Division Film Festival for a video of their project on YouTube.
– Author Ansa Heyl
Source: University of Pretoria