Overview

The PGDip (HE) (Course code HXA07) has been designed to enhance undergraduate and postgraduate student success through a formal professional learning qualification for academic staff. It aims to provide academics with a relevant tertiary teaching qualification in line with international trends.

The qualification is designed to foster a scholarly and professional approach to university teaching, pedagogical approaches, assessment, and curriculum development and design. It is well placed to address student learning in a changing university environment.

The PGDip (HE) is offered in contact mode, part-time over two years, with classes held during university terms. Classes are offered in the late afternoon one day a week. The Diploma is also offered as a distance (online) qualification - for more information please visit /course-finder/postgraduate/humanities/pgdip-higher-education-online/  

Specific aims are to assist academics to:

• Strengthen their roles in teaching, assessment, curriculum development and course design.
• Develop a theoretical base for understanding and improving their practices as educators.
• Deepen engagement with the university as a rapidly changing site of research and scholarship.

 If you want to:

• Enhance your teaching;
• Consider alternate ways of assessing student learning;
• Change your curriculum or course design;
• Engage in the scholarship of learning and teaching;
• Use technologies to actively engage students;
• Learn  with others in a supportive, collegial environment;

Then you should consider registering for the PGDip (HE)

Curriculum

The PGDip (HE) is a formal 120-credit qualification at HEQSF level 8 (the same level as an Honours degree), consisting of four 30-credit courses:

• Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (core course)
• Curriculum Design and Development in Higher Education (core course)
• Assessment in Higher Education (core course)
• New Directions in Higher Education: research-based project or choice of suitable elective (such as the accredited Postgraduate Supervision Course).

Course assessment will be based on work-based portfolios, reflection and application tasks.

Entry Requirements

Who should apply

Higher Education academic staff members who are graduates in any field, who hold at least a three or four-year bachelor’s degree, and who have concurrent or previous relevant teaching experience, are welcome to apply.

Please note that the Entry Requirements are a guide. Meeting these requirements does not guarantee a place. Final selection is made subject to the availability of places, academic results and other entry requirements where applicable.

Wits staff who would like bursary support should apply online through Wits Human Resources. Applicants from other universities should seek information from their own HR departments.

Please apply online and include:

• R200 application fee
• Your CV
• A letter of motivation
• Certified copies of academic records and degree certificates (if you have studied at Wits you do not have to submit qualifications)
• SAQA certificate for international qualifications

Course Application Process

Please make sure you apply for the correct programme: for the PGDip (HE) Contact offering the programme code is HXA07.

• Applications are handled centrally by the ×ãÇò¾º²ÊappÅÅÃû Enrolment Centre (SEnC). Once your application is complete in terms of requested documentation, your application will be referred to the Wits School of Education for assessment.  Click here to see an overview of the Wits applications process. Refer to the Wits postgraduate online application guide for detailed guidelines
• Please apply online using course code HXA07. Upload your supporting documents at the time of application, or via the Self Service Portal.
• Applicants can monitor the progress of their applications via the Self Service Portal.

If you have not received the result of your application after 6-8 weeks, please contact Cathrine.Monyane@wits.ac.za and Uwe.Hermann@wits.ac.za

International students, please check this section.

For more information, contact the ×ãÇò¾º²ÊappÅÅÃû Call Centre +27 (0)11 717 1888, or log a query at www.wits.ac.za/askwits

University Fees and Funding

Click here to see the current average tuition fees. The Fees site also provides information about the payment of fees and closing dates for fees payments. Once you have applied you will be able to access the fees estimator on the student self-service portal.

For information about postgraduate funding opportunities, including the postgraduate merit award, click here. The University's Postgraduate Funding portal is a database of scholarships, bursaries and other funding opportunities available to Wits postgraduate students. Please also check your School website for bursary opportunities. NRF bursaries: The National Research Foundation (NRF) offers a wide range of opportunities in terms of bursaries and fellowships to students pursuing postgraduate studies.