Sydney theory the basis of new engineering faculty in South Africa

The curriculum of an Engineering Faculty in South Africa is being designed using a theory whose centre is the Faculty of Arts and Social Science. Dr Karin Wolff, an associate member of the LCT Centre for Knowledge-Building in FASS, has been appointed by Stadio Multiversity, a new private university in South Africa with campuses spread across the country, and charged with creating a new Engineering Faculty by 2021. Dr Wolff has already begun research-informed design of an innovative learning environment and relevant suite of engineering qualifications using Legitimation Code Theory or ‘LCT’. This sociological approach to understanding the organising principles of knowledge practice is widely used to explore education, from pre-school to university, across the disciplinary map, from physics to ballet. Its home is the ‘LCT Centre’, in the School of Social and Political Sciences of FASS. Dr Wolff was taught by the Centre’s Director, Professor Karl Maton, and is closely liaising with Centre members to shape the new faculty. Specifically, Dr Wolff and her team are using a concept called the ‘epistemic plane’ to analyse what kinds of knowledge students need to learn and how best to support them as they move between different kinds of engineering knowledge. Moreover, LCT will support students to move between theoretical ideas and applications of engineering in diverse economic, social and technical landscapes across southern Africa and beyond. Indeed, all aspects of the curriculum as well as staff development programs are will be informed by LCT ideas. Dr Wolff will be visiting the LCT Centre during 28–30 November to discuss and develop this exciting project.