"For students to really develop competencies, there's two dimensions they need to develop: firstly, the competence, but they also need to develop the confidence to display that competence and we feel that reflection helps them think about that what they've achieved, whether they've developed the competence and, in that sense, it helps them to develop the confidence." Janus van As joins Dr Paula Barnard-Ashton in the Coffee Grab studio to talk about a framework for deep and meaningful learning that they are using in the Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care. Meet Janus van As

From the first graduating class of clinical associates at Wits to the first South African trained head of division, Aviwe Mgobozi is in studio with our #Coffeegrab podcast host Dr. Paula Barnard-Ashton to explain what it means to be a clinical associate and how we are integrating educational technology into the clinical associates programme at Wits. Her leadership philosophy is, "Every single day I wake up and it's about what am I learning today? And I'm also taking others with me, so if there's something that I learn, I would share it with the team. I think that's important for leadership to be able to not hog information to yourself but share it, so others are also growing. To have a growth mindset is important so that you can spread your wings in different directions." Meet Aviwe Mgobozi

Shirra Moch's passion for working with health professionals, as they strive to become health science educators, is clear as she discusses her journey with our host Dr Paula Barnard-Ashton, "The concept of education has its own body of knowledge and its own theories and skills, and in order to be a health sciences teacher that can really encourage students to learn, you do have to know something about how it is that students learn." In this episode Shirra Moch, acting head of the Centre for Health Science Education, shares how her early adoption of a blended learning approach in her teaching triggered her shift towards helping lecturers become better teachers, the unique purpose of the postgraduate programmes offered in the CHSE, the research into how students learn, and what lies ahead. Shirra Moch on Research Gate

"Blended learning has enabled us to have a pulse on the students well-being, and their comprehension of and engagement with the learning material. Our Ukuthula android app offers students coping strategies and emotional well-being content and they can also find academic support content; it's really trying to move with them because they're all about apps". A coffee grab with Dr Paula Barnard-Ashton and Azola Ralo, academic advisor and blended learning practitioner in the Office of Student Success, that will warm you up in this chilly weather. Listen in as they discuss how blended learning has created a paradigm shift in health professions education, with lecturers taking into account the socioeconomic factors and how adjusting to university life impacts students' coping and resilience while striving to achieve their qualifications and using technology and apps to help them get there. Check out Azola Ralo on LinkedIn

"It changes the way that you deliver material because you are a little bit more mindful. It sort of like makes it less abstract. What are the students doing? What am I expecting them to do? What resources do they need? So it adds a little bit of intentionality behind how you deliver.", says Dr Gillian Mahumane as she reflects on her experience of using the 21st century learning design framework in her teaching in the Division of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology. In this episode she tells Dr Paula Barnard-Ashton about how her teaching has change, shares examples of learning activities and describes her observations of shifts in her students' learning processes. More about Dr Gillian Mahumane

"If you think about course design, and design is one of the big buzzwords in the world today, it's part of being creative and innovative. You design for a purpose and for your students." Professor Diane Grayson suggests that you ask yourself, "in what way will this course enrich the lives of my students to become graduates, who become contributing members of society?". Take a coffee grab to listen to Dr Paula Barnard-Ashton and Professor Diane Grayson as they discuss how intentional course design and authentic assessment in blended learning are essential to promoting learning that is authentic and has real-world impact; that focuses less on marks and more on the joy of learning. #coffeegrab #podcast #healthprofessionseducation #blendedlearning

“My vision would be an entire simulation hospital, that will allow our graduates to be confident, competent and motivated about their profession and their value-add to the healthcare system.”, says Faculty of Health Sciences simulation laboratory co-ordinator, Nabeela Sujee. In this episode she explains the role of simulation to our host, Dr Paula Barnard-Ashton, and highlights the opportunities for interprofessional education, the art to designing simulation scenarios and the current advances in simulation-based education for health professions programmes. The Simulation Laboratory

As a 1st year occupational therapy student in 2020, who had not taken physics as a matric subject, Jenna Hammond tells Dr Paula Barnard-Ashton how she was advised by a student psychologist to drop out. She is now in 4th year, and in this episode she shares her and her class mates' coping strategies, the value of blended learning and how she was able to maintain her dual citizenship conditions by starting 4th year overseas without skipping a beat of her curriculum. Jenna also lets lecturers know what she thinks works best for blended learning with some great examples of how some lecturers do it! This year the Wits occupational therapy department celebrates their 80th anniversary with a symposium: "Occupational Therapy Education: Critical discourses on its past, present and future". Wits Occupational Therapy 80th Anniversary Symposium

As of now, the Wits led partnership between Airports Company South Africa and TENET (Tertiary Education and Research Network of South Africa) has ensured Eduroam rollout to our airports, but we won't stop there!, says Wits CIO, Dr Stanley Mpofu, next we are aiming at large shopping malls, community centers and public libraries. In this episode he also chats to our host Dr Paula Barnard-Ashton about plans to ensure Wits network access at the hospitals hosting our students and Wits strategy towards cloud-based software solutions. Dr Stanley Mpofu on LinkedIn

Professor Diane Grayson highlights that out of the pandemic "we are thinking differently about our teaching, having a greater sense of intentionality and more imagination. We're a research intensive university - coming up with new knowledge, innovative ideas is what we're all about. So, it's really important that we carry that through into our teaching". She is the Senior Director: Academic Affairs at Wits University and Personal Professor (Physics) and she recently took some time for a #CoffeeGrab with our host Dr Paula Barnard-Ashton. In this episode they discuss what Wits has learnt about blended learning, strategic directions towards flexible learning and micro-credentials, and how we can support students as active participants in their learning. Meet Prof Grayson