At the outset, the collaborating universities included University of Cape Town, University of the Western Cape, Stellenbosch University, UNISA and University of Johannesburg. The TDG project was first discussed by the HELTASA executive (May 2014 in Somerset West) where the HELTASA Special Interest Group coordinators gave the project their full support.

A call was circulated for abstracts on the core topics of the project, which resulted in university academics from a wider range of institutions participating in the project, by engaging in writing for publication about their learning and teaching practices.

TDG Call for proposals on Tutoring and Mentoring

SANRC Call for proposals on FYE

The proposed research and materials development projects are being conducted across universities in South Africa in partnership with the Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association of South Africa (HELTASA) focusing on the following themes, which are aligned to areas identified by DHET:

• The First Year Experience (FYE), including early warning systems [see SANRC]
• Tutoring and Mentoring in South African Higher Education
• The effectiveness of writing for publication retreats

The project culminates in the joint ICED (International Consortium for Educational Development)/HELTASA Conference in Cape Town 22-25 November 2016, and participants in the TDG project have had 11 papers accepted for conference in South Africa and two for international conferences.