Abstract:

The higher education landscape has undergone radical and unprecedented changes over the last three or so decades. Factors such as rising stakeholder participation and expectations, massification and internationalisation complexities have put pressure on universities around the world to change. In addition, pressure to function under volatile financial and political circumstances such as the #feesmustfall and #curriculumdecolonisation movements which have put South Africa under the spotlight, as well as amplified governing all put a strain on the conservative traditional university system. This system was initially designed for elitist and homogeneous manageable student numbers. In comparison with cohorts from the elitist homogeneous era, 21st century learners have become dramatically varied in terms of age, socio-economic statuses, gender, race, and ethnicity. To complicate matters even further, these learners enter higher education with very different expectations and assumptions about their experience and they are very vocal about it which places universities under even further pressure to adapt faster to integrate all students socially and academically. Contrary to earlier generations as an example, 21st century learners are active learners as opposed to being spectators. They naturally assume the role of co-creators in information creation and new designs. Personalization, participation and productivity are therefore key in the basic pedagogical principles suited for 21st century instruction.

This longitudinal study investigates how first year students’ concerns raised in their responses to the annual first year initial experience surveys at a university mirrors the needs of the 21st century era. Findings will be used to inform planning, policy formation and decision making in the university. Data used in this study comprised of responses from 11 615 first year students collected over a three year period (2014, 2015 and 2017). Multiple regression analysis was done for the quantitative part and content analysis for the qualitative part.

Findings from this study indicate that the university’s teaching and learning strategy has to change in line with 21st century students’ ways whose main characteristic is being comfortable with the digital world. These students also bring with them a completely different culture of networking and communicating in a digitally networked community. This means that traditional teaching and learning methodologies have to change to a more technologically inclined approach. There is also a need for exploration and utilisation of communication strategies that make use of a myriad of social media platforms as students respond better to such. This has huge implications for the University as personnel, who in most cases come from a different era of teaching and learning with a different philosophy and ideology about education and whom technology takes them out of their comfort zones. The University is faced with the challenge of having to recognize the need for a change in approaches to learning and teaching in a rapidly changing society and, at the same time, be prepared to unlearn in order to relearn the new approaches to teaching and learning as well as respond to a much more diverse student population of the 21st century.

Keywords:

21st century learners, diversity, technology in higher education.