Masters in Lifelong Learning and Community Development

1.0 Regulations

Departmental Special Regulations for the Master of Lifelong Learning and Community Development

Degree Programme

Subject to the provisions of General Regulations 400 and the Faculty of Education special regulation 41.0, the following Departmental Specific Regulations shall apply.

1.1 Entrance Requirements

Entrance into the Master of Lifelong Learning and Community Development Degree Programme shall be in accordance with the Faculty Special Regulation 41.1

1.2 Programme Structure

The structure of the Master in Lifelong Learning, Community Education and Development programme shall be in accordance with Faculty Special Regulation 41.5.

Course Listing

LCD640 Advanced Design of Adult Learning and Education

LCD64 Advanced philosophical Foundations of Adult Education

LCD642 Multidimensional role of adult education in Community Development

LCD643 Participatory Planning and Management Approaches

LCD 644 Multicultural Issues in Community Development Context

LCD645 Workplace learning

LCD646 Skills for Planning, Monitoring & Evaluating Community Projects

LCD647 Community Education and Skills Training

LCD648 Contextual Strategies in Human Resource Development

LCD649 Advanced Models of Community Development

LCD650 Community Empowerment Projects

LCD651 Community Participatory Approaches 

LCD652 Adult Education and Later Life Learning

LCD 653 Lifelong Learning for Sustainable Development

LCD654 Gender Issues in Community Development

LCD655 Youth Asset in Community Development

LCD 656 Practical and Analytic Skills of Topical Issues in Adult Education

LCD 657 Graduate Research Seminar

With the consent of the Head of Department and agreement with the cognate department, a maximum of two courses may be taken from another Master of Education specialisation, from another Master’s programme at the University of Botswana or from an approved Master’s programme of another university. 

Level 2

In Level Two of the Programme, students shall take the Dissertation route or the Research Essay route. 

Dissertation Route - The Dissertation Route shall be in accordance with the Faculty of Education Special Regulation 41.55. 

DLCD 761 Dissertation

DLCD 751 Research Essay plus:

Four optional courses from the Course Listing in Section 3.3 not previously taken are also required

General Aims of the Programme Med (Lifelong Learning and Community Development)

The Master’s programme is by its nature multidisciplinary, embracing areas such as Education for social responsibility, Lifelong learning, Approaches to rural development, Innovations & ICT driven community developments, Livelihood skills for economic development, Community education and social transformation, Outreach, volunteerism and community engagement, Programmes for social change and empowerment, Special interests and special groups in adult education, Ethics and professionalism in lifelong learning and community development, Indigenous knowledge systems relative community development, Participatory democracy, management techniques and policy development, educational needs of the underprivileged/vulnerable individuals and groups, planning, implementation, monitoring of programmes and projects, social and economic projects with lifelong impact, research methods, assessment techniques and evaluation in community development and lifelong learning programmes, entrepreneurship skills development and self-help projects, community pedagogies and research approaches. Furthermore, there are some courses that this programme gets from other departments, for example, Educational Foundations.

Departmental Regulations

Entry Requirements (MEd Programme)

The normal minimum entrance requirements for admission to the Masters’ programme shall be:

  • A relevant Bachelors degree in any discipline from this or another recognised university or institute of higher learning with at least a second class second division or its equivalent.
  • At least two years of appropriate professional experience.
  • At least two satisfactory professional references.
  • A satisfactory interview may be required.
  • Evidence of potential to perform successfully in a graduate level programme.
  • Candidates may be required to take and pass prerequisite courses which are deemed necessary or desirable. Such prerequisites may be required prior to admission to the Masters programme or prior to commencing a particular course or prior to the granting of the degree. Prerequisite courses will not earn credit towards degree requirements.

Programme Structure

The structure of the Master in Lifelong Learning and Community Development programme shall be in accordance with Faculty Special Regulation 41.5.

The programme is offered in two formats.

The degree by Course Work and Dissertation consists of eight taught courses (=120 credits) and a dissertation (= 120 credits), The degree by Course Work and Research Essay consists of twelve taught courses (= 180 credits) and the research essay (=60 credits). For both formats, 240 credits are required to be awarded the degree.

LEVEL ONE:

Students shall be required to take the following Core Courses, each of which carries 12 credits:

LCD640 Advanced Design of Adult Learning and Education

LCD641 Advanced philosophical Foundations of Adult Education

LCD651 Community Participatory Approaches

LCD642 Multidimensional role of adult education in Community Development

LCD 653 Lifelong Learning for Sustainable Development

LCD 644 Multicultural Issues in Community Development Contexts

LCD 657 DLCD Graduate Research Seminar

LCD649 Advanced Models of Community Development

LCD650 Community Empowerment Projects

LCD 645 Workplace learning

LCD 657 DLCD Graduate Research Seminar

LCD648 Contextual Strategies in Human Resource Development

LCD655 Youth Assets in Community Development

LCD 643 Participatory planning and management approaches

 

Plus any two of the following Optional Courses:

LCD654Gender Issues in Community Development

LCD 652Adult Education and later life learning

LCD 646Planning, Monitoring and evaluating of community projects

LCD656Practical and Analytic Skills of Topical issues in Adult Education

LCD647Community Education & Skills Training

LCD 646Skills for Planning, Monitoring and evaluating community projects

Availability of these optional courses to be confirmed in each year. With the consent of the Head of Department and agreement with the cognate department, a maximum of two courses may be taken from another MEd specialisation, from another Master’s programme at the University of Botswana, or from an approved master’s programme at another university.

LEVEL TWO:

In Level Two of the programme, students shall take the Dissertation Route or the Research Essay Route.

Dissertation Route

The Dissertation route shall be in accordance with Faculty of Education Special Regulation 41.55. DLCD 761 Dissertation

Research Essay Route

The Research Essay route shall be in accordance with Faculty of Education Special Regulation 41.56.

DLCD 751 Research Essay plus four Optional Courses from the list above not previously taken.

REGULATIONS FOR THE MPHIL/PHD (LIFELONG LEARNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT)

Regulations

Subject to the provisions of General Regulations 400 and the Faculty of Education special regulation 41.0, the following Departmental Specific Regulations shall apply.

Entry Requirements (M.Phil/PhD Programme)

The normal entrance requirements for admission to the M.Phil/PhD programme shall be:

  • A Bachelor’s degree in any field and a Masters degree in Adult Education/Community Development specialisation or related field.

Or:

  • A B.Ed (Adult Education) or single major or honours degree in a related field, with a First or Upper Second Class from a university or equivalent institution of higher learning recognised by Senate.

For direct entry into the PhD Programme applicants should have obtained:

  • An M.Phil in Adult Education/Community Development or related field.

Or:

  • A Bachelor’s degree in any field and a Master’s degree in Adult Education/Community Development specialisation or related field with a weighted course average of 65% and a satisfactory dissertation from a university or equivalent institution of higher learning.

Those entering the programme without any qualification in Adult Education and related programmes are required to take adult education foundation courses and research courses.

PROGRAMME STRUCTURE

The MPhil/PhD degrees are offered on both full-time and part-time bases. In the case of the PhD programme candidates will register initially (and for one academic year) for the MPhil degree. During this period the candidates shall be expected to fulfil the requirements as stipulated in the general regulations for promotion to the PhD candidacy(Regulations 50.62 and 50.6.3) for promotion to the PhD candidature, in which case the MPhil shall convert into the first year of the PhD degree. Failure to meet the requirements for transfer to the PhD program shall lead to termination of the student’s candidature. The duration of the programme shall be governed by the general regulations 50.5.1 to 50.5.3.

The M.Phil and PhD Degree is carried out through supervised research, and in accordance with Academic General Regulations 500.

Progression Transfer from M.Phil to PhD shall be in accordance with Academic General Regulations 50.43.1 and 50.43.2

Award of the M.Phil and PhD shall be in accordance with Academic General Regulations 50.70.

Minimum standards of achievement for the award of the qualification

Candidates must meet the minimum standards to be awarded the qualification.

Certification

Candidates meeting prescribed requirements will be awarded the qualification in accordance with standards prescribed for the award of the qualification and applicable policies. Candidates who do not meet the prescribed minimum standards may, where applicable, be considered for appropriate exit awards in accordance with applicable policies.

General Aims of the Programme M.Phil/PhD (Lifelong Learning and Community Development) - This programme is aimed at imparting high skill orders for driving improvement in all sectors of the economy, especially in community education, lifelong learning, community development, extension work, adult basic education and entrepreneurship. Botswana like all other countries needs highly skilled workforce for a more diversified, knowledge-based economy hence DLCD is positioned to contribute in this respect. As an integral part of programmes offered in the Department of Community Education and Lifelong Learning, students doing this programme are expected to do research exploring issues/areas like conducting needs and risk assessment, embedding lifelong learning and resilience in educational policies, developing policy drivers for resilience education and communities, investment in adult education, community-based research, community pedagogies, community education as a model for transformation and many more related community education and lifelong learning interests. Full time students are expected to complete their Masters and MPhil programmes within 6 semesters and their PhD programme within 8 semesters. Part-time students are expected to complete the same programmes within 12 and 16 semesters respectively.

ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES, REQUIREMENTS AND WEIGHTINGS

All the assessments, formative and summative, leading/contributing to the award of credits or a qualification should be based on learning outcomes and/or sub-outcomes.

Assessment in Community Education and Lifelong Learning shall include both formative and summative.

Formative assessment

In line with General Regulation 00.81, courses in this program will have continuous assessment. This means the Formative assessment or continuous assessment contributing towards the award of credits should be based on course outcomes. Formative assessment comprises of CA for courses based on among other things extended assignments including written assignments, written tests, in-class practical exercises, reflective essays, projects, and presentations. The CA of a course normally constitutes 50% of the final assessment unless otherwise required by the approach of the course.

Summative assessment

Mainstream assessment

General regulation 00.82 on final examinations shall guide summative assessments. Candidates may be assessed through different modalities including (but not limited to) written examinations, research projects and field related practicalities.

All summative practical assessments must, as far as possible, be conducted in real work settings.

M.Phil and PhD assessment

The M.Phil and PhD Degree is carried out through supervised research, and in accordance with Academic General Regulations 500.including (i) oral examination of the research proposal to proceed from M.Phil to PhD. (ii) External examination of the PhD dissertation and subsequent oral defense of the dissertation

MODERATION

General regulation 00.831 that relates to quality assurance holds that Senate shall determine the quality assurance of programmes at the University. In line with the University policies and regulations, moderation at graduate level shall include the following;

  • Oral presentation of their research proposal at the department level.
  • Graduate research workshops
  • Supervising committee for M Phill/Phd

Documentation

All necessary documents including: qualification document, assessment instruments and Assessment criteria/rubrics should be available.

Pre-assessment Moderation

Before administering any assessments that contribute towards the award of credits, moderation must take place. This entails ensuring that:

  • the assessment strategy to be used is appropriate for the learning outcome to be assessed,
  • the assessment instrument adequately captures the learning outcomes against which assessment is to be carried out,
  • the assessment tasks in both formative and summative assessment enable the assessor to collect sufficient evidence in line with relevant exit level descriptors.
  • the cover page contains all necessary information
  • the assessment instrument layout is appropriate and that wording of assessment tasks or questions is in line with the exit level descriptors for knowledge, skills and competencies.
  • Supervisor and supervisee draw a plan for the research process
  • Ensure that timelines are met
  • Feedback mechanisms are agreed upon and monitored
  • Mutual approval of final product for presentation to the Departmental Board

Post-assessment Moderation

Moderators must verify that the assessment has been done in compliance with assessment principles. This should include checking and verifying that:

  • all scripts have been assessed using the same criteria
  • assessment judgments and decisions are consistent
  • calculation of marks has been done correctly
  • necessary records and reports have been completed
  • For proposals, ensure that all necessary corrections are made and approved by supervisors/ committee/internal moderator.

Sampling Procedure for Moderation

All graduate work shall be internally moderated.

Moderation reports

A moderation report shall capture, but not limited to the following:

  • observations about the performance of candidates
  • consistency of assessment judgments and decisions
  • assessment instruments and alignment to learning outcomes
  • recommendations for improvement

In pursuit of academic excellence