Renée Smit

Renée Smit worked as a senior Academic Development Lecturer (ADL) in the department of Electrical Engineering. ADLs work on the boundary between the disciplinary expertise and principled pedagogic practice, enabling academic staff to develop as reflective practitioners. Her work also involved support for curriculum development and various aspects of student development.

Reneé obtained her PhD in Engineering Education from the University of Cape Town. Her research interest is the field of higher education studies broadly, and in particular engineering professional education. Her work has two foci. She works at the intersection of professional education in engineering, the nature of engineering knowledge and the applied philosophy of engineering. The research has implications for educating engineers but also for collaborative work between practitioners in science and engineering. The other aspect of her research is closely aligned with her work as an ADL. It involves scholarly reflection on the student experience in engineering education and exploring alternatives to a deficit mind-set in relation to student diversity.