MATLAB course equips 950+ first-years with coding skills, feedback, and collaboration — boosting equity, confidence, and employability.
CLIENT
The University of the Witwatersrand
sector
Education
Read time
5 Min
Overview
The Challenge
The Solution
The Results
The numbers
The Challenge
First-year engineering students at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) come from diverse backgrounds, often with varying levels of computing experience and access to technology. Many lacked the hardware needed to run resource-intensive software, and traditional teaching methods made it difficult to provide individualized feedback to large classes of nearly 1,000 students.
Professor Rodney Genga wanted to ensure that these barriers did not limit students’ success. The goal was to design an inclusive, accessible course that would equip students with essential programming skills while fostering collaboration, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The Solution
Working with Opti-Num Solutions and using Wits’ Campus-Wide License for MATLAB® and Simulink®, Prof Genga developed the Engineering Design 1B course.
Key elements included:
MATLAB Online™ Access: Enabled students to run MATLAB in a web browser from any device, eliminating hardware limitations.
Self-Paced Learning: Students accessed MATLAB’s online training courses for additional practice and worked directly in live scripts for coding, debugging, and problem-solving.
MATLAB Grader™: Provided instant, guided feedback on assignments, reducing consultation demands and allowing students to correct misunderstandings immediately.
Teaching Assistant Training: Wits, MathWorks, and Opti-Num trained assistants to deliver the course in line with the Academic Development Unit guidelines.
LMS Integration: The course, integrated into Wits’ Ulwazi (Canvas) system, gave students seamless access to tools, tutorials, and group work resources.
Open Sharing: Using the Common Cartridge format, the course can be imported into other institutions’ LMS platforms, with content hosted on File Exchange and GitHub® for collaboration and improvement.
The Outcome
Student Impact: In its first run, served 950+ first-year engineering students, significantly improving computational skills, collaboration, and confidence.
Scalability: The course structure and materials are freely available, enabling adoption and adaptation by other institutions worldwide.
Equity & Inclusion: Removed technology access barriers, creating a more equitable learning environment.
Efficiency in Teaching: Reduced faculty workload with automated feedback and analytics, enabling targeted teaching interventions.
Future Growth: Inspired consideration of similar programs for other faculties and advanced-year students at Wits.
Engineering Students at the University of the Witwatersrand
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