Conference Presentations

Dr. Alten du Plessis - Complete Record: 98 Presentations (1994-2025)

Complete Conference Presentations (1994-2025)

2025

Predicting success from day one: How first-year flourishing profiles shape engineering student outcomes across demographic lines

Inaugural Wellbeing and Flourishing Conference, University of Cape Town. V&A Waterfront Conference, 9 September 2025.

FlourishIQ: An intelligent AI-powered platform for personalised positive psychology interventions in higher education

Inaugural Wellbeing and Flourishing Conference, University of Cape Town. V&A Waterfront Conference, 9 September 2025.

Enhancing Student Success Through Well-being: Impact of the Grow a Gritty HERO's Mindset Course

17th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies, 30 June-2 July, 2025, Palma, Spain.

Early Wellbeing Predictors of Engineering Students Success

2025 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Conference, Stellenbosch University, Technopark Protea Hotel, Stellenbosch, 3-4 November 2025. Shortlisted Best Research Paper

The Diligence Dividend in Engineering Education

2025 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Conference, Stellenbosch University, Technopark Protea Hotel, Stellenbosch, 3-4 November 2025. Shortlisted Best Research Paper

The FlourishWell4Life Initiative

Stellenbosch University Health & Wellbeing Strategic Workshop (Invited Session). Theme: Co-creating a Thriving SU: Wellbeing enabling a Humanising Culture. Protea Hotel Technopark, Stellenbosch, 10-11 November 2025.

2024

Fostering Belonging: The Impact of a Wise Intervention on Diverse Engineering Students

WEEF & GEDC 2024 (World Engineering Education Forum & Global Engineering Deans Council), Sydney. Dec 2024.

How a Wise Belonging Intervention Impacts First Generation Students Differently

11th European Conference on Positive Psychology (ECPP 2024), 10-13 July, 2024, Innsbruck, Austria.

How a Course on Wellbeing and Flourishing Skills Changes Lives

11th European Conference on Positive Psychology (ECPP 2024), 10-13 July, 2024, Innsbruck, Austria.

2023

How a Wise Belonging Intervention Impacts Engineering Students Differently

17th Annual Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference 2023, Stellenbosch University, 30 October-1 November 2023 Shortlisted Best Research Paper

2021

How a Course on Wellbeing and Flourishing Skills Changes Lives

14th Annual In-House Virtual Conference on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), 8-10 November 2021, Stellenbosch University Shortlisted Best Research Paper

A Wise Intervention to Change Mindsets About Asking for Support

14th Annual In-House Virtual Conference on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), 8-10 November 2021, Stellenbosch University Shortlisted Best Innovation Paper

2019

A Conceptual Framework for a Flourishing, Ubuntu-inspired and 21st Century Ready University

29th Annual Conference of the Southern African Association for Institutional Research (SAAIR), Mbombela, Mpumalanga, 5 to 7 November 2019.

2018

Wellness and the Success of Medicine and Health Sciences Students

11th Annual Conference on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), 29-31 October 2018, Stellenbosch University, The Lord Charles, Somerset West.

The BeWell Mentoring Experience as a Vehicle for Personal Wellness Development

11th Annual Conference on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), 29-31 October 2018, Stellenbosch University, The Lord Charles, Somerset West.

Evidence-based Mindset Interventions to Support the Success of EDP Students

11th Annual Conference on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), 29-31 October 2018, Stellenbosch University, The Lord Charles, Somerset West.

The Daily Struggles of EDP Students: A Mixed Methods Analysis

11th Annual Conference on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), 29-31 October 2018, Stellenbosch University, The Lord Charles, Somerset West.

A University-wide Peer Mentoring Program for Personal Wellness Development: Addressing the Growing Demands of Employers and Society

"Positive Thoughts, Positive Impacts and Positive Social Work: the wherewithal of hope?", International Academic and Practitioner Conference, Kathmandu City, Nepal, 2018.

2017

Grit, a Growth Mindset and Wellness Confirmed and Developed Deliberately as Important Predictors of Retention, Academic Success and Graduation at University Level

Fifth World Congress on Positive Psychology, 13-16 July 2017, Montreal, Canada.

FlourishWell4Life @ Education, @ Sport and @ Work: Evidence-based and Individualized Blended Training Programmes to Develop Well-being and Enhance Performance

Fifth World Congress on Positive Psychology, 13-16 July 2017, Montreal, Canada.

Institutional Research Findings in Support of a (First-Year) Curriculum that Facilitates Academic Success, Enhances Wellness and Well-being, Builds Character and Graduate Attributes, and Creates Flourishing Students and Thriving Student Communities

27th Annual Conference of the Southern African Association for Institutional Research (SAAIR), Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), Hotel School Windhoek, Namibia, 23-26 October 2017.

2016

A Campus-wide Peer Mentoring System with Wellness-based Face-to-face Mentoring Sessions, Personalised and Gamified Developmental Wellness Websites for Members, and a Sophisticated Tracking System

EDULEARN16, pp. 5651-5660, 2016.

An Evidence-based and Individualized Blended Training Program to Assist High Performance Student Athletes in Developing Well-being and Mental Toughness Skills and Optimizing Academic and Sport Goals

EDULEARN16, pp. 5640-5650, 2016.

2015

Cognitive education in practice in higher education: An overview at Stellenbosch University (SU), South Africa, from 1984 - 2015

The IACEP XV Biennial International Conference, Greece, July 2015.

How the Gamification of a Mentoring System Motivates University Students to Engage in Well-being Enhancing Activities

Fourth World Congress on Positive Psychology, 25-28 June 2015, Orlando, United States of America.

Purposefully and Energetically Flourish Well for Life with Style, Strength and Character

Fourth World Congress on Positive Psychology, 25-28 June 2015, Orlando, United States of America.

A Developmental Approach to Student Success

2015 Conference of the Southern African Association for Student Counselling and Development in Higher Education, 7-9 September 2015, Cape Town, South Africa.

The BeWell Mentor Wellness Project at Stellenbosch University in South Africa

2015 Wharton-QS Stars Reimagine Education Awards, Philadelphia, United States of America Silver Medal for Africa

2014

Optimising student success with a systemic-holistic, co-curricular wellness intervention: Growing evidence and relevance for graduate attributes

IACEP European Regional Conference 2014, Budapest, Hungary. June 19-20, 2014.

Mining Wellness and Performance Data to Identify At-Risk First-Year Medical Students

7th European Conference on Positive Psychology, 1-4 July 2014, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Mentoring Wellness and Positive Psychological Predictors of Academic Achievement via a Network of Student Mentors and Mobile Apps

7th Annual Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference, 28-29 October 2014, Stellenbosch University, Protea Hotel, Stellenbosch.

Mining Wellness and Performance Data to Identify At-Risk First-Year Medical Students

7th Annual Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference, 28-29 October 2014, Stellenbosch University, Protea Hotel, Stellenbosch.

2013

A Campus-wide Mentoring System for First-year Students to Enhance Wellness and the Development of Positive Psychological Factors that Affect Academic Achievement

Third World Congress on Positive Psychology, June, 27-30, 2013, Westin Bonaventure, Los Angeles, California, USA.

2012

The Role of Grit, a Growth Mind-set and "Get-better" Goals in Academic Success - A SciMathUS Case Study

6th Annual Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference, 22-23 May 2012, Stellenbosch University, The Lord Charles, Somerset West.

"Adolescent" South Africa (18 years since democratization): Challenges for universities to optimise wellness as a prerequiste for cognitive development and learning in a diverse society

IACEP 2012 European Regional Conference, May 25-26, 2012, Geneva, Switzerland.

FlourishWell4Life: Personalised Conditioning e-Programmes to Enhance and Track Wellness, Success and Flourishing

6th European Conference on Positive Psychology, 26-29 June 2012, World Trade Center, Moscow, Russia.

Wellness Research and Development to Enhance Academic Performance: Identifying Predictors and Building Web-based Tools

6th European Conference on Positive Psychology, 26-29 June 2012, World Trade Center, Moscow, Russia.

Web-based Story Editing Interventions to Support Students at Risk and to Address Possible Stereotype Threat

6th European Conference on Positive Psychology, 26-29 June 2012, World Trade Center, Moscow, Russia.

Mining wellness and performance data to identify at-risk First-Year engineering students

"Die voorspelling van studentesukses: watter faktore behoort ons in ag te neem?" Auxin Padkossessie, July, 31, 2012, Stellenbosch University.

Web-based tools to optimise academic performance by facilitating the development of wellness factors that affect academic achievement

Edulearn12. 4th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies, Barcelona, Spain, 2012: 5953-5962.

Mining Wellness and Performance Data to Identify At-Risk First-Year Engineering Students

World Congress on Engineering 2012 (WCE) - The 2012 International Conference of Data Mining and Knowledge Engineering, London, United Kingdom, 2012: 395-402 Second Best Paper

2011

Wellness and academic achievement: Implications for minding the education by educating the mind of university students

13th International Congress of the International Association for Cognitive Education and Psychology, Boston, USA, 10-14 July 2011.

2010

Kan nagraadse kohortanalises as katalisator dien om studentesukses te verbeter?

4th Annual Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference, 11-12 May 2010, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch Lodge.

Combining Brainwave Entrainment, Mind Programming Techniques and Tracking Technologies to Help Individualize and Optimize the Soft Skills Development of University Students

World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education 2010, pp. 62-67, Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

2009

Mirror, mirror on the wall, Tell us why first years fall? And what we can do to help them all, So that they will stand tall, And fulfill their dream's call, When they graduate in the hall

6th Annual Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference, 19-20 May 2009, Stellenbosch University, The Lord Charles, Somerset West.

2008

The developmental needs of first-year students at Stellenbosch University (SU): The role and impact of the Tracking System

21st International Conference on the First-Year Experience, June 23-26, 2008, Dublin, Ireland.

A Prediction Model of First-Year Success at Stellenbosch University

21st International Conference on the First-Year Experience, June 23-26, 2008, Dublin, Ireland.

Individualized Multimedia Interventions to Develop Generic Soft Skills and Improve Throughput Rates of First-Year University Students

World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2008, pp. 5610-5617, Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

The LearnWell4Life DVD – Boost Your Brain for Study Success

World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education, June 30 – July 4, 2008, Vienna, Austria.

The Developmental Needs of First Year Students: The Role and Impact of a Tracking System

1st Southern African Conference on the First-year Experience, 8-10 September 2008, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa.

Predicting student performance using artificial neural network analysis

Medical Education 42, 2008.

2007

What do we need to know about wellness and its relationship to first-year students' academic achievements

Elfde Internasionale Kongres van die International Association for Cognitive Education and Psychology, Knoxville, Tennessee, VSA, 1-5 Julie 2007.

The SOS tracking system – more than just stats!

1st Annual Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference, 22-23 May 2007, Stellenbosch.

'n Model vir die voorspelling van Eerstejaarsukses aan SU

1st Annual Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference, 22-23 May 2007, Stellenbosch.

What we need to know about wellness and its relationship with first-year students' academic achievements

14th Annual SAAIR Forum, 12-14 September 2007, Stellenbosch, South Africa Best Paper Award

2006

Developmental multi-media workshops as the way forward: lessons learned and strategies suggested

27th Annual Conference of the Society for Student Counselling in Southern Africa (SSCSA), 18 – 21 September 2006. Mpekweni Sun.

2005

A cohort study of self-appraised cognition versus measured cognition

Tiende Internasionale Kongres van die International Association for Cognitive Education and Psychology, Durham, Engeland, 10-14 Julie 2005.

2004

Access with success and success with process

25th Annual Conference of the Society for Student Counselling in Southern Africa (SSCSA), 7-9 September 2004. Bloemfontein.

The Academic and Career Readiness Scale: A Strategy to move boundaries

25th Annual Conference of the Society for Student Counselling in Southern Africa (SSCSA), 7-9 September 2004. Bloemfontein Paper Award

U-B-U @ Your World: An Internet-based Modeling, Tracking and Support Framework to Individualize the Unlocking of Human Potential

World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education 2004, pp. 45-50, Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

LearnWell, Learn to Think and Think to Learn

World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education, 2004, Washington DC, USA.

2003

Diversity in learning: a comprehensive multimedia programme

24th Annual Conference of the Society for Student Counselling in Southern Africa (SSCSA), 8 – 11 September 2003. Stellenbosch.

2002

Use of multimedia for the development of thinking skills

Nasionale Kongres van die International Association for Cognitive Development and Psychology in Southern Africa, Oudtshoorn, Oktober 2002.

Theoretical basis and a description of LearnWell: a comprehensive interactive multimedia study and thinking skills programme

Conference of the South African branch of the International Association for Cognitive Development (IAESA), 3-5 October 2002, Oudtshoorn.

1999

Multimedia Based M*A*S*T*E*R Teaching and Individualized Learning of Mathematics and Science

International Conference on Mathematics / Science Education and Technology 1999, pp. 91-95, AACE.

Training Mathematics and Physical Science Teachers via Interactive TV Transmissions and Computer Based Tutorials

Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 1999, pp. 143-146, Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

A Computerized Time Management System for Staff Members of Institutions of Higher Education

Sixth Annual Forum of the Southern African Association for Institutional Research, 25-27 October 1999, Pretoria.

CAMP FILE 2005: A Computerized Artificial Mentor and -Psychologist For the Intelligent Learning Environments of Tommorrow

International Conference on Computers in Education (ICCE '99), Chiba, Japan, 4-7 November 1999.

1998

An Interactive Multimedia and WWW Tool to Popularise Institutional Research in the Year of Science and Technology

Fifth Annual Forum of the Southern African Association for Institutional Research, 26-28 October 1998, Pretoria.

1997

Applications of Fuzzy Systems and Neural Networks in Institutional Research

13th International Conference on Multiple Criteria Decision Making, 6-10 January 1997, University of Cape Town, Cape Town.

A General Fuzzy Logic Based Decision Support Tool for Institutional Researchers

Fourth Annual Forum of the Southern African Association for Institutional Research, 27-29 October 1997, Pretoria.

GEORGE becomes RECTOR - Linear Programming Tutor Extended to Also Include Other Operations Research Techniques

International Conference on Computers in Education (ICCE '97), Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, 2-6 December 1997.

1996

Student Modeling and Tutoring Strategies in an Intelligent Linear Programming Tutor

Fifth International Conference on User Modeling, 2-5 January 1996, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, United States of America.

Watter Rol kan 'n Toegepaste Wiskundige en Operasionele Navorser speel in die Voorsiening van Bestuursinligting in die Sentrale Administrasie van 'n Tersiêre Instelling

Departementele Lesing, Departement Toegepaste Wiskunde, Oktober 1996.

A Fuzzy Expert and Decision-Making System to Individualize Computer-based Tutoring

European Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (EuroAIED '96), 30 September - 2 October 1996, Lisbon, Portugal.

Applications of Fuzzy Systems in Institutional Research

Third Annual Forum of the Southern African Association for Institutional Research, 27-28 October 1996, Cape Town, South Africa.

1995

'n Besluitnemingsteunstelsel vir Onderwysadministrasie - 'n Kombinasie van "DEA" en "EPSS"

Western Cape School's Network Conference on the Internet and Educational Computing, 28-29 September 1995, Kaapstad.

Rekenaarsteun vir die Opstel van Skoolroosters

Western Cape School's Network Conference on the Internet and Educational Computing, 28-29 September 1995, Kaapstad.

What Role can an Operations Researcher and Applied Mathematician Play in Supplying Management Information in a Tertiary Institution?

Second Annual Forum of the Southern African Association for Institutional Research, 15-17 November 1995, University of Natal, Durban, South Africa.

A DEA-based Decision Support Software Tool for Tertiary Institutions

Second Annual Forum of the Southern African Association for Institutional Research, 15-17 November 1995, University of Natal, Durban, South Africa.

Combining Creativity, De Bono's Thinking Skills, Kolb's Problem Solving Styles and La Haye's Temperaments to Initiate Constant and Neverending Improvement (CANI) in People

Second Annual Forum of the Southern African Association for Institutional Research, 15-17 November 1995, University of Natal, Durban, South Africa.

1994

A Conceptual Framework for the Development of Intelligent Computer-based Educational Software in Operations Research

International Conference on Computer Assisted Education and Training in Developing Countries (CAETDC '94), 10-14 October 1994, ESCOM Conference Centre, Midrand.