Pertunia Mutheiwana is an Instructional and Learning Designer within the University Teaching and Learning Office (UTLO), specifically assigned to the College of Humanities. She is an experienced and award-winning education and training professional with over five years of expertise in instructional design, curriculum development, and technology-enhanced learning. Prior to joining UTLO, she worked as a Training Curriculum Administrator and Training Coordinator at the University of Cape Town (UCT), and as an Instructional Designer at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT).

Pertunia is deeply passionate about the curriculum and psychological dimensions of education, with particular interest in how learning is shaped through pedagogy, cognition, and digital environments. She specialises in the design and development of online, blended, and hybrid learning environments, with a strong focus on inclusive, pedagogically sound, and research-informed digital learning experiences. Her work integrates instructional design theories and models, digital pedagogies, and emerging technologies to enhance student engagement and support academic success.

She holds a Master of Education from the University of Cape Town, where she achieved distinction in her dissertation, as well as a Bachelor of Education Honours degree in Curriculum Development (first-class pass) and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE). She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the University of Limpopo, reflecting her interdisciplinary academic foundation. Pertunia is currently pursuing a PhD in Education at the University of Cape Town, focusing on learning, cognition, and research-informed digital pedagogy.

Her research interests include instructional design theories and models, pedagogic design, online and blended learning, digital pedagogies, and Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). She has presented her work at national and international conferences and co-authored a 2025 publication in Bioinformatics Advances on the use of artificial intelligence in bioinformatics education.

Pertunia’s commitment to education extends beyond higher education into community impact and inclusive practice. During her teaching career, she demonstrated strong leadership by coaching special needs learners to participate in a national competition traditionally dominated by mainstream learners, where she and her team achieved first place. She is also the co-creator of the educational YouTube platform Ama & Peeps, which promotes critical dialogue and social awareness.

She is a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society, recognising the top 15% of academic achievers globally, and is a recipient of two prestigious fully funded scholarships: the University of Cape Town’s Accelerated Transformation of the Academic Programme (ATAP) Scholarship and the Mastercard Foundation Scholarship.

Driven by a strong sense of purpose, Pertunia is committed to advancing equitable, innovative, and transformative education. Her long-term vision is to contribute to meaningful educational change and to establish a school that serves and uplifts her community.