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05 January 2018 Photo Elrieka van Dalen
UFS congratulates Free State on matric results
With projects like the Internet Broadcast Project and the Schools Partnership Project, the UFS helps to improve education at schools in the Free State.

The University of the Free State (UFS) congratulates the Free State and its learners on their outstanding performance in the 2017 matric results. The university, which also plays a role in promoting excellence at school level, is proud of the Free State’s achievement as the best-performing province in the country with an 86,1% pass rate, excluding progressed learners.

“On behalf of the executive management, staff, and students of the UFS, I would like to extend our warmest congratulations to the Free State MEC of Education and his executive team in the Department of Education in the Free State, on being the top-achieving province in South Africa for the second consecutive year," said Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, in a message sent to Mr Tate Makgoe, MEC of Education in the Free State Province.

He further said, "The UFS is proud to be associated with the Department of Education and salutes them for the many initiatives in schools across the province, which contributed to this year’s outstanding matric results. Some of these projects include those presented in conjunction with the university’s South Campus, such as the Internet Broadcast Project (IBP), the Schools Partnership Project (SPP), and training programmes for school principals."

Internet Broadcast Project

The UFS IDEAS Lab in the Department of Open and Distance Learning on the UFS South Campus is supporting learners in 89 schools through the IBP. Daily, the IBP transmits lessons to 83 schools spread across five districts in the Free State for learners in Grades 8 to 12. Learners also have electronic access to this material, which is presented for more than 15 school subjects. The project is a collaboration between the university and the Free State Department of Education. It includes support for subjects such as Mathematics, Physical Science, Life Science, Economics, Accounting, and Geography.

Schools Partnership Project

The SPP focuses on teachers in order to have a more sustainable impact, with 69 schools in the Free State and Eastern Cape benefiting from it. It makes use of a total of 30 mentors who assist teachers and headmasters with school management, Mathematics, Physical Science, Accounting, and English as language of learning. Mentors visit schools and share knowledge, extra material, and technology to improve the standard of teaching. Matric results and Bachelor’s pass rates have improved dramatically in these schools.

Another aspect is the identification of learners with potential to go to university (so-called first-generation students). They are assisted through extra classes and in applying for tertiary education and bursaries. Many of them currently study at the UFS, and also receive mentorship here.

News Archive

CTL experiments with mobile technology in teaching and learning
2016-05-23

Description: CTL experiments with mobile technology Tags: CTL experiments with mobile technology

On the left is Nokukhanya Nkosi, Researcher and Project manager at the Centre for Teaching and Learning presenting Annah Nggoepe her brand new laptop as part of the project which assesses the impact of personal mobile devices on teaching and learning.
Photo: Supplied

Video clip

Same curriculum. Add technology. Wait and see what happens. This research project which is funded by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) seeks to understand the impact of personal mobile devices (PMD) in teaching and learning.

The University of the Free State (UFS), in conjunction with the University of Cape Town, the University of the Witwatersrand, the University of Johannesburg, and Sol Plaatje University, was approached by the DHET to spearhead this national collaborative project. Investigating whether the financial investment of a PMD on either the part of a university or of students adds value to the teaching and learning experience is the overall objective of the project.

Contemporary education
The Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at the UFS have been taking an active part in the project since 2015, focusing specifically on the use of personal mobile devices in teaching and learning by both staff and students.

At the student level, the study will focus specifically on not just the obstacles that first-generation students face in terms of using technology in teaching and learning, but how institutions can support these students through access to these devices.  “In 2015, the CTL conducted the Digital Identity Study of students which highlighted the view that students at the UFS deemed laptops to be the most important PMD in their studies,” said Nokukhanya Nkosi, Researcher and Project manager at the CTL.   

In April 2016, thirty students were presented with laptops funded by the project grant. For the next two years, the CTL will assess whether these laptops enable greater flexibility and effectiveness of teaching and learning, both inside and out of the classroom for these students.  

Rise of the digital classroom
Annah Ngoepe, a second-year Geography and Environmental Management student taking part in this study, commends the shift from using only textbooks in the past to incorporating technology. “The laptop has the latest applications and programmes, which are convenient for me as a student, because they help in my learning. I can also download textbooks, get summaries of the textbooks, and even other people’s views on a particular subject online.”

Tiana van der Merwe, Deputy Director at the CTL, anticipates that, after two years, the Centre would be able to make not only institutional recommendations, but also recommendations to the National Department of Higher Education.

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