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21 June 2018 Photo Oteng Mpete
Education researcher tackles realities of Fourth Industrial Revolution
Dr Makeresemese Qhosola recently engaged audiences in New York at the American Educational Research Association’s Annual Conference.
The current research of Dr Makeresemese Qhosola, from the University of the Free State’s (UFS), Faculty of Education focused on a broad theme of accounting and its alignment to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. She is passionate about it because the role of accounting has evolved over the years in response to ever-changing market demands. It evolved from the First Industrial Revolution, which focused on the size of a factory, machinery and the labour force, and now it is concerned with the looming era of artificial intelligence and the internet of things.

Tackling the present for future solutions  
Dr Qhosola’s research is important because it interrogates the past to find solutions for the future. “The curriculum of South Africa is still challenged by the imperatives of the Third Industrial Revolution which saw the automation of the accounting process and other business processes in isolation from each other. This challenge is born of historical factors that are still inherent in the contemporary, like poverty in most South African communities, and a lack of infrastructure and resources that supported this industry and demanded learners be taught automated accounting like Pastel.
 
“Even though learners are mostly exposed to the basic knowledge and skill of accounting from schools, many of them seem to be dysfunctional when they join the world of work, due to a lack of knowledge and experience of the computerised systems,” purported Dr Qhosola.
 
Her research methodology is the Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach and is supported with the use of the Critical Accounting Research (CAR). “I use it as my lens of choice for framing my project, because its purpose is to ensure the use of accounting does not represent a certain interest at the expense of others, especially marginalised groups,” said Dr Qhosola.
 
Future of accounting looks good
“The question remains: ‘How do we better prepare ourselves for this revolution that seems capable of rendering many accounting jobs redundant?’ We must thoroughly prepare our students for the job market after the completion of their studies.” 
 
Dr Qhosola owes her recent success to Prof Loyiso Jita, Dean of the UFS Faculty of Education. “He initiated a mentorship programme for black women in 2017 and it has created a platform for me to go out and learn more,” she said. She also holds former UFS Dean of Education, Prof Sechaba Mahlomaholo close to her heart, because of his continued mentorship and support through the world of academia. 

International recognition and achievement 
Dr Qhosola was recently invited to the American Educational Research Association (AERA), in New York. The AERA strives to advance knowledge about education, to encourage scholarly inquiry related to education, and to promote the use of research to improve education and serve the public good.
 
The conference provides an opportunity to learn about new developments and current issues that require the attention of researchers. It is also a good platform to meet educational proponents and theorists from across the globe. “We read and use their work almost every day and never get an opportunity to meet them and really interact with them,” said Dr Qhosola.
 
A proposal acceptance from AERA is a recognised disciplinary achievement. The AERA conference is a highly competitive peer review process because there are 12 000 to 14 000 proposals a year that compete for a slot on the conference programme. These numbers include both experienced and beginner researchers. 

News Archive

UFS awards honorary doctorates during its centenary week
2004-10-07

The University of the Free State (UFS) will award 12 honorary doctorates on Thursday 14 October 2004 to a diverse group of outstanding South Africans and international experts.

This will be the last in a group of 18 honorary doctorates that the UFS will be awarding in its centenary year.

The awards comprise of a number of well-known language experts and writers, experts in higher education, first-time awards in community service and development studies, as well as music.

“This reflects quality and also diversity, a spectrum of convictions as well as the recognition of persons who played a major role in changing society in the last couple of decades, “ says Prof Frederick Fourie, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS.

The awards can be grouped in the following categories:

Language and literature:

Mr Karel Schoeman (D Litt (hc)) – well-known Afrikaans author and former student of the UFS. Some of the awards he has received include the Hertzog prize for prose (1970, 1986 and 1995), the CNA prize (1972 and 1994), the Old Mutual prize (1985 and 1991), the SABC prize for best television drama in 1990, the M Net book prize in 1997 and the State President award (former President Nelson Mandela: Order for Excellent Service – silver) in 1999. It is an honor for the UFS to have this gifted and creative person among its former students. This conferment is a fitting recognition of his status as leading South African writer.

Ms Antjie Krog (D Litt (hc)) – well-known South African poet and former student of the UFS. Her popularity as poet is evident in her piercing honesty and unequalled power of expression. Some of the awards she has received include the Eugéne Marais prize in 1973, the Rapport prize in 1987, the Hertzog prize in 1990 and the RAU prize in 2000. Her writing has been translated into seven languages. She has also received numerous honors for her involvement in and journalistic documentation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) proceedings. It is therefore an exceptional privilege for her alma mater to honor her with an honorary doctorate.

Prof Jaap Steyn (D Litt (et phil) (hc)) – recently, Prof Steyn again distinguished himself as biographer whose thorough research is apparent in the published biographies of illustrious writers such as NP van Wyk Louw and MER. The numerous awards, among which the Stals prize from the South African Academy of Science and Art for the Van Wyk publication, are a matter of record. He conducted the research for this great prize-winning work as honorary professor at the UFS.

Prof Jakes Gerwel (D Phil (hc)) – Chancellor of the University of Rhodes and Director of Naspers, Old Mutual, Gold Fields and Brimstone. His doctoral thesis was published in The Netherlands under the title Literatuur en apartheid. Konsepsies van “gekleurdes” in die Afrikaanse roman tot 1948 (1983). He received an honorary doctorate from Clark College ( Atlanta), the City University of New York and Missouri in the USA, the University of the Western Cape, the University of Cape Town, the University of Natal, Rhodes University, the University of Stellenbosch and the University of the Witwatersrand. He is also outstanding professor in the Humanities at the University of the Western Cape, honorary professor in the Humanities at the University of Pretoria, and was the chairman of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).

Development Studies:

Dr Frederick van Zyl Slabbert (D Phil (hc)) – for his academic achievements, his endeavors for bringing about a peaceful transition in South Africa and his demonstration of the social investment role of the corporate sector. Dr Van Zyl Slabbert has received honorary degrees from the University of Natal and the Simon Fraser University in Canada. He has published seven books and various academic articles.

Community Service:

Prof Robert G Bringle (D Phil (hc)) – from the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) in the USA. He is currently Chancellor’s Professor of Psychology and Philanthropic Studies at the IUPUI and also Director of the IUPUI’s Centre for Service Learning. He is honored for his exceptional contribution to several of the UFS’s community service projects as well as his role in the advancement of a multi- and inter-disciplinary approach to academic development and the integration of service learning within the faculties of the UFS. He has also made a valuable contribution to the conceptual framework of the UFS’s unique community service policy and more recently to the advancement of a research culture regarding community service.

Higher education:

Dr Khotso Mokhele (D Phil (hc)), President of the National Research Foundation (NRF) is honored for his contribution to the South African higher education sector. He has also made a substantial contribution to the development of the research capacity of universities and technikons in South Africa. Dr Mokhele was born in Bloemfontein and matriculated at the Moroka High School in Thaba Nchu.

Prof Saleem Badat (D Phil (hc)), the Chief Executive Officer of the Council on Higher Education (CHE). Prof Badat has devoted himself to transforming and building South African higher education, and has constantly challenged the higher education sector to retain the moral basis of higher education and tackle its challenges with intellectual honesty, ingenuity, creativity and courage. He is honored for his intellectual leadership in the development of a equitable, just and quality higher education system in South Africa.

Law:

Prof HA (Boelie) Wessels (D Legum (hc)) – for his contribution to the fields of Roman Law, Legal History at the UFS. He is currently a part-time lecturer at the UFS’s Faculty of Law.

Medicine:

Prof CJC Nel (D Phil (hc) Posthumous) – for the way in which he strived for the advancement of excellent medical education in the country. Prof Nel also did pioneering work in the field of transformation in higher education. Under his guidance the School of Medicine at the UFS became one of the first medical schools to adopt a parallel-medium system of instruction.

Music:

Prof Leo Quayle (D Mus (hc)) – for the significant contributions he has made to the development of music – not only in Bloemfontein, but also on national level and abroad. His initiative, enthusiasm and dedication contributed to the eventual founding of the Free State Musicon, as well as the first symphony orchestra and the first string quartet in Bloemfontein. Prof Quayle is a former head of the Department of Music at the UFS.

Prof Jack de Wet (D Mus (hc)) – well-known for his exceptional contribution to violin tuition in South Africa. As pedagogue of international stature, he still moulds violinists who compete at national and international level. At an advanced stage of his career, he still actively conveys his knowledge, experience and distinctive insight in his field of speciality to yet another new generation of young violin teachers. Today the symphony orchestras in Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth also stand on the foundations laid by him.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
7 October 2004

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