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Statistics lecturer on Qwaqwa campus, Christa Faber bags Master of Higher Education

07 December 2021 | Story Nonsindiso Qwabe

By working with students and being part of their development into successful young adults, Mathematics and Applied Mathematics Lecturer on the Qwaqwa Campus, Christa Faber, soon realised that she would like to proceed with her own studies, and she set her sights on just that. Obtaining her honours degree in Mathematical Statistics at age 40 inspired Faber to continue pursuing an education. She will be receiving her Master of Higher Education Studies degree during the December graduations.

Teaching has always been her passion, Faber shared fondly. She commenced her teaching career as a Mathematics teacher in a small town, Molteno, in the Eastern Cape. After four years of teaching, she worked as a Mathematics supply teacher in the United Kingdom for two years. Upon her return, she continued her teaching career in Harrismith, where she was appointed as a Science teacher at Harrismith High School, before receiving an offer to assist the UFS Qwaqwa Campus as a Statistics facilitator in 2003. She never looked back.

As a researcher, Faber has spent the past eight years using technology as an educational tool to determine whether it can be used to improve students’ performance and understanding of basic statistics. “I believe students learn best when they expect to be successful and see the value of the course for their personal development,” she said.

Faber conducted an experiment on how an online assessment tool (OAT) could be incorporated into the Statistics module to enhance student engagement, and consequently, the performance of students in a rural setting. The transition from face-to-face teaching to online learning has been a topic across all institutions of higher learning, with students’ response to learning on blended platforms being of great importance.

The learning experiment, conducted pre-COVID, showed the benefits that online assessment tools could have on the performance and engagement of students at a rural university. Faber said she considers it important to know how students engaged in key online and general learning practices as a way of managing and developing rural university education. For the experiment, a pragmatic parallel mixed methods design was used to divide students into two groups to compare the performances of those with online assessment tool interventions and those without.

The intervention recently won Faber the Innovative Methods in Assessment Practices award for the Qwaqwa Campus at this year’s Centre for Teaching and Learning awards. The purpose of the category was to showcase how assessment strategies, tools, and assessment activities are used to assess students in new, original, or inventive ways. She said she was grateful to receive recognition for a research project inspired by her passion for teaching and learning, combined with the use of online assessment technology, to enhance students’ learning experience in the field of statistics. “My ongoing research supports the promotion of student engagement in statistics education, as well as in the general educational field.”

News Archive

UFS student makes breakthrough in the application of nanorobots

2005-04-21

A student from the University of the Free State (UFS) has made a ground-breaking discovery in the field of microbiology by uncovering a series of new compounds that may in future be used to lubricate man-made nanorobots.

Mr Olihile Sebolai, a full-time student at the UFS’s Department of Microbial- Biochemical and Food Biotechnology, made this discovery while working on his M Sc-study on yeast.

With this discovery Mr Sebolai will also be awarded six prestigious prizes during this week’s autumn graduation ceremony at the UFS. This university has recognised this exceptional achievement as a build-up to the celebration of national Science and Technology week next month.

Mr Sebolai’s dissertation on the yeast genus Saccharomycopsis Schionning has been published in an accredited international journal of repute.

“Words cannot describe how excited I am. I never expected to receive such recognition for my studies. I am humbled by all of this,” said Mr Sebolai.

The Lipid Biotechnology Group at the UFS recently discovered that some yeasts produce their own water-propelled capsules in which they are transported. These capsules have different shapes and resemble among others miniature flying saucers, hats with razor sharp brims etc. “In order to function properly, parts of the capsules are oiled with prehistoric lubricants – lubricants that are produced by yeasts and that probably existed for many millions of years as yeasts developed,” said Mr Sebolai.

According to Mr Sebolai these capsules are so small that approximately 300 can be fitted into the full-stop at the end of a sentence and are therefore invisible to the naked eye.

“With my studies I discovered many new compounds that resemble these prehistoric lubricants. These lubricants may in future be used to lubricate man-made nanorobots and are similar in size compared to yeast capsules,” said Mr Sebolai. The nanorobots are used to perform tasks in places that are invisible to the naked eye and could one day be used, among others, to clean up human arteries.

Mr Sebolai has been interested in the subject of Micro technology since he was at RT Mokgopa High School in Thaba ‘Nchu. “I was specifically interested in the many possible applications the subject has – in the industry, as well as in medicine,” said Mr Sebolai.

His next goal is to successfully complete his Ph D-degree.

The prizes that will be awarded to Mr Sebolai this week include:

Best Magister student at the UFS (Senate medal and prize);

Best Magister student in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Science and Dean’s medal at the same faculty;

The Andries Brink – Sasol-prize for the best M Sc dissertation in Microbiology;

The JP van der Walt prize for best M Sc dissertation in yeast science;

The Chris Small prize for an outstanding Master’s dissertation; and

Honorary colours awarded by the UFS Student Representative Council

Media release

Issued by: Lacea Loader

Media Representative

Tel: (051) 401-2584

Cell: 083 645 2454

E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za

20 April 2005

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