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07 December 2021 | Story Nonsindiso Qwabe
Christa Faber
Innovative Methods in Assessment Practices award winner for the Qwaqwa Campus, Christa Faber.

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 establishes links with the University of Ghent
2007-11-15

The University of the Free State (UFS) recently formalised its co-operation ties with the University of Ghent in Belgium. The two universities signed a memorandum of understanding during the Accenta Trade Fair, an annual event that incorporates activities such as business seminars, cultural events and exhibitions.

The signing of the memorandum of understanding took place via a live video conference linking the two institutions of higher learning.

“It was a wonderful moment because, after signing the memorandum of understanding on the Main Campus in Bloemfontein, the Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Frederick Fourie, actually showed us his signature on the screen while we were in Ghent”, said Prof. Koos Bekker of the Department of Public Management at the UFS, who was part of the delegation from the Free State.

The delegation consisted of the Premier, Ms Beatrice Marshoff, and several MECs and senior officials from the Free State provincial government, as well as the mayor, councillors and senior officials of the Mangaung Local Municipality. Several staff members of the UFS were also part of the delegation.

According to Prof. Bekker, the two universities will co-operate in various areas in terms of the memorandum of understanding.

“In the short term the collaboration will be focused on bio-fuels, public management and the digital divide, while discussions in other areas such as health services and organised crime are also under way,” he said.

As part of the memorandum of understanding, the following collaborative efforts are also envisaged:

Mr Lyndon du Plessis, a lecturer in the Department of Public Management, will be enrolled for a Ph.D. at both universities as from September 2008.

A research project involving both universities, the Mangaung Local Municipality and the City of Ghent, will be undertaken.
An investigation will be conducted by both universities regarding the possibility of writing a book on performance management in the public sector (negotiations with the publisher in this regard are under way).

An exchange programme involving students and staff from both universities will be established.

Academics from the UFS delivered papers during one of the forums that formed part of the Accenta Trade Fair programme in Ghent. Prof. Koos Bekker and Mr Lyndon du Plessis from the Department of Public Management delivered papers on strategic planning in practice on the first day of the event, which was devoted to scientific seminars. On the second day Prof. Lucius Botes, Director of the Centre for Development Support at the UFS, delivered a paper on economic development issues, and on the third day Prof. Gustav Visser, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the UFS, delivered a paper on tourism.

Papers on bridging the digital divide were presented during the video conference by academics in both Bloemfontein and Ghent.

As guests of honour at the Accenta Trade Fair, the Free State delegation was allocated the main exhibition floor space, covering 1 092 m². The Main Exhibition Hall covers a total surface area of 40 000 m². The Accenta Trade Fair attracts an average of 100 000 visitors annually. The UFS also participated as an exhibitor at the Trade Fair.

This visit was a follow-up of the previous visit, during which the Free State delegation was hosted by the City of Ghent and the provincial government of East Flanders for planning purposes from 14 to 24 April 2007.

Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt.stg@ufs.ac.za  
14 November 2007
 

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