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22 September 2021
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Story Michelle Nöthling
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Photo Supplied
Annemarie Le Roux.
“I love working with children.” This is one of the first things Annemarie le Roux mentions when asked to describe herself. This love for children propelled Annemarie into the field of education and she graduated in 2006 with a BEd in Foundation Phase at the UFS. Annemarie immediately immersed herself in the Deaf community, enriching the lives of children at the Thiboloha School for the Deaf in Qwaqwa and the De la Bat School for the Deaf in Worcester.
The academic world enticed Annemarie back to the University of the Free State (UFS) and she was appointed as a junior lecturer in the Department of South African Sign Language (SASL) and Deaf Studies in 2013. Going from strength to strength, Annemarie completed her master’s degree in SASL in 2019, and published an
article earlier this year that she co-wrote with Marga Stander. In this article, they found that SASL “has become an increasingly popular language that hearing university students want to learn as a second language” and subsequently explored different teaching methods used for this emerging group of interested students.
Although now firmly established in academia, Annemarie is still committed to the practical application of SASL. “I am closely involved in student and community engagement through the
SIGNALS Sign Language student association that helps empower the Deaf community and South African Sign Language.” She also interprets for the Deaf community whenever she gets an opportunity, as well as for Deaf students in class and meetings.
On the importance of Sign Language and the recognition of the Deaf community in South Africa, Annemarie believes it will open greater opportunities for development. “More people will be able to learn SASL, and it might even become a subject in school for hearing children.”
Computer Science lecturer receives Vice-Chancellor’s Award for teaching excellence
2011-11-11
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Dr. Liezel Nel from our Department of Computer Science.
Annually, many lecturers receive awards and recognition for their contribution to the UFS’s plans to accomplish outstanding academic performance.
Photo: Johan Roux
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This year, the UFS presented its fourth awards function for outstanding learning and teaching.
At the awards function this past week, lecturers were rewarded for their outstanding teaching inputs at the UFS.
Dr Liezel Nel from our Department of Computer Science and Informatics was awarded the Vice-Chancellor’s award for her outstanding contribution to teaching and learning at the UFS.
The award, together with other awards presented to lecturers for outstanding teaching and learning, was instituted to encourage innovative teaching methods in departments in order to achieve outstanding academic results.
The Vice-Chancellor’s award is awarded to the lecturer who not only displays good leadership, but has also published research during the preceding year, with excellent knowledge and teaching skills in his/her discipline.
Dr Nel said she had realised over the past years that educators increasingly had more teaching resources at their disposal than before, which could be utilised to improve the teaching and learning experience of students.
“Therefore, I constantly renew my study material and the way in which I present the material. Currently I use a combined method, which includes electronic presentation by means of Blackboard, personal interaction and sessions, which enable the student to take ownership of the module.”