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South Campus Creative Clubs: empowering learners to excel

26 May 2022 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Leonie Bolleurs

UFS South Campus Creative clubs Initiative — UFS staff members from the Social Responsibilities Projects, Patience Aba, Judith Lefa, Noluthando Zwane, Dr Angela Stott, and Queen Selema, with a group of learners from the Ikaelelo Senior Secondary School looking at the effect of wind on the evaporation rate of water. This is one of the science experiments used as exemplars to stimulate the learners to plan their own science expo projects.

“This class teaches us how things work, and it gives us many ideas.” These are the words of Bokamoso Mahlasi, a Grade 9 learner at Ikaelelo Senior Secondary School, who says he dreams of becoming a radiologist one day.

He is part of a group of 100 Grade 9 learners from schools around Bloemfontein, who – once a week for two hours – have the opportunity to learn more about mathematics, science, coding and to prepare science expo projects. This is made possible through the Creative Clubs programme, an initiative of the Social Responsibility Projects on the University of the Free State (UFS) South Campus.

An opportunity to expand horizons

Dr Angela Stott, Researcher and Teacher Educator in the Social Responsibilities Projects, believes that they are providing township learners, who tend not to have much access to extracurricular opportunities, the chance to expand their horizons, obtain problem-solving and reasoning skills, and increase their interest in mathematics, science, and coding through a range of extracurricular extension activities.

Dr Joleen Hamilton, initiator and coordinator of this programme, says, “The learners attending these sessions are achievers in the current school system. Teachers often don’t have time to give extra stimulation to higher-achieving learners. With Creative Clubs, we want to address that gap.”

She continues: “Besides creating an interest in mathematics, science, and coding, we also focus on building self-esteem and confidence. Our thinking is that if learners believe in themselves, they are more willing to take on challenges. Developing skills such as perseverance and reflection form part of our focus as well. With some of the activities we also give learners the opportunity to work as a team, preparing them for real-life situations where one often needs to work in a group setting. By developing the mentioned skills, we aim to empower learners to excel in different areas.”

The importance of mathematics in real life

During the Creative Clubs sessions, a series on the basics of doing a science expo project is presented to stimulate interest in this competition and to guide the learners in planning their own science expo projects. Dr Stott adds that they are also presenting a session on extracurricular mathematics activities. “This includes problem-solving tasks, brain teasers, and games. We emphasise the importance and use of mathematics in real life,” explains Dr Hamilton.

We also focus on building self-esteem and confidence. Our thinking is that if learners believe in themselves, they are more willing to take on challenges. – Dr Joleen Hamilton

Also in the pipeline is a planned outing to the Naval Hill Planetarium, as well as a session introducing coding, where learners will be playing the Boats and Tanks coding game, teaching them the basic coding commands.

News Archive

UFS to send a second group of first-year students overseas

2011-03-23

Some of the students who were chosen in 2010

Following the resounding success of the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Student Leadership Development Programme in 2010, the UFS will send a second group of students to the USA in 2011 and also extend the programme by sending students to various universities in Europe and Asia.

This year a total of 150 first-year students will be selected compared to the 71 students that were selected last year. Last year’s group of students spent two weeks, between September and October 2010, at various universities across the United States.

The programme intends to expose the students to diverse cultures and enable them to learn leadership skills. The goal of the programme is to build a new class of UFS students who become leaders during their years of study and commit to building a non-racial community during and beyond their years at university.

Mr Rudi Buys, the UFS Dean of Student Affairs, says: “With the programme we want to develop participants’ thinking and capacity to lead in the contexts of diversity and change and we hope to direct them to programmes leading to change in student life in general upon their return.”

The three core purposes of allowing students an opportunity to study abroad are:

to introduce South African students to positive models of racial integration and integrated residential life;
to share and exchange ideas around issues of race, racism, racial integration and racial reconciliation, with undergraduate students abroad; and
to build long-term networking and collaboration between academics and researchers interested in scholarly work on themes of race, reconciliation and social justice.

Last year students were selected based on their ability to reflect critically on knowledge of societal issues and successful candidates were put through a preparatory development programme. They were divided into groups and given assignments to complete during the programme. A similar selection process will be undertaken this year.

Upon their return, last year’s group of students demonstrated extremely positive outcomes, during an assessment of the project’s goals and achievements. More than 80% of participants agreed that the course met all expectations; the content was meaningful and challenged their existing views. More than 90% felt that the course meaningfully addressed diversity. Among the successes achieved by the programme is the influence of participants in the student community.

Many serve as peer mentors for the Gateway First-Year Welcoming and Orientation Programme, while others serve as mentors in well-being and academic peer advisory programmes. Many have also been elected as members of executive committees of student associations and management committees in residences, while some have availed themselves to run for student governance structures throughout 2011 and 2012.

The programme proved to be so successful that it was decided to expand the number of students selected for the programme to 150 this year and first-year students are invited to apply. It is envisaged that 90 students will visit American universities, while 60 will visit institutions in Europe and Asia.

Last year the students were hosted by, amongst others, Cornell University, the University of New York, Cleveland State University and the University of Massachusetts.

Yale University, Amherst College and other American universities will join these host universities in 2011, in addition to the European and Asian institutions.

Those first-year students who wish to apply can find all the information at www.ufs.ac.za

Media Release
23 March 2011
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za

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