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EMS Faculty hosts Inaugural Debate in Broadening Curricular Debate series

29 November 2023 | Story Anthony Mthembu | Photo Anthony Mthembu and Reabetswe Parkies

The Economics and Management Sciences (EMS) Faculty at the University of the Free State (UFS) recently inaugurated its first Broadening Curricular Debate series, a concept conceived by the Dean of the Faculty, Prof Phillipe Burger. The inaugural debate, held on 22 November 2023 in the Equitas Senate Hall on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus, marked the beginning of a series designed to facilitate discussions among academics on crucial higher education matters. Annari Muller, Chairperson of the Learning, Teaching and Digitisation Committee (LTDC), expressed the series’ purpose: “We organised this debate series to provide a platform for academics to discuss vital higher education matters. These sessions aim to stimulate critical conversations that empower UFS staff to enrich our curricula, enhance teaching practices, and shape broader educational strategies.’’

The motion presented to the house was, ‘The rapid integration of Artificial Intelligence in higher education perpetuates educational inequalities, widens the digital divide, and diminishes the value of personal instruction. The debate followed the structure of Intelligence Squared debates, with two teams comprising UFS staff from diverse departments, including the Department of Business Management, Department of English, Department of Public Management and the Department of Mathematical Statistics and Actuarial Science.

Naquita Fernandes, the Master of the House for the debate, emphasised the deliberate inclusion of members from diverse fields to infuse varied perspectives into the debate. “We believed that this diverse amalgamation of expertise would offer multifaceted insights, ensuring a holistic exploration of the subject matter. The debate structure was meticulously designed to encourage engaging discussions rather than formal academic presentations, allowing for a robust exchange of ideas.’’

The audience had the opportunity to vote on their stance before and after the debate, determining the winning team based on their ability to sway the audience with compelling arguments. The winning team, composed of Dr Hilary Bama (Senior Lecturer in the Department of Business Management), Dr Martin Rossouw (Senior Lecturer in Film and Visual Media), and Dr Rick De Villiers (Senior Lecturer in the English Department), successfully argued against the motion.

The proposition team highlighted the existing gap between those with access to digital technologies and those without, advocating for a gradual and considered approach to AI integration in higher education. In contrast, the opposition team underscored the value of personal instruction in the face of AI, emphasising AI’s potential to provide constructive and effective feedback, contribute to adaptive learning platforms, and accommodate unique learning styles and preferences.

Following the debate, the audience was addressed by a team from Carnegie Math Pathways, providing insights into generative AI tools. Fernandes described the event as a proactive step in shaping the UFS academic landscape, moving away from reactive responses and exploring critical topics and strategies that could influence future policies and practices.

EMS Faculty hosts Inaugural Debate in Broadening Curricular Debate series

The Debaters- From left to right: Dr Martin Rossouw; Senior Lecturer in Film and Visual Media, Herkulaas Michael Combrink; Co-Director of Digital Futures, Dr Hilary Bama; Senior Lecturer in the EMS Faculty, Dr Rick De Villiers; Lecturer in the Department of English, Dr Michele Von Maltitz; Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mathematical Statistics and Actuarial Science, and Nkosingiphile Emmanuel Mkhize; Lecturer and Researcher in the Department of Public Management.

News Archive

Chemistry research group receives international recognition

2016-10-28

Description: Chemistry research group Tags: Chemistry research group

Dr Carla Pretorius mounts microcrystals with
Dumisani Kama while Pennie Mokolokolo
observe the technique.
Photo: Supplied

Crystals and crystallography form an integrated part of our daily lives, from bones and teeth, to medicines and viruses, new catalysts, jewellery, colour pigments, chocolates, analysing rocks on the moon and Mars, electronics, batteries, metal blades in airplane turbines, panels for solar energy and many more.

In spite of this, not many people know much about X-ray crystallography, although it is probably one of the greatest innovations of the 20th century, spanning the sciences. That is why this discipline is actively researched by a number of tertiary institutions around the globe as well as the Inorganic Chemistry Group of the Department of Chemistry at the University of the Free State (UFS).

Research by the Inorganic Chemistry Group includes:
•   clever design of model medicines to better detect cancer and study heart, bone and brain defects;
•   production of new compounds for making new and better automobile fuels and decrease carbon dioxide in the atmosphere;
•   generation and purification of new South African mineral resources for metals widely used in turbines which use wind energy.

A group of UFS students have received acknowledgement for their research at six international venues in the past few months.

Posters in Cameroon
Twelve postgraduate students, together with Prof André Roodt, Head of the Inorganic Chemistry division at the UFS, delivered three oral presentations, nine posters, one plenary and one keynote lecture abroad.

Four UFS students - Nina Morogoa, Pheello Nkoe, Alebel Bilay, and Mohammed Elmakki - who delivered posters at the First Pan African Conference on Crystallography in Dschang, Cameroon, received prizes for their presentations.

School and conference in Croatia
Students Orbett Alexander and Dumisani Kama were selected to attend the intense and demanding Third European Crystallographic School in Bôl, Croatia. Both Kama, Alexander and Prof Roodt gave oral presentations at the 24th Croatian-Slovenian Crystallographic Meeting at Brac Island, Croatia.

Kama, together with Dr Ferdi Groenewald, Dr Carla Pretorius and Pennie Mokolokolo, also attended the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France. The ESRF is a centre of excellence for fundamental and innovation-driven research. The storage ring at this laser facility can generate X-rays 100 billion times brighter than typical medical and laboratory X-ray sources.

Research in Switzerland
Kama and Mokolokolo also spent one month on research visits at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. Both Kama and Alexander were invited to present their research orally to the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry in Zurich, headed by Prof Roger Alberto.

In Basel, Switzerland, Dr Ferdi Groenewald, Dr Renier Koen, and Dr Truidie Venter all presented their research at the 30th European Crystallographic Meeting.

Prof Roodt said: “It is incredibly important that our postgraduate students get the chance to interact, discuss, and be taught by the best in the world and realise that hard work on basic and applied chemistry processes leads to broader recognition. The delegates to these international venues came from more than 60 countries and took note of our students work. With these young researchers, our future at the UFS and at Inorganic Chemistry is in good hands”.

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