Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

Annual UFS Teaching and Learning Conference looks to the future of teaching and learning

23 October 2023 | Story Daleen Meintjes | Photo SUPPLED

CTL Conference 2023 — UFS staff took part in the panel presentation and panel discussion at the pre-conference workshop on graduate attributes and employability. From left to right: Lauren Oosthuizen, Gugu Khanye, Chrisna van Heerden, Prof Joel Mokhoathi, Lindi Heyns, Prof Francois Strydom, Dr Anke van der Merwe, Susan Lombaard, Dr Ekaete Benedict, Dr Martie Bloem and Dr Moeketsi Tlali.

The University of the Free State (UFS) recently hosted its annual Teaching and Learning Conference, bringing together educators, students, and thought leaders across the educational spectrum.

This year’s conference focused on reshaping the future of education, emphasising blending traditional teaching methods with innovative technologies to nurture essential graduate attributes through thoughtful, intentional assessment design.

The programme was spread over five days, from 11 to 15 September 2023, and was themed ‘Quality blended learning and teaching: Enhancing graduate attributes through assessment’. It kicked off with two pre-conference workshops: one on graduate attributes and employability, on 11 September, and one on alternative assessment, on 12 September.

The conference served as a platform for sharing ideas and strategies to elevate the quality of education, ultimately enriching students' learning experiences. Discussions revolved around creating adaptable, career-ready graduates capable of navigating an ever-evolving job market.

Graduate attributes and employability

Cathy Sims, Executive Director of the South African Graduate Employers Association (SAGEA), emphasised the institution's importance in facilitating a seamless transition for students from academic institutions to the workforce. She also highlighted the need for collaboration between the institution and employers to ensure that students are equipped with necessary and scarce skills across various industries.

"Institutions must prioritise cultivating graduates with a well-rounded skill set, encompassing technical expertise and strong interpersonal abilities,” she said. “This can be achieved through thorough research and robust partnerships with employers. I admire the proactive approach taken by UFS in this regard, with [UFS Vice-Chancellor and Principal] Prof Francis Petersen actively participating in numerous panel discussions. Events like the 2023 Investing in Mining Indaba exemplify the kind of conversations that address the skills gap head-on."

The panel presentation by lecturers from different faculties highlighted the work being done to promote graduate attributes at the UFS. During the panel discussion led by Prof Francois Strydom, Senior Director at the UFS Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL), lively discussions were held around bridging the gap between industry needs and higher education efforts, as well as practical ways to prepare students for the world of work.

Looking to the future

Attendees heard that the rapidly growing use of technology and applications like ChatGPT has led to a transformative shift in teaching and learning at educational institutions, helping to foster innovative and efficient ways to educate and empower students. However, Prof Johannes Cronjé, from the Department of Information Technology at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, expressed concerns regarding an overreliance on technology, which may lead to the removal of interpersonal skills and understanding of context.

Following the keynote address by Prof Cronjé, Dr Peet van Aardt and Zonnike Coetzer from the CTL addressed ways to deal with ChatGPT in teaching academic literacy. The rest of the programme was dedicated to creative ways to use ChatGPT in assessment, presented by Dr Ina Gouws from the UFS’s Faculty of Humanities, and a practical session on redesigning a module by Dr Michael von Maltitz, from the UFS's Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences.

The two pre-conference days paved the way for the virtual conference, which took place from 13 to 15 September via Blackboard Collaborate. The keynote speakers for each of the conference days focused on the theme and provided much food for thought.

On the first conference day, Prof Jillian Kenzie of Indiana University, USA, provided a fresh perspective on how assessment can be used to assure student learning and success. Dr Muki Moeng of Nelson Mandela University started the second day with a discussion on graduate attributes. She highlighted that the higher education sector is faced with worldwide challenges such as rapid technological changes, political turbulence, decolonisation of the curriculum, climate change, and more. Higher education should respond to these changes and reinvent itself while trying to stay true to what a university is “understood to be”, and how it should look in the contemporary world.

Prof Corlia Janse van Vuuren of the UFS’s Faculty of Health Sciences was the keynote speaker on the last day. She talked about the continued theory-practice gap and questions raised regarding the relevance of teaching and learning. “Universities might need to reflect on whether all stakeholders, specifically students, are moving towards the same goal concerning the development of graduate attributes,” she said.

During the conference UFS staff members also showcased the innovative and excellent work they are doing in learning and teaching: 53 papers were delivered in seven different categories over the three conference days.

News Archive

Researchers international leaders in satellite tracking in the wildlife environment

2015-05-29

Ground-breaking research has attracted international media attention to Francois Deacon, lecturer and researcher in the Department Animal, Wildlife and Grassland Sciences at the UFS, and Prof Nico Smit, from the same department. They are the first researchers in the world to equip giraffes with GPS collars, and to conduct research on this initiative. Recently, they have been joined by Hennie Butler from the Department of Zoology as well as Free State Nature Conservation to further this research.

“Satellite tracking is proving to be extremely valuable in the wildlife environment. The unit is based on a mobile global two-way communication platform, utilising two-way data satellite communication, complete with GPS systems.

“It allows us to track animals day and night, while we monitor their movements remotely from the computer. These systems make possible the efficient control and monitoring of wildlife in all weather conditions and in near-to-real time. We can even communicate with the animals, calling up their positions or changing the tracking schedules.

“The satellite collar allows us to use the extremely accurate data to conduct research with the best technology available. The volume of data received allows us to publish the data in scientific journals and research-related articles.

“Scientific institutions and the public sector have both shown great interest in satellite tracking, which opens up new ground for scientific research for this university. Data management can be done, using Africa Wildlife Tracking (AWT) equipment where we can access our data personally, store it, and make visual presentations. The AWT system and software architecture provide the researcher with asset tracking, GPS location reports, geo-fencing, highly-detailed custom mapping, history reports and playback, polling on demand, history plotting on maps, and a range of reporting types and functions,” Francois said.

Data can be analysed to determine home range, dispersal, or habitat preference for any specific species.

Francois has been involved in multiple research projects over the last 12 years on wildlife species and domesticated animals, including the collaring of species such as Black-backed Jackal, Caracal, African Wild Dog, Hyena, Lion, Cheetah, Cattle, Kudu, Giraffe, and Black Rhino: “Giraffe definitely being the most challenging of all,” he said.

In 2010, he started working on his PhD, entitled The spatial ecology, habitat preferences and diet selection of giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa) in the Kalahari region of South Africa.

Since then, his work has resulted not only in more research work (supervising four Masters students) but also in a number of national and international projects. These include work in the:

Kalahari region (e.g. Khamab Nature Reserve and Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park)
Kuruman region (Collared 18 cattle to identify spatial patterns in relation to the qualities of vegetation and soil-types available. This project took place in collaboration with Born University in Germany)
Woodland Hills Wildlife Estate and Kolomella Iron Ore – ecological monitoring
A number of Free State nature reserves (e.g. Distribution of herbivores (kudu and giraffe) and predators (camera traps)

Francois is also involved with species breeding programmes and management (giraffe, buffalo, sable, roan, and rhino) in Korrannaberg, Rustenburg, Hertzogville, Douglas, and Bethlehem as well as animal and ecological monitoring in Kolomella and Beesthoek iron ore.

Besides the collaring of giraffes, Francois and his colleagues are involved in national projects, where they collect milk from lactating giraffes and DNA material, blood samples, and ecto/endo parasites from giraffes in Southern Africa.

With international projects, Francois is working to collect DNA material for the classification of the nine sub-species of giraffe in Africa. He is also involved in projects focusing on the spatial ecology and adaptation of giraffe in Uganda (Murchison Falls), and to save the last 30 giraffe in the DRC- Garamba National Park.

This project has attracted a good deal of international interest. In June 2014, a US film crew (freelancing for Discovery Channel) filmed a documentary on Francois’ research (trailer of documentary). Early in 2015, a second crew, filming for National Geographic, also visited Francois to document his work.

More information about Francois’ work is available at the GCF website.

Read Francois Deacon's PhD abstract

Direct enquiries to news@ufs.ac.za.

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept