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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

English, Afrikaans, Sotho, and Zulu part of first Literature Festival
2016-08-11

Description: Literature Festival  Tags: Literature Festival

The first Literature Festival was a huge success, attracting
young and old during this year’s Vrystaat Arts Festival held
at the University of the Free State.
Photo: Leopold Frechow

It may have been the inaugural year of the Vrystaat Literature Festival, but, with the success of this year’s event, there are bound to be many more.

Main purpose of the festival

Acting Director of Student Affairs at the University of the Free State (UFS), Cornelia Faasen says: “The main purpose of the festival is to celebrate the South African literary scene as a multi-lingual, multi-cultural landscape, and to bring prominent writers to the UFS in order to open dialogues and discussions with them.”

Because of the students’ role in the arts and culture in general, the Department of Student Affairs wanted them to be involved in the festival too.

Contribution from African writers

Both local and international guests were involved. This year’s theme, “Our Africa”, attracted many African writers too.

Some of these writers include Chika Unigwe, originally from Nigeria, who rose to fame in Belgium, and the Iranian author, Kader Abdolah, a political refugee who escaped from Iran to the Netherlands in the 1980s. Wilfried N’Sondé, originally from the Republic of the Congo, and now living in France, was also a festival guest.

Festival offers something for everyone

Several authors celebrated literature in English. In addition to this, Afrikaans books and writers were featured alongside other indigenous languages, such as Sotho and Zulu.

Faasen says that she hopes that this festival will be the first of many. “We are hoping that this event will find its own legs with more students and academic staff from the UFS involved.”

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