NAS awards best lecturers of 2019

Posted on December 16, 2019

Praises sung by the students were the order of the day when the awards for best first-year lecturer and best lecturer for senior courses were made at the annual breakfast of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences on 4 December 2019.

The best first-year lecturer award was bestowed on Mr Lindo Magagula from the Department of Statistics, while Prof Adrian Shrader from the Department of Zoology and Entomology was awarded as the best lecturer for senior courses.

Students were very vocal with their compliments for Mr Magagula. Comments included: ‘As a first-year student, it is normal and expected of me to not endure in my field of study, but with Mr Magagula it is always the opposite. I mean, the way he is so organised and just the way he delivers the content is extremely amazing. He encourages us in different levels, but most importantly, he motivates us not to give up on our desired degrees, regardless of the challenges we might face.’ Another student remarked: ‘It is always exciting and beneficial to attend his lectures. He is like the brother I never had; he knows all of us and always encourages us to review the slides and online videos to ensure that we keep up with what was taught in class.’

Prof Adrian Shrader was equally lauded by the students for his commitment to them. ‘Prof Shrader is passionate about conservation and inspiring students to be more proactive and conscientious. Part of the course was to create a video on a conservation issue close to you. This allowed a lot of people to explore another side of conservation – the connection between scientists and the public. These videos forced us to confront these issues from another perspective. In addition to this project, Prof Shrader showed us many videos in class relevant to conservation and biodiversity. He gave us links to good textbooks and websites for extra information. He was always on time and willing to help where we were struggling. He used clickUP well and made use of the online Turnitin marking function. This saved paper is in keeping with the conservation aspect of the module.’

 


Best lecturer for senior courses award. From left: Ms Martha Muruya (Academic Officer: NATHouse), Prof Barend Erasmus (Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences), Prof Adrian Shrader, Dr Quenton Kritzinger (NATHouse Guardian) and Prof Marietjie Potgieter (Deputy Dean: Teaching and Learning).

 

These awards were initiated by the Faculty’s student house, NATHouse, to recognise the extra effort that the lecturers put into their teaching and learning activities. According to Dr Quenton Kritzinger, Guardian of NATHouse, ‘their efforts are really appreciated by the students and these awards serve as encouragement for the lecturers.’

A word of thanks was also extended to the Executive Committee members of NATHouse for their efforts with the arrangements related to the award, including marketing, acquiring the nominations and the voting process.

The other nominees for the best first-year lecturer were: Dr Markus Wilken (Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology), Dr Carel Oosthuizen (Department of Zoology and Entomology), Mr Gideon Brits (Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics), Mr JW Hurter (Department of Plant and Soil Sciences) and Dr Rory Biggs (Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics). Dr Johan Ferreira (Department of Statistics), Dr Rory Biggs (Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics) and Ms Amelia du Preez (Department of Animal and Wildlife Sciences) were nominated for the award for best lecturer for senior courses.

- Author Martie Meyer

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