Theo van der Vyver of the Department of Economics has received the prestigious International Education Faculty Achievement Award, an achievement that reflects his commitment to shaping futures and making an impact on student successes.
Theo van der Vyver from Unisa’s Department of Economics is the recipient of the prestigious International Education Faculty Achievement Award. He is also the first academic at Unisa to receive such an honour.
The award recognises extraordinary achievement in curriculum development, service, and teaching, to prepare world citizens. It is conferred by the International Association of University Presidents, an association that was founded in 1964 with the aim of increasing the exchange of experiences, levels of collaboration and networking between university leaders across the globe, as well as to support sustainable development in a context of global competency.
Since more than 17 000 students register at the Department of Economics per semester, and he is personally responsible for 2900 of those, Van der Vyver and his team introduced initiatives that would support students in their studies.
“We had high volumes of calls and e-mails from students and we decided to maximise on available platforms as well as introduce other platforms of engagement in order to support students,” he said.
According to Van der Vyver, staff members in the department used the available myUnisa platform and embarked on providing extensive training workshops to tutors in order to ensure good communication at departmental and regional level. “They have embraced the tutor model, where they currently have 90 e-tutors and 80 face-to-face tutors. They went the extra mile and introduced module-specific DVDs that cover the economics module content and include real examples and input from renowned economists. They also pursued the online route to teaching, making use of YouTube clips through their external website. The format of the online teaching allows the tutors to conduct 20 minutes of teaching and gives the student an opportunity to do exercises after the lecture. The department also pioneered the first African glossary of terminology in order to translate economic concepts into South African languages, for easy understanding.”
“The feedback from students has been very positive,” said Van der Vyver. “The discussion classes have grown tremendously, with places like Mthatha recording an increase in the pass rate from 0% to 50% from 2009 to 2012. Our face-to-face tutorials have been so successful they have been expanded internationally to Ethiopia, Swaziland, and Lesotho.”
Here are some of the student comments:
A Saidi: “I would like to thank Mr T van der Vyver and all economics department staff. You have done your best to assist us in this module to the extent that if we fail, we only have ourselves to blame, especially those who attended satellite broadcasts, discussion classes and tutorials. Of all the modules I registered, economics has been the best in terms of student support. Keep it up.”
H Hodgkinson: “I have done my diploma through Unisa and am now busy with BCom. Not once in all the subjects I have done thus far, have I had such support from a lecturer. Slides, extra study notes, a DVD, a fantastic CD and an involvement in the forum. Thank you, Mr Van der Vyver.”
Natasha: “Hi there, I just wanted to say what a great job the Economics department is doing. We had so much guidance, encouragement, room for evaluating ourselves and feedback that if we failed it could only be due to our own capabilities or lack of studying.”
“I am passionate about what I do and seeing lives change as a result is inspiring and fulfilling for me,” said Van der Vyver.
Prof Valiant Clapper, Executive Dean of the College of Economic and Management Sciences, congratulated Van der Vyver and said the award reflected his commitment to shaping futures and making an impact on student successes.
Van der Vyver has a track record of teaching excellence at Unisa. In 2011, he received the Excellence in Learner Support Award in the College of Economic Sciences, while in 2012 he received the Executive Dean’s Excellence in Tuition Award as well as the Principal’s Award for Excellence in Tuition.
He was nominated by the University Committee on Teaching and Learning for the International Education Faculty Achievement Award.
*Article submitted by Nolwazi Mwabi
The award to Mr.Vyver is well deserved.Some of us cannot forget the patience,the devotion and concern of Theo when we failed to catch up the basic concepts in Economics 1A-ECS 1501.On such occasions I used to fill ashamed as it more like dissapointing a devoted friend whose only concern is to do me a good turn.
We owe you much and Iam happy others noted, and did something about it!Congratulations!
HI
I WOULD LIKE TO SAY,HE REALLY DESERVES IT DUE TO HIS FULL COMMITMENT AND I WAS ONCE-in-a-lifetime being one of his studednt in economics.He usually come in contant with the student before the session start and he always smiles to everyone and willing to serve us with any usefull information.
I personally thanking you for making it possible to pass all the economics modules.
Wow…what an awesome inspiration to us all….thank you!, for going the extra mile, this is what builds nations!
I am tutoring UNISA students in DSC1520. The majority of these students have passed first year Economics and some are registered for Economics 2. What surprises me is that these students don’t have the foggiest idea of DEMAND and SUPPLY FUNCTIONS and not a single student in my class could define PRICE ELASTICITY OF DEMAND. This in my opinion is a serious problem and should be addressed accordingly.
Congratulations Prof for making us very excited as Unisa indeed as South Africa!!!!
oh yes Theo deserves that award. He is good indeed.
Congratulations, a well deserved award. Well done!
Congrats to the Tutor & Prof….l enjoyed my ECS 1501 last year and l
passed it well ; l give due credit your support systems!!l no longer regret choosing Economics as one of my majors fr my BCom ….l was motivated by “simplification” of the subjects!! Well done!!
It is nice to know the effort our lecturers put in their work to aid us become successful individuals in our communities being awarded. I as an ECS1501 student am assured that I’m in the right place. Congratulations.
Congragulation Prof you really indeed making us as your student an oomph to register.
Van der Vyver’s prestigious international award is a remarkable achievement,not only for his personal level,but also for the positive image of Unisa research field at international arena.It also has a good legacy for individual contribution for future social advancement in economic development.
Congrats Prof.
We all proud of your construcive input to add value to all South Africans.