James Cook University Generic academic assistance: One part of a systematic whole-of-institution approach Dr Andrea Lynch Manager, Academic Language and Learning 1
Three campuses Four Study Centres Diverse student body 31% international 21% from regional or remote areas 23% from low socioeconomic status backgrounds 60% first-infamily 5.3% Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
A multi-level model Adapted from Briguglio & Watson, 2014 3
Self Access Resources www.jcu.edu.au/learning-centre 4
Generic Programs Learning Advice Desk First point of contact Referral Learning Advisor consultations Specialist advice Short Courses Workshop Series External academic assistance provider (after hrs online advice particularly for external students) Academic Success (online course through LMS) 5
Discipline specific programs Peer Assisted Study Sessions Adjunct workshops, study sessions, lecture presentations Student support resources e.g., maths for chemists 6
Work with course teams (discipline specialists and Divisional staff) to Unpack and articulate exit standards for communication and numeracy Map communication or numeracy development and assessment across a course Construct tasks and criteria to support development and assessment across a course Work with Subject Coordinator and subject teaching staff to Leverage the messaging systems of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment to enhance teaching and learning with a sharp focus on communication and/or numeracy development and assessment. 7
The Learning Advice Desk 8
The Learning Advice Desk Students who access the service are more likely to be: Mature age; Female; In Diploma of Higher Education; Born and have citizenship in a country other than Australia; From a NESB; From a local statistical division; Have a declared disability; In the broad categories of study society and culture or health ; and In the OP band 6 to 15. With thanks to Dr Nick Emtage who performed the statistical anlyses. 9
Learning Advice Desk: Frequency and Purpose Cairns and Townsville SP1 SP2 2015 744 690 2016 890 488 (YTD) Consistently ~90% writing related ~10% study strategies, e.g. time management; statistics; referrals 10
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The Learning Advice Desk (2015 data) Retention: retention rate for those who accessed the service was 17% higher than the rate for those who did not Achievement: average GPA of those accessing the service was 0.79 higher than those who did not. Satisfaction: Overall, ~4.5/5 12
External Provider 1195 student users in SP1 3407 tutorials consuming 66659 minutes Number of times used % of users One only 43.8 % 2 to 4 40.8 % 5 to 9 12.1 % 10 or more 3.3 % 13
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External Provider Users are more likely to be: School leaver Female OP 21-25 First in family External Local (by postcode) 15
Purpose of use Topic Tutorials delivered Minutes consumed Writing review 2696 (79.13%) 52900 (79.36%) Essay and report writing 230 (6.75%) 5176 (7.77%) Other writing (English concept, skills, referencing, etc) 105 (3.08%) 1779 (2.67%) Business concepts 95 (2.78%) 1538 (2.31%) Maths (any level) 77 (2.26%) 1256 (2.26%) Science (any level) 171 (5.02%) 3502 (5.25%) Total 99.02% 99.62% 16
Effect(s) Proportion of students who passed (GPA greater than or equal to 4.0) was significant for: B. Nursing (pre-reg) B. Education (primary) B. Social Work Dip HE SP1 2016 Overall, average GPA of students who used the service was 0.3 greater than those who did not. 17
Tests for differences in the proportion of students that passed (had a GPA greater than or equal to 4) and whether or not they used the external provider were significant for a number of courses including the: Bachelor of Nursing Science (pre-reg.); Bachelor of Education (Primary); Bachelor of Social Work; and Diploma of Higher Education. The results were not significant for the Bachelor of Business, the course with the largest number of unique users. A significant result was found for the Bachelor of Dental Surgery, however the pass rate of those using the service (90%) was lower than that of students that did not use the service (97%) in this program. 18
Graduate Communication Skills: Strengthening the Evidence Base National Dissemination Workshops Perth Wednesday 5 October 10am 1pm Edith Cowan University Brisbane Friday 7 October 10am 1pm Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Sydney Monday 10 October 10am 1pm University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) Melbourne Wednesday 12 October 1pm 4pm The University of Melbourne To attend a workshop, please register online via http://melbournecshe.unimelb.edu.au/what-works-best by Thursday 29 September 2016. MORE INFORMATION W: http://melbourne-cshe.unimelb.edu.au/ what-works-best E: Paula Kelly kelly.p@unimelb.edu.au 19