Academic Skills

1. Academic Skills Student Success Advisors Workshop Monday, 14th January 2013

2. Agenda

3. Acknowledgment of Country In the Spirit of Reconciliation Following on from Sorry Day I would like to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of this land that we are meeting on today, the Yugambeh People, and pay respect to their Elders past & present

4. What do we assume our students know?

5. What do we assume our students know? Two domains of assumed knowledge • Foundational Academic Skills Well-recognised by support and academic staff 2. Academic Capital The Hidden Curriculum generally less well recognised, understood or acknowledged by academic staff & a primary cause of failure by non-traditional students

6. What are Foundational Academic Skills? Information Literacy Computer Literacy Reading Skills Written Communication Numeracy Skills Critical thinking & analysis Independent Learning (self-regulation) (viz. time on task, self-study, time management, uni-work-social life balance, successful student behaviour) Prof Keithia Wilson ALTC National Fellow

7. What are some aspects of academic or cultural capital? The “Hidden Curriculum” – The things Non-traditional commencing students don’t know that they don’t know Student role Understanding student role expectations & successful behaviour (realistic role appraisal, time investment necessary to achieve, predictors of success, home study desk, computer access) Performance Expectations Reading the academic context for performance requirements about studying & especially assessment (different language, academic jargon) Help-seeking Capacity for help-seeking without fear of negative labelling (dumb/stupid) Identity as a student Sense of belonging & personal fit with university & role (overcome the “outsider within” phenomenon – “A stranger in a foreign land”) Prof Keithia Wilson ALTC National Fellow

8. Two approaches to teaching Academic Skills & Academic Capital Generic Skills approach 1. Teaching Generic Academic Skills through stand alone workshops as a front loading strategy to progressively develop skills & confidence early on Contextualised Skills approach Teaching generic academic skills & capital as a function of preparing students to undertake different types of assessment tasks which are relevant to each discipline (e.g. MC exams, critical essays, laboratory reports etc), especially first assessment tasks in threshold courses, & are taught as a series of just-in-time interventions Both are valid approaches Prof Keithia Wilson ALTC National Fellow

9. Value of both approaches • Generic and Contextualised approaches are valuable & valid • Students perceived Contextualised approaches tied to assessment tasks & timed 2 weeks prior to submission dates as more relevant  higher student uptake

10. System’s approach to facilitating academic skills & capital Partnership • Academic staff Academic Skills & Capital Workshops need to be planned, designed & ideally facilitated in partnership with academic staff viz. • First Year Coordinators • First Year Senior Tutors & Course Convenors with particular assessment tasks in their courses • Learning Advisors These workshops can be co-run with Learning Advisor support & collaboration (depending on LA availability, given 7.8 staff) • Student Success Advisors SSAs may collaborate together in Groups & across degree programs to co-facilitate workshops