Unisa Western Cape implements interventions for multiple repeaters

Unisa’s Western Cape Region has rolled out a comprehensive learning support intervention programme in the first semester of 2024 to support students who are multiple repeaters of high-risk modules. This initiative targets modules with high numbers of repeaters, offering a structured "boot camp" approach to assist these students in overcoming their academic challenges. Recognising the need for targeted support, regional academic coordinators conceptualised a two-phase intervention strategy designed to address these students' systemic, affective and content-specific challenges.

From left: Chantal Adams, Student Counsellor, and Bronwyn Wright, Regional Academic Coordinator

The first phase of the intervention involved a collaborative session between the regional academic coordinator and an academic literacies facilitator. This session aimed to uncover students' underlying systemic and affective challenges with the targeted modules. Students were encouraged to share their experiences, highlighting any personal or academic barriers that hindered their success.

Based on these discussions, students were referred to Career Counselling and Development for further support interventions. Time management was deemed a key challenge that prevented students from completing a module, therefore structured workshops were scheduled to support these students with time management strategies and their management of assessment stress and anxiety.

Academic literacies facilitators provided skills-based support to assist students in bridging the gap between high school and their first year at university as it had been found that the foundational skills needed to master the modules were lacking.

The second phase involved intensive academic sessions conducted by module lecturing staff. These sessions were scheduled before assessments and focused exclusively on repeating students, providing concentrated guidance on key concepts and areas of difficulty. This pre-assessment support aims to deepen students' understanding of the content, equipping them with the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed in their upcoming assessments. Since these sessions were conducted on MS Teams, the recording was hosted on the lecturer's myModules site on myUnisa. Regional digital learning advisors were instrumental in supporting lecturing staff in uploading recordings to the relevant platforms.

The success of this initiative relied heavily on the commitment and collaboration of lecturers. The region would like to thank the College of Accounting Sciences’ first-year Financial Accounting lecturers for supporting the initiative. Initial feedback from students participating in the boot camp sessions has been overwhelmingly positive. Students who had attended expressed a newfound clarity and confidence in tackling their modules, attributing their improved understanding to the focused support provided. The Western Cape Region plans to monitor the outcomes of these interventions closely and make data-driven adjustments to enhance their effectiveness further.

This proactive approach highlights the region's commitment to student success, providing a model for other regions to emulate in their efforts to support students at risk of repeating modules. The Western Cape Region remains dedicated to refining and expanding its support interventions, ensuring that all students have the opportunity to achieve their academic goals.

* Submitted by Bronwyn Wright, Regional Academic Coordinator, Unisa Western Cape