Optimising the design, implementation and evaluation of first year seminars in South African higher education: implications for evidence-based practices
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Date
2024
Authors
Oosthuizen, Lauren Lisa
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
Globally, first-year students face many challenges as they transition into university. This is mainly because they need to adapt to a new environment, and because there is a steep increase in the volume, complexity, and variation in an undergraduate degree workload compared to high school. In addition, many South African students are underprepared for university due to inequalities in the basic education system. The variation in school quintile and access to
resources means that students entering tertiary education do not all enter on an equal footing. In response, most higher education institutions have support initiatives in place for students, in the form of First Year Experience programmes. In this study, I focus on one of these programmes โ the First Year Seminar (FYS). The purpose of an FYS is to support students in their transition into university. To do so, however, it must be well-designed, well-executed,
and evaluated to measure if it has achieved what it set out to do. There is limited literature in the South African space on the design and evaluation of FYS programmes. Because these programmes are often operationally focused, there is also limited research on the use of theoretical underpinnings or conceptual frameworks in contributing to the knowledge base of FYS programmes. To address this gap, this study makes use of Transition Pedagogy and its First Year Curriculum Principles (FYCPs) as a conceptual framework to argue for the optimisation of FYS programmes by interrogating how the planning, implementation, and evaluation of such programmes can support the transition and success of first-year students. The primary research question guiding this work is: ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ-๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ถ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ? ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ: ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ-๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ? ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ถ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด?
The first article analyses the use of an evidence-based approach to design and evaluate an FYS. To do so, curriculum documents from the FYS at the University of the Free State (UFS) are analysed and mapped against the FYCPs for design. Key findings indicate that the nature of the FYS at the UFS โ a hybrid seminar that is delivered institution-wide through its integration into the curriculum of all faculties โ does meet the criteria for evaluating FYCPs. However, this investigation was also useful in determining ways to improve the design of this FYS to better support studentsโ transition into university. The implications of these findings are promising for the development of well-designed and evidence-based FYS programmes as core contributors to supporting first-year studentsโ transition into university.
The second article uses data from studentsโ evaluations of the FYS at the UFS over a five-year period to reflect how the evaluation of an FYS can inform successful student transitions. The FYCPs for design of a transition programme are used as a conceptual framework to map against the student-informed design of the institutional FYS, and the article draws on the pragmatic paradigm to integrate quantitative and qualitative data in this goal-oriented, applied social research study. Although previous studies have examined student evaluations of transition programmes, there has not been a strong focus on using student evaluation data to inform the design of transition programmes. As such, this study focuses on the types of questions asked in student evaluations and how that data informs the design of a transition-focused FYS. The FYCPs are used to map how the FYS addressed these principles for supporting transition. Key findings show that the design and implementation of the FYS improved each year as a result of the student evaluations and that the majority of the FYCPs were addressed. However, there is room for improvement in the consistency of the questions asked in the student evaluations, as well as the frequency at which these were conducted. These findings contribute to the
literature base of case studies in which student evaluations are used to inform the design of an evidence-based transition programme.
Ultimately, this dissertation contributes to the field by exploring the value of using datainformed approaches to the design, implementation, and evaluation of FYS programmes in South Africa, thereby impacting the transition of first-year students into higher education. Additionally, this study will add value by contributing to the literature base on transition and student success in South Africa.
Description
Dissertation (M.Ed.(Higher Education Studies))--University of the Free State, 2024
Keywords
First year curriculum principles, First year seminar, First-year students, Evidencebased approach to design, Evaluation of a first year seminar, Transition programme, Student evaluation