Academic success, language and the four year degree: A case study of a 2007 cohort

Abstract

Tension exists between broadening access to tertiary education and ensuring throughput; as simply enrolling underprepared students into three-year degree programmes can be counterproductive, leading to failure and an increased dropout rate. Thus, correct placement of students and effective teaching interventions are crucial. On this basis, the University of Johannesburg implemented a four year BSc degree. Typical of many extended degree interventions, the first year was offered over a two year period, with an intensive teaching programme designed to reinforce and promote academic literacy skills. This case study tracked a cohort of such students. The class was multi-racial, multi-ethnic and mixed gender. In the main, students had poor school results and weak language abilities. Using the Placement Test in English for Educational Purposes' (PTEEP) test as a pre and post intervention test, demonstrated that the academic intervention improved the academic literacy levels of all the students, but students hailing from poor, disadvantaged schools, who wrote English as a Second Language for matric, benefitted the most. From a gender perspective, black female students gained the most from the intervention. Still, in general, the higher the original (PTEEP) score, the more likely the student was to succeed. Students who attended well-resourced schools and wrote English First Language for matric generally obtained high PTEEP scores. In terms of graduation rates, a four year degree, combined with an intervention such as described here, can increase epistemological access to the Sciences. Importantly, success was nuanced, as there were still drop outs and academic exclusions. Not all were able to graduate within four years and some had to change to other degree programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]