Technology-mediated provision of models: Observational learning for first year students

Abstract

First year students coming into university are often puzzled by the expectations of university discourse. For students in the Academic Bridging Program (ABP) directed at mature and under-prepared students this is especially manifest; these same questions are often expressed by students in traditional first year university classes. This challenge has been assisted by the use of a web-enabled software program, iWRITE which displays examples of past student work of essay assignments along with detailed comments by course instructors. The subsequent success of students in acquiring not only structures and vocabulary to help them navigate this new world of academic discourse but also a heightened sense of self-efficacy supports the concept of observational learning by the technology-mediated provision of models. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.