Video-Based Supplemental Instruction (VSI) as an Integral Part of an Academic Support and Development Program

Abstract

New demands in higher education serve to narrow the gap between real utilisation and the potential role of communication technology. The advantages of video-based instruction in particular dare not be ignored any longer— especially now that the need for academic development and parallel-medium instruction (at traditionally Afrikaans-medium institutions) has become a reality in South Africa. Academic support and development with the aid of video lectures, also called video-based supplemental instruction (VSI), rests upon the principle that a lecture on tape offers the possibility of combining the positive qualities of the lecture with those of small-group discussions. The passive instruction situation where the lecturer acts as the sole source of knowledge and students merely listen in a passive manner, is being changed into a situation during which students, under supervision of a trained facilitator, work through the video and completely familiarise themselves with the lecture content. In the process, learning content and the skills necessary for academic success are fully integrated, the object being the promotion of academic confidence and personal initiative amongst students who are academically at risk. The researchers describe a VSI programme in operation in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Morphology, Faculty of Medicine since 1995 and present results on the impact of this programme on the academic development of Nursing students enrolled for a service course in this department.