Browsing by Subject "academic performance"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Does belonging matter? Exploring the role of social connectedness as a critical factor in students' transition to higher education
    (Psychology in Society, 2011) Pym, June; Goodman, Suki; Patsika, Natasha
    Widening access to Higher Education throughout the world has meant an increase in the number of students who do not necessarily have the types of capital that universities require. This means an increasing need to engage with the issues that separate students from connecting with their modes and places of learning. This paper describes a successful Academic Development programme that is focused on equity students in the Commerce Faculty at the University of Cape Town (South Africa). The programme actively promotes academic and affective factors that will contribute toward affirming students' identity and developing a learning community. The paper reports on the results of a research project that combined qualitative and quantitative research methods to investigate how fostering social connectedness impacts on the transition of students to higher education and their academic performance.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Measuring the impact of academic development courses in first-and second-year chemistry
    (South African Chemical Institute, 2013) Smith, Leonard C
    This paper uses multivariate analysis to estimate the impact of educational interventions in the first-year academic development chemistry courses on students' final course marks. The cohorts for seven years are pooled, which generates a more robust set of results than was previously the case. To counter the sample-selection problem that arises as academic development students are placed onto the academic development programme, a selection of control variables is included in the estimations. The results suggest that the educational interventions in the first year had a positive impact on academic development students' performance, relative to mainstream students, in both the first- and second-year courses. The implications of the results for education policy and research are considered.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Measuring the impact of educational interventions on the academic performance of academic development students in second-year microeconomics
    (Wiley, 2012) Smith, Leonard C; Ranchhod, Vimal
    This paper analyses the impact of educational interventions made in the first- and second-year microeconomics courses on academic development students' final mark in the second-year course. It also addresses issues of methodology, specification, and statistical analysis with respect to other studies in the field. The results suggest that the educational interventions in the first year had a positive impact on the academic performance of the academic development cohort, relative to the mainstream cohort for the first period (2000-2002). The results also suggest that the educational interventions introduced in the second period (2003-2005), in the form of voluntary workshops, improved the academic performance of the academic development and mainstream cohorts.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Measuring the impact of educational interventions on the academic performance of black academic development students
    (Southern African Comparative and History of Education Society, 2012) Smith, Leonard
    This article uses statistical analysis to estimate the impact of educational interventions in the first and second-year microeconomics courses on black academic development students' examination and final course marks. The results suggest that the educational interventions in the first and second years had a positive impact on the academic performance of the academic development cohorts, relative to a comparable group of mainstream students, in both the first and second-year courses. The results imply that the impact of interventions is more pronounced in respect of black students, and that the determinants of academic performance differ for black students relative to the student body as a whole. Finally, the implications of the results for education policy and research are considered.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Open Access
    TEDI 2 Week 2 - The Deaf Child's Language and Communication
    (2019-06-01) Hlayisi, Vera-Genevey
    In this video, Odette Swift interviews Vera-Genevey Hlayisi, an audiologist and lecturer at UCT who elaborately responds to questions relating to language and communication for deaf children. She explains how language mismatch negatively influences a deaf child’s understanding of what is taught in class and the consequent knock-on effect on their academic performance. Discussing the different linguistic demands of deaf learners and their hearing peers, she highlights the role of audiologists and language therapists in assisting the teacher to identify adaptations and support mechanisms that s/he can use to facilitate learning for deaf children. This video lecture 10/11 of week 2 of the course: Educating Deaf Children: Becoming an Empowered Teacher.