Supporting Transitions
Student Whisperers: Pathways to Success in Higher Education in Australia
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Rob Townsend
This paper focuses on the transition experiences of students entering Higher Education (HE) via a vocational educational and training (VET) pathway or a return-to-study pathway at two regional institutions in Australia. The experiences and reflections of students and staff are represented in case studies and a thematic compilation of experiences. A critical approach to research and reflection questions the traditional separation of theory and method, interpretation, and data, subjective and objective, and ethics and science. The research revealed a growing category of higher education students being the first; students who have no family history of post-secondary education coined the term “the firsts” to describe themselves. They are the first in their family to go to TAFE and now the first to go to University. Some have extended family members who have post school qualifications but no one in their immediate family. For “the firsts”, their personal confidence that they could be successful in tertiary education is a primary barrier. Educators linked to these cohorts coined themselves as “bogan whisperers” or “student whisperers” to describe their relationship with these students and the range of activities that is incorporated into higher education in a regional context.
Understanding of the Role Played by Family in First Year Students' Transition to University
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Nosisana Patricia Mkonto, Nosisana Patricia Mkonto
Majority of first year students experience the transition from school to university as challenging. First generation students are the most susceptible in this transition. Awareness of students’ family circumstances can help academics to gain a deeper understanding of who their students are and how best to support these students. This understanding will encourage the academics to take reasonable steps to reflect on their practices. Awareness and understanding students' family circumstances can assist in identifying students’ risk factors and facilitate smooth transition into the university. This in turn make the students feel welcome at the university and acquire a sense of belonging. This paper draws on Bourdieu’s (1984, 1990) cultural capital in order to understand students’ family circumstances. A questionnaire comprising of fourteen questions was administered to 800 first year students at a University of Technology. This was followed by focus group discussions to dig deeper on the responses given in the questionnaire. The findings of this study revealed that students’ family circumstances do play a role in first year students’ into university.
Artificially Intelligent Online Learning Platforms
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Matthew Montebello
Online learning platform have been evolving ever since the Web enabled distance learning and computer-based instruction to use the Internet as a communication medium. Different generations of online platforms followed the evolution of the web as well as the progress in technologies. In this paper we look into the application of Artificial Intelligence to e-learning as we are witnessing the next generation of online learning platforms. We use a case-study to portray a number of different intelligent functionalities while adopting a reflexive ideology whereby learners have full control of their learning environment.
