A student-centred A student-centred approach – approach –

Incorporating Incorporating students’ students’

experiences in the experiences in the development of a development of a student support student support

systemsystem

A student-centred A student-centred approach – approach –

Incorporating Incorporating students’ students’

experiences in the experiences in the development of a development of a student support student support

systemsystem

Dr Mpine Makoe Dr Mpine Makoe Institute for Open and Distance LearningInstitute for Open and Distance Learning

Outline of the presentation

• Student Centredness• Student Support• Student characteristics

DemographicsCase studies

• Experiences of distance learning• Unisa context• Open and Distance learning• Elements of student support

Student-centredness• Focuses on an individual student’s

experiences, perspectives, background, capabilities and needs

• Gives learners greater autonomy and control

• Based on the needs of the learners than on teacher’s needs

Student-centredness

• requires that students are seen as the main foci of the educational process and they are supported to take progressive responsibility for their learning. However, the pedagogy employed should enable successful learning establish links between students’ current meanings and new knowledge to be learnt, and encourage independent and critical thinking.

Student-Centredness Teacher-Centredness

Approaches Construct their own knowledge with the assistance of the lecturerDiscovery and independent learning

Centre of knowledgeTransmission of information from a knowledgeable individual to a student

Dominant theory

Constructivist and sociocultural

Behaviourist or Positivist

Processes Personalised and individualised responsesCollaboration and dialogue among students and lecturersProcess-oriented instruction that focuses on authentic tasks and problem solving strategies

Directs and controls the learning processesOne-way communication from lecturer to students through study materialStudy, memorise and mirror the correct view

Roles Students are activeLecturer is a facilitator, coach, mentor and a resource personStudents are responsible and accountable for their learning

Students are passiveLecturer focuses on the content – sylabbi; discipline based

Student Support• tuition support in the form of detailed, individualised and

timely feedback to formative assessment; regional tutorials in a medium (face-to-face, online, telematic etc) that is accessible to students; remedial interventions such as responsible open access programmes to help underprepared student achieve success in order to decrease the distance between student and teacher;

• peer support in the form of institutionally arranged and supported peer self-help groups;

• in-text support in the form of well-designed well-integrated courseware encouraging active learning and promoting dialogue between teacher and student in order to decrease the distance between student and study materials;

• administrative support in the form of timely, accurate and accessible information from institution to students about all aspects of the learning process, from registration to graduation.

Elements of support systems

Registration

Tutoring

Counselling

Peer groups

Learning centres

Assessment

Educational technologies

Teaching and learning• Study material• Teaching and assessment goes

hand in hand – continuous assessment

• Reveals students’ strengths and weaknesses and suggests where the student might need help

• Feedback is very important

Age demographics

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

160000

<24 25-

39

40-

49

>50

Age demographics

Johannes• Age – 22• Urban areas• Formerly from

rural areas • Full time student• Son and a brother• Student since

2003

Mokgadi• Mid 30’s• Rural areas• Mother, wife,

daughter-in law, community worker

• Teacher• Student since 1993• Switched from

degree to diploma

How do we support our students?

Principles of student-centredness

• Cognitive and metacognitive factors

• Motivational and affective factors

• Development and social factors» (McCombs and Vakili, 2005)

Student support services

• Cognitively

• Affectively

• Systematically» (Tait, 2000)

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