Building on the VU Block foundations: Results from the inaugural first year cohort
McCluskey, Trish ORCID: 0000-0003-3249-4482, Smallridge, Andrew
ORCID: 0000-0001-6645-760X, Weldon, John
ORCID: 0000-0002-8103-0636, Loton, Daniel
ORCID: 0000-0003-4106-0555, Samarawickrema, Gayani
ORCID: 0000-0003-4091-7027 and Cleary, Kaye
ORCID: 0000-0002-9003-5084
(2020)
Building on the VU Block foundations: Results from the
inaugural first year cohort.
In:
Research and Development in Higher Education:Next Generation, Higher Education: Challenges, Changes and Opportunities.
Heinrich, Eva and Bourke, Roseanna, eds.
Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia, Inc, Hammondville, NSW, pp. 61-72.
Abstract
In 2018, Victoria University (VU) implemented the most radical change to first-year university education in Australian history. Transforming the traditional model of concurrently studying four lecture and tutorial-based units into sequential 4-week blocks conducted in small, active learning groups, led to improvements in retention and results. Comparing the inaugural first-year student cohort to matched counterparts from the preceding year, this paper presents the initial results of an innovative, cross-disciplinary first-year change initiative which recalibrated most aspects of higher education: mode of delivery, teaching practice and curriculum to ensure student retention and increase opportunities for success. The data demonstrates how the approach has impacted on diverse student cohorts including non-English-speaking background students (up 14%), first-infamily (up 13%), Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander (up 21%), low socio-economic (up 15%) as well as all domestic (up 9.9%) and international (up 5.8%) students. The paper challenges traditional assumptions of how Australian higher education is delivered and provides evidence that purposefully applying focused strategies
Additional Information | Paper Presented at the 42nd HERDSA Annual International Conference, 2-5 July 2019, The University of Auckland Science Centre, Auckland,New Zealand |
Item type | Book Section |
URI | https://vuir.vu.edu.au/id/eprint/41083 |
ISBN | 9780648550730 |
Subjects | Historical > FOR Classification > 1301 Education Systems Historical > FOR Classification > 1302 Curriculum and Pedagogy Current > Division/Research > First Year College |
Keywords | retention; first-year; VU Block Model®; higher education change |
Download/View statistics | View download statistics for this item |