OLH runs Academic Literacy classes for both its first- and second-year students and has positioned itself to offer these to school leavers and mature students who may be planning to study through an institution other than STADIO.

The leap from matric to tertiary level education cannot be overstated.  At the end of the 2021 academic year, it was decided that first and second year students in the 2022 intake, both those following the B. Ed course and those doing the Higher Certificate in Early Childhood Development, would benefit from an introduction to Academic Literacy (AL). 

Feedback from students and tutors during 2021 suggested that the areas of greatest challenge for the students were:

• Understanding and unpacking an assignment topic
• Reading quickly AND efficiently while doing research for assignments
• Taking and making effective notes while doing research for assignments
• Writing an academic essay (a different fish from school essays)
• Recognising and correcting grammar and style errors in writing
• Referencing and citations within an assignment
• Using the assessment rubric for an assignment to its full effect.

The emphasis in the sessions that followed was on understanding and practising these skills and to this end all students submitted an essay prior to orientation, which provided the team with concrete evidence of problem areas, specifically and in general. 

Feedback from the students on the AL programme was overwhelmingly positive and can perhaps best be summed up with this comment by one of them: “Overall it was very informative and helpful to have these sessions in order to help us be better prepared for what lay ahead”. 

What emerged from the AL sessions, that was of even greater use to the tutors, was the identification of issues that required still further assistance, which was subsequently provided through tutorials in the first semester. 

The AL orientation programme reinforced the absolute need for anyone intending to study further to prepare themselves beforehand through a course in Academic Literacy and OLH has positioned itself to offer this to school leavers and mature students who may be planning to study through an institution other than STADIO.

The Academic Literacy team is chaired by Nick Browne and is comprised of OLH language tutors. 

Although devising a course by committee is never easy and discussions were at times very robust, working as a team meant that the tutors were able to share their expertise and learn from one another, in addition to extending that knowledge to the students.

While the gap between school and university cannot be bridged in just six months, the orientation Academic Literacy programme served as a solid foundation and its value will continue to be felt throughout the academic programme.