Academic staff have developed a range of resources and practices to support First Year students at Flinders University. A number of Support Services at Flinders University also provide resources to 1st year students, topic coordinators and other staff who work with first year students.

FBS Steps to Success Program

The Flinders Business School runs a STEPS TO SUCCESS PROGRAM where support tutors provide information and support on the followingt topics:

• Help with general questions about topics,
• Help with English as a second language,
• Help with developing a study program and good study habits,
• Help in getting in contact with topic tutors and lecturers,
• A referral service to the Study Skills, Maths support and other university support services.

All first year Business School students are sent a letter about the service and information on how to utilise it.

Law Mentoring Scheme
New-In-Law

Students enter the Law School from a wide range of previous ‘lives'. New-In-Law focuses students' diverse skills and interests on their Law degree. It is fundamental to developing the confidence and competence needed to make the most of their time in the Law School.

The New-In-Law programme, which takes place during the Thursday and Friday of O-week, is essential for any new Flinders law student. It provides an introduction to the place, the people, the work and the opportunities that comprise the Law degree and it welcomes incoming students to their academic home. It builds on the school's reputation as a ‘first year friendly' Law School and is designed to ensure that new students lose no time in establishing themselves successfully in their Law degree experience.

Student participation in the New-In-Law programme allows them to circumvent their anxieties and gives them opportunities to participate in challenging, interesting and purposeful activities. Incoming students are also given plenty of opportunities to get to know their classmates, the law staff and existing law students. New students are also assigned a peer mentor, an experienced law student with a head full of vital information about surviving law school and a commitment to help.

For further information on how you might establish a similar program in your school and/or on some useful hints on training mentors contact Mr Mark Rankin via email at Tania.leiman@flinders.edu.au .

KISS (Keep It Simple School)
Drop-in help centre

Lecture here, tutorial there, practical on that, workshop these concepts, study this, do this assignment, solve these problems... Cram, cram, cram that data in!

When does it become Knowledge?

Of course, new data normally begins to form into useful information and knowledge when the student gets a chance to work with the relevant concepts to develop their own mental schemas! The problem that arises from this is that topic content is delivered in a strict linear, segmented and sequential fashion, while student work and learning or knowledge realisation does not. It is more often a random process of identifying opportunities (e.g. time, location...) to work with the "Crammed" data to develop learn and understanding. However, because of the mismatch between topic-content delivery and student knowledge and understanding realisation, they often have questions after allotted formal lectures, tutorials and consulting times, and even well after a specific concept delivery sequence has passed. 

So, how does the student get those questions answered a day after, let alone weeks after, the lecture, tutorial, workshop...?

Alternately, what if the student or group of students do plan time across their days to work with some of the concept, where do they meet that offers supporting facilities relative to a specific topic that is within easy access of academic assistance?

Currently students have to walk a 2km round trip to the Library and back to CSEM, and even then the Library only offers broad, mainly textual based, services designed for self help which is a problem if a student does not have the skills to self help. This is a critical point because many might suggest that self motivated learning (self help) is what university is all about, however this requires a skill-set that the average first year student does not have.

To address the problem CSEM has instituted the Drop-In Help Centre which comprises two rooms. The first, the Drop-In Help Room, is where 1st year students or groups of students can seek topical help from a past student with experience in the required topic. The second, is a large quiet room, fitted with tables, power, and a large collection of subject specific text books, in which individuals or groups can conveniently drop-in and work.

CSEM's Drop-In Help Centre is a simple solution to a serious problem. The solution is to offer easy access to a convenient, comfortable workspace and people that can help, who understand the problems and the context within which the student is learning.

Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS)  

The Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) are particularly useful in first year topics where classes are large, difficult concepts and ideas are portrayed and where failure and/or attrition rates are high. PASS provides first year students with the opportunity to ask questions and receive constructive and timely feedback from trained second and third year students who have successfully completed the topic.   

The Lectorial

What is it?
A lectorial is an interactive large class tutorial held in a lecture theatre that uses case based problems to contexutalise the previous week's lecture materials.

Why do it?
Students often do not understand why they need to learn particular information because they do not see it in context. It creates opportunities for group work and develops problem solving skills. Running lectorials rather than individual tutorials is a cost efficient and effective way of managing large classes in an interactive way.

Biology lectorials
First year Biology students have often commented that they don't understand why they need to learn particular information because they cannot see it in context.  It is easy to understand how student are confused by this because the first year Biology students come from 36 different degree areas. The purpose of lectorials is to provide the context for the lecture material and also identify examples of jobs where the knowledge is required.

At the end of each week students are given a large group tutorial (lectorial). This is where the information they have been taught during the week's lectures is put into real life contexts. One of the main aims of university study is to help students learn to problem solve, not just memorize details.  Lectorials are constructed to allow students to engage in case-based scenarios and require them to use their understanding of topic material to solve problems. Various questions are posed within the case being studied and students are required to answer these questions during the session.  The case based scenarios use examples drawn from the many areas of Biology.  Typically, discussion amongst peers is encouraged which also helps build their understanding.

Students highly regard the weekly lectorials because they aid understanding of information presented in lectures and assist in exam preparation.  Students have also reported that they find the lectorials to be the most interesting session of the week and the interactive workshop style is very enjoyable. 

Resources that may be used with staff who work with First Year students

In Health Sciences

The attached resources are used by the teaching team in the Bachelor of Health Science to help ensure consistency of message to first year students. Providing the teaching team, especially where they are sessional teaching staff, with information regarding the information they pass on to first year students reduces confusion for both staff and students.  The  PowerPoint is used to help deliver training to the teaching team who are also provided with the comprehensive Tutors guide .

In Law

The feedback assignment sheet for the first year assignment has been reframed to support improvement in learning rather than provide a response which identifies deficits in learning. The response sheet has been devised as a way of responding to research which indicates what students find useful in feedback.  Assignment Sheet 1 is the redrafted sheet reflecting more positive responses than are included in Assignment Sheet 2 .

The Fora 

There is a need to provide the best quality first year experience for students. An important resource in any efforts to identify and prioritize improvements is the perceptions and needs of those who coordinate and teach the first level topics. A forum has been convened to enable academics from multiple disciplines to discuss issues of common concern and to share effective practices.

Contact the Centre for University Teaching if there are other resources you wish to add to this site, if you would like further information, if you are interested in participating in the Inspiring Achievement in First Year University Students Working Party or if you would like more information on the next Forum.