'n Akademiese steunraamwerk vir onderwysstudente in die leerarea Ekonomiese en Bestuurswetenskappe

Abstract

Students arrive at higher education institutions without the academic literacy skills needed to succeed in their studies. The poor throughput rate at higher education institutions in South Africa bears testimony to this fact. The problem is that this situation will not change spontaneously; real action will have to take place in the key aspects of the teaching and academic support processes of the higher education institutions. Higher education institutions should accept accountability and put in place effective academic support mechanisms to ensure that students from secondary schools do indeed receive the academic support that will guarantee success in their studies. Academic support for students should also not be of a generic nature, but subject specific else the students do not consider it of value to their studies and thus do not attend the classes. Academic support at Northwest University (NWU) has been investigated and the finding is that the academic support modules as well as the supplemental instruction as it is currently presented should be more subject discipline specific and that supplemental instruction should not only be presented in the risk modules, but also in other modules. In this research, a Mixed Method Research Design was applied which includes both qualitative and quantitative research. In the quantitative research, questionnaires and a reading skills test were used, and in the qualitative research, focus group and individual interviews. The following was found from the research: * Students’ reading ability is poor and they do not exhibit the necessary understanding of what they read. * In most cases, students only learn work superficially to ensure they pass the course. They do not read expansively to gather more in-depth knowledge concerning the specific subject. * A relationship does indeed exist between students’ reading and learning profiles and their academic performance. An academic support framework was developed to give EMS teacher students subject specific academic support. Students are subjected to several forms of subject specific academic support to ensure the development of the required academic skills. In so doing, students are encouraged to add theory to practice, and all academic support given is subject specific. This framework can also be adapted for other modules and study courses.