Outonome leer, akademiese akkulturasie en akademiese skryfvermoë : die ontwerp van ʼn multimodale akademiese geletterdheidsmodule

Abstract

Although the South African National Development Plan states the goal of raising the higher education participation rate, students are often not ready for the demands of higher education. In order to ensure these students’ success, it is necessary to assist them in the process of academic acculturation. Part of the academic acculturation process involves the development of academic writing ability, as it is essential for effective communication within the academic discourse community. Currently many universities aim to achieve this goal through the provision of academic literacy modules as a way to enhance epistemological access. More recent changes within the higher education environment, as well as the contemporary technological milieu, necessitate adjustments to the design of the current academic literacy modules at the North-West University. Therefore, this study investigates the design of these modules with regard to the role of academic acculturation, as well as the involvement of multimodal and autonomous learning as part of the module design. In order to create a suitable module design for an introductory academic literacy course, it was necessary to do a comprehensive needs analysis. Through the needs analysis it was established that the teaching of certain key elements of academic writing are essential. It was further found that there is a need for a more faculty-specific approach as part of an introductory academic literacy module. In terms of teaching and learning, it was found that multimodal and autonomous learning can play a greater part in the module design of an introductory academic literacy module. An initial module design was suggested, which included a greater focus on the integration of multimodal and autonomous learning as part of the development of academic writing ability of first-year students. This module design was implemented during 2019 and an impact measurement was performed.

The impact measurement showed an improvement in students’ academic reading ability. In terms of academic writing ability, it appeared as if there was some degree of improvement, but it still left much to be desired. The small study population for which full datasets were available, does give cause for reservation. It would be preferable to confirm these results in the future with a student population that is large enough to be considered representative of the target population. Even though the desired results were not achieved, this study does represent a valuable contribution to the field of course design. In this respect it provides a comprehensive theorical framework for responsible course design in academic literacy, drawing together aspects of acculturation, written academic discourse, multimodal course design, and the development of autonomy.