School of Education

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Author: search.filters.author.Dison, L.

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    Supporting the academic success of first-year students in South Africa: A study of the epistemological access they acquired through a lecture and text
    (2017) Rusznyak, L.; Dison, L.; Moosa, M.; Poo, M.
    Much is at stake with regard to academic success of first-year students in higher education. This paper presents the findings of an empirical study which looks at shifts in students’ understanding of a concept through a systematic sequence of learning opportunities in a university-based course. While 89% of participants could satisfactorily identify criteria of the concept following an introductory lecture, only 41% could adequately articulate their understanding of that concept. One third of the participants did not read the prescribed text. For students who did the reading, lectures and the provision of reading materials provided sufficient opportunities for half of them satisfactorily to comprehend the requisite concepts. Consolidation in a follow-up session is necessary to provide additional opportunities for students adequately to comprehend a concept.
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    Resourcefulness matters: Student patterns for coping with structural and academic challenges
    (2019) Dison, L.; Shalem, Y.; Taylor, D.
    There is general agreement that there are many structural constraints beyond students’ control which influence the degree of success that students can attain as they learn to participate in academic practice. Less understood are the patterns of students’ experiences of the socio-economic environment of their schooling and university, their views of the enabling and constraining conditions of learning and their perceptions of their agency in overcoming these conditions. The data for our study were collected through a questionnaire survey of 591 Bachelor of Education students across three years of the degree at a South African University. Several patterns of resourcefulness and levels of articulation emerged which reveal complex sets of experiences and strategies as students reflect on adversities and challenges they encountered at school and at university. We argue for an in depth understanding of the nature of student agency which recognises its role in shaping their engagement with material, social, academic and affective challenges.