The academic effectiveness of a bridging year for commerce undergraduates

Abstract

Human resources development in South Africa is constrained by the underpreparedness of many students for university. The problem is particularly acute among school leavers for whom English is not their first language and who are thereby at a disadvantage in an English language university. In order to address the problem, which goes beyond language, bridging curricula have been devised. This research analyses how effective one such intervention is, in terms of an academic achievement outcome.

Decisions to allocate resources to bridging intervention need the assurance that the resources are used effectively. An ex post facto experimental research design ts used in this study to test the learning outcome of the PBS bridging intervention. The analysis assesses whether the PBS programme increases the academic achievement of students at first‐year level.

The examination results achieved by an experimental group of PBS students who matriculated from DET schools are compared with the results of a control group of DET matriculants. The research shows that the academic achievements of the PBS group during the bridging year were superior to those of the control group. Furthermore, superior performance was sustained by the PBS students after they Joined the mainstream BCom curriculum. After the bridging intervention, the PBS students achieved 7.7 percentage points better in Business Economics I examinations than the control group. The research design controls for demonstrated academic ability at school At a 0.01 level of statistical significance, the results of the analysis indicate that the PBS intervention has contributed positively to the students’ academic achievement.

Notes

This paper has benefited from the helpful comments and suggestions of two anonymous referees of the journal. All errors remain the responsibility of the authors.

Director, Commerce Support Programmes, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

Department of Business Economics, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.