Early assessment: using a university-wide student support initiative to effect real change

Abstract

This paper describes the implementation of a university-wide initiative aimed at providing a holistic view of a student's academic standing by conducting early, formative assessment for all first-year students. It tracks the Early Assessment System as a student support intervention at Stellenbosch University and suggests that the system has been instrumental in effecting change across the entire university. The early focus on student success and the establishment of dedicated structures to facilitate such focus have served as catalysts for dialogue around issues of teaching and learning. The coordination of resources across the university to support faculty activities around first-year student learning has set-up powerful collaborations with the potential to influence thinking across the campus. Using Hersey, Blanchard, and Johnson's (2001) ‘participative change cycle’ as base, and drawing on the associated work of Pennington (2003), the successes and ongoing challenges of implementing an initiative of this nature are explored.

Keywords:

• formative assessment
• institutional change
• first-year students
• student learning