ITAS in a virtual environment – quality and efficacy in Indigenous tertiary student support
Susan Beetson, Annie Tyhuis, Susan Willsteed, Juliana McLaughlin, Sue Whatman
Presentation of Preliminary Findings
The discussions which follow emerged from preliminary investigations into the experiences and perspectives of key stakeholders in the ITAS administration at our university. This project is currently in progress and we hope to engage constructive comments from colleagues in other student support centres.
Burden of Administration
First of all, we looked at the current process of ITAS at the Oodgeroo Unit. The biggest hurdle experienced is the handling of paper work involved. Records of staff minutes, particularly after 2000, revealed that the administration of ITAS gradually became a permanent item on the agenda for discussions during many staff meetings and retreats (Oodgeroo Unit Staff Meeting & Retreat Minutes January 2000; February, 2001; October, 2002; October, 2003). A number of factors contributed to this increased focus on the administration of ITAS. For example, it is acknowledged that the administrative funding for ITAS within universities is directly capped by DEST, with any additional costs borne by the educational provider. As we reported earlier, the Oodgeroo Unit shares the administrative load across most if its staff. However, the changing nature of the work within the Australian academia community leaves academic staff in a dilemma under the current DEST administrative requirements. While student support continues to be a major responsibility for academic staff, promotional criteria also focus on teaching, community engagement, research activities and consequent publications (QUT, 2007). The challenge for most academic staff is to nurture a research culture informed by Indigenous perspectives, which involves intensive consultation and negotiation with Indigenous communities and representatives, with teaching commitments. To delegate such an enormous share of the ITAS administrative load to Level A academic staff is unfair as this cohort of personnel deserve assistance from the employer to engage in professional development activities which could increase their chances in applying for promotion and career advancement. This is about freeing up Indigenous academics to enable them to be empowered to progress their own careers within the University promotional requirements; not be tied up doing ITAS paperwork. For example, throughout the entire administration of ATAS/ITAS at QUT from 1990 to 2007, only two members of academic staff had applied for personal promotion on academic merit through the university promotions system. Furthermore, only two academic staff, and four professional staff successfully applied for higher level appointments internally within the Oodgeroo Unit over the same period. We have also witnessed many aspiring Indigenous scholars depart from the university sector. Therefore, we argue that the difficulty of nurturing an academic career is increased if staff time is consumed with administrative tasks required by ITAS.
The Deficiency Model (Academic Inability)
Our findings demonstrate that adhering to the requirements of DEST, the funding agency for ITAS, reinforces the notion that ITAS is a supplementary tuition program, to address a perceived, nation-wide deficiency in Indigenous students’ educational abilities (Nakata, 2001). While quantitative data is collected and summarised to satisfy DEST requirements, it fails to adequately explain success and failure rates at individual institutions, academic and personal factors that contribute to learning difficulties of individual students, and the reasons why students decide not to apply for ITAS at all, yet successfully pass all their subjects in the end and graduate (see Table 1, out of 380 students enrolled at QUT, only 94 accessed ITAS). Reasons for refraining from ITAS provide some insights to the students’ academic abilities and may challenge the “supplementary” provision of assistance to Indigenous students studying at universities. The current DEST reporting requirements do not adequately seek to understand these issues, yet they should yield greater insights into the factors affecting Indigenous student “success” at university level.
Tutoring guidelines and reporting requirements that focus only on pass/fail rates and the number of hours a student receives tuition undermine the quality of that tuition and the individual roles and expertise of tutors. It can be argued that assessment and passing of assessment tasks takes precedence over in-depth understanding of the subject content and study skills, particularly from the student’s perspective. Survey responses from students and tutors indicate the concentration on assessment outcomes is a legitimate indicator of ITAS “success”, but it can create tension between the students’ and tutors’ aspirations.
Many tutors believe that just because they are tutoring you that you will receive a 6 or 7. They seem disappointed that it’s only a pass. I believe in aiming high and trying to be happy with what I get. However, I tend to feel like a failure when you know that a tutor thinks you will receive a higher mark than you receive (Student # 8).
I have found with some students that they seem keen to use the tutoring sessions as a crutch for problematic assessment rather than as a forum for additional learning (Tutor #3).
It is, therefore, not surprising that the DEST administrative and accountability guidelines influence the mode of teaching and learning through the ITAS program, and the subsequent teaching and learning relationship that is established between the tutors and students over the semester. While education providers such as universities adhere to bureaucratic regulations, many pedagogical and cultural issues which impact on student learning are ignored, and perhaps undermined. What appears to be missing is a genuine and authentic assessment of the teaching and learning relationships facilitated by the ITAS program, from the people who matter most; the student recipients, their tutors, and the academic and professional staff who make it possible.
What Students Want: Quality of teaching and learning
In an attempt to engage students’ perspectives on ITAS and other support services by the Oodgeroo Unit, some strategies were initiated and recorded in documents which form part of this analysis. From 2005, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students applying through the alternative entry program completed a survey in which questions were asked on ITAS assistance. This data is used in a comparative manner to the survey completed by students through the current ITAS project.
Types of Assistance from ITAS
The types of assistance students required from ITAS tutors are indicated on the ITAS application forms. Thus the generic categories below are provided for students to select the type of assistance needed. These are:
- Interpreting assignment topics / course content
- Finding information from the library, internet
- Understanding referencing according to unit outlines
- Assignment writing, defining topics, planning skills
- Grammar and advanced writing skills
- Preparing for oral presentations
- Academic writing skills.
In 2005, forty students from the fifty-seven applicants who completed the CASP survey indicated they would apply for ITAS tuition in 2006 if offered a place to study at the university (McLaughlin, 2006). Those who indicated otherwise were mainly postgraduate students and students who were transferring to QUT from other universities. The pie graph below illustrates the types of assistance these applicants sought upon commencement of study.
(McLaughlin, 2006 )
Figure Three: CASP results from 2005 cohort
The above types of assistance can be grouped into four categories. These categories could include assignments, study strategies, content and professional advice on career pathways as outlined below:
Assignments (bibliography, essay writing, proof reading and writing techniques)
Content (understanding content, lecture notes, and specifically English and Maths)
Study Strategy (exam preparation, revision, time management, computing, transition to university, class presentations)
Professional Career advice
It can be concluded that the anticipation of enrolling in a university course must be daunting for many students applying through the CASP program. Successfully completing their studies is a priority among new applicants. This is clearly illustrated through the number of students requesting help on understanding content, developing efficient study strategies and completion of assignments. Given the diversity of students’ educational and professional backgrounds, they are cautious about successfully completing their intended study program. Therefore, they would welcome any assistance they could get in order to pass their courses.
After a semester studying at the university, the kinds of assistance students need may differ. However, the type of support they can receive from ITAS tutors does not change; the generic categories of “need” do not change.
Figure Four : Semester 1 / 2007 students’ survey on assistance sought from ITAS
Students responded that content knowledge was the most needed kind of academic support they would like to receive from their tutors. Specifically, this acknowledges the tutor’s expert knowledge. Apart from tutors’ assistance in retrieving extra resources and insights with literature reviews, students undertaking technologically oriented course such as IT, engineering and environmental design wanted the technological expertise of specific tutors:
More assistance with layout and problem solving (required) (ITAS Student #19)
Understanding coding techniques (ITAS Student #11)
Learning how to program and use databases (ITAS Student # 13)
Helping me with my drawing subject - perspectives and layout design process (ITAS Student #21).
Students indicated that guidance into examination and assessment preparation were highly valued, closely followed by cultural support, both in sharing academic experiences and in showing respect to students’ Aboriginality. Also relevant was the personal attributes of tutors such as friendliness, punctuality, and encouragement. Students commented:
Taking time to discuss assignments first, listening to my perspective as an Aboriginal, being relaxed and approachable (ITAS student # 4).
Dedicated to the betterment of positive outcomes for Indigenous Australians, easy going and easy to relate to, expert in the field of study (ITAS student # 18).
Eagerness to assist, experts in the field, experience with study and ability to quickly pick up the content to answer any questions I may have had (ITAS student # 19).
Students were asked to note other types of assistance they would have liked to receive. The majority of the students indicated they were satisfied with the assistance they received. However, a small number of students requested technical support that would require access to computer software not currently available on the Oodgeroo Unit’s computers.
Responses from past ITAS students (2004-2005), collated and analysed from documents such as ITAS student evaluation forms each semester, canvassed a range of issues, including the limit of two hours per subject per week, the appropriateness of tutors’ qualifications and the availability of appropriate tutors to appoint:
I found that the 2 hours per week really just wasn’t enough (greedy eh?!!) but we really needed 4. 2 for reading and writing and 2 for the coursework (Past ITAS Student E).
Subject is part of the faculty of Finance and Economics and the tutor who is a staff member of the Accountancy faculty had a tendency to teach the work from an accountancy point of view which at times made it difficult and confusing to understand (Past ITAS Student A).
Tuition was difficult to obtain and there was only a few weeks of tuition with tutor (Past ITAS Student D).
It was hard sometimes due to the fact that I needed to work on a couple of major projects for other subjects and didn’t have enough time for this one (Past ITAS Student F).
Student E reiterated an issue discussed earlier, in the Review of Bulk Funding Arrangements (Oodgeroo Unit, 2003), that individual student needs may include ESL considerations when English is their third or fourth language. ITAS tuition cannot be used to meet this particular need. Student F validated the concern about “banking” ITAS hours to be used when the students most require them (i.e. around project dates).