Christine Ingleton and Barbara Wake
Advisory Centre for University Education

"There has been a change in philosophy among teaching staff . . . staff have accepted responsibility rather than blaming high schools."

NEW! You can now view and download the full Literacy Matters document (not for the fainthearted, 5MB, but OK over the University of Adelaide network. Use caution if at home! Or print the pages you want, or see below for ordering a printed version by mail).

Background | Aims | Process | Evaluation | Examples | Contact

Background

The four most enduring concerns staff express about students' inability to communicate effectively are:

• students are frequently unable to interpret critically and evaluate subject material
• they are often unable to write according to the logic of the subject
• they are often unable to give an oral presentation based on their own analysis of the content
• as a result, many students resort to plagiarising information

Preliminary research with Year 12 teachers, university teachers, 1st year university students and employers has revealed not only different expectations about student literacy, but that the responsibility for teaching these skills was generally believed to lie elsewhere. A frequent comment from university staff was that literacy and communication skills should have already been learned at secondary school, but this was refuted in interviews with Year 12 teachers, who reported that their desire to develop their students' critical literacy skills was limited by the task of catering to a very wide range of students and a public examination system which rewards rote learning.

Over two years (95 & 96) the Literacy Project described here included research on the causes of literacy problems, the explicit teaching and assessment of literacy, communication and critical thinking skills, together with the development of subject material in selected subjects and courses. This is documented in the ACUE publication Literacy Matters, published in 1997.

Aims

Improvement in students' literacy and communication skills through the:

• identification of communication skills required by staff, employers and students;
• identification of current levels of students' skills through early diagnosis and formative feedback;
• development of curriculum and assessment to include communication and literacy skills.
  

Process

Rather than viewing literacy as a remedial problem for individual students, the stance taken in this Project was that literacy is a curriculum issue, and that literacy needs to be taught in context. This approach stressed the following:

• the need to identify how logic and knowledge are constructed in the discipline
• the need for students to learn explicitly and precisely how to communicate that logic and knowledge.
• the need to integrate communication skills into course objectives and the assessable work of students

A linguist was employed to identify the language features of essays, reports and short answers, and in particular, how students were expected to construct logical arguments, professional reports and so on in their discipline. Materials were developed collaboratively for use by students and staff, while assignments, tests and exams were worded to reinforce the appropriate communication of logic and style of presentation.

In introducing literacy and communication skills the Project initiated a cycle of change:

consultation	with head of department with subject co-ordinators with students with language advisor
analysis	of problems in students' communication of how logic and knowledge are communicated within subject discourse
curriculum	define assessment criteria develop course objectives and desired communication skills develop teaching materials
teaching	provide diagnostic writing tasks to evaluate communication skills provide staff development for teaching and assessing communication skills assess and evaluate sequential development of skills through tutorial tasks and assignments introduce active problem solving and discussion in tutorials
assessment	make assessment criteria explicit to students provide feedback on development of communication skills include marks for communication skills in final assessment
evaluation	evaluate student texts before and after introduction of communication skills enable qualitative and quantitative evaluation of program by students and staff

Evaluation

The Literacy Project spanned three discipline areas; a single subject in both Mathematics and Labour Studies, a whole degree in Commerce, and a Faculty wide implementation in Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (ANRS). Test and exam results and Student Evaluations of Teaching (SET) were the main forms of evaluation used, as well as interviews with staff. Journals and formal question and answer surveys of students' perception of the subject's impact on crucial literacy skills were also used with generally positive feedback. Evaluation of student texts before and after the introduction of the communication skills in Commerce showed great improvement in using report formats and handling logic in explanations. In the Labour Studies subject, students in the year following the project requested a re-run of the seminars on essay writing run during the project. The pass rate in the English language skills subject ESL for Mathematical and Computer Sciences demonstrated that this was a more appropriate subject for the development of rich language than the previous Philosophy subject had been.

Commerce students were asked: In your writing and communication of ideas at university, have you learnt new skills that are different from those required in Year 12?

One reply is representative of a number:

"Yes, I have better writing skills and comprehension skills. I'm more self-motivated in terms of learning."

A Commerce staff member commented:

"There has been a change in philosophy among teaching staff . . . staff have accepted responsibility rather than blaming high schools."

A Labour Studies staff member reported:

"Showed that we can teach writing skills; and students definitely improved."

Examples

See the online resource Written Communication in the Faculty of Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences.

The booklet Literacy Matters is available for the cost of postage through the CLPD. Please contact clpd@adelaide.edu.au or fax us on 8303 3553.

 

Click on the thumbnails below to view some examples from Literacy Matters

1. Before...	2. New strategy
3. Excerpt from course notes	4. After...

Contact

Barbara Wake
ph +618 8303 5866
fax +618 8303 3553
E-mail: barbara.wake@adelaide.edu.au

Last Updated 14/8/01