Southern Cross U adopted the block teaching model in 2020, to address lower than sector average success and retention. So how’s that working out?
Thomas Roche and colleagues report statistically-significant improvements in academic success for students identified as low socio-economic status, first-in-family, regional/remote, Indigenous, and registered with a disability.
SCU created its own version of the block model, pioneered in Australia by Victoria U at Southern Cross students take two short- subjects every six weeks for immersive learning, rather than a semester long course. Their new analysis extends three of the present authors’ early finding of student success, comparing academic achievement for “minoritised” student groups using the block model with a traditional 13-week subject from 2019.
They report considerable success rate improvements, notably for Indigenous Students and those with a disability. The least improving students were first in family. Improved Indigenous outcomes is “is a notable result considering persistently lower Indigenous student success rates nationally compared to other underrepresented groups,” they suggest.
The take-out: Although student access to and success in HE is driven by multiple and often complex factors, HE institutions can adapt curriculum approaches to better meet increasingly diverse student cohorts’ needs.
“Providing learning conditions for students which are more focused, guided, active and more flexible than traditional HE study experiences, can make a significant positive difference to the academic success of HE students from diverse backgrounds.”
